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