FULL BEVY OF BOUTS & USO FUNDRAISER HIGHLIGHT JULY!

by the Grand Poobah

A very active summer continues for the Arch Rival Roller Girls in July, which includes bouts for all three ARRG teams as well as an late-month Jeerleader fundraiser that will benefit the Missouri USO.

The ARRG All-Stars – currently ranked tenth the WFTDA North Central region – return to the flat-track for a pair of sanctioned bouts in their quest to move up the rankings ladder prior to a potential post-season invite.

ARRG (6-1) faces #9 Chicago Outfit Syndicate (6-3) on Saturday, July 9 at the Windy City Fieldhouse in Chicago. ARRG surprised skeptics with a 129-72 win over the Syndicate back in May. Another dominating ARRG win will validate the victory.

The All-Stars then return home to Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin for a Saturday, July 16 battle against #14 Grand Raggidy (5-3). The squad from Grand Rapids, MI has won two straight and four out of their last five WFTDA-sanctioned bouts.

The undercard for both those bouts will feature the Saint Lunachix – ARRG’s developmental squad. On July 9, the Chix (6-1) face the Chicago Outfit’s Shade Brigade followed by a July 16 home match-up against the Southern Illinois Roller Girls, one of the newest apprentice teams of the WFTDA.

Tickets for the Saturday, July 16 doubleheader – featuring ARRG vs. Grand Raggidy and Saint Lunachix vs. Southern Illinois are on sale right now at BROWN PAPER TICKETS. Save $3 per ticket when purchasing in advance online!

The ARRG Rookie Rivals – a squad consisting of unrostered league skaters – will have a pair of road trips in July. The Rookie Rivals face the Dark River Derby Coalition on Saturday, July 2 in Quincy, IL. This will be Dark River’s inaugural bout. The Rookie Rivals then face the Chicago Outfit’s C-team on Sunday, July 10 in Summitt Argo, IL.

As if this wasn’t enough, ARRG will once again participate in a mash-up exhibition bout at the next intraleague home game of the STLGateKeepers men’s roller derby league on Saturday, July 23 at Midwest Sport Hockey. Two teams of ARRG skaters – utilizing the theme of “Stars vs. Stripes” – will face off prior to the men’s match-up between the Dogtown Rockets and South Grand Slammers. You never know which roller girl will be teammates until bout night!

Finally, the ARRG Jeerleaders present “Cheers to the Troops” on Saturday, July 30 at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis. This night of entertainment – featuring a wide variety of entertainment acts – will raise proceeds for the USO of Missouri. Along with variety acts, there will be food and drink, a silent auction, a 50/50 raffle and more!

As July progresses, will bring you more on all these ARRG activities in-depth.

Indeed, the summer is just warming up.

ARRG SHOWS OFF ITS PRIDE IN PARADE!

(ST. LOUIS, MO) This past weekend, ARRG modified its traditional “pink and black” color scheme and donned the colors of the rainbow.

ARRG participated in the 2011 Pride Parade – the signature event of annual PrideFest celebration – held Sunday near St. Louis’ Tower Grove Park.

Alongside the STLGatekeepers, ARRG skated, handed out rare collectible logo stickers and spread the good gospel of roller derby to the masses, who were often four rows deep along both sides of the two mile-stretch down Grand Avenue.

The 31^st annual PrideFest – held Saturday and Sunday at Tower Grove Park – was projected to draw a weekend attendance of 80,000.

WRASTLIN’ FUNDRAISER HELPS ARRG!

This past weekend, ARRG held a unique fundraiser that will support with the costs of the travel team squads.

Friday night at FUBAR in St. Louis, ARRG presented a night of WWE-style jello wrestling.

While there is photographic documentation of the event, we here at the ARRG Newscenter thought some of the pictures might not be suitable for viewing at our all-ages website.

This does not imply that there was anything risqué about the fundraiser. Far from it, it was designed with good, clean fund in mind…or at least as good and clean as 800 gallons of non-edible gelatin can get.

So we offer an alternative. We’ve taken some of the images photographed from the evening and have asked 9-year old Jimmy Natchez from the “Beginning Freehand Art” class from the Hattiesburg, Mississippi YMCA to give his illustrative reconstruction of the event.

These images are safe for work and we thank Little Jimmy for his efforts. I’m sure he’ll get an extra “blow pop” for his efforts.

Click on the IMAGE to see the cartoon!

And in all sincerity, we do thank those who came out and supported the ARRG fundraising event last Friday.

NEXT WEEK IN THE NEWSCENTER: The ARRG All-Stars and the Saint Lunachix travel to Chi-town for a doubleheader against Chicago Outfit. We’ll preview a pair of important bouts!

The Grand Poobah and Hells LaBelle are bout announcers for the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Check back in this section on Mondays for the latest in ARRG news/information.

by the Grand Poobah…an online columnist

(BALLWIN, MO) Thanks to an 123-point second-half output, the Arch Rival Roller Girls – ranked tenth in the WFTDA North Central region – upended #7 North Star 181-40 Saturday night at Midwest Sport Hockey.

ARRG raced out to a 58-23 halftime lead thanks to 22 first-half points by jammer Mighty Mighty Boston.

Midway through the second half, Boston’s 30-point “mighty-jam” would send the Supernovas reeling.

ARRG would keep the pressure on, outscoring North Star 123-17 in the second half to pick up their sixth consecutive win and their second win over a higher-ranked opponent in 2011.

ARRG (6-1) was paced by Boston’s 73 points while Downtown Dallis contributed 59.

A full recap of this bout will be featured in this section on Monday morning.

NORTH CENTRAL RIVALS DUEL FOR PLAYOFF POSITIONING!

by the ARRG announcer that’s not Hells LaBelle

In the world of astronomy, a “supernova” is defined as “the explosion of a supergiant star.” The impending reaction shines with the brightness of 10 billion suns.

This weekend, the Arch Rival Roller Girls All-Stars are set to face a WFTDA North Central rival that looks to blind St. Louis’ best on the flat-track.

ARRG (5-1), currently ranked tenth in the North Central, battle the North Star Supernovas (2-1), the region’s seventh-ranked team Saturday night.

The high-octane action begins at 7 pm at Midwest Sport Hockey at Queeny Park (570 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, MO). Doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $15. Children 10 and under are free. Online discount tickets for the event, which also features an opening bout with the STLGatekeepers vs. the Twin City Terrors are available at Brown Paper Tickets at this link RIGHT HERE.

The battle is one that is being closely watched by those within and outside the region. Potential post-season classification hangs in the balance.

For ARRG, this could be potentially the one bout that solidifies its chances of a return trip to the North Central regional tournament come October.

For the skaters from Minneapolis/St. Paul, a win silences the critics who think the squad is vulnerable following an April lopsided letdown to a lower-ranked squad.

To secure a post-season trip to Indianapolis later in the Fall, the mantra for Saturday night is simple for both squads – “win it and you’re in it.”

May was an extremely busy – and bountiful – month for the locals. Following a home victory over North Central #11 Ohio on May 14, the ARRG All-Stars won both their bouts over two top-15 teams at Midwest Brewhaha 2011 the following weekend.

ARRG defeated North Central #9 Chicago Outift 129-72 and #15 Burning River 149-87 to extend their current winning streak to five bouts.

Those who follow derby closely will claim that ARRG is currently playing its smartest derby ever. The patience has risen and the penalties have fallen. In fact, what was paramount for the “pink and black attack” in May was the ability to capitalize on the opposition’s mistakes.

Shiner

ARRG will send its jamming trifecta to the stripe as Downtown Dallis, Mighty Mighty Boston and South City Shiner will all “don the star” for the locals. Also look for additional help offensively from the Educator and Smarty McFly.

And much credit to ARRG’s current streak should also go to the solid play up-front by blockers Chewblocka, Eli Walliop, Mayor Francis Slayer and a host of others.

But the squad as a whole will have to play its smartest derby yet against a motley crew of Minnesotans who have historically had ARRG’s number.

North Star Supernovas

North Star dropped two losses on Arch Rival in 2010, including a consolation bracket loss at last year’s North Central regional tournament which inevitably sent the locals into a post-season tailspin.

The Supernovas have faced some pretty tough competition in 2011. They began the year with a 106-97 win in February over West #9 Tucson and followed that with a 111-87 win over the DC Rollergirls, who at the time held the #9 rank in the East.

Their one setback thus far this year was a bit of a shocker. North Star was upended by the #9 Chicago Outfit 202-81 on April 30 in a bout that saw the Supernovas fail to score a point in the first 15:00 of the second half.

Don’t expect the same squad that was handed a 141-point loss to a lower-ranked squad in April to be the same one that takes to the flat track Saturday night. They’re just too doggone good.

The Supernovas will go with a triple-attack of jammers Dreidel Robber, Katarina Hit and Scarlett Raven, who all come into the bout with a 20+-point average. Also look for North Star co-captains Aurora Whorealis and Ida Kildher to also make a significant impact.

ARRG has never beaten North Star…ever. Don’t expect the Supernovas to let their streak against the locals to be broken without a fight.

The STL Gatekeepers

Prior to Saturday’s main event, we’ll see a real barnburner featuring two of the Midwest’s top men’s flat-track teams as The STLGatekeepers (4-0) face the Twin City Terrors (7-1).

Just like its female counterparts, the ‘Keepers have been unstoppable in May, picking up three big wins at Spring Roll 2011 four weekends ago.

During the invitational, the Gatekeepers picked up a historical victory over the New York Shock Exchange, a legacy franchise that had never lost a bout in its four-year existence…or at least until the ‘Keepers got a hold of them.

Look for impact from jammers Short Knocks, Debaucherous Prime, Magnum P.I.M.P, Nat King Kill and BatWing as well as a solid blocking core of Wrecking Bill, Double Excel and Percy Control to lay down the foundation up front.

Likewise, Twin City has racked up impressive wins, outscoring their opponents by a ratio of 2-to-1 in 2011.

Jonathon Elliot, who averages 25 points per bout, leads the scoring for the Terrors. Bruce Knuckle and MC Threscher also propel the offense for Twin City.

Both teams are part of the Mens Roller Derby Association (MRDA), who will have their 2011 tournament in New York later this Fall. The MRDA currently has 11 sanctioned teams eligible for the tourney – only six of them will be invited. So the implications of this bout are huge.

Expect a battle down to the wire in this one – it’s just too close to call.

As always, there’s plenty of action off the track to be found as well at Midwest Sport Hockey throughout the night.

This Saturday is the final charity raffle drawing that will support Girls Incorporated of St. Louis. Throughout the year, ARRG Nation has supported this top-notch local non-for-profit, and with your help, ARRG can reach its goal! Stop by ARRG’s charity raffle table and see what you can win! Tickets are $1 apiece or six for $5.

And to show their appreciation to the fans, Girls Incorporated will perform a special halftime performance during Saturday’s main event.

And after the bouts, stop by Iggy’s Mexican Cantina (13645 Big Bend Rd.) for ARRG’s official post-bout after-party. There will be drink specials and live music for all to enjoy. Remember, there’s no cover to enter the after-party!

Don’t think that Mother Nature’s gonna rain on this parade – it’s going to be a fun night of derby! We’ll see you Saturday night.

ARRG & GATEKEEPERS TO APPEAR ON KTVI & KPLR FRIDAY!

To spread the good gospel of roller derby to the masses via the media, the Arch Rival Roller Girls and the STL Gatekeepers will make an appearance on local television this Friday, June 10.

Both will appear live on “Fox 2 News at 9 AM with Tim Ezell” on KTVI-TV, Channel 2 for a demonstration jam. In other words….it’s men vs. women, with a surprise pair of jammers “donning the star.”

The segment will also be featured later Friday afternoon on “News 11 at 4 PM” on KPLR-TV, Channel 11.

You can see the broadcasts live or view them live online at fox2now.com or kplr11.com.

ARRG LANDS TOP 25 RANKING IN NATIONAL DERBY WEBSITE!

Due to its successful month of May and current 5-1 record, the editors of Derby News Network – the premiere online source for flat-track derby news – have placed the ARRG All-Stars in their Power Rankings for the month of June.

The rankings – which are not affiliated with the WFTDA – list the Top 25 teams in women’s derby based upon performance and strength of schedule.

DNN currently lists ARRG at #22. This marks the first time ARRG has been in the rankings since 2009.

Eight teams in the WFTDA North Central Region are in June’s Top 25. To see the entire list, GO RIGHT HERE!

ARRG’S LAST PUSH FOR KOMEN RACE FOR THE CURE!

Team ARRG is more than ready to “hit the 5K” for Saturday’s Susan G. Komen Race for Cure in downtown St. Louis.

However, the need is there to help ARRG “hit the 2K” for donations.

Last year, ARRG raised $1,595 at Race for the Cure. This year the goal is $2,000. As of presstime, ARRG has reached 24% of its goal. Your help is needed!

To visit the ARRG team page and to make a donation, CLICK RIGHT HERE!

Over 71,000 participants competed at last year’s event, which raised over $3.4 million in net proceeds locally.

The St. Louis affiliate – one of more than 125 affiliates worldwide – works to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in the local community. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure is considered part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer.

According to its official website, nearly seventy-five percent of net proceeds raised locally stay in the St. Louis area to fund screening, treatment, education and support programs.

A minimum of twenty-five percent of money raised goes to the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants program.

ARRG participates in events such as these not because they have to – they do this because they want to.

COMING UP NEXT MONDAY IN THE ARRG NEWSLETTER: A full recap the ARRG vs. North Star match-up. We’ll see how the locals fared in the quest to move up the WFTDA North Central rankings.

This online columnist and Hells LaBelle are bout announcers for the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Check back in this section on Mondays for the latest in ARRG news and information.