In the kickoff doubleheader for Kansas City’s 2008 home season, the Dreadnought Dorothys begin a quest for their third championship in a row, while the Victory Vixens will be looking for their first win since 2006. The second bout finds the Knockouts going up against the Black-Eye Susans.

The Dorothys and Vixens teams have faced each other three times in the history of KCRW, with the Dorothys coming out on top every time. The Dorothys have been a traditionally defensive team, featuring the accurately named Bruz-Her along with Patti Wackin and Jessika Rabid dispensing pain in the pack, but also come in with the benefit of one of the most dangerous jammers in the sport in Snot Rocket. Word has it, though, that Bruz-Her is developing as a jammer as well, having gotten some star time in during KCRW’s last game against the Denver Roller Dolls. Three rookies suit up for the Dorothys: Durhammer, Scratch N Tiff, and Witty Twister.

The Victory Vixens are led by captain Annie Maul and co-captain Ritaploy, both mainstays on the WFTDA champion all-star team. Annie, Dee Claw and Missile Toes will likely be the primary jammers for the Vixens. New blood includes rookies Aub-Struction and Ruth Canal, and this bout will also feature the debut of ex-Boston star Ivana Clobber as a Victory Vixen.

For the second bout, the Susans came out on top in their last two meetings with the Knockouts, but it won’t be easy to make it three in a row — the Knockouts have a deadly jammer duo of Texas Shootout MVP Xcelerator and Dominant Jean, along with Princess Slay-Ya, named KCRW’s best blocker in 2007. Jammers to watch on the Susan’s side will be Connie Magic and all-star Jade Lightning, and in the pack they’ve got Xavia, who proved herself one of the toughest blockers in the nation during 2007 tournament play.

Additional reporting: Ivana Clobber, Annie Maul

Friction Vixxxen sends along a jam-by-jam line score from KCRW’s Saturday win over Denver:

Period 1 – 30 min

Jam 1. Dominant Jean from Kansas City lined up against Denver’s Angela Death. Jean got lead jammer status and started Kansas City off with a 4-0 jam. Denver would never lead against Kansas City.

Jam 2. Kansas City’s Dee Claw lined up against Sheila Tack (having returned to derby only 1 month prior following the birth of her son). With no LJ called, Sheila Tack managed to score 3 points before being sent to the penalty box, but Dee Claw widened Kansas City’s lead considerably by scoring another 14 points.

Jam 3. Sheila Tack started in the penalty box and Jade Lightning for Kansas City. Jade secured LJ and managed to rake in another 5 points. Meanwhile, Sheila Tack emerged from the penalty box for a short time before being sent back in without scoring any points. The score stands at 21-3, Kansas City.

Jam 4. Sheila Tack started in the penalty box again and Kansas City put Snot Rocket on the line. Snot secured LJ and scored another 14 points for Kansas City to Sheila Tack’s 0 points, bringing the score to 35-3, Kansas City.

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Don’t be fooled by the wide difference between the two rankings of these teams. While 2007 WFTDA champions and still #1 ranked Kansas City has to be considered the favorite here, WFTDA newcomer Denver is no newcomer to derby — they’ve been around since December 2005 and steadily working on their game. They’ve won both their bouts since their inception to WFTDA — a 106-98 win over Cincinnati and a 117-71 win over a Minnesota home team, the Atomic Bombshells.

More pertinent to this particular matchup, though, is the fact that Denver and Kansas have faced off twice before, and both have been fairly close contests. In the summer of 2006, KCRW pulled out a 84-60 win in a 40-minute game … but in their first full-length meeting, in March 2007, Denver led after each of the first two periods before finally succumbing to a furious third-period Kansas City rally, 80-68. (Denver coach Angus Con recaps that contest here.)

That game came just a month after Kansas City’s 4th place showing at Dust Devil 2007, though, and KCRW has faced tremendously high-level competition since then — Arizona, Minnesota, Gotham, Rat City, and Carolina (twice.) Carolina was the only team able to beat them, and even then only by the slimmest of margins — a 96-95 nailbiter that ruined KCRW’s first bout in the #1 slot. One would think that KCRW’s been more tested than Denver in the 11 months since their last meeting, so if Denver can manage to repeat or improve on their last performance against Kansas City, it’ll likely have a tremendous effect on their ranking next quarter.

KCRW brings mostly the same crew that went up against Carolina in December, with the notable exceptions of Archie Lee and Nationals MVP Xcelerator, who’ll be missing the bout with a broken wrist suffered a month ago while snowboarding. Ami-Geddon and Red Ripper step in to replace them. We’ve gotten some conflicting reports as to whether Denver’s phenomenally talented all-around force Rockett (not to be confused with KCRW’s phenomenally talented all-around force Snot Rocket) will be suiting up for Denver — if not, the Colorado girls still have some serious weapons in Angela Death, Boo Boo Radley and Jersey Trouble, among others.

UPDATE: Angela Death confirms Rockett is not skating, recovering from a torn MCL suffered while skiing (snow sports haven’t been kind to these two teams recently!) Indy Structible is also off the roster with back trouble, so Denver will be taking 13 skaters to KC.

UPDATE 2: KCRW controls the upstarts, rolling to a 150-80 win.

Additional reporting: Ivana Clobber, Friction Vixxxen

244 Bruz-Her // 111 Annie Maul // 19 Rita Ploy // 911 Patti Wackin // XOXO Princess Slay-Ya // 999 Bad Omen // 11 Jessika Rabid // 1UP Missile Toes // 4 Snot Rocket // 007 Dee Claw // 816 Jade Lightning // XX Dominant Jean // 42 Red Ripper // 7 Ami-Geddon

XIX Angela Death // O2 Atomic Fire // 10 Berlin Brawl // 5 Boo Boo Radley // 357 Bria Fraid // 1,2,3 … Candy Vour // 3 Dharma Gedden // 99 Disco-A-Gogo // 31 Fiona Grapple // (908) Jersey Trouble // 212 Peekaboo Screech // 1.21 Sheila Tack // V Slick Vick

In a high-level matchup that was probably even more intense than the substantial pre-game buzz would have suggested, the #4 Carolina Rollergirls just barely managed to get the better of national champions Kansas City in their first bout as #1, ending up on the right side of a coronary-inducing conclusion, 96-95.

As the last seconds tick off, Carolina’s Denise Lightning gets an early start on the victory celebration. Photo credit: Robert Allison

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More details coming later (like, after the afterparty and its attendant repercussions), but Carolina just completed a squeaker of a win over national champions Kansas City, 96 to 95. Carolina held what appeared to be a commanding 48-22 lead after the first period (keyed by a pivotal 19-0 jam from Denise Lightning, who got to jam unopposed for a full two minutes Kansas City’s jammer was just a bit late getting on the track), but Kansas City completely owned the second period, outscoring the home team 44-19 to pull to within one point at 67-66. KCRW took the lead momentarily early in the third, but both teams played exactly evenly through the period, leaving the score tied at 95-95 with 1:47 to play. Carolina’s Denise Lightning would get a crucial lead jammer call that let her clinch a 1-0 win over Snot Rocket, and there wouldn’t be quite enough time left in the game for KCRW to get another scoring pass in.

Hell of a game, and one that’ll definitely put some interesting complications in the next WFTDA ranking vote! Full recap to come.

It’s tough to overstate how big a matchup this one will be. National champion Kansas City is traveling to Carolina’s picturesque Dorton Arena to defend their #1 ranking for the first time since winning it by knocking off the previous #1, Rat City, in the final bout of the Texas Shootout on September 30. Earlier on that same day, KCRW advanced to the title game by holding off a persistent attack by this very same Carolina team. Carolina was ahead for the majority of the first half in that bout, and although the momentum swung to Kansas City for the lion’s share of the game, Carolina reeled off a run at the very end that came up just a little short, leaving Kansas City with a hard-fought 116-108 victory. This time around, both teams will be equally fresh, but Carolina gets the home-court advantage — will it be enough to swing the outcome?

Kansas City brings out most of the same squad that rolled to victory in Austin, including the MVP of the Texas Shootout, the seemingly bionic Xcelerator. Along with Dust Devil breakout star Snot Rocket, Kansas City boasts quite possibly the deadliest one-two jammer punch in all of roller derby — and they still have Dominant Jean and Jade Lightning, no slouches themselves on the second line. In the pack, Bruz-Her, Patti Wackin and Princess Slay-Ya key a blocking squadron that is justifiably renowned for playing extremely smart and extremely hard, having bested the toughest competition in the land in Austin. The Roller Warriors will be without Xavia, though, who was a crucial element of their earlier defeat of Carolina. One other element that might be working against them is a little bit of rust. They’ve had no public bouts, interleague or intraleague, since their Shootout win — of course, given the magnitude of the competition they faced to get it, it’s tough to begrudge them a short vacation.

Carolina also took a little time off after Nationals, but they got back in action just two weeks ago, and they’re coming off a 74-45 home win against Bay Area on November 17th. Not surprisingly, the home team will be fielding their very best roster for this one, led by co-captains Princess America and Shirley Temper. Betty Rumble and Violent Femme, both of whom sat out the bout against Bay Area, will be back in uniform, and star jammer Denise Lightning is reportedly recovered from a minor injury sustained at the Texas Shootout.

Carolina loves to play a very defensive, low-scoring game, but Kansas City did a fairly good job of forcing them into their speed game at their Shootout battle — the Kansas City / Carolina bout there was the highest-scoring bout of the whole tournament, which is definitely not the way Carolina prefers to roll. It’s a hoary old sports cliche to say whoever controls the tempo of the game will win it, but it definitely applies here — lead jammer status is likely to be even more crucial in this matchup than most, as the Kansas City jammers have repeatedly shown they can turn a game entirely around in the course of a full-length jam.

1492 Princess America // 17 Ms. Anthrope the Mordant // 56 Shirley Temper // 223 Denise Lightning // 110 Kitty Crowbar // 73 Zella Lugosi // 13 Eva Lye // 11 Betty Rumble // 10 Militia // 37 Violet Femme // 1 Billy the Kid // 131 DVS // 999 Holly Wanna Crackya // Kelly Clocks’Em 212

244 Bruz-Her // 111 Annie Maul // 19 Rita Ploy // 911 Patti Wackin // XOXO Princess Slay-Ya // 59 Archie Lee // 999 Bad Omen // 11 Jessika Rabid // 1UP Missile Toes // 4 Snot Rocket // 34 Xcelerator // 007 Dee Claw // 816 Jade Lightning // XX Dominant Jean

The Kansas City Roller Warriors, apparently unwilling to settle for #1 in the WFTDA rankings, are clearly aiming to take control of the #1 spot in the bout intro rankings as well.

On the tail of the front-page Chicago Tribune article on Windy City at Heartland Havoc, here comes another encouraging sign of derby’s slow rise to respect in the mainstream media, this one from the Kansas City Star:

Bummer about the conjoined twins and all, but this image is a very, very good thing for the continued growth of roller derby.

More good sports coverage here in the Austin Chronicle (even if they do engage in the time-honored tradition of hating on the refs) and Kansas City’s The Pitch.

photo credit: insanitylabs

Kansas City and Rat City played an instant classic of a contest to cap off the Texas Shootout. The #1 seed in the west, Rat City, was heavily favored coming into the final match of the tournament, but, like #1 East seed Gotham before them, found out the hard way that Kansas City was just playing a tiny bit smarter, harder and faster than everybody else. A bout full of explosive performances, numerous lead changes, pivotal strategic adjustments and thunderous support from both teams’ loyal fanbases ended up coming down to the very last instants of the very last jam, with Kansas City barely holding off a desperate late comeback and hanging on to become the 2007 WFTDA champions, 89-85.

The first jam went 4-0 for Rat City as Miss Fortune got the better of Xcelerator, but Kansas City hit back hard on the following jam, where their defense held Burnett Down on her opening lap for a full 2 minutes while Snot Rocket scooped up 9 points. Over the course of the next four jams, the teams traded lead jammer status and wins, keeping the margin about the same. On Jam 6, between Blonde ‘n’ Bitchin for Rat City against Xcelerator for Kansas City, Rat City made a questionable strategic decision, with Blonde ‘n’ Bitchin getting 4 points before Xcelerator was sprung from the penalty box but choosing not to call the jam before Xcelerator got a chance to get on the board. The gamble didn’t pay off, and Rat City lost a chance to close the gap as the jam ended 6-6. The total score was Kansas City 26, Rat City 19 at that point, and Snot Rocket would open up the lead further by going 7-3 over a penalized Miss Fortune on the next jam (with Miss Fortune just barely picking up her 3 points as time expired in the full-length jam.) Next up, Kansas City pulled out a hole card by sending out a well-rested Dominant Jean for the first time in the tournament, replacing Fearlys in the Kansas City jammer rotation. Jean would fit right in, getting lead jammer status and scoring a quick 2-0 over Rat City’s Pia Mess. That made the score Kansas City 35, Rat City 22 with about 13 minutes left in the half, but events took a sharp turn in favor of Rat City at that point.

On the next four jams, Rat City jammers picked up three grand slam laps while their defense repeatedly ensnared Kansas City jammers — a 9-0 for Blonde ‘n’ Bitchin over Jade Lightning, a 5-0 over Miss Fortune over Dee Claw (who barely avoided more damage by getting lead jammer and cutting off the action an instant before Miss Fortune would have started her second scoring pass), and a 5-0 over Valtron over Snot Rocket. Kansas City’s only offense in that series would be a close 4-3 victory for Xcelerator over Ann R. Kissed. Suddenly, Rat City had gone on a 22-4 run that turned a double-digit Kansas City lead into a nine-point Rat City lead at Rat City 48, Kansas City 39, with about 5 minutes left in the half. It looked for a moment like Rat City might be on their way to taking control of the bout, but Xcelerator had different ideas, running up a 7-0 jam over Valtron that got the Kansas City war drums in turn 4 thumping hard. Blonde ‘n’ Bitchin would get Rat City a 2-1 win on the following jam and there would not be any time for more scoring in the period, but even though Rat City was winning at 50-47, Kansas City seemed to have the momentum simply by proving they could stick with the #1 team in the nation for a full thirty minutes.

Of course, Kansas City was interested in more than just sticking with Rat City in the second half. While the teams traded victories in the first three jams of the half, leaving Rat City with a 60-51 lead, Kansas City seriously got their game together afterwards, getting lead jammer status on an amazing 10 jams in a row. On Jam 5 of the half, Snot Rocket jammer got a massive response from the crowd when she chose to rely on her strength rather than her speed to get past Rat City’s Skate Trooper, sending Trooper flying with a block that sprung Rocket from the pack on the way to a 6-0 win. That put the score at Rat City 64, Kansas City 60, and two jams later, Rat City’s consistent problems with the penalty box put the lead in Kansas City hands, 66-65, as Dee Claw ran up 3 points for KC while Rat City’s Ann R. Kissed watched from the box. Still in the middle of their impressive run of lead jammer jams, Kansas City would win every jam for the next 10 minutes, culminating in a 8-4 jam win for Xcelerator over Pia Mess. That made the score Kansas City 89, Rat City 76 with 7 minutes left in the half, the bout and the tournament.

In those 7 minutes, though, Rat City came within a hair’s breadth of taking the bout back. Suddenly, Kansas City found themselves incapable of scoring points, and for the third time in three games had to hold off a late run. First, the Rat City defense was able to bottle up Snot Rocket for a full-length jam while Ann R. Kissed spent a minute in the penalty box in a jam that went 1-0 for Ann. Apparently rested from her time in the box, Ann R. Kissed would burst out on the following jam to lap Kansas City’s Jade Lightning, getting a 4-0 on the board for Rat City. The score was then Kansas City 89, Rat City 81, and Miss Fortune got Rat City tantalizingly close with a 4-0 over Xcelerator that made the score 89-85 with only about a minute left to play.

In the crucial final seconds, Rat City’s Valtron can’t find a way through tough defense from Princess Slay-Ya, Patti Wackin & Snot Rocket. Photo credit: insanitylabs

It would come down to Valtron on the jammer line for Rat City against Snot Rocket for Kansas City, and though Valtron burst out of the pack first, she was not awarded lead jammer status. With only about thirty seconds left on the clock, Snot Rocket took a calculated gamble at this juncture, choosing to hang in the back of the pack and risk her lap point — potentially the game-winning point — by helping her rear defenders block Valtron. The gamble worked out, as Valtron was unable to get through in the few seconds remaining, and the Austin Convention Center went absolutely wild for an enormous upset. Xcelerator was awarded the MVP trophy for the tournament, and the Kansas City Roller Warriors were crowned the new queens of the derby world by knocking off the #1 ranked team in the nation, 89-85.

Kansas City got a chance to play for the national championship in flat-track roller derby by outracing and outblocking a dogged Carolina team in the semifinal bout of the Texas Shootout, 116 to 108.

Kansas City’s Xcelerator squeezes past Carolina pivot Denise Lightning, while Carolina jammer Princess America tries to make up the ground. Photo credit: insanitylabs

For the first twenty minutes or so of the first half, it looked like Carolina had figured out a way to answer Kansas City’s gameplan, as they quickly picked up a 5-0 on a grand slam for Zella Lugosi over Fearlys. Although Kansas City won the second jam, a full two minutes that saw Xcelerator beat out Denise Lightning, it was only a one point 8-7 win, and Carolina would win each of the next three jams by three points. That run climaxed with an exciting 10-7 win for Zella Lugosi over Dee Claw, where Zella managed to break the pack just as time ran out on another full two minute jam. The score then stood at Carolina 28, Kansas City 15 with about 19 minutes left in the half, but that was where Kansas City turned the game around rather abruptly. After a quick 2-1 for Kansas City’s Fearlys over Princess America, Kansas City’s Xcelerator had a 10-6 over Violent Femme (who passed the jammer star to pivot Denise Lightning early in the jam), and then the always dangerous Snot Rocket busted out a 7-0 jam over Princess America, who had to spend a minute of the jam in the penalty box. Suddenly, it was all tied up at 35 with about 13 minutes left in the half. Carolina would pull back ahead for a short time, but the 13th jam of the half proved to be very unlucky for them, as the Kansas City defense completely had Zella Lugosi’s number and the Carolina defense could not find a way to stop Snot Rocket, who thundered through the pack for three grand slams on her way to a 15-0 jam. The score was Kansas City 63, Carolina 46, the KC corner in turn 4 was creating a massive ruckus, and the momentum had palpably changed. Kansas City’s Xcelerator continued to impress on the final jam of the period, where she kept the momentum going by managing to claim lead jammer and barely complete a 4 point scoring pass even though there were only about 40 seconds left in the period when the jam started. After the first thirty minutes, Kansas City was sitting on a 70-50 lead.

photo credit: insanitylabs

The Kansas City lead would remain at about 20 for the majority of the second half. In the seventh jam, Carolina got a golden opportunity to close in a little bit. With the score Kansas City 91, Carolina 70, Betty Rumble took the jammer star for Carolina against Snot Rocket for Kansas City. Snot Rocket burst out of the pack first, but by cutting the track to get out, she found herself going to the box on a major penalty. However, Rumble was quite obviously tiring, and the KC defense, keyed by Princess Slay-Ya and Patti Wackin, managed to keep her on the same lap for the full minute of Snot Rocket’s penalty. As the penalty came to an end, Rocket came back out of the box … but entered the pack illegally, picking up a fourth minor and going directly back to the box. While that jam ended 0-0, it gave Carolina a chance to start the next jam with Princess America unopposed on the jammer line. She was extremely opposed in the pack, though, this time with Annie Maul, Red Ripper and Xavia all taking turns bashing Princess to the outside, keeping her stuck on her opening lap until Snot Rocket finally got out of the box, claimed lead jammer, and put up 4 points, making the score Kansas City 95, Carolina 70. In those two jams, Kansas City had managed to come out ahead on the scoreboard even though they were missing their jammer for over two minutes. Trouble continued for Carolina on the next jam, when crucial weapon Denise Lightning fell backwards hard early in the next jam, causing the action to stop for some time while the EMTs attended to her. Denise would remain in the game, but looked like she was continuing to feel the effects.

Coming into the end of the bout, though, Carolina got a series of breaks that they were almost able to turn into an improbable comeback. With about 7 minutes left in the game and Kansas City up 113-88, Betty Rumble was able to put up a grand slam over Jade Lightning in the course of running up a 9-0 margin. Just as crucially, Jade picked up her fourth minor in the waning seconds of the jam, allowing Carolina to send Princess America to the jammer line unopposed in the next jam. This time, she capitalized on the chance, quickly picking up lead jammer status and 5 points on her first scoring pass. Jade got out of the box and managed to pick up 3 points for Kansas City before Princess made another scoring pass and called it off. That narrowed Kansas City’s lead to 11 points, 116-105, which was the closest Carolina had been in the whole half. Unfortunately for the East girls, there was less than a minute left on the game clock, and the final jam wouldn’t contain enough time for Carolina jammer Denise Lightning to get more than one scoring pass in. Kansas City hung on to win, 116-108.