USA Sweeps First Roller Derby World Cup With 336-33 Win Over Canada
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Team USA's Frida Beater blocks Canada's Eight Mean Wheeler and Windigo. Photo: Axle Adams.
TORONTO, ON -- The first-ever Roller Derby World Cup came down to the top seeds -- 1 USA and 2 Canada. Canada managed to put up more points than USA's previous victims to the excitement of a passionate home crowd, but the final score was still an overwhelming victory for the overwhelmingly favored USA, 336-33.
Canada came into the game with an unfortunate roster scratch, as Georgia W. Tush suffered a broken collarbone earlier in the day against England, robbing Canada of a third of a jammer core that included Luludemon and Iron Wench.
The first jam was Atomatrix up against Canada's Soul Rekker, and it kicked off with a 15-0 to USA as Canada devoted all resources to trying to free Rekker but couldn't do it until Atom had been through four times. The next jam, though, was a crowd-exploder as Iron Wench claimed lead for Canada over Nicole Williams, but Wench had to call it at 0-0 as she rolled up for her scoring pass.
The next jam found Canada jammer Luludemon having trouble with Sassy and Tannibal Lector, but getting out of the pack in time to hold DeRanged to 4-0. Gunpowder Gertie then tried her luck for Canada, but there was no way through a pack of Fisti Cuffs, Suzy Hotrod, Teflon Donna and Psycho Babble; Atomatrix doubled USA's score with a 19-0 before the jam was called on injury to Jess Bandit.
It was 38-0 there, and Canada got an opportunity when Williams was boxed as jammer for Team USA; however, Disco Akers, Urrk'n Jerk'n, Joy Collision and Frida Beater would not let Canada jammer Soul Rekker find any daylight. Even with a minute in the box, Williams still managed to complete her first pass and add 9-0 to USA's score, and Rekker ended the jam on the box on a major track cut.
Deranged was given the star on the followup power jam -- good blocking from Canada's Lil' Mama and Eight Mean Wheeler managed to slow her roll a bit on her first two passes, but it still eventually turned into a 19-0, and USA was up 66-0 ten minutes into the game. A huge 28-0 for Suzy Hotrod moved the needle to 94-0, but Hotrod ended the jam in the box, giving Luludemon a full minute alone; she got lead and then took serious battering from Fisti Cuffs and DeRanged but managed to ignite the audience with an eventual 5-0. It was 94-5 with 15 minutes in the half, and USA went over 100 on a 10-0 to Atomatrix next.
Canada got their third lead jammer status of the game to Iron Wench next, and she blasted up the inside line to take a 4-1 win and make it 105-9 -- more points than any team had previously managed to score in a game against USA.
After a 0-0, Canada's Gunpowder Gertie got lead after opposing number Urrk'n Jerk'n was boxed early, but Gertie attempted an apex leap that terminated squarely on Tannibal Lector's back and Gertie got boxed herself without points. Urrk'n took 25-0 out of the box to put USA up 130-9 with 9 minutes in the first half. Canada was unable to pick up any more points in the half, and it closed with USA putting on their expected domination, 178-9.
USA's lead hit exactly 200 points at 209-9 about six minutes into the second half, as Canada continued to get particularly gutsy performances in the pack from Windigo, Eight Mean Wheeler and Jess Bandit but was consistently unable to translate that into freedom for their jammers.
It wasn't till there were 17 minutes left in the game on a score of 248-9 that Canada got back on the board as Suzy Hotrod went to the box against Luludemon. Lulu took lead and battled her way through Psycho Babble, Frida Beater, Nicole Williams and Atomatrix twice for a 10-0. The crowd exploded for that one, and Iron Wench managed to claim another lead and 4-0 for Canada that drove the crowd into a frenzy as Canada doubled their score in just two jams at 248-22.
Although there was no question USA was headed for the victory, Canada had some more bright points after that. A few jams later, Iron Wench managed to get lead and some more points for Canada two jams later, but it went 4-2 as Urrk'n Jerk'n blasted through the pack as Wench was stuck and almost came back for more before Wench called. On the followup, it was Luludemon getting another lead for Canada and taking 3-0. It was 263-27 favoring USA there, but the energy in the building was high with Canada managing to give their native fans reasons to cheer.
That'd be just about the end of the Canada scoring until the final jam, though. Going into it, it was 331-28 but USA lost their jammer Tannibal Lector on a major back block, and Canada fans got one last chance to explode as their jammer Soul Rekker equalized the jam at 5-5 to put up a final score of 336-33 USA.
Team USA's roster for the final was Sassy (Oly), Tannibal Lector (Oly), Atomatrix (Oly), Joy Collision (Charm City), Teflon Donna (Philly), Suzy Hotrod (Gotham), Fisti Cuffs (Gotham), Anna ("Donna Matrix") Kolberg (Gotham), Nicole "Bonnie Thunders" Williams (Gotham), Psycho Babble (Rocky Mountain), Frida Beater (Rocky Mountain), Deranged (Rocky Mountain), Urrk'n Jerk'n as Booty Blockya (Rocky Mountain), and Tracy "Disco" Akers (Denver).
Comments
I approve
A 303 point blowout of Canada is the right and appropriate result of this game. Congratulations to USA and Canada for your professional efforts during this contest.
Right and appropriate?
A 303 point blowout of Canada is the right and appropriate result of this game.
What a strange thing to say.
Enjoying free beer
Made a bet with a friend that USA would win by 300 points; enjoyed a tasty free beer. Thank you Team USA for making me appear that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to derby.
Damn you Southbay
Made a bet with a friend that USA would win by 300 points; enjoyed a tasty free beer. Thank you Team USA for making me appear that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to derby.
Damn you, I was really hoping Canada would deny them that...........you only won by 4 points Southbay........
Dream Team of Roller Derby
Could we call them the original Dream team of Roller Derby. With the high scoring they put up and the amazing defense, I think just like the Dream team of basketball, this might be the greatest team we might ever see. What do you think?
Dream Team?
I prefer Dreamboat Team.
Dreamboat Team?
I see red, white, and blue men in my crystal ball.
303 points
Interesting that the margin was 303 points.
How many Team USA skaters are from leagues in Denver? 7 - more than any other region.
So, area code 303 REPRESENT!
(I know, I know...kind of lame. But still...)
USA what!
Jesus, people. Why is it that we must engage in such superfluous debate after every tournament? Buzz kill.
We just witnessed the first ever Roller Derby World Cup. C'mon ya ninnies, let's celebrate!
So congratulations to Team USA for being, well, amazing! You are a huge inspiration for the rest of us and you done America proud.
Never give up! Never surrender!
Jasmine Facun
You know the words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocnrPLKbkD0
While I am a child of the eighties....
This was probably the reference being...er...referred to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5hi4c4y9k
YEAH BUDDY!!!
I was so glad to be a part of this amazing event .. roller derby, the world over will be changed forever after this weekend .. even with little ol me.. my derby rut is OVER! back on the track saturday to get myself back in gear. ALL those girls are amazing. I dont think people realize how hard of a sport this is (especially at this level), and the dedication that goes into this for most of us, at any level!! Most of the roller derby teams are run by the players and, at times can feel like another job. Events like this make it all worth while. I have heard people say if you have to have a nick name its not a sport.. I say The names on the back of our jerseys are an added bonus, no longer a distraction of how AWESOME WE ARE!!!
Well Done
Well done, Team USA. You have proven yourselves to be the very best in the world.
USA Blowout - Will there be another Derby World Cup?
Huge Congratz to team USA!
I love to see out team win as much as the next person, but I do have some concerns if the other countries will bring teams next year. With roller derby just breaking out in other countries and new start up teams not having much experience. they did not give Team USA much of a challenge, will they want to come to another Derby World Cup?
Your Thoughts?
the way i see it, playing the
the way i see it, playing the game is the most important thing to these remarkable girls. of course everyone likes to win, but that takes a backseat to playing hard and having fun. there were lots of wins with a huge points difference, but nobody seemed to mind. the sense of community and being there was, i'm sure, a highest priority!
Sure, why not.
Of course the other teams want to come back. USA was not the only team there. European teams like Finland, Sweden, France or Germany did play a lot of exciting games against countries that were weaker (Argentina, Brasil, Scotland), countries of their own level (New Zealand) and countries that were stronger (England, Australia and Canada). Some even had the opportunity to play the superstars of the USA (lucky bastards). In roller derby "only the winner counts, the rest are losers" is not true.
I hope in two years Belgium will have a team there as well. We start working on that.
Every player who stepped onto
Every player who stepped onto the track against the USA (myself included) pushed hard to get every point on the board for 60 minutes of play. It's diminishing to say roller derby is just breaking out in other countries. While roller derby was built in the USA, it is truly a worldwide sport now and we all LOVE Team USA. Much stronger than everyone else, yes, but this was a world cup for EVERY position from first until last and every country will be returning to improve their placing.
I should hope so!
Based on anecdotal experience, I can say that every last skater participating was beyond stoked to be there and skating for her country. It was a giant convention of watching and learning for everyone involved. Derby is learned by not just watching but by the physicality of moving through the motions. You can't get better on your own in this sport and it takes skating against people who are better than you to force you to get better. You learn their tricks when you skate against them; or, at the very least, you can glean their thought processes -- there's quite a bit of chess that happens in the game. All of these things are what propel you onward and upward. Even within blowouts, small personal and team victories were had that may not have been visible to the naked eye. You know, like DNN says, it ain't like being there at all. Even watching ain't like skating the game at all.
They will want to go to the
They will want to go to the next world cup MORE!
Sure!
While I don't think this will be the greatest team USA ever, it will be the most dominant, clearly.
Future rivals will take the DVDs from this and other events, analyze why they got demolished, ramp up their nutrition/training/strategery, and slowly catch up to the USA.
Take the basketball dream team: In 92, team Angola was tripping all over themselves for Jordan's autograph.. By the 2002 worlds, a crew of nba stars was getting punked by Yugoslavia en route to placing 6th in indianapolis (I photographed many of the games, it was fugly).
Team USA will get better---think of all the great future derby athletes who might otherwise play soccer, volleyball or hockey---but at some point others in the English speaking world will catch up. And, when more of derbydom is written in other languages, our euro/Asian/African/Latin American friends will be right there.
One thing I do hope is that this becomes an every-other-year event. Not annually. Makes it much more special.
-Junior
Don't understimate us, it's
Don't understimate us, it's not because we don't speak english at home, that we do not understand what you are writing. When you think we'll wait for the translation, you'll be surpised ;-)
<3
When you think we'll wait for the translation, you'll be surpised ;-)
Love this, keep coming world!
It's an aspect of amerocentrism, I'm afraid
We in the states just don't have a tradition of becoming fluent in additional languages, and I think that means we don't realize that most other cultures consider it an important aspect of education. It's not that we don't "learn languages" -- two years of classes in a foreign language is a typical high school graduation requirement -- but two years of an hour a day sure isn't enough to actually gain anything approaching fluency.
Because we don't go into adulthood with additional language skills, I think we project that others don't either.
That said
That mindset is not exactly unique to America. I was pretty aghast to learn that, to get a PhD in the States, I have to pass either one super-hard language exam or two still-bloody-hard language exams. My Australian university would probably politely suggest that I am way, way overdue to pick up some French or German instead of those useless community languages I did instead, but it wouldn't be a formal requirement - or a dealbreaker. My high school had one year of compulsory foreign language instruction - six months of Indonesian, six months of French, taken in year 7; program cut to six months of either one the year after I did it - and that was pretty consistent with standards across the state, if not the whole country.
On the other hand, I have yet to run up against an Australian undergraduate, illiterate in foreign languages though they may be, who doesn't know that the seasons are reversed between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, or thinks they need to learn a "special language" before they go to, oh, Canada's probably a pretty good equivalent example. (Said student followed up with, "I've heard Australians are really hard to understand when they speak English." "Um? Am I?") Amerocentrism is its own Very Special Thing, for sure, but the language thing isn't super special.
Most Valuable Player in the World
Is Joy Collision!
I can whole heartedly agree with that. I don't know anyone who works harder both on and off the track. And as many of us know all across the globe, no one is more positive, more inspiring and more motivating than Joy. A true athlete. A truely amazing person. Oh, and she is also a great friend, too. Congrats to Joy and Team USA on making history. We love you!!! So proud!
While Joy is indeed awesome...
...Smack Daddy of Team Canada was actually voted MVP of the World Cup.
Too bad the final score
Too bad the final score wasn't 333-33 and the announcer didn't yell "YAHTZEE!"
It's probably for the best
I think Dirty Marty's head might have exploded.
Sir Skatealot, Of course
Sir Skatealot,
Of course everybody will catch up! This will be awesome when it happens. My point is that right now, the bulk of the derby strategies/blogging/training seminars/training methods/rule discussion/etc...are done in English, which creates a huge hurdle for those who don't understand the language.
No it isn't, we know our
No it isn't, we know our languages. But when we start coming up with super strategies/blogging/training seminars/training methods/rule discussion/etc... and we do that in Dutch, French, German or Finnish, it could be the English speaking world that has problems.
Please don't take this to serious, only saying that you don't have to overestimate the language barrier. Most of the derby communication is done in english. Here in Antwerp, Belgium, we speak dutch. But when someone from the us joined the team, suddenly most of the conversation was in English. Eroc, the annual roller derby conference in Berlin, Germany is held in English...
Tournaments in South America? Europe?
Have there been any tournaments set up in Europe or South America, etc where teams in those areas can compete without having to travel so far away and spend lots of cash? It would also give them some good experience. I know it takes alot of planning , time and funds to set one up but it would be nice to see.
I know London has run Roll
I know London has run Roll Brittania for a few years now. I feel I've also heard about other tournaments (I'd like to say in Germany?) but maybe it was just a few games versus a tournament style.
If there haven't been any in South America, I'm sure coming out this weekend (and hopefully making contacts who can share info) will help to kick start that!
Tournaments I know off in
Tournaments I know off in Europe last year:
German Championship (5 teams)
Battle of the Nordic light (5 teams from Sweden, Finland and Danmark)
And also a couple of smaller tournaments (3 teams) in France
In november 2012 there will be Battle of the lowlands (teams from Belgium and the Netherlands)
Just the beginning, but we're on our way.
UK tourneys
There have actually been quite a few....
In addition to Roll Britannia in London, there has also been three years of Tattoo Freeze (1 day tourney) every January in Telford. Plus a few leagues around the UK have also run local tourneys.
This years Tattoo Freeze Tournament is being organised by the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association and includes member leagues from around the UK. (UKRDA)
Congratulations Derby World!
Congratulations to the Derby World on a successful and exciting, inaugural World Cup of Derby! Bringing all these teams together from all over the world was a HUGE moment in derby's short history. The revolution is fully international, and we're just getting started!
Great job, Blood & Thunder, on pulling this off. How amazing!
Congrats to every team for every point scored against Team USA. You can leave knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that you fully earned every point against the best roller derby team on the planet... no question. (How many athletes in ANY sport ever get to say that? Seriously.)
Congrats to Joy Collision on MVP! You've been playing at an elite level for as long as I've been around. Plus, you are really, genuinely nice. That is so cool.
Finally, congratulations to the World Cup 2011 Champions, Team USA! The best team ever assembled. You rule!
Smack Daddy
Joy Collision was Team USA MVP. Canada's Smack Daddy was awarded Tournament MVP.
oops
Ah, I see now. Well, congrats to both awesome skaters! That's world class (literally).
South America
we plan on having tournaments here, but we need to wait a little bit longer
things here are not very easy to accomplish and we just started derby.
but we are working on it :)
I can understand it being
I can understand it being difficult. I know the teams in Chile have a hard time finding practice space in the winter so I imagine finding a big enough venue is a task. I will be traveling to Chile in Dec. 2012 and hopefully will train with and help out Chile's league (specifically Santiago area).
So Proud Of Team Canada!!
Way to go Canada!..... for putting up such a great fight! We're #2!! We're #2!!
Especially when you consider the population of Canada is smaller than the population
of the state of California...not bad eh!
BEAVER FEVER!! I've got it baby xx
California!
California would love to take on Canada.
Eh?
The whole country?
re: Eh?
yuppers. the whole thing.
Epic Abbreviation Showdown
The winner gains exclusive rights to the use of "ca" as an abbreviation.
Let's make this happen.
I'm in!
I'm in!
What an AMAZING weekend!!
All the skaters put their blood, sweat, tears and broken bones into this tournament and all have my respect. You're a part of history ladies!!
One last point. Ref's and NSO's FTW!!
Derby Has A New Fan
I've never been much of a sports fan. I'm not very athletic, so my interests have always skewed nerdy. Though, when I read about the World Cup this past weekend, my interest was piqued. I'd heard of roller derby, but always assumed it was a tiny, insignificant sport. The fact that 13 countries had the wherewithal to put on such a tournament, I was blown away.
I started doing some research, and found I was enthralled by the passion and uniqueness of the sport. I watched the movie Whip It, and a couple derby documentaries I found on Netflix, and my interest deepened. Over the past few days I've devoured anything derby related I can find-- reading through the WFTDA rules, watching clips on YouTube, listening to the Derby Deeds podcast, reading articles on this and other sites-- imagine my delight when I found that not only is there a derby league here in DC, but that they have a bout scheduled for this Saturday! I'm completely stoked.
I just wanted to let y'all know that, even though I have yet to watch a bout in person, derby has a new fan.
Bring it!
Ya California takes on Canada! Population wise that is a great match! (Still kinda stacked on the California side...we have the population of LA County) And Limp Risk it- it's people like you! Have fun at the bout, good luck with your new addiction! :)
Donations
Hey, I think fans should finish the job by getting DNN to its goal of $30 000, only missing a few hundred. I know you donated tons over the past weekend, and I seen the toys they rushed out and bought for you. Let's give it one last push.
Yay but small fail
Roller Derby World Cup was great!
But... I'm giving a ding to the official tournament web site, which as of right now (thursday night, the week after) doesn't have a single result posted, nor the winners of MVP-per-team honors.
As of December 9th I can go to http://rollerderbyworldcup.com/ and have no clue who won a single game in this tournament. I'm assuming New Zealand won the whole tournament, because they are just that awesome. CONGRATULATIONS NEW ZEALAND!!!
Please, tournament hosts, update your sites mid-tournament with results.
[originally posted more stridently, and since sobered up]
I, too, believe New Zealand
I, too, believe New Zealand should be awarded the World Cup, because they had the largest jersey numerals. None can ask fairer than that.
Go here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Derby_World_Cup
the point
the point, i believe you may be missing it.
point being:
tournament sites: henceforth and hereon, update your tournament sites, mid-tournament. Post-tournament would be nice too.
New Zealand, fitting champions
Of course New Zealand won. The greatest rugby nation in the world would have little problem felling all comers in rugby derby.
Hells yes Team NZ won...
if only for their haka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6gTYi-ZXc4