ALL-STARS UPSET NC #5, CHIX & ROOKIES IMPRESSIVE!
(BALLWIN & ST. LOUIS, MO) To say that the weekend was busy for the Arch Rival Roller Girls would be quite the understatement. By entertaining the travel squads of the Chicago Outfit, the league found itself in three flat-track battles that tested each individual franchise’s level of play.
When the weekend had concluded, the results were successful on all accounts.
Capitalizing on a 57-0 second half run, the ARRG All-Stars – currently ranked eighth in the WFTDA North Central region – apprehended the region’s fifth-ranked Chicago Outfit Syndicate 191-100 on Saturday night in front of 570 at Midwest Sport Hockey.
In the b-team opener earlier in the evening, ARRG’s Saint Lunachix used a stifling defense to post a 155-53 victory over the Chicago Outfit Shade Brigade.
Then on Sunday afternoon, the ARRG Rookie Rivals – the league’s “c-team” used second-period momentum to net a 136-92 victory over the Chicago Outfit Shakedown in a “closed bout” in South St. Louis.
The sweep proved what occurs when a league effectively utilizes its strengths in both execution and roster depth.
In the end, the hard-charging rollers from the Gateway City played the part of derby detectives and put handcuffs on the Midwestern mafia.
ARRG ALL-STARS 191 CHICAGO OUTFIT SYNDICATE 100
By Muckety Muck, Derby News Network Contributing Writer, Photos by Bob Dunnell
The 91-point victory over the North Central foe netted Arch Rival (9-2) its third straight win and its fourth upset over a higher-ranked opponent in the past six weeks.
“(The Outfit) came out wanting to maintain their spot in the rankings, so we had to make sure that we wanted it more,” said Arch Rival blocker The Educator afterwards. “We wanted to send a message before post-season.”
The Chicago Outfit Syndicate also craved a region win. After holding steady in the number-five slot for numerous ranking quarters, inconsistent play during the last two months resulted in one loss and low-differential victories over weaker squads. A loss to the St. Louis squad ranked three positions back would put the Outfit behind the “8-ball” in the complexion of the North Central region.
In short, the visitors came prepared to “shake up the joint.” After all, that’s what mobsters do best.
A 3-2 bout-opening jam by the Outfit’s Queefer Sutherland was followed by a 12-0 ARRG rally over the bout’s next four rotations.
Jammer Black Market Baby’s four-pointer was followed by four from Downtown Dallis at 26:34. Back-to-back treys by South City Shiner and Mighty Mighty Boston extended the All-Stars’ lead to 16-3.
After Arch Rival pushed the lead to 20-6 eight minutes in, the Outfit tied the bout 20-20 with Sutherland’s 14-point strike at 20:15.
St. Louis pulled ahead 27-21 following two rotations, but an Outfit 14-5 power jam posted by Lola Blow with 14:10 left helped snag her squad a 35-32 edge.
Arch Rival retaliated with a 13-6 non-lead power jam by May Require Stitches, resulting in a 45-41 lead change.
Dallis followed with four with 9:30 left to double the advantage but back-to-back two-pointers by the Outfit’s Sutherland and Silkk Assassin whittled the margin to 49-45.
With 4:30 left, Arch Rival notched a power jam and was aided by a packed Outfit penalty box. Dallis punched out a 24-pointer that widened ARRG’s margin, 73-45.
Chicago quickly silenced the locals on the period’s penultimate jam as Asssassin posted a 20-pointer that narrowed the gap to eight.
Arch Rival tallied four to conclude first half scoring, but in a bout that had the visiting mob looking to “muscle in,” a 77-65 advantage at intermission was anything but safe.
“The Outfit’s a really strong team,” said Shiner. “Overall, they’re really good skaters. They know how to disrupt any type of plan that you have. We had a really rough start to this game. It took us a little while to find our groove.”
That groove was firmly established early in the second half as Boston collected a period-opening baker’s dozen that extended St. Louis’ lead to 90-65. A 4-2 jam for the Outfit’s Assassin on the next rotation narrowed the deficit to 23 points.
Arch Rival proceeded to reverse roles and fit the Chicagoan cosca with its own version of “concrete shoes,” posting a 57-0 rally over the period’s next fifteen minutes. Dallis’ nine-point power jam with 25:30 left was followed by an additional nine scored by Boston two jams later that pushed the lead to 110-72.
Boston went on to collect another twelve and thirteen as the stretch continued. Shiner’s niner scored with 10:15 left put the exclamation point on the whack and Arch Rival had built a 158-72 lead.
Meanwhile, the Arch Rival blocking battalion of Eli Wallop, Science Friction, Shimmy Hoffa, Party Foul, Grave Danger, Chewblocka, Mayor Francis Slayer and the aforementioned Educator and Stitches put the clamp on Outifit scoring in the second half, holding the Northern Illinoisans to seven points recorded in twenty minutes.
“Our best offense is a good defense,” said the Educator of the shutdown. “It’s our strategy. It’s working for us.”
After the long offensive drought, the Outfit went on a 19-0 run with 5:00 left, but Boston’s 28-point penultimate power jam locked the cell.
Arch Rival outscored Chicago Outfit 114-35 in the second half en route to the 91-point win and improved to 8-1 in the North Central.
“This was a really big deal for us,” reflects the Educator. “We wanted this kind of momentum going into regionals. This adds more fuel to our fire.”
Despite being held to only five first-half points, Boston topped Arch Rival scoring with 79 points unofficially, followed by Dallis’ 49.
Sutherland paced the Outfit (5-5) with 50 points unofficially, followed by Blow’s 30.
Arch Rival returns to North Central play on August 4, hosting the Naptown Tornado Sirens (7-3 overall, NC #3 and unofficially ranked #15 in the nation by Derby News Network.) Online discounted tickets for that bout are on sale currently at www.archrivalrollergirls.com.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
ARRG ALL STARS (191): Mighty Mighty Boston 79, Downtown Dallis 49, May Require Stitches 25, South City Shiner 16, Black Market Baby 12, Science Friction 10
Chicago Outfit Syndicate (100): Queefer Sutherland 50, Lola Blow 30, Silkk Assassin 20
ARRG SAINT LUNACHIX 155 CHI. OUTFIT SHADE BRIGADE 53
By Muckety Muck, Derby News Network Contributing Writer, Photos by Bob Dunnell
ARRG’s b-team set the tone of Saturday night by utilizing a methodology that has suited them well in 2012: hit early and often, and the rest will take care of itself. It resulted in a 102-point victory that improved their record to 6-2.
Leading 9-1 six minutes in, the Lunachix went on a 35-0 run over the next four jams to build a sizable advantage.
Chix jammer EnYa Nightmare capitalized on a power jam at 22:45, scored 24 points and extended ARRG’s lead to 33-1. PolkaDot Yr’ Eyeout added three and back-to-back four-pointers by Nightmare and Boom Boom Pow continued the streak, which resulted in a 44-1 lead with 19:00 left in the period.
The Shade Brigade’s Lexistential Crisis posted a three pointer at 15:54 to end the drought and whittle the Lunachix lead to forty.
ARRG maintained pressure and continued to widen the gap. Sly Davanita’s nine pointer scored at 10:17 increased the Lunachix lead to 62-9. She would later add six at 4:00 to extend the margin to 79-13.
The effective positional blocking also kept Shade Brigade scoring in check in the first half’s final minutes, paced by Deathica Steele, Ginny Beastley, The Oregon Betrayal, Shell Shoxx, Rhino-Might, Eveready, Arcane Sugar, The Forecloser, Biohazard Betty, The Ginger Assassin and the aforementioned Yr’ Eyeout and Pow.
By not allowing a point in the first half’s last five jams, the Saint Lunachix increased their lead to 84-13 at intermission.
Nightmare started second half scoring by posting four that widened the margin to 88-13. Shade Brigade jammer Jennergizer Bunny collected two on the next jam and narrowed the gap to 73 points.
That moral victory would be short lived as the Chix posted 29 points on the next two jams. Rhino-Might’s 20-point power jam with 24:00 left was followed by nine from Nightmare. The St. Lunachix had their first triple-digit lead of the bout, 117-15 with 22:30 remaining.
After the Shade Brigade’s Ivanna Schoop scored three to put the differential back to double-digits, the Saint Lunachix countered with 17 unanswered. Davanita notched nine and Rhino-Might and Nightmare added four apiece to stretch the lead to 134-18 midway through the frame.
The Lunachix proceeded to outscore the Shade Brigade in the second half 71-40 to pick up the 155-53 victory and their third straight win.
Nightmare topped Lunachix scoring with 82 unofficially, while Rhino-Might collected 39.
Saint Lunachix MVPs (as selected by the Shade Bridgade) were Rhino-Might and the Oregon Betrayal for jammer and blocker, respectively.
The Saint Lunachix return to action at Midwest Sport Hockey on Saturday, August 4 to face the Twin City Derby Girls of Champaign/Urbana, IL.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
SAINT LUNACHIX (155): EnYa Nightmare 82, Rhino-Might 39, Sly Davanita 22, Boom Boom Pow 9, PolkaDot Yr’ Eyeout 3
SHADE BRIGADE (53): Jennergizer Bunny 26, Graves 10, The Big Lebekski 7, Lexistential Crisis 6, Ivana Schoop 4
ARRG ROOKIE RIVALS 136 CHI. OUTFIT SHAKEDOWN 92
by Magilla Guerilla, ARRG Bout Co-Announcer- Photos by Bob Dunnell
The Chicago Outfit had one last chance to come away with a victory against the ladies of Arch Rival when they took the track on Sunday morning in the cozy confines of South City’s Skatium for a “c-team” closed bout against ARRG’s Rookie Rivals.
Mirroring the second half dominance of the All Stars’ bout the night before, the Rookies proved too much for the Chicago Shakedown and came away with a 136-92 victory, sending the visitors home winless for the weekend.
The first half started off promising for Chicago as jammer Loka In Motion seemed like she might be too much for the Rookie Rivals to handle while she racked up 22 points off of two power jams and lead all scorers with 30 points at the half.
Rookie Rival jammers Vod KaKnockers and Sly Davanita worked hard to keep things close early on, but a rash of jammer penalties struck the home team and the advantage moved more and more in the direction of the Shakedown.
With the lead pushing near 20 points in favor of the visitors, the Rookies settled down and ended the half with positive jams from Davanita and The Ginger Assassin and the score was a very tight 54-47 advantage for Chicago.
What looked like a nail biter was soon tossed aside by the Rookies’ second half onslaught, lead primarily by the two headed jamming attack of Assassin and KaKnockers, who combined for an eye-opening 80 point scoring barrage.
The worm had turned on penalties and Chicago found their jammers in the sin bin much more frequently while the Rookie’s jammers put the pressure on by keeping it clean.
Blocking was solid for the Rookies in both halves and the team blended some powerful hitting from Spice Rack, Schacgyver and Deuce Bomber along with solid positional teamwork from two-way skater Davanita, Kimical Burn, Dollyrot N, Rumbledore and a host of others.
A balanced and consistent rotation was implemented, so every Rookie found themselves valuable track time and experience against a very game Chicago squad. The blockers were able to keep Loka In Motion in check for the second half and other opposing jammers struggled to find an easy path to daylight against their team defense.
Winning isn’t always the name of the game in a bout like this, but it sure doesn’t hurt to learn a little something AND win.
The Rookie Rivals ended the weekend on a high-note for this entertaining Chicago/St. Louis rivalry and continued to remind everyone that this league is filled to the brim with talent and has a future so bright, well you just might want to grab your shades.
The ARRG Rookie Rivals scrimmage the Twin City Derby Girls on Sunday, August 5.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
ARRG ROOKIE RIVALS (136): Vod KaKnockers 67, The Ginger Assassin 43, Sly Davanita 16, Mali Bruz Barbie 10
CHICAGO OUTFIT SHAKEDOWN (92): Loka In Motion 42, The Big Lebekski 17, She Biscuit 12
Lemme Destroyer 10, Brawly Shore 6, Maimy Winehouse 5
Check back in this section on Mondays for the latest in ARRG news/information.
