Carolina Squeaks By Boston, 82-81
FEASTERVILLE, PA -- The closest bout of ECE 2009 turned out to be a rematch of the closest bout of the 2008 Eastern Regionals -- and in some ways, turned out to practically be a re-run. While this time it was Carolina holding on to the lead for most of their match against Boston, it was Boston with a small lead and what looked like a major advantage with less than three minutes to play -- but again, a Boston jammer penalty at the exact worst moment would switch the advantage to Carolina ... again, a Carolina jammer would throw away a guaranteed victory with a premature jam call ... and again, the same Carolina jammer would redeem herself by pulling a game-sealing lead jammer call on the final jam. This time it was only a one-point victory at 82-81, another heartbreaker for the Boston fans who had seen their team lose 77-75 at Easterns.
See full video from this bout and read the live play-by-play in the archived boutcast from livebloggers Gnosis and Ruby Khan and livestream announcers Corndog and Justice Feelgood Marshall. Full live coverage of the 2009 ECE was made possible by sponsors Atom Wheels, Rollercon 2009 and Five on Five Magazine.
Boston got themselves in a lot of trouble in the bout's first half, taking considerably more trips to the penalty box and handing Carolina a lot of opportunities on lopsided packs. The bout was low-scoring and close in the opening ten, with Carolina going up 15-7, but the middle ten minutes of the half were dominated by Carolina, who pushed the lead to 35 points at 47-12 with 8 minutes left in the half.
Boston's addiction to the penalty box had put them on the ropes at this point, as they'd lost one of their most effective blockers in Shelby Shattered -- she'd fouled out with about 13 minutes left in the half. Fortunately for the Massacre, they got it together to close the half, getting some momentum with a 4-0, 5-0, 0-3, 10-0, 2-0 run to close the gap to 17 points at Carolina 50, Boston 33 at the break.
The opening ten minutes of the second half saw Boston clawing their way all the way to within four points at 63-59, notably with the help of a 10-0 powerjam for Claire D. Way (and in spite of a game expulsion for blocker Etta Maims, who had her game end after a trip that the refs didn't care for very much.)
Carolina got slightly more daylight just when it looked like Boston would take the lead for the first time, but they couldn't get much more than 10 points ahead -- and Boston was right back behind them with 9:22 to go, with the score standing at Carolina 70, Boston 69. Two jams later, Sugar Hits got a 4-0 over Carolina's DVS and tied up the bout at 73-73 ... and with 5 minutes to go, Boston finally took their first lead of the bout at 76-73 as Claire D. Way snatched a 3-0 on a light pack.
It looked like Boston had gotten handed a major gift on the ensuing jam -- with the audience going nuts for the lead change, Carolina got a particularly tough break when they tried to swap blocker Princess America for jammer DVS before the jam could start -- and the jam whistle blew after Princess took the jam star but before she got herself behind the jam line. It was an extraordinarily costly 4th minor for Princess, and Carolina instantly found themselves jammerless. Boston jammer Krushpuppy took 5 points on the powerjam -- but, just as had happened in the last few minutes of Eastern Regionals, found herself boxed before she could start another scoring pass. That freed Princess from the box, and she'd get 5 points of her own -- keeping the margin 3 points at 81-78 with 2:40 to play.
Carolina turned to their ace jammer Holly Wanna Crackya for the final three jams of the bout, but the next one would prove to be the game-winner. Holly took lead, unopposed due to Krush's penalty, and grabbed a 4-0 over a light Boston pack to put Carolina up by just 1 point at 82-81 with 1:10 left to play.
The following jam, between Boston's Sugar Hits and Holly Wanna Crackya, looked like it would seal the victory for Carolina -- Holly took a quick lead and her teammate Ms Anthrope the Mordant had Sugar Hits completely bottled up in the back of the pack, setting Holly up for a potential clock-killing coast ... but Holly called the jam with 42 seconds left on the clock, leaving enough time for one more jam.
A third jam in a row found Holly back on the jam line up against Krushpuppy ... and Carolina blocker DVS gave Holly the upper hand by dropping Krushpuppy with a perfectly timed shoulder block going into turn 3. Holly got lead for the third time in a row as Shelby Shattered tried to hold her back at the front of the pack but floated to 20 feet. Holly wasted no time in calling the jam again and celebrating madly, having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat immediately after having placed victory in the jaws of defeat on the previous jam.
Carolina cracked a 3 game losing streak with this one, although they'd go on to get upset on Sunday by Detroit. Carolina's next in action on Friday July 17 and Saturday July 18, taking on Rose City and Rat City in a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Boston lost to Windy City in their other bout of the ECE weekend, and next faces Albuquerque's Duke City Derby, also on July 18.
Photos: Asa Frye (first photo), John Welsh (second photo)
Comments
minor effect = minor penalty?
This bout had the most aggressive reffing I saw all weekend. Go in for a hit on a jammer, connect poorly with forearm or elbow, jammer ducks it and keeps going with no loss of momentum, position, or points? Major penalty. Over and over again, and for both teams.
#49
Boston Derby Dames
minor effect = minor penalty?
I'd prefer if the refs would err on side of letting the roller girls skate. I certainly saw some of this at last year's nationals where recipient of the foul didn't seem effected by the alleged foul at all, yet a major penalty was called.
That's not the only way it becomes a major.
I'd prefer if the refs would err on side of letting the roller girls skate. I certainly saw some of this at last year's nationals where recipient of the foul didn't seem effected by the alleged foul at all, yet a major penalty was called.
Did you know what they were called on? What if what looked to you like a minor elbows was a major because it was above the shoulders? Do you know that they didn't go out on a fourth minor rather than a major penalty?
Keep in mind that things can look a fair bit different when you're up close and skating at the same speed as the pack or the jammer.
Refs who err on the side of just letting the girls skate are generally doing their skaters a disservice, by passively encouraging/enabling them to get sloppy. This can negatively impact the team when they then face out-of-town opposition and refs that call a bout stricter.
Put simply, a team that skates clean will do fine with strict or lenient refs. A team that skates less clean tends to fare poorly with stricter/more observant/better reffing. Having refs who call a tight bout makes you play better.
Gotham Girls are known for kicking ass, spending less time in the penalty box, and having some of the best refs in the game. I'd suspect that the last causes the second which contributes to the first.
In any case, the rules are what they are. Refs have to call them the way they're written. The skaters picked those rules. If they want to loosen them up, members of WFTDA leagues can decide to.
-Barely even speaking for myself...
*~[
Grand Poobah
DerbyMatic/DNN
The Inner Loopers
Roc City Roller Derby
I would say, just watch the
I would say, just watch the bout on Justin.tv and judge for yourself. Personally, I think a ref's job is to keep control of the game without affecting game play (meaning, call penalties if needed, but not just for the hell of it).
But that's just me :)
From the outside, it looked like BOTH teams were getting called on majors whenever a hit took down another player.
Lois Carmen Dominator (LCD)
Boston Derby Dames
www.bostonderbydames.com
the call was pushing
the ref didn't hold up 4 fingers, just 1 finger for the roller girl to get off the track.