Somewhat lost in the shuffle of last weekend's Battle on the Bank was #27 Pikes Peak Derby Dames' impressive 94 - 81 upset of #6 Tucson Roller Derby on Saturday.
Before this bout, Pikes Peak's most prominent appearance was probably their February 2007 preliminary round bout at the Dust Devil WFTDA Western Regional Tournament. Seeded 12th out of 12 and facing 6th-seed Bay Area, Pikes Peak was abruptly eliminated in a 198 - 15 wipeout. Bay Area was subsequently dropped 120 - 35 by the eventual tournament victor, but the Pikes Peak - Bay Area bout stood out as the largest margin of victory from the weekend.
While this performance left many casual observers with the impression that Pikes Peak isn't a major concern, a series of under-the-radar bouts suggest otherwise. Pikes Peak has racked up a string of wins this year, starting with 118 - 97 over Houston in February, then continuing through Sacred City, Dallas, Northwest Arkansas, and Naptown before suffering a respectable 111 - 80 loss to upstate rival Rocky Mountain Rollergirls*.
Defeating Tucson, however, should cause a lot of people to sit up and take notice. Tucson Roller Derby has been a powerhouse in modern derby ever since anyone started keeping track, holding down the #2 ranking in WFTDA from the beginning until their surprise defeat at Carolina's hands. They've since remained steady at #6, no longer so lonely in lofty ground but still apparently holding solid among a growing crowd of top-level contenders.
With this victory, Pikes Peak puts itself prominently on the derby map.
* On a side note, Rocky Mountain has come a good long way from their dead-last finish in the first-ever flat track tournament 2 1/2 years ago -- now grazing against the top ten in an organization now swollen to 56 member leagues! Their rise, while quantitatively gradual, is also very impressive.
I was begining to think I was alone on this....
When PPDD came to Sacred ground this Feb I knew they we're making a huge step up. This coming from someone that watched the BADG blowout and still prepared my team for a rough season opener... Pikes Peak just plain brought it. As time has gone on and bouts compiled I was relieved to see it wasn't a fluke Sacred lost to them(by 3 freakin points). Kudos to PPDD for coming back strong after the bout heard round the nation!!
Coach Dirty
Sacred City
Sacto, Califas
I met the skaters from Pikes
I met the skaters from Pikes Peak a few months ago when they defeated my beloved Naptown Sirens. Psycho Babble, Deranged and Tara were great and fun to hang out w/at the afterparty. They are definately on their way up in the rankings. Now if they could only figure out a way to get past those killer Rocky Mountain Girls...
Rosters
Can someone post the rosters for both teams for this game?
A little late yes, but still worthy of mention!
rosters
We've been hoping to come up with someone who was at the bout and interested in recapping it, but we've pretty much struck out. I'll do a little digging for rosters but I'm not sure I'll be able to come up with them.
Details aside, it's clear that Tucson's roster is not what it once was.
Here a recap...
Not by me. This is the first Tucson interleague bout I've missed in a few months. Lucky coincidences had me in town for the last two. Tucsonian Don Bombshell wrote up a fairly detailed recap here:
http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/rocknroller/9995/pikes-peak-gals-will-scale-rankings
No rosters, though. If you give it a gander you'll see one rather notable addition to their travel team roster that didn't skate against B.A.D. Girls, and at least one notable TRD vet who apparently wasn't on the roster for this one.
It's worth noting that Tucson's four home teams skated a doubleheader the week before this bout. Not quite a "doubleheader trip" where the second opponent is rested while you're tired from last night's bout, but I can imagine it could have had some impact on their performance.
Nice bunch of friendly folks down in Tucson, would that it were a shorter and more pleasant drive.
*~[Grand Poobah
Sin City Stat Pack
Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls
The Rosters
Tuscon: Carrie Guns, Deadlock Doe Holliday, Helen Wheels, Kay Boom, Metal Maiden, Nokka Ho Down, Peaches Rodriguez, Polly Graf, Sassy Sue, Sunni SideUp, Two-Bit Ore, Tumbleweed, West Nile Iris, Whiskey Mick
Pikes Peak: Cat Black n' Ballou, Count Smacula, DeRanged, EckoGirl, Hang'em High Hell'en, Kamilla BloodSpilla, Karma GetchYa, Pepper Slay, Psycho Babble, Rolleene Thunda, Rushin Bride, Susie QT, Slugs-N-Kisses, Snow White Trash
So missing from Tuscon's action is Sloppy Flo. I'm not sure if they are missing any of their other regulars.
Pikes Peak was missing a few of their top blockers: The Swiss Missile, Barilyn Monroe and Tara to Pieces.
for those of you keeping score at home
Helen Wheels is the artist formerly known as AZRD's Sheriff Shutyerpaio.
Also missing from TRD's
Also missing from TRD's roster that night was jammer Sami Automatic and blockers Anita Donut and Turkish Slammer.
RMRG vs. PPDD
TRD will be in Denver to play RMRG in November. So we'll see how that goes.
Sock N Roll Ruby
PPDD
Good call on both PPDD and RMRG
Absolutely a good mention of both PPDD and RMRG. Though I haven't seen PPDD since being on that call of the loss to BAD (another new contender) at the Dust Devil, following their bout scores has shown the DD to be a mirage in their performance. They came to that bout with one legitimate jammer - who played her ass off - and they took it on the chin.
I'll be the first to take a soap box for RMRG. We certainly under-estimated what we were getting in Madison and fielded a roster that was not ready for what they got. If you haven't seen them this year, they are definitely one of the most exciting teams you will watch. It boggles the mind to think they run a TWO JAMMER rotation! She Who Cannot Be Named (better known as "She Who") and Frida Beater will alternate the entire night, giving way maybe two or three jams to a "fresh legs" jammer. Both are fast enough to overtake opponents on the outside of the turns, whether it's minute one or the last minute of the bout. They are tireless. Frida, I believe, is only in her second season and is a phenom. Complimented by strong play up front, they are a scary matchup for whomever gets them in the first round.
Bob Noxious
Announcer Mad Rollin' Dolls
Flyin' Squirrel
www.flyinsquirrel.com
Maybe, Dr. Bob
But I'd rather rely on FOUR great jammers rather than two. Gotham's win over RMRG in December is proof of that.
The Original GGRDonald
Costa has a WHITEBOARD, and he's not afraid to use it!