BALTIMORE, MD — In the second of back-to-back narrow upsets in Charm City’s third season opener, last year’s third-place Junkyard Dolls surprised the two-time CCRG champion Night Terrors by a final of 74 to 63.

Both teams relied heavily on new blood in this contest. The Night Terrors, adjusting their gameplan after losing most of their jamming core during the 2007-2008 offseason, got a solid debut from rookie Minnie Piledriver — who led the Terrors with 18 points — and also key performances from Speed Regime transfer Psycho78 (17 points) and third-year veteran Rosie the Rioter (15 points.) The Dolls also had a significant Speed Regime transfer in Flo Shizzle, who led the scoring with 32 points and sealed the win with some late-game heroics.

As the bout kicked off, the Terrors immediately fell into a hole when leadoff jammer Marzipain went to the penalty box in the very first jam on a cutting-track major — opponent Flo Shizzle would score 7 points in that full-length jam, and followup Doll jammer would get a 9-3 win over Marzipain in the following frame. This left the Terrors looking at a disheartening 16-3 start after just two jams, but they’d regroup quickly.

Pulling lead jammer on 5 out of the next 6 jams, the Terrors went on a dominating 31-7 run — keyed by an 8-0 for Psycho78 over Ella Fitz-Peril in both jammers’ team debuts — that lifted the defending champs to a 34-23 lead.

But with things starting to look a little grim for the Dolls, team captain Dolly Rocket chose that moment to give her team a major boost by taking the jammer star on consecutive jams — first, she got lead and a 4-2 win over Psycho78, and then went right back to the jammer line for an explosive 10-0 win over Minnie Piledriver that put the Dolls back in front, 37-36.

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BALTIMORE, MD — A resurgent Mobtown Mods team went from worst to first in Charm City’s local season opener, thrilling their fans with a back-and-forth 74-58 win over last year’s second-place Speed Regime that came down to the very last jam.

While the off-season addition of two-time league MVP Joy Collision was a major factor in their victory — she scored 44 of the team’s 74 points — a strong second-half showing from Lady Quebeaum, along with some effective pack play from Judy Boom, Penaltyna and Angthrax, were crucial elements of the win. On the Speed Regime’s side, rookie jammer Bambi’s Revenge made an impressive debut with 17 points on 4 jams, while Stormin’ Mormon led the Regime point totals with 19, and transfer Holly Go Hardly (playing against the team she played for last year) was a monster in the pack.

For the first few jams of the bout, it looked like the Mods were going to go down to another of the lopsided defeats that characterized their winless 2007 season. After an opening 1-1 between Stormin’ Mormon and Joy Collision, the Speed Regime took lead jammer on the first five jams of the bout and constructed a 15-1 lead. However, after a Mod timeout, the red-and-black came storming back, opening with a massively crowd-pleasing 14-0 jam for Joy Collision over Deathany (who’d spend a minute of the jam watching from the penalty box) and following up with a 4-0 victory for Duchess of Torque over Stormin’ Mormon.

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On Saturday night, Charm City start their third season with a double header in downtown Baltimore, as the defending champion Night Terrors go up against the Junkyard Dolls and the Speed Regime takes on the Mobtown Mods. After two all-star bouts in the Baltimore Armory, Charm City moves to DuBurns Arena (home of major league indoor soccer’s champion Baltimore Blast) for their local season.

This five-bout season will be a bit shorter than the first two Charm City local seasons — with each team only facing each other once before a playoff doubleheader, every bout will be crucial to determining the #1 seed for the playoffs.

While the Night Terrors and Speed Regime dominated the first two seasons, a number of trades, retirements and transfers has scrambled the landscape and given the Junkyard Dolls and Mobtown Mods a serious shot at this year’s Donaghy Cup.

Night Terrors

The Night Terrors find themselves in something of a unfamiliar position as the 2008 season starts. Every longtime Charm City fan knows their storybook tale of their thrilling two-point last-jam comeback win in the 2006 CCRG championship over the previously undefeated Speed Regime and their season-long struggle for supremacy with the Regime in 2007, but with two convincing wins over Speed Regime to finish that season, they find themselves no longer scrappy underdogs but established front-runners, with every team in the league gunning for them.

However, the Terrors still have very much have something to prove this year — that they can take a championship without the help of the phenomenal two-time MVP Joy Collision, who has moved to the Mobtown Mods after two seasons with the Terrors. They’ve also lost all-star Dr. Skabs and veterans Mexican Fury and Nasty Trick since last year (all to CCRG retirement.)

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BOSTON, MA — On Saturday evening, the Charm City league team Night Terrors rolled into Boston, fast and gothic like their Tim Burton theme intro music, to take on BDD champion Wicked Pissahs in a 40-minute exhibition bout. To the delight of the 1,250 fans packing the Shriner’s Hall, the Terrors fell to the Pissahs’ speedy jammers and devastating control of the inside lines.

YouTube: Highlight reel

The Terrors are league champions as well, but were skating as a substantially reformulated team, missing the powerful jammer Joy Collision (who bench-coached the game with Dolly Rocket) and the speedy Dr. SKabs from last season’s champion team, and featuring several skaters in their first bout. The Pissahs consistently stumped the Terrors, with a tenacious and flexible frontline that never let a Terrors jammer go without getting several hard shots in, and with the frequent and effective use of teammates as projectiles.

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In a battle of local champions, Charm City’s Night Terrors head up to Boston for a showdown with Boston’s local Wicked Pissahs. The Night Terrors have triumphed in both Baltimore home seasons, while the Pissahs have won the first BDD home championship and are already guaranteed a slot in next month’s Boston championship.

The Terrors recently pulled off a big interleague victory when they took out Philly’s local champs, the Philthy Britches, in February, but this Terrors roster will be quite a bit different from that one. The Terrors will be trying out their new 2008 roster, which does not include two of their most effective veterans — MVP Joy Collision (who has moved to local team Mobtown Mods) or Dr. Skabs (who played her last game for Charm City in their most recent interleague win over Rocky Mountain.) This crew features two rookies playing in their first regulation bout — Minnie Piledriver and Juicy Brute — along with Terrors vets Fatal Attraction and Blind Banshee, both coming off injuries that have kept them sidelined them since last summer. Finally, ex-Junkyard Dolls Radar Love will be playing her first game as a Night Terror since transferring to the team in the 2008 restructuring. Three Terrors — Cheeta Torpeda, Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs, and Frenzy Lohan — have played in Boston’s Shriners’ Auditorium before, having been on the all-star roster in the nail-biting 112-110 Boston win that concluded CCRG’s first interleague season in April 2007.

Over on the Pissah’s side, the roster will include five skaters who played in the Boston all-star team’s recent impressive 116-49 dismissal of Gotham’s local champs, the Bronx Gridlock — Shelby Shattered, Miss Mary Smack, Krush Puppy, Harley Quinn, and Triple Deck-her. Deck-Her and Quinn excel at the jammer position, and Shelby Shattered has earned a reputation as a very dangerous blocker in a team that excels at replacement blocking and re-engagement. The new version of the Terrors will have to come together very quickly if they want to earn a win against the current rulers of the Boston Derby Dames.

UPDATE: The Pissahs defend their home turf, knocking off the visiting Terrors 100-61.

Additional reporting: Harley Quinn, Sister Midnight

-0 Shellby Shattered // 3.2.1 Miss. Mary Smack // 3 Jodie Faster // 99 Harlot Fevah // B52 Etta Maims // 3D Triple Deck-Her // 3.31.25 Betty Spite // 9669 Harley Quinn // 843 Krush Puppy // B-17 Varga Bomber // 7:1 Maude Forbid // 18 Trish Squish

4i’s Blind Banshee // 37 Cheeta Torpeda // 24 Fatal Attraction // 119 Frenzy Lohan // 3$ Juicy Brute // L7 Marzipain // 1010 Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs // 728 Minerva VaVoom // 125 psi.Minnie Piledriver // 69 Pixie Rocket // i Radar Love // 100% Rosie the Rioter // 515 Sister Midnight

BALTIMORE, MD — Baltimore’s 15th-ranked Charm City Roller Girls and Denver’s 13th-ranked Rocky Mountain Roller Girls had an epic back-and-forth confrontation on Saturday night, with an especially heated second half that featured four lead changes before the Charm City girls finally managed to seal the deal in the last five minutes, defeating Rocky Mountain 115-97.

Things got off on the wrong foot for home Baltimore, as their leadoff jammer Stormin’ Mormon picked up a cutting-track major on her opening pass and found herself entering the penalty box before a minute had even gone by in the bout. That allowed opposing jammer Frida Beater to get 5 points and call off the jam with Stormin’ still in the box. On the following jam, She Who Cannot Be Named, on the jammer line for Rocky Mountain, added a 3-1 on Stormin’, making it Rocky Mountain 8, Charm City 1 after two jams. But Charm City found their footing soon afterwards, picking up lead jammer on the next five jams in a row and winning them all to establish a 29-12 lead about 12 minutes into the bout.

That 17 point lead would be the largest Charm City would enjoy until the very end of the game, though. Rocky Mountain turned the tables on Charm in the next series of five jams, getting lead on four out of five and outscoring the home team 16-7 to make it a considerably closer bout at 36-28 with about 10 minutes to play in the half. On the period’s second to last jam, Charm City’s Lady Quebeaum entered the penalty box early in the frame and She Who Cannot Be Named pulled down Rocky Mountain’s biggest jam of the half with a 9-0 that made the score Charm City 44, Rocky Mountain 41. With the 50 seconds of the last jam not quite enough for either Quebeaum or Frida Beater to score points, the score remained at 44-41 going into the half.

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If the current WFTDA rankings are accurate, there should be a doozy of a matchup in Baltimore on Saturday night, as the 15th-ranked Charm City Roller Girls try to extend their three-game winning streak when they host the 13th-ranked Rocky Mountain Roller Girls out of Denver, Colorado.

Charm City’s current interleague season got off to a dismaying start in November when they were trounced 126-37 in an away game against Portland’s Rose City, but their fortunes have been steadily on the upswing since, with a narrow 73-69 upset win over 11th ranked Minnesota in December, a 117-89 home win over 23rd ranked Dallas in January, and a 132-64 romp over WFTDA-inactive Ohio in February, also in Baltimore.

The Baltimore ladies do come into the match missing two of their standout players, though — first-year rookie Cherrylicious played her last bout for Charm City against Ohio, and two-year veteran Pistol Whip will sit this bout out, apparently still feeling the effects of a nagging injury. Cherry and Pistol had been effective and heavily used at both the jammer line and in the pack, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Charm City jammer rotation evolves without them. Stepping into their places are pack specialists Pixie Rocket (in her second all-star bout) and Penaltyna (making an all-star debut), but Charm City still has plenty of potential ammunition at the jammer line, with Stormin’ Mormon, Flo Shizzle, Lady Quebeaum, Rosie the Rioter, Dr. Skabs, Duchess of Torque, Dolly Rocket, Joy Collision and Coach Ballbricker all experienced interleague jammers. The hard-hitting Holly Go Hardly, Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs and Cheeta Torpeda will be anchoring the defense in the pack.

It’s tempting to compare Charm City and Rocky Mountain by the fact that they both played Dallas recently (Rocky Mountain defeated them by 12 in November, while Charm City defeated them by 28 in January) — but that doesn’t take into account the fact that Rocky Mountain more recently faced off against 5th ranked Eastern powerhouse Gotham, going down 113-47 in December. Time and time again derby shows that a big loss to a highly-ranked team usually results in a dramatic improvement in the losing team’s play, and few teams know that better than Charm City, who were on the business end of that truism when Rose City used the lessons of their own loss to Gotham on them in November.

Rocky Mountain is at a bit of a numbers handicap, bringing only 11 players out to the East Coast — but they’ve picked a very tight lineup with speed demons She Who Cannot Be Named and Frida Beater leading a scoring attack behind the notoriously punishing defense of Pinky 500, Assaultin’ Pepa, Ida Hustler and more. While She Who and Frida have become known as the backbone of the RMRG offense, Luscious Smacksome and Smashbox have started to step up as effective jamming support in a defense-oriented team.

Also: local fans get an extra treat pre-game, as Charm City gives some of their best new skaters a very public debut in a 20 minute opening mini-bout against the Commanders in Briefs, the relatively new all-star team from nearby sister league DC Rollergirls. Charm City’s squad for this matchup pairs 7 veteran skaters (Angthrax, Major Threat, Sister Midnight, Frenzy Lohan, Reckless Endangerment, Deathany and Killer Kitten) up with 6 rookies (Rebel Yellow, Maiden China, Minnie Piledriver, Essie Ecks, Harlotte’s Webb and Bambi’s Revenge.) DC brings 12 girls to the party — big hitters Phang, Trampon and Six5, mercurial jammers Goldrush, Guantanamo Babe and Meatball, and double threats Helena Handbag, Condoleezza Slice and Hooah! Girl. ShREDica, Deja Bruise and Darth Vixen will round out the expo roster.

86 Assaultin’ Pepa (captain) // 500 Pinky 500 (captain) // ‘57 Annia LateHer // 3 Catholic Cruel Girl // 18-3-202 Frida Beater // P1MP Ida Hustler // 480 Luscious Smacksome // 33 Madam MaimYa // 88 She Who Cannot Be Named // 8 Winona Fighter // 36 Smashbox

Cheeta Torpeda, #37 // / Coach Ballbricker, #13 // Dutchess Of Torque, #200lb/ft // Dr. Skabs, #89 // Dolly Rocket, #6 // Flo Shizzle, #24-7 // Holly Go Hardly, #415 // Joy Collision, #747 (captain) // Lady Quebeaum, #34 // Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs, #1010 (captain) // Penaltyna, #7 // Pixie Rocket, #69 // Rosie The Rioter, #100% // Stormin’ Mormin, #68

BALTIMORE, MD - In front of an estimated 1500 Baltimore fans, 15th-ranked Charm City rolled to a solid win on Sunday night by defeating currently unranked Ohio by a final of 132-64. The victory came at a bit of a price, though, as a number of injuries to key Charm City players scrambled their lineup and indefinitely sidelined one of their most effective jammers, Flo Shizzle.

While Charm City struck first with a 5-0 jam for Coach Ballbricker over Ohio’s Barracuda, Ohio answered immediately with a 4-0 for Pippi Ripyourstockings over Pistol Whip. On the subsequent jam, Charm City’s Dolly Rocket and Stormin’ Mormon stymied Ohio jammer Drrty Girl throughout her first pass, allowing Charm City’s Joy Collision to get the 5-0 grand slam and promptly call the jam. A couple of jams later, Charm City had to deal with the unexpected loss of Flo Shizzle, who was on the right side of a 5-3 jam with Drrty Grrl but suffered a freak injury when entering the penalty box at the end of the jam — an awkward entry caused an apparent quadricep tear, and she’d be removed by stretcher from the playing area. (Flo stayed at the venue for the duration of the bout, although she didn’t play again — the extent of the injury is still uncertain.)

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On Sunday evening, 15th-ranked Charm City tries to make it three WFTDA wins in a row as they christen a new Baltimore venue in a battle against the Ohio Roller Girls.

Ohio has been on a bit of a cold streak for a while now — they’ve only got one victory in their last nine outings, that one being a narrow 134-131 triumph over WFTDA’s unranked Steel City in December. Their most recent bout was at home against 8th-ranked Detroit in January, where they went down to a 105-57 defeat. (At that point Ohio was ranked 25th — their current unranked status is due to temporary membership standing issues with WFTDA.) That bout happened to be on the same weekend as Charm City’s last contest, a 117-89 win over visiting Dallas. That victory followed a close 73-69 win over Minnesota in December.

The girls from Baltimore will likely once again be relying on an increasingly tough defense-oriented game, although they do benefit from having a remarkably deep jammer pool — 11 of their 14 players have experience jamming in interleague games, and an 12th, Duchess of Torque, is making her interleague debut but was a first-string jammer during the home season on her Mobtown Mods. Dr. Skabs is playing in her second all-star game, as is Stormin’ Mormon, who made her mark playing some critical late-game defense against Minnesota.

If history is any guide, Ohio will be looking primarily to Pippi Ripyastockings and fan favorite Foxy Force on the jammer line, but double-threat captain Barracuda has been known to take the jammer star on occasion and is as dangerous from the jammer line as she is in the pack. Gypsy Warfare was also one of Ohio’s more effective jammers in the most recent game against Detroit.

Ironically, one element that might be working in Ohio’s favor will be Charm City’s new venue — while Ohio normally skates on sport court at home, this bout represents a move from the hardwood of Skateland to a sport court laid down in the Fifth Regiment Armory, a larger and much more centrally located spot for the Baltimore girls to play. Most of Charm City’s skaters have experienced sport court in previous interleague play, but it’ll be the first time either team has ever skated on this particular court, even in practice — it should be interesting to see if an adjustment period affects the play at all.

The evening will also contain a special pre-game men’s pickup scrimmage featuring some of the standout skaters from the burgeoning Northeast men’s derby scene. Players from New York Shock Exchange, Pioneer Valley Dirty Dozen, and the local Harm City Homicide, and even a guest from far out west — the Puget Sound Derby Outcasts’ Hollywood Chuck Bury, who is in Baltimore for a week coaching the Charm City ladies — will be throwing down in a 20 minute mix-up.

UPDATE: Charm City doesn’t have too much trouble handling the visitors, but loses crucial member Flo Shizzle to an early-game muscle tear. Charm City 132, Ohio 64 - full recap to come. In the extremely closely matched men’s expo, Hollywood Chuck Bury notches a full-length 9-0 jam over Virginia Slim in the last 2 minutes to lift Team Booth to a 39-38 win over Team Lincoln.

Ali Catraz #10-98 (Captain) // Barracuda #00 (Captain) // Chewblocka #2.28M // Dixie Heartless #914H // Drrty Grrl #11 // Foxy Force #5 // Gypsy Warfare #7 of Wands // Hell Camino #814 // Mase-a-Saur-us Rex #35-2627 // Pippi Ripyourstockings #5150 // Tha Devil #666 // Triptease #86 // Wild Irish Rose #4.99 // Ziggy StarBUST ∞

Cheeta Torpeda, #37 // Cherrylicious, #NC-17 // Coach Ballbricker, #13 // Dutchess Of Torque, #200lb/ft // Dr. Skabs, #89 // Dolly Rocket, #6 // Flo Shizzle, #24-7 // Holly Go Hardly, #415 // Joy Collision, #747 (captain) // Lady Quebeaum, #34 // Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs, #1010 (captain) // Pistol Whip, #44 // Rosie The Rioter, #100% // Stormin Mormin, #68

FEASTERVILLE, PA — When the Philly and Charm City all-star teams faced each other in January 2007, the Liberty Belles meted out a 50-point schooling of the younger team. Almost exactly a year later, though, the Charm City local champion Night Terrors got a measure of revenge for their league, sending the Philly home champs Philthy Britches to their first defeat ever, 117-80. Both teams came into this bout with offsetting handicaps. The Britches were only skating 11 players, and of those, only 4 were on the current Philly all-star team. While the Night Terrors brought 13 and had 8 all-star players, 6 of them had just finished playing a full-length bout, as they were on the Dolls squad in the first contest of the doubleheader event.

The bout started in a very similar fashion to the neck-and-neck battle between the Dolls and the Hookers, with neither team able to establish a significant advantage. The Britches took the first lead as Mo Pain scored a 3-2 win over Joy Collision, as Joy was forced to call the jam as she took a tumble during a failed assist from Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs. (Mibbs aggravated an ongoing knee injury in that first jam; while she remained in the game, it seemed to bother her throughout.)

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