Ed. note — post corrected — Tornado Alley All-Stars played, not local team Cell Block 9 as previously posted. My bad. — JFM

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The Death Row Rumblers, a local team from the Dallas Derby Devils, got some long-awaited revenge on Oklahoma City’s Tornado Alley Roller Girls, defeating the hosting team 123 to 75. In November, the Rumblers had met some of the team skating as Oklahoma Roller Derby at a half time expo bout. OKRD was composed of skaters from TARG and the Green Country Roller Girls, and that time the Oklahoma team pasted the Rumblers 78-25. Since that time, though, it appears Dallas took stock of the team and changed a few things up.

The Rumblers’ Postal Penny gave her team a leadoff jam win and a 2 point lead over TARG, and the whole half featured quick, well-structured packs that made each point a hard fought victory. Annie Wreckison of DRR proved a blocker to watch with many whips to her jammers. Not to be overshadowed, Tornado Alley’s Demon Doll stepped into the jammer panty to score 4 points for her team while the TARG blockers kept DRR’s jammer at bay. It would prove to be a somewhat loosely call bout, with a number of elbows flying but very few skaters entering the penalty box over the course of the action. The highlight of the half, though, was a beautiful assist by Tornado Alley’s skilled blocker Joanie Crash to teammate Faerie Mean. The first half ended at Rumblers 49, TARG 39.

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The mighty Moose Ondaluce brings us a heaping helping of Southern derby action from last weekend. First up, here’s the video recap from Dallas’ doubleheader with Northwest Arkansas, featuring interviews with Dallas announcer Meatpie, NWA announcer Bob Breckenridge, Killbillies captain Dimah Darling, Backwoods Betties captain Jesster Riot, Dallas captain Ali Gorey, and the top scoring jammers from all four teams — Anita Riot (Dallas), Mellow Yellow (Killbillies), Blonde Ice (Backwoods Betties), and Postal Penny (Death Row Rumblers.) Special extra guests include Texas superfan Phil Arnold of Roller Derby Is Sport, and some dorky, mumbling ref who has some derby website.

Also, action from Sunday’s bout between Green Country and Central Arkansas, with Central Arkansas captain Krispy, Green Country captain Krankee Yankee, Central Arkansas top jammer Bruise Whisperer, and Green Country top jammer Rosie the Wrecker. Additionally, Green Country ref Hailey Hawkeye provides a quick primer on referee hand signals.

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX — The Dallas Derby Devils rode a combination of blazing jammer speed and thunderous defensive work to a convincing win over visiting Northwest Arkansas, 104-29.

The ladies from Arkansas managed to stay in the bout for the first half of the first period, but Dallas would eventually build an insurmountable lead, sticking resolutely to a jammer rotation of Anita Riot, Hot 4 Teacher and Keltic Kamikaze. The 40-minute bout kicked off with Anita Riot grabbing lead and speeding to a 8-3 win over NWA’s Mellow Yellow. The following jam was a bit closer for NWA, as nimble jammer Hot 4 Teacher also got lead but would only manage to increase her team’s lead by a point, with Apache Rose claiming 3 points to Teacher’s 4. On jam 3, though, Dallas’ Keltic Kamikaze went 8-0 over Itty Bitty Bang in a full-length jam, and the score stood at Dallas 20, Northwest Arkansas 6.

While NWA would keep the margin on the verge of manageable for the next few jams, it was jam 7 that proved to be the backbreaker - Anita Riot demonstrated her impressive speed in pulling a 10-0 double-grand-slam on Danger Darling, putting the game at Dallas 38, Northwest Arkansas 10. NWA’s best weapon at the jammer line, Mellow Yellow, would get a 4-0 over Hot 4 Teacher on the following jam, but that would prove to be NWA’s only jam win of the half. After Dallas closed out the period on two solid wins — a 9-0 for Keltic Kamikaze over Apache Rose and a 4-1 for Anita Riot over Itty Bitty Bang — the home team was sitting on a 51-15 lead.

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Unranked Northwest Arkansas (NWA) takes on a daunting task on Saturday night, heading to Dallas to do battle with the 19th-ranked Dallas Derby Devils.

NWA is still looking for its first win as a WFTDA league, with a 102-77 loss to Assassination City in June of 2007 and a considerably closer 90-83 loss to Lincoln, Nebraska’s No Coast in October.

One factor that the NWA girls will definitely have to overcome is the fact that Dallas has been much more active in recent months. While it’s been over a year since the last Dallas all-star victory, they’ve been facing fairly stiff competition the entire time — in the previous quarter, they went down to 13th-ranked Rocky Mountain 85-73, an alternate team from 4th-ranked Texas 142-101, and most recently to 15th ranked Charm City, 117-89.

Dallas’ roster for this bout looks to be a bit different than the one that matched up against Charm City. While the jamming duties will likely still rest greatly on the capable wheels of Hot for Teacher and Anita Riot, there are a few players who didn’t make the previous bout — G-Town Butcher, Barooski, Rink Panther and Ann R. Key.

The bout will be part of a doubleheader with both leagues’ other travel teams — Dallas’ Death Row Rumblers and NWA’s Backwoods Betties. Desi Deck ‘Em and Strawberry Deathcake will be representing for the Rumblers in that matchup. For some more detail, check out Texpert Phil Arnold’s take over on Roller Derby Is Sport.

(A couple of side notes: interesting name matchup in Dallas’ Scary Cherry Bang Bang vs. NWA’s Itty Bitty Bang, and NWA also brings an skater named Unskinny Wop. Seriously, Unskinny Wop. You can’t not love roller derby.)

Ali Gorey 1891 // G-Town Butcher // Anita Riot 138 // Hot For Teacher A+ // Barooski // Heike DeSkirt 36-24-36 // Rink Panther // Keltic Kamikaze 3 Jiggers // Nitro Jen 8 // Wicked Bitch of the West 13 // Ann R. Key // Scary Cherry Bang Bang 505 // Mercy 1 // Lickity Split Tail 241 // Kick Face Trace 1313 // The Shocker 21

Dimah Darling // Saba Taj // Apache Rose // Blackzilla // Dilliverance // Diss Missile // Danger Darling // Itty Bitty Bang // Mellow Yellow // Queen LaTeachya // Pork Pie // Spark Plug // Unskinny Wop

BALTIMORE, MD — 22nd ranked Charm City notched their second victory in a row on Sunday, opening an early lead over 23rd-ranked Dallas and tenaciously maintaining it for the remainder of the bout to come out ahead, 117-89. Dallas had two late scratches from their roster, with neither Scary Cherry Bang Bang or Mad Dog skating — alternate Desi Deck Em stepped in as a replacement, but Dallas was playing 13 against a full house of 14 for the home team.

Dallas would take the opening jam by a score of 4-3 as Anita Riot picked up lead jammer status and called the jam before Flo Shizzle could complete her first scoring pass, but that would be the only lead Dallas would hold for the evening. After the second jam went 0-0 as Dallas’ lead jammer Hot 4 Teacher got bottled up by Charm City blockers Holly Go Hardly and Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs and had to end it early, Charm City’s jammers pulled lead for a remarkable 8 jams in a row, and the scoreboard quickly reflected that advantage.

Dolly Rocket put the home team in front with a 5-0 grand slam over Strawberry Deathcake that made it 8-4, and although Dallas narrowed it a bit with another tight 4-3 jam for Anita Riot over Flo Shizzle, the Baltimore blockers were starting to consistently control the pack. Dallas’ offense would stall out for a crucial series of 5 jams, opening with a 6-1 score for Charm City’s Joy Collision over Hot 4 Teacher and proceeding through four zero-point jams for Dallas. With about 15 minutes left in the period, Charm City had opened up a 40 to 18 lead.

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Virginia’s Dominion Derby Girls won’t be the only WFTDA league traveling a long ways to play this weekend. On Sunday, January 20, the 23rd-ranked Dallas Derby Devils visit the East Coast for a clash with Baltimore’s Charm City, ranked 22nd, in a bout that might be just as closely matched as the sometimes capricious rankings would imply.

Both teams have got something to prove in this outing. It’s hard to peg where Charm City stands right now, as they took an unexpectedly large 126-37 loss at the hands of 15th-ranked Rose City in November, only to bounce right back with a narrow 73-69 surprise victory on the road against 11th-ranked Minnesota in December. Charm City’s likely got some confidence coming out of that upset win, and will be playing an all-star game at home for the first time since last March, when they notched a record-setting margin of victory over Long Island, 289-16.

Oddly enough, Dallas won their last WFTDA bout exactly a year ago to the day, taking down 28th-ranked Pikes Peak by a score of 117-53 on January 20, 2007. On the other hand, though, they’ve played some extremely tough competition since then — at 2007’s Dust Devil Western Regionals, they put up a respectable 140-61 loss to the eventual WFTDA champions, Kansas City. More recently, they battled to a close November loss against 19th-ranked Rocky Mountain, 85-73, but it was their December bout that really turned some heads — they gave 3rd-ranked Texas an early scare before succumbing 140-101. (That version of the Texas roster included some alternates and wasn’t the same all-star group that finished 3rd at Nationals, but still featured a number of A-list veterans including Rice Rocket, Sparkle Plenty, Derringer and Trouble.)

Dallas has a long-standing reputation for being a bruising, defense-oriented team, and Charm City may be building one of their own after having been able to match up physically with the notoriously tough Minnesota skaters in what was one of the lowest-scoring games in recent WFTDA history. That bout saw Charm City primarily relying on Flo Shizzle and Lady Quebeaum to rack up points behind a churning, multifacted defense led by the quick reactions of Joy Collision, the angular cuts of Dolly Rocket and the straightforward pounding of Mibbs Breakin’ Ribs. Rookies Holly Go Hardly and Reckless Ndangerment also acquitted themselves quite admirably with smart, resilient positional blocking. Charm City’s roster for this bout is very similar to the one that upended Minnesota, with only Pixie Rocket making an all-star debut (while on the roster for the Minnesota bout, she remained in a bench coach role due to injury.)

On the visiting side, Dallas will be missing an important weapon in Cheat’n Chong, who was voted Dallas’ best pivot in 2007; she suffered a severely broken ankle in the recent match against Texas. However, they also bring an experienced and wickedly fast new jammer in Strawberry Deathcake, formerly of Assassination City — she’s a speed skating competitor who joins a jammer stable of Anita Riot, Hot 4 Teacher and Ali Gorey. On defense, Shocker and Mercy each had standout games as blockers against Texas, managing to drop their jammers multiple times.

UPDATE: Charm City takes an early small lead and works it for nearly the entire bout, coming out on top 117-89 (full recap to come.)

Ali Gorey #1891 // Anita Riot #138 // Heike DeSkirt #36-24-36 // Hot 4 Teacher #A+ // Keltic Kamakazi #3 Jiggers // Kick Face Trace #1313 // Lickity Splittail #241 // Mad Dog #20/20 // Mercy #1 // Nitro Jen #8 // Scary Cherry Bang Bang #505 // Shocker #21 // Strawberry Deathcake #2000 // Wicked Bitch of the West #13 // Desi Deck Em #84 (alternate)

Cheeta Torpeda, #37 // Cherrylicious, #NC-17 // Coach Ballbricker, #13 // Dolly Rocket, #6 // Flo Shizzle, #24/7 // Holly Go Hardly, #415 // Joy Collision, #747 // Lady Quebeaum, #34 // Mibbs Breakin’ Ribbs, #1010 // Pistol Whip, #44 // Pixie Rocket, #69 // Reckless N Dangerment, #116 // Rosie the Rioter, #100% // Shevil Knievel, #1 // Stormin Mormin, #68 (alternate) // Judy Boom, #82 (alternate)

On Saturday, November 17th The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls traveled to Grand Prairie, Texas to take on the Dallas Derby Devils. These two teams were closely ranked in the current quarterly WFTDA rankings, with RMRG sitting at 19, while Dallas clocked in at 23. The last interleague challenge for the Dallas squad was an away loss to the Texas Rollergirls’ Hell Marys 92 to 50, while the RMRG Fight Club won big on the road against the Mad Rollin Dolls 131 to 98.

Defense was the name of the game, as both teams came off the benches swinging heavy. The biggest point differential in the half was early in the first period, where RMRG Fight Club took a mere 7-point lead at 12-5. The DDD All Stars would end the first 30 minutes on a high note, with a 1-point lead over RMRG, 38 to 37. A true barn-burner for the crowd, no doubt!

The second period saw some adjustments in defense to account for the dreaded effects of accrued penalties. The sin bin saw heavy traffic for both sides of this interleague challenge; rarely did either team have its full complement of blockers to work at full tilt. With the score tied at 41 at 26:30 in the second half, Dallas jammer Hot for Teacher was sent to the penalty box which allowed Rocky Mountain’s She Who Cannot Be Named to score 3 crucial grand slams, putting the RMRG into a strong lead over the DDD at 56-41. DDD did narrow the lead to 67-64 but were plagued with penalties, allowing the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls to be victorious: final score RMRG 89, DDD 73. Top jammers for Rocky Mountain were speedster Frida Beater with 47 pts, and She Who Cannot Be Named with 29. For Dallas, Anita Riot led her squad with 27 points, while Hot for Teacher contributed 18.

Both squads will be back in action soon, as Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 5280 Fight Club takes on Gotham Girls Roller Derby in Denver on December 1, while the Dallas Derby Devils’ All Stars take on the the #3 Texas Rollergirls’ Texecutioners Dec 8.

In the other match of the doubleheader, an ad-hoc Oklahoma Roller Derby Girls squad comprised of members of the Green Country Rollergirls of Tulsa and the Tornado Alley Rollergirls of Oklahoma City rolled to a 78-25 victory over Dallas’ newest home team, the Death Row Rumblers. The top scoring jammers for OKRD were Anomille with 40 and Short Circuit with 16, while the Death Row Rumblers were led by Strawberry Deathcake with 14 and Holy Tara with 6.

Additional reporting: Moose Ondaluce, Anne Shank

MORE COVERAGE: DNN contributor Moose Ondaluce covers the bout via podcast, interviewing RMRG’s Frieda Beater (who isn’t too shy about expressing her opinion of the reffing in her bout!), RMRG’s She Who Cannot Be Named, Death Row Rumblers’ coach Mother Goose, Death Row Rumblers’ star jammer Strawberry Deathcake, and OKRG’s Anomille. Phil Arnold also recaps the bout over at Roller Derby Is Sport.

The Dallas Derby Devils’ All Stars invite RMRG’s 5280 Fight Club to Dallas on November 17th. Both teams are facing uphill battles after this game, as Rocky Mountain goes home to take on 5th ranked Gotham in December while Dallas invites 3rd ranked Austin shortly thereafter.

Dallas recently suffered losses to Houston as well as TXRG’s home team, the Hell Marys, while Rocky Mountain attempted to climb the ranks with a victory over #9’s Mad Rollin’ Dolls in October.

Outside of the win over Madison, RMRG has faced a number of newer teams this season: in recent months, they’ve gone up against three Division III WFTDA teams in Angel City, Fort Wayne and No Coast, winning all three, while Dallas appears to be pushing themselves with a more difficult 2007 schedule.

RMRG’s Fight Club is a predominantly blocker-heavy team, with hard hitters like Pinky 500 and Madam Maimya as well as strategic all-round players such as Winona Fighter and Ida Hustler. Veteran She Who Cannot Be Named is joined in the jamming department by Frida Beater, a former speed skater who has only been with RMRG about a year but has already proven herself to be one of the most valuable players on the league.

Dallas also seems to have no shortage in blockers, with captain Ali Gorey and Mercy hold down the pack with help of pivot Cheatin’ Chong. This bout will likely be one focused heavily on defense – Rocky Mountain would very much like to prove that their surprising win over Madison was no fluke and that they deserve a higher WFTDA ranking, while Dallas currently sits not-too-far behind on the current list.

UPDATE: Rocky Mountain manages to emerge victorious in a tough away bout, 85-73.

Ali Gorey 1891 // G-Town Butcher 66 // Anita Riot 138 // Hot 4 Teacher A+ // Heike DeSkirt ~36-24-36 // Rink Panther 0210 // Keltic Kamakazi 3 Jiggers // Mad Dog 20/20 // Ann R Key K80 // Cheatin’ Chong 420 // Scary Cherry Bang Bang 505 // Mercy 1 // Lickity Splittail 241 // Shocker 21

Luscious Smacksome 480 // Catholic Cruel Girl 3 // Pinky 500 500 // Winona Fighter 8 // Assaultin’ Pepa 86 // She Who Cannot Be Named 88 // Frida Beater 18-3-202 // Penny Payne // Ida Hustler PIMP // Madam Maimya 33