NC Consolation: 9NC Brewcity Downs 4NC Arch Rival, 126-123
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Photo: Bob Dunnell. -
Photo: Bob Dunnell. -
Photo: Bob Dunnell. -
Photo: Bob Dunnell.
NIAGARA FALLS, NY -- Arch Rival and Brewcity fought the bout of the tournament so far in a back-and-forth encounter that saw innumerable lead changes, an expulsion and a last-jam victory for the underdogs from Milwaukee. Brewcity's 126-123 win means the ninth seed team can finish no lower than sixth, and the fourth seed Arch Rival are going home no higher than seven.
Brewcity opened their account with a quickfire 3-0--and when Black Market Baby skated the well-worn path to the penalty box in the second jam of the game, Carrie A Hacksaw made it 16-0, despite some trouble with an early 4-2 pack disadvantage as her blockers were in two minds as to whether they should disengage or help out.
Brewcity continued to get the better of the opening exchanges until Scooter was boxed on a major back block. Stout defense limited Mighty Mighty Boston's scoring but the score was closed to 27-14.
Several jams later South City Shiner squirmed her way through a 4-2 pack disadvantage to get a lead call--and when handed Arch Rival’s second power jam she gave the team their first lead of the game, with Skittle watching helplessly from the box. Once that was done Arch Rival had turned the bout around, and found themselves with a 46-27 lead.
Bloody Cupcake had cut that lead to five in her first jam before Black Market Baby took her seat in the box again. Cupcake called it and Strykher took her first turn with the star of the weekend to finish off the powerjam. She tied it up before Black Market Baby was released, and was forced into a call before scoring any more.
Downtown Dallis restored Arch Rival's lead before Carrie A Hacksaw gave Brewcity a 49-48 lead. A natural grand slam for Mighty Mighty Boston and three more made it 56-49 as Arch Rival's offense wrought havoc with Brewcity's pack. Servin' Justice and May Require Stitches starred in the pack for Arch Rival and Brewcity respectively during a tense period before halftime as Arch Rival kept their noses in front as they closed the half out, leading 65-62, even with the teams trading power jams.
The lead evaporated in the first 30 seconds of the half as Zo-Tay put up a 7-0 to give Brewcity a 69-65 lead. Six consecutive lead calls gave Brewcity nine points over six high-speed jams to stretch their lead further as they held Arch Rival scoreless. Arch Rival broke that run with a lead call with eight minutes gone in the period, but a huge and well-timed hit kept Arch Rival scoreless. South City Shiner broke the ARRG duck for the half next jam, though with a 9-0 to bring the game back to within three points.
Zo-Tay was boxed in the next jam after Downtown Dallis got Arch Rival's third lead call in a row and put up a 17-0 jam to retake the lead, leaving the score at 91-77 with 19 minutes left. Boston made it four in a row and cashed in two points; Black Market Baby made it five and added one more--mirroring Brewcity's low-scoring dominance of lead jam calls minutes earlier.
The chain was again broken by a powerjam--but unfortunately for Brewcity it was Zo-Tay going to the box again. She was, though, released very quickly after a back block by opposing jammer South City Shiner and the jam ended with a 16-point lead for Arch Rival. Carrie A Hacksaw cut the deficit to 12 in the next jam before Skittle had her first success with the star to cut the lead to 3--and as the jam ended, so did Mighty Mighty Boston's bout. She was expelled for an intentional block to the head and gave Brewcity a power jam in the process.
Romaniac then put up five to retake the lead and handed the final few seconds of the powerjam to Bloody Cupcake as she struggled with the Arch Rival pack on her second scoring pass. Cupcake made the lead 10 before calling it as Shimmy Hoffa emerged from the box having served Boston's time.
Downtown Dallis retook the lead for Arch Rival with under four minutes to go. May Require Stitches took the star for the very first time and made that three-point lead seven with under two minutes left on the clock. Zo-Tay brought Brewcity within two points--and then pushed her team into a 3 point lead as Servin' Justice laid hit after hit on Downtown Dallis.
The bout ended 126-123 to Brewcity. The Brewcity Bruisers play the fifth-place playoff at 2 p.m. tomorrow; Arch Rival play off for seventh at noon.
Comments
I'm afraid i don't really
I'm afraid i don't really understand the massive prevalence of black jersey vs. white jersey bouts thus far this tournament. It's really visually lackluster. What is this, a tribute to 1958 broadcast TV? A scrimmage? The hot pink duct tape is pretty cool though. Outfit and MNRG you are exempt from my outrage today. Thank you.
I totally agree where did all
I totally agree where did all the color go?
Rules
I don't know if this is why, but there is one possibility. Supposedly there's a rule that all teams must bring a white jersey to tournaments like this. This rule also supposedly was due to the Charm vs Steel bout at Easterns in 2010 where one was black with yellow and the other was yellow with gold. It was referred to as the bumblebee bout, and apparently since their secondary colors were on the side, the officials complained that they would see one color when they faced them and a different color when they were sideways to them. Anyway, as a result of that white rule, it's possible that some teams just choose white as their secondary color so as not to buy three sets of jerseys. Most teams also like black as a home color.
That's my best guess, and of course odds are I said a lot of untrue things.
White jersesy are required as a light option,
but they don't have to be the only option. And the policy was put in place after several crazy tournament games where the teams playing had opposite colors and it was nearly impossible to tell them apart from the side. It's a reason that you have also far fewer side stripes because a black jersey with a red side stripe looks pretty much like the opponents red jersey from the side. Even thought the team colors are Red v Black. Teams can have the colored jerseys but must have a white option available in case there are color conflicts that make it insane to try and officiate and watch as a fan. I know our team just went with the whites instead of having three sets. The outfit played in their yellow! And MNRG and Naptown had Blue and red. I think you just must not have been watching the whole tournament!
and seriously, is that all you guys have to talk about when a #9 seed takes down a #4? The black and white jerseys?
Also, as much as I would love to get credit for any part of that game, I was an alt and was not playing. We're not sure who it was that made the hit that I am given credit for (Anna Krajcik = Grace Killy and frankly you can use either one in the write ups if you want to reference me for something) but it sure wasn't me. :P
Ayup.
It's one of the (many) reasons MNRG has the aqua and army jerseys. Very few folks have anything similar.
And go Brew City! It was awesome calling your first bout Friday against the Outfit (where you DID play) and interviewing Zo-tay for WFTDA.tv after the best game of the weekend so far, the 3 point, last jam, all-eyes-on-the-scoreboard victory over Arch!
Huzzah Brew City! What a
Huzzah Brew City! What a great bout. The crowd at the Blind Pig went mad for your majestic actions.
maybe we can talk about tournament structure
If brew city walks away from this tournament with only a loss to windy city and no chance to prove they are better than the third and possibly the second place team it would be a damn shame. For many teams entering the regional tournaments a huge team goal for the season is to make it to championships. Unfortunately the current system is majorly flawed when used to determine the third best team in a region.
Don't agree
Yes, Brewcity managed to take down the 4 seed. On the other hand, Brewcity very nearly lost to the Outfit, who ended up not winning any games this weekend. If those games had happened in a different order, I doubt you would be arguing that Brewcity deserved to be playing for 3rd place.
I think the tournament structure, insofar as it determines final placement, is actually quite good -- as good as it can be given the fact that it's a 10 team and not an 8 or 16 team tournament. The fact that there are approximately three months between the games that determine seeding for the tournament and the actual tournament is a MUCH bigger problem.
loser bracket
I do have a problem with the fact that running the table in the loser bracket doesnt allow for a chance to play for 3rd place. Especially since a team can have a loss and still make it to championships. I am a Detroit slappy admittedly but DDG had a bad first game and finished the meet VERY strong going 3-0 through the loser bracket winning big in all their games. Ohio finished tourney 1-2 and placed higher than 3-1 Detroit?
The "regular season" matters
Just looking at the results in the regional tournament in a vacuum is missing the point. Ohio had an easier opportunity to place high in the final rankings compared to Detroit, because the voting powers that be, based on gameplay results in the first six months of the year, decided Ohio should go into the tournament with a higher seed than Detroit. The higher your seed, the "easier" job you have of placing well in the end.
So yeah, Detroit went 3-1 and Ohio 1-2 this past weekend. But before that, Ohio went 20-1 (15-0 in region, including a win over Arch Rival) and Detroit went 4-3 (1-2, including a loss against Arch Rival). To point out that Ohio lost twice but placed higher than Detroit that won three games is to ignore the fact that Ohio earned their more favorable starting position with a much, much stronger and more superior Q1/Q2 regional record.
Get over it. The system works fine.
Thanks!
Thanks for explaining how seeding works. I had no idea because I've never watched sports before in my life. I'm not whining just voicing my opinion. No need to be a jackass about it bro.
Detroit's loss was to
Detroit's loss was to Naptown, the eventual third-place finisher. You must admit, a tournament scenario where Detroit could somehow have won out and obtained third place over Naptown -- having already lost to them -- makes very little sense.
Although i guess there are
Although i guess there are other tournament structures, like wrestling or karate or something, where you can win your way back in, so i guess it's not THAT crazy of an idea. I wouldn't imagine such a structure would be feasible with 90-minute roller derby bouts, however.
I get it
You gotta handle your business on the track and DDG didn't. I'm just thinking out loud but many tourneys are structured in way so a team can come out of the loser bracket and still play for the championship especially when a meet is structured in a way that allows teams to advance despite a loss.
Thanks!
Very odd -- definitely had your number down in my notes! Thanks for the update. Corrected.
Agreed. The current structure
Agreed. The current structure is far superior to the mess of just a few years ago. The "how can my beloved team be eliminated with just a single loss" thing is a common fan lament that I wouldn't imagine will ever gain much traction...it's kind of just the way the world works.
Win and you're in...
I am not one of the skaters flying around the track, so I can only speak to my opinion as a fan/photographer, but I think the current tournament structure is fine. I think that if you're to be considered for championships you *should* have to go undefeated (until that possible final game). Anything less and you throw even more malarkey into championships. "Well XCity beat YCity at regionals, but YCity wound up winning the Hydra, so obviously, XCity deserves it instead." (Insert headache here.)
(Just my two cents.)