127-75 WIN NETS LOCALS THIRD WIN IN FOUR BOUTS
by the Grand Poobah
(ST. LOUIS, MO) It was not that long ago that the ARRG All-Stars found themselves in a potentially problematic situation. A mid-May record of 1-4 showed that the locals had experienced more lows than highs early in 2010.
And with strong WFTDA squads on the horizon, a season that some critics would have classified as “rebuilding” could have been completely demolished prior to the official start of summer.
Was the foundation strong enough? And more importantly - could it survive the storm brewing up ahead?
Faced against adversity, the pink and black building still remains intact.
Paced by Artemischief’s bout high 48 points, ARRG posted an impressive 127-75 victory over Duke City of Albuquerque, NM in front of 800 Saturday night at the All-American Sports Mall.
The win over the sixth-ranked team in the WFTDA West region improved ARRG’s record to 4-5, which includes three victories in their last four bouts against WFTDA-sanctioned teams.
“This season we’ve been on a steady stretch upward and it really feels like we’re making some strides,” said ARRG blocker Eli Wallop following the bout. “We’ve been capitalizing on the momentum.”
Although the final score indicates that the bout was lopsided, in all fairness, Duke City was already behind the 8-ball prior the bout - a roster of only 13 skaters, which saw the absences of several key players including a top scorer.
Yet with small numbers in the line-up, the Munecas Muertas grabbed an early advantage.
A grand slam by Duke City’s Meep Meep at the 5:00 mark gave the visitors a 15-4 lead.
ARRG would then shift the momentum to its side during the bout’s next ten minutes. Five consecutive lead jam scores - including a 10-pointer by Enya Nightmare - resulted in 22-point uncontested streak. When the dust had settled at the 16:15 mark, ARRG had posted a 30-18 advantage.
Undaunted, Albuquerque quickly regained the lead on the very next jam. Meep Meep’s 15-point megajam overturned the leader board - which now read 33-30 Duke City.
But whereas Duke City placed all their chips on a roadrunner, ARRG countered by unleashing its cheetah on quads.
At the 5:15 mark, Artemischief sprinted to the front of the pack and came up with a 15-point jam of her own. Just like that, ARRG possessed a 49-37 lead.
The veteran jammer’s 27-point first-half output resulted in a 52-41 lead for the pink and black attack at the halftime break.
Both teams collected points at a frenetic pace to start the second half. ARRG’s South City Shiner and Artemischief scored back-to-back four pointers to extend the lead to 19. Nightmare followed with five of her own.
Down 65-41, Duke City’s Meep Meep and Brutalitaur scored 10 and five respectively to keep pace. The local contingent became nervous as the lead had been whittled down to 65-56 with under 24:00 remaining.
Sensing the uneasy feeling of a large lead lost, ARRG responded with a huge rally.
A 26-1 scoring stretch in the bout’s next eight minutes - punctuated by Shiner’s 15-point power jam - made ARRG Nation breathe a sigh of relief. Their favorites on quads now possessed a 91-57 advantage.
ARRG would continue to maintain the pressure on an already exhausted bunch of Duke City skaters. The “fab four” of Artemischief, Shiner, Nightmare and Black Market Baby would score 75 points collectively for ARRG in the second half, which matched the number of points Duke City scored overall for the bout.
Artemischief lead ARRG scorers with 48 points, followed by Shiner’s 31. Nightmare added 28 while BMB collected 15 for the locals, who picked up their second straight win.
Meep Meep paced Duke City (4-3) with 40 points, followed by Brutalitaur’s well-earned 24 and Amanda Jamitinya’s 15.
“Everytime I went out for a hit, I was bracing myself because those (ARRG) girls hit really hard,” said Jamitinya respectfully said after the bout.
How hard? “Bonecrushingly hard,” replied Wallop.
“They’re made out of bricks,” countered Jamitinya.
And that, perhaps, is the best way to build a solid foundation.
The ARRG All-Stars now take a two-month break from travel team action, as the league focuses its energies on the remainder of the 2010 local season.
St. Louis’ best on quads return to all-star action on Saturday & Sunday, August 14 and 15 at the All-American Sports Mall for a special two-day, four team tournament that includes the Detroit Derby Girls, the Kansas City Roller Warriors and the Philadelphia Liberty Belles.
ST. LUNACHIX UPENDED BY DEMOLITION CITY
EVANSVILLE KEEPS RECORD PERFECT
In Saturday night’s opener, ARRG’s developmental team - the St. Lunachix - dropped to 2-2 on the season following a 134-78 loss to the Demolition City Dynamite Dolls of Evansville, IN.
The locals’ loss was the second this year to Demolition City, who remain undefeated at 6-0.
“it’s a little disappointing, but we’ll learn from it and play better next time,” said Chix jammer/blocker The Siege. “(Evansville) is a very good team - they play very well together.”
The Chix were unable to stop the early attack of the Dolls’ monster jammer, Godjilla, whose 33 first-half points resulted in a 51-10 lead twenty minutes into the bout.
Jammer Mighty Mighty Boston gave the St. Lunachix a small glimmer of hope. An 11-pointer scored cut into the deficit, but Demolition City’s Shelby N. Pain countered with a 14-point power jam. A 69-21 halftime lead for Evansville seemed impossible to catch.
“Last season, it usually took us the whole first half to get the gist of what we needed to do,” said Pain of the huge lead at the break. “So what we’ve been working on this season is picking apart what we needed to do before the bout and learning to adapt a lot quicker during the bout.”
It looks like they’re following their plan to the letter.
But to their credit, the St. Lunachix played in the second half as if the bout was tied. Joanie Rollmoan banged out a 15-pointer five minutes into the second half, while The Siege steadily racked up 4-pointers of her own.
Conversely for Demolition City, a pair of 15-point powerjams - one by Godjilla, one by Pain - were pounded with precision as the period progressed.
Evansville proceeded to outscore the locals 65-53 in the second half to ease to victory.
But don’t think that the visitors didn’t have respect for the Chix post-bout.
“We knew they were going to come back at us because they’re tough,” said Pain, who finished with 41 points. “They were still picking us apart on a lot of stuff so we’ve still got plenty of work to do.”
Godjilla’s 48 points paced Demolition City, while Lillith of the Valley added 32.
The Siege scored 30 points while Rollmoan collected 26 for the St. Lunachix, who next play the COMO Derby Dames on Saturday, September 18.
SATURDAY NOTES FROM THE POOBAH
Thanks to all 800 who showed up at the All-American Sports Mall Saturday night to support a fun night of double derby action. Without your support, special events like these would not be possible.
Special thanks go to the athletes and support staff from Duke City and Demolition City for their professionalism throughout the weekend. In bouts that become one-sided, it is very easy for the play to become chippy and the emotions to become stretched-thin, which could potentially lead to “unladylike” moments. Fortunately, the professionalism of all four squads proved that the sport - and its athletes - will always be respected, regardless of the outcome.
Most respectful were the fans from ARRG Nation who showed their appreciation to both visiting teams with post-bout hand slaps following the bouts.
Special shout outs go to our friends from the local media who gave ARRG a little extra lovin’ prior to this doubleheader: Gary B and Randy Gardner of “STL Sports Zone” on KFNS-AM, Brian McKenna of “The Last Call” on KFNS-AM, Van Lorenz and Rick Wallace of 106.5 The ARCH and Angela Hutti of KTVI-TV. Thanks all for continuing to support ARRG! We appreciate it.
MVPs (as selected by the opposition) for the bouts were the following: ARRG All-Stars, Eli Wallop - Duke City, Amanda Jamitinya - St. Lunachix, The Siege - Demolition City, Shelby N. Pain.
ARRG NEW “C” TEAM DEBUTS THIS SATURDAY
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX HOST ST. LOUIS’ NEWEST RECRUITS
We’ve featured both the ARRG All-Stars and the St. Lunachix in our continuing coverage this season.
How about we add a third team to the mix?
This weekend marks the debut of ARRG’s other developmental franchise that consists of new recruits to the league in a match-up with the newly-formed St. Chux Derby Chix of St. Charles County.
The bout takes place this Saturday, June 12 at the Omni Sportsplex (4160 Industrial Drive, St. Peters, MO). Doors open at 7pm. The $7 bout starts at 8pm.
Formed last December, The St. Chux Derby Chix is currently a member of USARS (USA Roller Sports), which is the national governing body of roller sports in the United States. Roller sports in the jurisdiction of the USARS include speed skating, inline hockey, figure skating, rink hockey and yep, derby.
USARS derby teams follow the same rules and regulations as the WFTDA, thus they are eligible to face WFTDA teams. The St. Chux Derby Chix’s goal in 2011 is to become an apprentice league of the WFTDA.
The league has one bout under its belt, an interleague match-up between the Vertbreak’n Vixens and the Dollface Killers in mid-April. A 39-35 win for the Vixens launched a newfound athletic alternative in St. Charles County. And if you are a lover of derby who likes to see the sport grow, THAT is always a good thing.
The two squads from St. Charles will combine teams to create their roster, while ARRG will field of roster of rookie recruits. These will be athletes who have dedicated the time and literal sweat equity to ARRG for participation at practices, home bouts and at community events.
They all hope to make their progression into one of the three interleague teams of ARRG in the future. Wouldn’t it be nice to say “thank you” for all the support they have given the league so far?
As of press time, ARRG is still determining the name of the new squad. Find out for yourself as its unveiled this Saturday at the Omni’s Wheel.
It’s the future of the sport - I think it’ll be $7 well spent.
ARRG’S FINAL SPRINT THIS WEEK FOR “RACE FOR THE CURE”
The final week of fundraising has approached for ARRG as they are set to participate in the 2010 Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, to be held this Saturday morning in downtown St. Louis.
Last year, ARRG raised $2,700 - this year our goal is $3,500! With under a week left, we have reached 43% of our goal! There’s no better time to help out our cause than now! Thanks to your support and donation, you’ll help us achieve that goal and continue our streak of successful community outreach projects in 2010.
To join our team and to make a donation, visit the ARRG team page.
And by all means - come walk with us on June 12 and show support to those who have courageously fought and continue to fight this disease!
NEXT WEEK IN THE ARRG NEWSCENTER: The final bout of the regular season approaches! Two teams battle in a potential championship preview while a third team on the sidelines will watch the scoreboard, hoping that mathematics will sneak them into the finals. Hells LaBelle will bring you a preview.
The Grand Poobah and Hells LaBelle are bout announcers for the 2010 season of the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Check back in this section on Mondays for the latest in ARRG news and information.
