Posted by The Statisfier on 17th April 2008
In the wide world of sports, fewer rivalries run as deep as the one between Philadelphia and New York. Women’s roller derby is no exception to this rule. Philly and New York will meet once again on the track as The Liberty Belles hope that third time is a charm in their quest to topple their sisters from the Big Apple, the Gotham Girls.
The Philly Roller Girls think of the Gotham Girls as their big sisters. Gotham generously helped Philly get started by training PRG’s skaters how to play roller derby when the sport’s revival was still new to the East coast; Gotham was also instrumental in Philly’s induction into the WFTDA in 2005. This close relationship is one of the reasons Philly chose New York to be their first interleague bouting opponent in October, 2006. The change of pace from intraleague to interleague WFTDA action was a rude awakening for the Belles, as the final score was 103 to 69 in Gotham’s favor can attest.
However, in the months following that experience, wins against Charm City, Boston, Providence, New Orleans and the TXRG Hustlers propelled Philadelphia to the 4th slot in the Eastern rankings - one spot above Gotham - just in time for the Heartland Havoc tournament in August of 2007. This seeding meant that after a first-round bye for Philly and an easy 206-47 Gotham win over Grand Raggidy, the teams would met for the second time on the day two of the tournament. Improved as they might have been, the 139-81 decision in Gotham’s favor showed that the Belles were still no match for their sisters to the North.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bout posters, Bout previews, CT RollerGirls, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, Interleague Bouts, Philly Rollergirls, WFTDA | 7 Comments »
Posted by Zombielicious on 10th April 2008
Connecticut’s all-star team, the Stepford Sabotage, heads south to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on two-time Philly local champions, the Philthy Britches, in an inter-league exhibition bout.
While the Philthy Britches are undefeated in intra-league bouting, they suffered their first inter-league loss in January at the hands of the Night Terrors, a league team from the Charm City Roller Girls of Baltimore, MD. They’ve had one 2008 intraleague bout so far, starting off 1-0 by once again knocking off the local Broad Street Butchers 98-68 on March 15th.
The Britches have one of the more stable rosters in derby, and as usual will be sporting one of the game’s defining one-two punches in co-captains Mo Pain and Violet Temper, both equally capable at the jam line and in the pack. Additionally, 2008 rookie Racey Intent has quickly established herself as a terror wearing the jammer star, leading the Britches with 41 points in their win over the Butchers, pint-sized crowd favorite Janet Meano is a much bigger blocking threat than her size might imply, and Gloria Grindem and Ginger Vitis have been quite effective sharing most of the pivoting duty at the front of the pack.
The unranked Connecticut league is a relatively new addition to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), but they have been honing their skills by taking on several of the more established leagues in the northeast. Most recently, they went down against 14th ranked Providence on March 16th, 107-47, but they also sport a 106-61 December victory over unranked Long Island. Next weekend, they’ll be testing themselves even more seriously by taking on the Wall St. Traitors, the B-team from the number two league in the East, Gotham.
The Sabotage boasts two marquee jammers in Black Cherry and Pearl Jammer, and an agile, multitalented force in Tucson transfer Syd Rock. Also to be watched is blocker Eleanor Bruisevelt, who missed the Providence bout with an injury and will doubtless be eager to show her skills on the track, and Tina Colada and Doomcake turned some heads in the Providence bout with some aggressive, effective blocking.
Black Cherry 4 // Doomcake 13 // Eleanor Bruisevelt 33 // Ether Bunny 222 // Girl Fawkes 5 // Luciana Pulverotti 110 // Milla LowLife 40 // Pam Terror 9 // Parker Poison 3 // PearlJammer 60 //PeekaBoom! 718 // Revengela 123 // Syd Rock 2 // Tina Colada 52 // Violet Riot 911
Cindecent Exposure 711 // Dara Licks 67 // Dotti Horror 7 // Gefilte Fists 18 // Gloria Grindem 1972 // Janet Meano 40oz. // Liz Teria 919 // Mo Pain 8 // Racey Intent 79 // Rosie Bloodbath 24 // Violet Temper 06
Posted in Bout posters, Bout previews, CT RollerGirls, Interleague Bouts, Philly Rollergirls | 2 Comments »
Posted by Hambone on 18th March 2008
WATERBURY, CT — In a New England throw-down, the re-tooled Rhode Island Riveters of Providence kicked off their 2008 campaign with a solid victory over their up-and-coming neighbors, the Stepford Sabotage of CT Rollergirls.
The Riveters, in their first interleague action since their loss to Carolina at the 2007 Heartland Havoc, featured only five skaters who competed in PRD’s two bouts at Havoc. PRD manager Buzzy professes that the league took a ‘back to basics’ approach in the off-season, with a focus on skating building blocks and teamwork skills for veterans and rookies alike. PRD also added to the Riveters roster a healthy dose of experienced skaters who happened to be absent from the Havoc rosters due to injury or temporary retirement (including Jailbird Jenny, Bunnicula, Lotta Pain, Burnin’ Helen, and Hysterica!). The off-season work paid off in the form of highly communicative, co-operative, and confident packs.
The CTRG continues to play with an impressively high level of skill, depth, and organization for a league which first bouted in December 2006. Even with a few key blockers unavailable due to injury, the CTRG sent eight different legitimate jamming threats to the line, six coming away with points (led by Black Cherry with 14).
Additionally, since their previous WFTDA bout (a December victory over Long Island), the CTRG added the experience, speed, and savvy of Syd Rock, a former Copper Queen from Tucson Roller Derby.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bout Recaps, CT RollerGirls, Connecticut Death Quads, Connecticut Rollergirls, Harm City Homicide, Interleague Bouts, Men's Derby, New York Shock Exchange, Pioneer Valley Roller Derby, Providence Roller Derby | 4 Comments »
Posted by Justice Feelgood Marshall on 14th March 2008
On Sunday, 14th-ranked Providence returns from a half-year hiatus by taking on unranked Connecticut in Waterbury, CT.
PRD’s Rhode Island Riveters haven’t put skate to surface as a travel team since their 98-55 loss to Carolina at August 2007’s Eastern Regional tournament, and haven’t had a local-team bout since their 2007 championship in September. In that time they’ve lost a couple of major factors in Dolly Rocket (now skating for Charm City) and Baby Fighterfly (now skating for Boston), but they’ve still got experienced, resilient jammers Hysterica!, Craisy Dukes and DaSilva Bullet, along with an extremely dangerous pack weapon in Burnin’ Helen.
Connecticut has only has one previous bout as an all-star team (a 106-61 win over Long Island), so PRD’s potential rustiness may be offset by CT’s relative inexperience. The quick and nimble Pearl Jammer and Black Cherry lead their league in scoring, while the powerful Tina Colada and agile, shrewd Violet Riot are two crucial blockers for CT. Notably missing from the Sabotage roster are injured skaters Eleanor Bruisevelt and Miz Con SepJen, both of whom are great all-around skaters. Miz is one of CTRG’s fiercest blockers, and Elle, while usually a blocker, actually led the league in 2007 for average points per jam as jammer.
Finally, there’s an interesting substitution off the track: Nelly Knuckles is in the role of bench coach instead of Pepper Grind-Her, who’s out with a serious case of pregnancy — Nelly has had a similar role at Providence intraleague bouts in the past, so she’ll have a special insight on PRD’s plans.
This bout features an opening men’s halftime expo bout featuring members of Baltimore’s Harm City Homicide, Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley Dirty Dozen, the New York Shock Exchange, and some skaters of Connecticut’s newly forming men’s team. The teams will be split up to play as the St. Patricks vs. the Snakes in a matchup similar to Team Lincoln vs. Team Booth at last month’s Charm City vs. Ohio bout.
Additional reporting: Ian Fluenza
Bunnicula #*** // Shelby Bruisin’ #2morrow // Elle Razor #3x // Craisy Dukes #High 5 // Jetta von Diesel #VR6 // Sass E. McNasty #8-ball // Cleo Patronize #10 // Hysterica #42 // DaSilva Bullet #47 // Lotta Pain #64 // Burnin’ Helen #73 // Rhode Kill #90 mph // Jailbird Jenny #111 // Jean Harlot #1937
Syd Rock #2 Bells // Parker Poison #3 // Black Cherry #C-4 // Girl Fawkes #V // Pam Terror #9// Doomcake #13 // Milla LowLife #40 oz // Tina Colada #B-52 // Pearl Jammer #GO // Luciana Pulverotti #110R // Ether Bunny #ZZZ // Violet Riot #911 // Revengela #1234
Posted in Bout posters, Bout previews, CT RollerGirls, Connecticut Rollergirls, Interleague Bouts, Men's Derby, Providence Roller Derby | 3 Comments »
Posted by Hambone on 10th December 2007
WATERBURY, CT — On December 9, 2007, the CT RollerGirls of Connecticut introduced themselves to the interleague WFTDA scene, rolling out their inaugural “Stepford Sabotage” All-Star roster in a victory over the visiting Long Island Roller Rebels.
Connecticut hosted a well-paced, highly organized, and well-reffed affair, overseen by a mixed crew from Long Island, Connecticut, Garden State, Washington D.C., and Gotham. The bout featured the debut of ‘Dead End Cupcake,’ the Sabotage’s smiling knife-wielding homebody (aka former CT RollerGirl Dead End Allie), along with a ceremonial first-jam whistle from a local marine, on duty to guard the booty for the evening’s charity beneficiary, Toys for Tots.
Long Island brought a short roster of only eleven skaters, sorely missing interleague veterans MadDonna and Butterscotch Cripple (now skating out of Philly). The roster was slashed further when Long Island lost Trixie Timebomb in the first period to a knee injury. To make up for the difference, Long Island’s star jammer C-Roll bouted seemingly without any rest whatsover, toeing the jammer line in exactly half of the bout’s thirty-eight jams, along with an additional receipt of the star during her handful of turns at pivot.
The Sabotage displayed a much deeper jamming lineup, earning points from six different jammers in the first period alone, beginning with captain Pearl Jammer. The seven head-to-head matchups between Pearl and C-Roll were a treat to watch, as these two skaters are strikingly similar in size, style, and speed.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bout Recaps, CT RollerGirls, Long Island Roller Rebels | 1 Comment »
