FIRECRACKERS ON QUADS SAVOR RETURN TO TITLE BOUT

by Magilla Guerilla, ARRG Bout Co-Announcer – Photos by Bob Dunnell

THE ROAD TO CHAIFETZ – THE M-80s

11/5/11 VS. SMASHINISTAS 159-133 (W)

12/3/11 VS. STUNT DEVILS 136-132 (L)

1/14/12 VS. RSA 153-84 (W)

2/4/12 PLAYOFF VS. SMASHINISTAS 182-127 (W)

In ancient Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was a reptilian beast with many heads made even fiercer because every time you chopped off one of its heads, two more heads grew back into place. The M-80s are much like that ancient myth, stop one of their jammers and two more equally talented jammers charge into place to punish you.

In what looks to be a tremendous matchup of a rivalry as old as the league and a re-match to a classic regular season bout, the M-80s plan to overwhelm the Stunt Devils and crown themselves as ARRG 2012 League Champions this Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena.

Black Market Baby

This team is arguably the most versatile team in the entire local field and they boast a plethora of jammer talent, able to run out seven legitimate jammers each with the ability to put points on the board in bunches.

If you think you can get into a shoot out with the M-80 attack, they will run you down and outscore you. If you shift your tactics and try to play defense, they will gladly take on that challenge and get physical. Once you make a mistake, they respond with a scoring run and force you to loosen up your defense, putting you right back where you started.

The M-80s’ play an aggressive and passionate style and skater Black Market Baby is already excited for the championship and shares with us a bit of what we might expect from this bout:

“Fun, fun, fun. I expect hard hits. I expect everyone just going for it full blast. Everyone’s going to be dripping with sweat and just bust our…you know whats. I hope by 10 pm on April 28 that I will just screaming my guts out.”

Nightmare

Boomba has already gone “full blast” this season and is currently the league’s scoring leader, racking up 231 points as a jammer through four bouts. Even with a large potential jammer rotation, she is likely to see significant time on the line along with fellow scorers EnYa Nightmare and Munchausen by Foxy.

Beyond those three jammers, it will be interesting to see how the M-80s want to attack the Stunt Devils. There has been a tendency to use May Require Stitches in the second half of bouts or when the team needs a scoring spark, but they can counter at any time with the very physical jamming of Rhino-Might or quick, elusive skaters like Science Friction and The Siege.

All throughout the regular season this team has been able to press the right buttons with their versatile roster and they will need to continue to make the right choices against their opponent if they want to win the championship.

Friction & The Siege

The M-80s’ blockers will be generally anchored by Friction and Stitches, two agile skaters with a knack for key positional blocking and effective jammer stops. They set their teammates up for the big hits and they will be supported by veteran skaters like Rhino, The Siege, Sue Render and Bareknuckle Smack along with a blend of rookie and newly drafted teammates.

For some skaters, this is the first time they have ever played in a championship bout, so nerves could be a factor. This team also lead the Stunt Devils in their regular season meeting, but surrendered a last jam barrage of points that cost them a perfect season with a four-point loss.  Rhino Might will play in her first local championship bout and is already thinking about the big night:

“I always get nervous before the first whistle and then I’m ready to go. I really like hitting people. It’s just like an MMA fighter. You don’t know you’re in a fight until you get punched. I am ready to go, but I am nervous.”

The M-80s' Wall

If there is a potential weakness for this team, it is the very passion and energy that makes them such a challenge to face. That emotion can backfire on them and a tightly-refereed bout could spell the difference in winning and losing.

The M-80s proudly don their red and they have a firecracker for a mascot, so it should be no surprise that this team can be a little combustible.

If you can somehow frustrate their blockers and jammers, penalties will follow. This is a crack in their armor that once utilized could provide the edge the opposition needs. To the M-80s credit, it has only happened to their detriment once during the regular season. Of course that one time was in the aforementioned dramatic Stunt Devil victory, so this will be something to watch once again.

Stitches, ARRG’s 2011 Rookie of the Year, offers up a winning formula for her team and maybe even a secret weapon no one has considered:

“Focus. Hard work. Everyone’s head in the game…and candy.”

For the fans, this intense matchup for Championship Night at Chaifetz on Saturday night will be some candy everyone can enjoy. The M-80s bring a fiery, fast and furious attack to the track and they are determined to get some revenge against their rival and end the night as champions.

THE M-80s ROSTER

40 Black Market Baby    23 Science Friction    74 BareKnuckle Smack    A-10 Blue Ridge Riot      ZZZ EnYa Nightmare   9mm The Ginger Assassin   3^RD Kimical Burn   618 Madam Moonstruck    28/2 May Require Stitches    26 Munchausen By Foxy     530 Rhino-Might    50‘ The Siege              45 rpm Sue Render   761 mph The Sound Of Violence

SATURDAY, APRIL 28 – 7 PM  CHAIFETZ ARENA

The seating chart for ARRG April 28 at Chaifetz Arena.

Prices for advance tickets for the double header are as follows:

$20 for VIP Trackside seating (adults only,) $15 for bowl seating and $6 bowl seating for children 10 and under.

Fans can purchase their tickets for the double header in the following ways:

- In advance in person at the Chaifetz Arena box office (Hours: Monday -Friday 9 am – 5 pm, Saturday 10 am – 2 pm. NOTE: SLU students can get $3 off tickets when purchased at the box office.

-  In advance online through Metrotix (additional fee applies) via the Chaifetz Arena website link RIGHT HERE.

-  In person on event night at the Chaifetz Arena box office. (NOTE: Adult ticket prices will increase to $25 floor & $20 bowl at the door on event night and seating may not be available in all sections depending on advance sales.)

COMING UP TOMORROW AT 8 AM FOR ARRG’s “30n30″: Our championship week continues as we feature the firecrackers’ opposition at Chaifetz! After sitting out last season’s title tilt after back-to-back championships, the top seed of the post-season impressed in all bouts this local season. It resulted in an undefeated record heading into Saturday night. Utilizing a top-tier jamming rotation and a veteran group of blockers as lynchpins, a legacy franchise of the league is one win away from its third title in four seasons. On Thursday, a look at the Stunt Devils.

ARRG’s “30n30″ is a daily feature that examines different aspects of the Arch Rival Roller Girls – St. Louis’ first female flat-track roller derby franchise. In this section every morning at 8 AM for the entire month of April, a new feature will be presented.

Other installments of ARRG’s “30n30″: PRE-SERIES SET-UP (1) EVOLUTION (2) THE DREAM TO PLAY AT CHAIFETZ (3) LOCAL SEASON RECAP (4) ARRG ALL-STARS (5) SAINT LUNACHIX (6) ROOKIE RIVALS (7) REFEREES & NSOs (8) PRE-BOUT RITUALS (9) POST-BOUT RITUALS (10) GUERILLA UNCAGED – NO MINORS (11) ARRG VS. MEMPHIS PREVIEW (12) CHARITY (13) CHAIFETZ PUBLICITY (14) McWHEELY PHOTOGRAPHY (15) GUERILLA UNCAGED – DERBY NAMES (16) ARRG ALL-STARS VS. MEMPHIS RECAP (17) JEERLEADERS (18) SKATING MOMS (19) LUNACHIX VS. SIRG PREVIEW (20) GUERILLA UNCAGED – DERBY INJURIES (21) CHAIFETZ ANTICIPATION (22) LUNACHIX VS. SIRG RECAP (23) REBEL SKATE ALLIANCE (24) SMASHINISTAS

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under Bouts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.