April 21, 2007
Bay Area Derby Girls vs Grave Danger of Rat City; a Recap
(First let me say that this is just my view as a statistician sitting at the scorers table and should not be taken as the absolute truth as to what happen, that's what video is for.)
The bout was held at Washington Mutual Theater which sits between SAFECO Field and Qwest Field in Seattle. The place holds between 3,300 and 7,000 depending on configuration and every seat seemed to be filled. The event was a double header and the Rat City Rollergirls set it up this way. Skaters sit inside the track. There are two thirty minute halves, first the Bay Area Derby Girls (BADG) vs Grave Danger (GD) play their half then after short comments by the team captains the Derby Liberation Front (DLF) vs Socket Wenches (SW) play their half. Then a half time show after which the second halves are played in the same order as the first.
In the warmup before the first half the BADG looked slower than GD and smaller. Rat City has swarms of volunteers and they can put on quite a show, Rat Bastard's bicycle was just great. Three announcers, 3 scorekeepers, 5 penalty trackers, 3 or 4 penalty refs, which the BADG kept very busy all night. John Diss and Mindiannapolis 500 were the guest refs. But strangely no outside pack refs, I guess Rat City doesn't want anything between the skaters and the crowd.
The first jam started out at a fast pace that was kept up though out the bout. The Seattle announcers were impressed by BADG's speed and blocking style, as BAGD skaters jumped out in front of the pack. But the jam ended 3-4 GD in what was to become the theme of the bout by the BADG, fast paced, hard, coordinated blocking and low scoring jams. The second jam Racey Lane called the jam off scoring 2-0 and Miss Moxxxie put together a 4-0 jam to putting the BADG ahead 9-4. But the lead did not hold as GD grabbed Lead Jammer 3 out of the next 4 jams and retook the lead 18-20. Miss Moxxie then uncorked a 8-0 jam that put BADG back in the lead 26-20. But again the next 2 jams GD got Lead Jammer and tied the score 34-34. Over the next 5 jams GD capitalized on BADG penalties and missed opportunities and took a 44-52 lead into half time over the BADG. At the captain's recap when Kit Turbo was asked what the BADG could do against GD she said “We're goin' kick their asses!” Brave words at the end of a 5 jam 10-18 run by GD.
The second head of the double header, Derby Liberation Front vs Socket Wenches, was not nearly as a competitive as the first. As DLF jumped out to a big lead early and kept it throughout the bout winning by over 90 points by the end. The half time show consisted of the Pathfinder Junior Derby. That's right, 8 to 10 years olds doing derby. It was charming, hilarious and a little scary. What are those kids knees going to be like when they're 15?
The second half started with Kitt Turbo in the penalty box for offenses committed in the first half, she was pretty surprised to be there. Not the best way to start the second half being 8 points behind. GD extended their lead to 10 points. This was the biggest lead they were ever going to have. During the half time break and second header half the BADG seem to have figure out what GD was doing and how to counter it. BADG was much more effective in the second half. In the first half GD won lead jammer 7 of the 15 jams, BADG only 4 of those times. In the second half BADG got lead jammer 11 of the 15 full jams, GD was only lead jammer once in the 2nd half. There were two incomplete jams, one was called off because of a hurt GD skater and the other was called off because of debris on the track, a BADG pad had been knocked off, that's right, the hitting was so intense that people's pads began to come apart. In the next jam Racey got lead jammer, 2 points and called it off, zero points for GD, and the BADG were on their way. The next two jams were amazing. With Killer and Machete in the box, Miss Moxxxie stepped up the line and in two minutes, with Sassy and Mandi, produced a 7-3 jam. Then Turbo with Killer and Machete in the box, again, obtained a 5-1 jam tying to score 60-60! When Killer and Machete were released from the box they moved like wild animals and just mowed down GD blockers releasing Moxxxie and Turbo to score their points as Sassy and Mandi held the GD jammers in check. These were the jams that turned the game, when GD should have been extending their lead they were instead, losing it, the Seattle crowd grew strangely quiet and announcers were incredulous. Although GD regained the lead the next jam, when Racey was sent to the box, it would be the last time GD held the lead. For last half of the 2nd half, 10 jams, BADG won lead jammer 8 times. The next jam BADG retook the lead 69-66 in a 5-0 jam. Two jams later, Turbo fought though the last of GD blockers to call off 0-4 GD jam and stop bleeding at 77-75 BADG, no one could imagine that those would be the last points GD would score that night. For the next 6 jams, BADG went on a 17-0 run as they slowly but deliberately buried GD. GD threw 6 different jammers at BADG in hope that someone would figure out how to get though the BADG defense, all were unsuccessful. As GD frustration grew their skaters made visits to the penalty box. Kitt Turbo skating in the last seconds of the last jam got no points, but won lead jammer. The bout was over 94-75 BADG. As BADG took their victory laps they received an applause of respect from the Seattle crowd.
Conclusions:
How did BADG beat GD? First was the speed. BADG blockers beat GD blockers to the front of the pack and BADG jammers beat GD jammers off the starting line almost every time. This put GD under pressure the whole time, giving GD blockers only BADG backs as targets for their blocks. And BADG jammer's speed meant that if GD blockers made one mistake BADG jammers were by them before they could react.
Next was pack formation skating. BADG kept a tight pack and seemed to be skating in a 2-2 formation, with Sassy and Mandi at the head of the pack and in the middle, Killer and Machete, forming a kind of box. If a GD skater entered the box it was like entering a Kill Zone, they could be hit from four different directions at once. If a GD jammer tried to go around the box the outside skaters of the box would force the jammer out of bounds, putting the jammer in a quandary. If they passed the box they got no points, if they fell back and reengaged they got no points. GD solution to this problem was to try to destroy the box. BADG speed protected the box, as GD was never able to get enough blockers into the box to fully destroy it.
Better preparation or coaching. I noticed this when BADG skaters left the penalty box. They all charged out of the box like fighter jets on an intercept mission, they knew exactly where they were going and what they were going to do when they got there. Pity the fool who got in their way. GD skaters seemed to hesitate and have to think about how they were going to enter the jam and never as quickly as BADG. Rettig to Rumble was the exception, of course, if anyone could match the BADG in intensity it was Rettig.
Played a smarter game. When Sassy took off to run down a GD jammer that had slipped through, the rest of the BADG followed her and one or two GD blockers went with them as well maintaining the pack. GD never slowed up as a team to catch BADG in a 20 foot violation. This is not to say the 20 foot rule was never used, when BADG knocked down all the GD skaters and skated away they got caught by the rule. But it was never used by GD as a deliberate strategy. It was as if BADG had thrown down a challenge to GD to skate with them and GD pick up this challenge and skated no matter what.
Toughness. The toughest skaters on the track had to BADG jammers. Polly Puredread said that BADG decided to leave their jammers “naked”, no trailing blocker to help the jammer, and just concentrate on stopping GD jammers. And with the speed of the BADG pack this meant that their were at least two sometimes three GD blockers waiting for BADG jammers, add the GD jammer throwing her shoulder in every now and then and a BADG jammer could be facing four GD skaters to get through. BADG jammers got to know Rat City's sports floor quite well. But every time BADG jammers went down they got back up faster than GD blockers and when they were able to get to BADG blockers they received whips and shielding blocks that sped them on their way, only to facing waiting GD blockers alone again. Hello Mr. Sports Floor. I believe I saw Turbo get knocked to floor 6 times in one jam and still score points, in fact the BADG jammers scored points in almost every jam. I believe this “naked” jammer strategy is the reason Miss Moxxxie did so well in Seattle. Being the bigger and stronger jammer, she was able to fight through the GD blockers better than the faster and more nibble Turbo and Racey.
As the BADG jammers were putting on an incredible display of speed and pain management, a vicious battle was going on for the BADG defensive box. GD was desperate to destroy the box that was shutting down their scoring and they were willing to use all means legal and illegal to do it. BADG blockers fought back with unmatched ferocity to maintain their box, also using means legal and illegal. In the end BADG simply gave better than they received.
So the BADG out-skated, out-smarted and out-fought GD, in every facet of derby BADG was superior, as evidence by the last 6 jams of 17-0 derby. Yeah, so Kitt Turbo was right! BADG just kicked DG asses.
(First let me say that this is just my view as a statistician sitting at the scorers table and should not be taken as the absolute truth as to what happen, that's what video is for.)
The bout was held at Washington Mutual Theater which sits between SAFECO Field and Qwest Field in Seattle. The place holds between 3,300 and 7,000 depending on configuration and every seat seemed to be filled. The event was a double header and the Rat City Rollergirls set it up this way. Skaters sit inside the track. There are two thirty minute halves, first the Bay Area Derby Girls (BADG) vs Grave Danger (GD) play their half then after short comments by the team captains the Derby Liberation Front (DLF) vs Socket Wenches (SW) play their half. Then a half time show after which the second halves are played in the same order as the first.
In the warmup before the first half the BADG looked slower than GD and smaller. Rat City has swarms of volunteers and they can put on quite a show, Rat Bastard's bicycle was just great. Three announcers, 3 scorekeepers, 5 penalty trackers, 3 or 4 penalty refs, which the BADG kept very busy all night. John Diss and Mindiannapolis 500 were the guest refs. But strangely no outside pack refs, I guess Rat City doesn't want anything between the skaters and the crowd.
The first jam started out at a fast pace that was kept up though out the bout. The Seattle announcers were impressed by BADG's speed and blocking style, as BAGD skaters jumped out in front of the pack. But the jam ended 3-4 GD in what was to become the theme of the bout by the BADG, fast paced, hard, coordinated blocking and low scoring jams. The second jam Racey Lane called the jam off scoring 2-0 and Miss Moxxxie put together a 4-0 jam to putting the BADG ahead 9-4. But the lead did not hold as GD grabbed Lead Jammer 3 out of the next 4 jams and retook the lead 18-20. Miss Moxxie then uncorked a 8-0 jam that put BADG back in the lead 26-20. But again the next 2 jams GD got Lead Jammer and tied the score 34-34. Over the next 5 jams GD capitalized on BADG penalties and missed opportunities and took a 44-52 lead into half time over the BADG. At the captain's recap when Kit Turbo was asked what the BADG could do against GD she said “We're goin' kick their asses!” Brave words at the end of a 5 jam 10-18 run by GD.
The second head of the double header, Derby Liberation Front vs Socket Wenches, was not nearly as a competitive as the first. As DLF jumped out to a big lead early and kept it throughout the bout winning by over 90 points by the end. The half time show consisted of the Pathfinder Junior Derby. That's right, 8 to 10 years olds doing derby. It was charming, hilarious and a little scary. What are those kids knees going to be like when they're 15?
The second half started with Kitt Turbo in the penalty box for offenses committed in the first half, she was pretty surprised to be there. Not the best way to start the second half being 8 points behind. GD extended their lead to 10 points. This was the biggest lead they were ever going to have. During the half time break and second header half the BADG seem to have figure out what GD was doing and how to counter it. BADG was much more effective in the second half. In the first half GD won lead jammer 7 of the 15 jams, BADG only 4 of those times. In the second half BADG got lead jammer 11 of the 15 full jams, GD was only lead jammer once in the 2nd half. There were two incomplete jams, one was called off because of a hurt GD skater and the other was called off because of debris on the track, a BADG pad had been knocked off, that's right, the hitting was so intense that people's pads began to come apart. In the next jam Racey got lead jammer, 2 points and called it off, zero points for GD, and the BADG were on their way. The next two jams were amazing. With Killer and Machete in the box, Miss Moxxxie stepped up the line and in two minutes, with Sassy and Mandi, produced a 7-3 jam. Then Turbo with Killer and Machete in the box, again, obtained a 5-1 jam tying to score 60-60! When Killer and Machete were released from the box they moved like wild animals and just mowed down GD blockers releasing Moxxxie and Turbo to score their points as Sassy and Mandi held the GD jammers in check. These were the jams that turned the game, when GD should have been extending their lead they were instead, losing it, the Seattle crowd grew strangely quiet and announcers were incredulous. Although GD regained the lead the next jam, when Racey was sent to the box, it would be the last time GD held the lead. For last half of the 2nd half, 10 jams, BADG won lead jammer 8 times. The next jam BADG retook the lead 69-66 in a 5-0 jam. Two jams later, Turbo fought though the last of GD blockers to call off 0-4 GD jam and stop bleeding at 77-75 BADG, no one could imagine that those would be the last points GD would score that night. For the next 6 jams, BADG went on a 17-0 run as they slowly but deliberately buried GD. GD threw 6 different jammers at BADG in hope that someone would figure out how to get though the BADG defense, all were unsuccessful. As GD frustration grew their skaters made visits to the penalty box. Kitt Turbo skating in the last seconds of the last jam got no points, but won lead jammer. The bout was over 94-75 BADG. As BADG took their victory laps they received an applause of respect from the Seattle crowd.
Conclusions:
How did BADG beat GD? First was the speed. BADG blockers beat GD blockers to the front of the pack and BADG jammers beat GD jammers off the starting line almost every time. This put GD under pressure the whole time, giving GD blockers only BADG backs as targets for their blocks. And BADG jammer's speed meant that if GD blockers made one mistake BADG jammers were by them before they could react.
Next was pack formation skating. BADG kept a tight pack and seemed to be skating in a 2-2 formation, with Sassy and Mandi at the head of the pack and in the middle, Killer and Machete, forming a kind of box. If a GD skater entered the box it was like entering a Kill Zone, they could be hit from four different directions at once. If a GD jammer tried to go around the box the outside skaters of the box would force the jammer out of bounds, putting the jammer in a quandary. If they passed the box they got no points, if they fell back and reengaged they got no points. GD solution to this problem was to try to destroy the box. BADG speed protected the box, as GD was never able to get enough blockers into the box to fully destroy it.
Better preparation or coaching. I noticed this when BADG skaters left the penalty box. They all charged out of the box like fighter jets on an intercept mission, they knew exactly where they were going and what they were going to do when they got there. Pity the fool who got in their way. GD skaters seemed to hesitate and have to think about how they were going to enter the jam and never as quickly as BADG. Rettig to Rumble was the exception, of course, if anyone could match the BADG in intensity it was Rettig.
Played a smarter game. When Sassy took off to run down a GD jammer that had slipped through, the rest of the BADG followed her and one or two GD blockers went with them as well maintaining the pack. GD never slowed up as a team to catch BADG in a 20 foot violation. This is not to say the 20 foot rule was never used, when BADG knocked down all the GD skaters and skated away they got caught by the rule. But it was never used by GD as a deliberate strategy. It was as if BADG had thrown down a challenge to GD to skate with them and GD pick up this challenge and skated no matter what.
Toughness. The toughest skaters on the track had to BADG jammers. Polly Puredread said that BADG decided to leave their jammers “naked”, no trailing blocker to help the jammer, and just concentrate on stopping GD jammers. And with the speed of the BADG pack this meant that their were at least two sometimes three GD blockers waiting for BADG jammers, add the GD jammer throwing her shoulder in every now and then and a BADG jammer could be facing four GD skaters to get through. BADG jammers got to know Rat City's sports floor quite well. But every time BADG jammers went down they got back up faster than GD blockers and when they were able to get to BADG blockers they received whips and shielding blocks that sped them on their way, only to facing waiting GD blockers alone again. Hello Mr. Sports Floor. I believe I saw Turbo get knocked to floor 6 times in one jam and still score points, in fact the BADG jammers scored points in almost every jam. I believe this “naked” jammer strategy is the reason Miss Moxxxie did so well in Seattle. Being the bigger and stronger jammer, she was able to fight through the GD blockers better than the faster and more nibble Turbo and Racey.
As the BADG jammers were putting on an incredible display of speed and pain management, a vicious battle was going on for the BADG defensive box. GD was desperate to destroy the box that was shutting down their scoring and they were willing to use all means legal and illegal to do it. BADG blockers fought back with unmatched ferocity to maintain their box, also using means legal and illegal. In the end BADG simply gave better than they received.
So the BADG out-skated, out-smarted and out-fought GD, in every facet of derby BADG was superior, as evidence by the last 6 jams of 17-0 derby. Yeah, so Kitt Turbo was right! BADG just kicked DG asses.
Labels: Grave Danger, Seattle, WaMu Theatre
posted by South Bay Fan at
10:45 PM
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