CROWN THEM QUEENS OF THE DERBY
For those who are interested, the Gotham Girls Roller Derby season ended last month with a laughter. Here's the story, courtesy of the Queens Ledger website.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Queens of Pain, which suffered through injuries and defections at the start of the year. But thanks to the development of some tough young skaters, and a key mid-season acquisition, the team went out on a high note, claiming its second straight Gotham Girls Roller Derby League championship.
On the way, they routed the Manhattan Mayhem in front of a sold-out crowd at Long Island University's Schwartz Athletic Center in downtown Brooklyn. As expected, Queens, which won by an unprecedented margin of 142-59, was led by star jammers Suzy Hotrod and Cheapskate, the latter of whom transferred over from the Lonestar Rollergirls of Austin, Texas.
The pair attacked Manhattan's slow-footed defense early and relentlessly, putting their team up 16-4 after a mere two jams. Both skaters heated up to a degree that made Queens virtually unstoppable. Hotrod led all scorers with 59 points on 12 jams, while Cheapskate came in a close second with 57 points on 13 jams.
Their balanced scoring, along with strong blocking and passing, was a welcome contrast from the Queens of Pain's inaugural game back on June 2, in which they lost to the Brooklyn Bombshells.
Queens looked like a one-dimensional club on offense, even before jammer and co-captain Rolletta Lynn suffered a serious knee injury. Lynn made her triumphant return in the championship bout, scoring 11 points on four jams. More importantly, however, she and teammate Scarlett Rage helped spell the two stars, giving Queens a multi-pronged attack that simply overwhelmed Manhattan, whose skaters looked too small, too sluggish, and too undisciplined to keep pace.
Rage said her team had been working hard all week in preparation for the championship round. "It's just practice, practice, practice," she said. "We have amazing blockers and amazing jammers, and we got better as the season went on. We really just gelled as a team."
With regards to the lopsided score, the redheaded skater, whose fiery hair color matched her competitive demeanor on the track, said they made an effort to not let Manhattan back in. "It was a tough call, because everyone wants a tight game," Rage said. "But you have to skate the best you can."
For their part, Manhattan probably mustered its best performance possible. When the two teams faced-off earlier in the season, Queens also won in convincing fashion, 84-43. This time around, aside from Lil Miss Stuffit, whose play accounted for 34 of her team's 59 points on 12 jams, everyone else wearing the Mayhem's orange prison-style jumpsuits struggled mightily.
Their second-leading scorer was Rippin Kitten with 13 points on nine jams.
Afterward, Queens assistant manager Kara Socky, filling in for an absent Archibald Q. Nemesis, was at a loss to explain her team's absolute disappearance on the track. "I have no idea, really," she told the Ledger/Star. "I thought we were prepared and ready. It shows that you just don't know."
At the onset, Manhattan looked prepared to try and intimidate Queens, a strategy that worked to a degree against the Brooklyn Bombshells. But even some hard bumping by Mayhem blocker Surly Temple failed to slow the game's tempo. In fact, after the rough stuff began, Queens went on a 17-3 run, capped by a 10-point burst by Hotrod putting them up 33-7.
Eventually, Queens showed the mettle that made them reigning champions - and lived up to their dominatrix-inspired moniker, to boot - by dishing out some punishment of their own. Midway through the first half, Rage landed a hard check on Manhattan jammer Baby Ruthless as Hotrod split the pack for four points. Two jams later, Hotrod shrugged off another hit by the Mayhem, this one from blocker Gogo Baibai. In retaliation, the Queens star circled the track, skated up alongside Baibai, and sent her crashing to the floor.
Fouls meant that both sides had to skate shorthanded during jams. However, Manhattan could not take advantage of any mismatches - a problem that plagued them throughout the night - while Queens exploited almost every Mayhem miscue for big points. That was evident in the second half as Manhattan jammer Roxy Balboa, frustrated at her team being down more than 50, threw an elbow at Cheapskate. Unfortunately for the Mayhem, the foul landed their point-scorer in the penalty box. Cheapskate proceeded to skate at will, racking up nine points to Manhattan's zero, increasing Queens' lead to 102-38.
Those nine points were part of a 31-4 run by Hotrod, Cheapskate, and Lynn, who scored eight, 19, and four points, respectively. That effectively killed any hopes the Mayhem had of making the score look competitive, although they did achieve something of a moral victory with the game already out of reach. During a late game jam, Lil Miss Stuffit scored eight points, while a teammate upended Hotrod into the V.I.P. section.
Among the Queens flankers who stepped up down the stretch, Joey Hardcore and Ana Bollocks provided their usual physical presence, and rookie blocker Stevie Kicks came up with a few pretty assists, using her arms to "whip" teammates into scoring position. Kicks, who took a more significant role after Bessie Smithereens left to attend Tulane Law School in June, said that the Queens' coaching staff and players scouted Manhattan in the weeks leading up to the match.
In the end, however, everyone concluded that playing their usual game, and playing it well, represented the most likely path to victory. "We try to look at the style of the other team, but it's more about how we skate together," Kicks said. "Our strategy is basically the same. It's about how we gel as a team."
Indeed, as far as banding together was concerned, this year's Queens of Pain compared favorably to last year's model. Manager Bust'er Cheatin, who coached that team all the way to the championship, commented that Bronx, whom they defeated by one point in the semi-finals, would have been a more worthy opponent.
In a few sentences, he may have sowed the seeds for the Gotham Girls' first big rivalry. "We were lucky to have beaten Bronx last time," Cheatin said. "We wish that it was [them] we were playing in the final, but this is the way the brackets worked out."
The future in doubt?
On the way, they routed the Manhattan Mayhem in front of a sold-out crowd at Long Island University's Schwartz Athletic Center in downtown Brooklyn. As expected, Queens, which won by an unprecedented margin of 142-59, was led by star jammers Suzy Hotrod and Cheapskate, the latter of whom transferred over from the Lonestar Rollergirls of Austin, Texas.
The pair attacked Manhattan's slow-footed defense early and relentlessly, putting their team up 16-4 after a mere two jams. Both skaters heated up to a degree that made Queens virtually unstoppable. Hotrod led all scorers with 59 points on 12 jams, while Cheapskate came in a close second with 57 points on 13 jams.
Their balanced scoring, along with strong blocking and passing, was a welcome contrast from the Queens of Pain's inaugural game back on June 2, in which they lost to the Brooklyn Bombshells.
Queens looked like a one-dimensional club on offense, even before jammer and co-captain Rolletta Lynn suffered a serious knee injury. Lynn made her triumphant return in the championship bout, scoring 11 points on four jams. More importantly, however, she and teammate Scarlett Rage helped spell the two stars, giving Queens a multi-pronged attack that simply overwhelmed Manhattan, whose skaters looked too small, too sluggish, and too undisciplined to keep pace.
Rage said her team had been working hard all week in preparation for the championship round. "It's just practice, practice, practice," she said. "We have amazing blockers and amazing jammers, and we got better as the season went on. We really just gelled as a team."
With regards to the lopsided score, the redheaded skater, whose fiery hair color matched her competitive demeanor on the track, said they made an effort to not let Manhattan back in. "It was a tough call, because everyone wants a tight game," Rage said. "But you have to skate the best you can."
For their part, Manhattan probably mustered its best performance possible. When the two teams faced-off earlier in the season, Queens also won in convincing fashion, 84-43. This time around, aside from Lil Miss Stuffit, whose play accounted for 34 of her team's 59 points on 12 jams, everyone else wearing the Mayhem's orange prison-style jumpsuits struggled mightily.
Their second-leading scorer was Rippin Kitten with 13 points on nine jams.
Afterward, Queens assistant manager Kara Socky, filling in for an absent Archibald Q. Nemesis, was at a loss to explain her team's absolute disappearance on the track. "I have no idea, really," she told the Ledger/Star. "I thought we were prepared and ready. It shows that you just don't know."
At the onset, Manhattan looked prepared to try and intimidate Queens, a strategy that worked to a degree against the Brooklyn Bombshells. But even some hard bumping by Mayhem blocker Surly Temple failed to slow the game's tempo. In fact, after the rough stuff began, Queens went on a 17-3 run, capped by a 10-point burst by Hotrod putting them up 33-7.
Eventually, Queens showed the mettle that made them reigning champions - and lived up to their dominatrix-inspired moniker, to boot - by dishing out some punishment of their own. Midway through the first half, Rage landed a hard check on Manhattan jammer Baby Ruthless as Hotrod split the pack for four points. Two jams later, Hotrod shrugged off another hit by the Mayhem, this one from blocker Gogo Baibai. In retaliation, the Queens star circled the track, skated up alongside Baibai, and sent her crashing to the floor.
Fouls meant that both sides had to skate shorthanded during jams. However, Manhattan could not take advantage of any mismatches - a problem that plagued them throughout the night - while Queens exploited almost every Mayhem miscue for big points. That was evident in the second half as Manhattan jammer Roxy Balboa, frustrated at her team being down more than 50, threw an elbow at Cheapskate. Unfortunately for the Mayhem, the foul landed their point-scorer in the penalty box. Cheapskate proceeded to skate at will, racking up nine points to Manhattan's zero, increasing Queens' lead to 102-38.
Those nine points were part of a 31-4 run by Hotrod, Cheapskate, and Lynn, who scored eight, 19, and four points, respectively. That effectively killed any hopes the Mayhem had of making the score look competitive, although they did achieve something of a moral victory with the game already out of reach. During a late game jam, Lil Miss Stuffit scored eight points, while a teammate upended Hotrod into the V.I.P. section.
Among the Queens flankers who stepped up down the stretch, Joey Hardcore and Ana Bollocks provided their usual physical presence, and rookie blocker Stevie Kicks came up with a few pretty assists, using her arms to "whip" teammates into scoring position. Kicks, who took a more significant role after Bessie Smithereens left to attend Tulane Law School in June, said that the Queens' coaching staff and players scouted Manhattan in the weeks leading up to the match.
In the end, however, everyone concluded that playing their usual game, and playing it well, represented the most likely path to victory. "We try to look at the style of the other team, but it's more about how we skate together," Kicks said. "Our strategy is basically the same. It's about how we gel as a team."
Indeed, as far as banding together was concerned, this year's Queens of Pain compared favorably to last year's model. Manager Bust'er Cheatin, who coached that team all the way to the championship, commented that Bronx, whom they defeated by one point in the semi-finals, would have been a more worthy opponent.
In a few sentences, he may have sowed the seeds for the Gotham Girls' first big rivalry. "We were lucky to have beaten Bronx last time," Cheatin said. "We wish that it was [them] we were playing in the final, but this is the way the brackets worked out."
The future in doubt?
- With the regular season and post-season all wrapped up, the Gotham Girls Road Team hits the road, competing against leagues in New Jersey, Providence, and Philadelphia.
- Back home, after one month off, a call will go out for new talent. Following tryouts, teams representing the four boroughs draft skaters to play on next season's clubs.
- The league is reportedly still looking for a warehouse space large and cost-effective enough to practice in. As far as game venues for next year, the Gotham Girls have received positive feedback from both Long Island University and Hunter College, which could alternate hosting duties once again.
posted by Phil at 10:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home