TUCSON, AZ – Two veteran squads go skate-to-skate for the first time when the #2 Gotham Girls All-Stars return to Tucson for their first visit since the original 2006 Dust Devil Tournament.
Gotham is looking to impress western derby fans, to extend its five-bout winning streak, and to justify its new lofty national ranking earned after their 125-65 June spanking of the original flat-track derby league, #5 Texas.
Tucson (#13) looks to straighten its saddle after a dispiriting sequence of five consecutive losses which have seen the Saddletramps fall seven slots in the WFTDA rankings. Most recently, they were held to their lowest point total ever in a July away match against #7 Windy City, 138-19.
While these two squads have never played one another, they share plenty of knowledge and experience. The bout is a homecoming for Gotham All-Stars Fisti Cuffs and Hard Anya, both of whom got their derby starts in Tucson – Fisti as a Furious Truckstop Waitress, and Anya on the Vice Squad – before moving to the Big Apple in early 2007. These two imported ex-Saddletramps have played no small part in Gotham’s advancement to the upper ranks of the WFTDA.
Gotham’s depth will be challenged with the absence of speedster Beatrix “Bunny” Slaughter, who suffered a broken collarbone while jamming for the Bronx Gridlock on August 16. Intergalactic blocking superstar Beyonsláy is also sitting out the trip, along with wily pivot Sweet Sherry Pie, opening up opportunities for Gotham’s Ariel Assault, Hyper Lynx, and Bluebonnet Plague in their first 2008 action with the All-Stars.
With local play over for the year, the Saddletramps are now able to focus solely on the remainder of the interleague season; look for a faster, more aggressive game from Tucson. The Tramps will skate without several of their primary jammers, including Liberty Valenzuela who was injured in the league championship game. Some seasoned blockers like Nokka Ho Down will also be missing from the track, but the bench still boasts a depth of talent and experience not to be underestimated in skaters like Deadlock Doe, Sloppy Flo, and Helen Wheels.
This is Gotham’s final All-Star bout before its top seed appearance at WFTDA’s East Regionals, while #7 seed Tucson is aggressively challenging itself before the West Regionals with additional bouts at Carolina (WFTDA #4) and at home against Philadelphia (WFTDA #8).
Will the visiting New Yorkers demonstrate their depth by steamrolling their sixth consecutive opponent? Will the ‘Tramps bounce back, put their upcoming West Region foes on notice, and remind the derby world to fear their guts and grit? And how many SONIC Cherry Limeades can one thirsty New York derby team drink? Find out at Tucson’s Bladeworld on Saturday @ 7pm.
00 Ana Bollocks // 7 Anne Phetamean // 23 Ariel Assault // 5 Bluebonnet Plague // 340 Bonnie Thunders // swingin’ 60s Brigitte Barhot // 2¢ Cheap Skate // 2 Donna Matrix // 241 Fisti Cuffs // 80 Ginger Snap // i4i Hard Anya // 404 Hyper Lynx // perfect 10 Kandy Kakes // 55 Suzy Hotrod
0 Anita Donut // 9mm Carrie Gunns // 333 Deadlock Doe // 67 Helen Wheels // 321 Kay Boom // 1980 Metal Maiden // 7 Polly Graph // 22 Sami Automatic// 62 Sassy Sue // 8 Sloppy Flo // 217 Suni Sideup // III Turkish Slammer // 627 West Nile Iris // C-4 Whiskey Mick
Good luck Gotham Girls
Best of luck my dear Gotham Girls! I'll be cheering for you from a great distance!
-'Slay
"Never trust a big butt and a smile" -BelBivDevoe
Beyonslay-it sucks that yer
Beyonslay-it sucks that yer not gonna be there you badass Blocker you.
No Slay, No Slaughter
No 'Slay and no Beatrix Slaughter oughta even things up a touch. A strong performance in this bout, even if Gotham wins as expected, could restore some of the fear and respect that Tucson used to command. I plan on seeing GGRD win repeatedly in October, so I'll turn coat and root for Tucson in this one. Go Tramps!
soooo exciting!
i've been anxiously awaiting this preview...
and i'll be checking my computer all weekend for this score!
good luck to both teams!
Confused a bit
On Tucson's website, it has Liberty Valenzuela listed as a retired skater. It also has her listed as a blocker only, rather than blocker/jammer.
In this write up, it doesn't have Tumbleweed listed on Tucson's roster or in the write up as being out of the game. I've been told by spectators that Tumbleweed was relied on a lot as a jammer, so I would have thought that if she wasn't playing, that could have an impact on the game and would have been mentioned alongside the other absentees listed above.
Not to mention, Tumbleweed is on the Tucson roster that is set to play us in a few weeks, whereas Liberty Valenzuela isn't on the main roster nor listed as an alt.
Is it possible that Liberty Valenzuela and Tumbleweed got mixed up in this write up? Or am I completely missing something?
One sec, Roxy...
I'll go fix it.
(Just kidding; I don't work here.)
Bat Wing
Ref - CoMo Derby Dames, Columbia, MO.
Jammer - Midwest Men's Roller Derby (Midwest Monsters), regional club
http://www.myspace.com/refbatwing
I'll look into it
Sounds like you're right, but the specific writeup info in question came from Tucson ... let me see what I can dig up.
JFM
The website's a little out
The website's a little out of date...Liberty took a leave from Tramps but she's back now.
Unfortunately as it was correctly reported, she was injured during our home championship and will not be playing in this game against GGRD.
Tumbleweed is active on the current Tramps roster but is out this game.
Thanks!
Very much appreciate the clarification.
JFM
Thank you
Thanks for that clarification.
Good luck tonight to both teams, we'll be watching from the East Coast!
Short ponder
Eight-hundred miles of desert driving on Labor Day Weekend... as much as I'd love to be there, I think I'll wait for the recap.
I thought about it...
I've made the trip twice this year already. The only really unpleasant part is the drive through Phoenix (traffic, and the directions get muddled) and the ugly four lane highway between Phx and Tucson (this road always has far more "blockers" than "jammers"). I hate to take a lengthy drive down there just to miss half the bout.
-Barely even speaking for myself...
*~[
Grand Poobah
Sin City Stat Pack
Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls
The Goths will kill again
Sorry Tuscon but this just isnt gonna be the weekend that ya turn it around. The Goths are a fast moving diesel freight train and are gonna crush anything in their way on the tracks ahead. Those tracks lead to the Eastern Division championship. Its their year.
This is going to be a hard one...
In TRD's favor:
- Season over.
- Focus on the tramps.
- Helen Wheels.
My concerns:
- Gotham
- Junior refs
- Liberty Valenzuela being out
TRD needs to step-up on this one and not play it like a home bout. This is what I had noticed this year when I was there to see the bout against BADG. As I have mentioned in my column, don't be afraid to try new things. It's not playing dirty.. it's playing derby. I am also concerned about the officiating on this one. Hopefully, TRD will send only their senior refs to this one. There have been too many strange calls during the home bouts this year including the ones that resulted in the "TRD Love-in" protest earlier this summer.
With LV out, Sami Automatic and Sloppy Flo have a lot of work ahead of them.
Despite the concerns.. I am still behind my Saddletramps.
Let's get over this one and Philly and then Dallas will be an easy win! (We'll talk later about Rat City)
Good luck to my Tucson friends!!! (*^u^*)
with derby love...
Michi-chan
The Arizona Derby Report
http://www.michichan.com
Ref-wise, Gotham is sending
Ref-wise, Gotham is sending two of the most experienced refs in all of derby, Endless Justin and Hambone, so hopefully that will allay your fears somewhat!
~j.z.
===============
Johnny Zebra
WFTDA Certified Referee (level 2)
WFTDA Ref Representative
Charm City Roller Girls
Rankin'File:Up-to-date WFTDA rankings and bout info:
http://www.charmcityrollergirls.com/rankin-file
Is there gonna be live coverage of this a la leadjammer?
Here's hopin'.
Hey! Ho! Let's Roll!
Margaret Thrasher, Prime minister of Your Demise
Gotham Girls Roller Derby
At the last second
Yes. Don't tell the girls we're coming, it's a surprise :)
(surely they're not reading DNN the day of the bout, right?)
guilty
oops; guess I shouldn't have been reading dnn.com on the day of the bout. Never again!
It will be great to have y'all tuning in, virtually!
Also as a point of fact, Gotham is bringing a third lovely referee: Sugar Daddy
oops!
We let the cat out of the bag on my MySpace and michichan.com.
(*^u^*)
with derby love...
Michi-chan
The Arizona Derby Report
http://www.michichan.com
Awesome!
Way to be a trooper, Hurt!
Arizona's weird time zone thing
Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Savings. Which means that during the summer, they observe the same time as Pacific, rather than Mountain time.
TRD's site indicates it starts at 6:30, though that may be in "derby time" (get the fans there a half hour early to find their seats and get their first beers).
-Barely even speaking for myself...
*~[
Grand Poobah
Sin City Stat Pack
Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls
Time
Hmm ... I'm seeing a start time of 7pm both on the front page and the bout page ... maybe we're looking at different places?
JFM
Door time
6:30 is normally TRD's door time.
=m
with derby love...
Michi-chan
The Arizona Derby Report
http://www.michichan.com
Post Bout
Thanks to all the cell phones, Hurt'n'Mercy's drive, JFM's rebound skills, and the dedication of both teams for keeping me off my movie, and in the loop.
-JC-
zeeba = fud
Thanks!
Wow! What a great bout last night! The GGRD girls are so fun and such talented skaters. Class act on the track and off. It was a treat to skate with Fisti and Anya again. They've been sorely missed on the Arizona flat track. Our hometown crowd was excited to see them skate even though they were in the competitor's red jerseys. Holy CRAP Bonnie Thunder is soooo fast, and Suzy Hotrod is quite a pain in the backside too! I had a great time at the pivot line with Kandy Kakes and Anne Phetamine. I don't think those two girls know how to skate without a smile! The Saddletramps were sad not to get opportunity for the "Slay ride" - perhaps next time lady! and broken Bunny is such a sweetheart! It's a shame she has the fx clavicle. I hope it heals fast so she can skate nationals, as there is NO DOUBT in my mind that the GGRD gals are going to make some noise there!
Much derby love,
Helen Wheels