Gem City vs. Killamazoo -- 2011 Home Opener

Last Saturday night I went to Dayton along with Penal Eyes and Stabby McNeedles for the Gem City Rollergirls’ 2011 home opener at the Orbit Fun Center in Huber Heights.  Gem City was hosting the Killamazoo Derby Darlins for the bout.  I took photos for Gem City and Penal Eyes and Stabby were helping with NSO duties.  The venue was packed – standing room only off of the floor.

A little photo diversion -- This was my first big photo event using radio flash triggers (Pocketwizards) to control off camera flashes.  The new Pocketwizards were very easy to use.  The only watchout I discovered is that flash batteries that would be sufficient for many photos using Nikon’s CLS or on camera were not sufficient for the Pocketwizard Flex to establish a connection with the flash.  Other than that, they were reliable anywhere in the rink and the control of the light groups was simple using the SU-800 on the Pocketwizard Mini on the camera.  Kudos to LPA Design for putting out a fine product!  It took a while to get the Nikon version out, but it was well worth the wait to get it right.

The Killamazoo Derby Darlins were in control of the bout from the start.  Ladyhawk, one of the Darlins, was doing a tremendous job as a jammer.  It seemed she posted a good share of the points for the Darlins.  The photo above is Ladyhawk at full speed and looking to catch the pack.  Click on the photo to see a larger version.  At the half the score was Killamazoo 113 and Gem City 29.

Gem City used several jammers in their rotation.  Some of the skaters taking a turn with the jammer star were Racey Rocker, Rage-L and Supersonic.  The photo at right is of Racey Rocker during one of her jams.  She has been skating with Gem City for a while now and is a solid anchor for their group of jammers.  The photo below shows Supersonic during one of her jams.  Gem City picked up the pace a bit in the second half and Killamazoo started making regular trips to the box that slowed their scoring just a bit.  The final score was Killamazoo 198 and Gem City 71.  Although Gem City was behind from the start, they all stayed focused and gave it their all the whole bout.

The best blocking photo I took during the bout is this photo showing Dizzy Queen trying to slow down the opposing jammer.

You can see all of my photos from the bout in a Flickr set here.

Gem City’s next home bout is April 16^th when the NEO Roller Derby team drives down from Akron.  Check out their website for more information about this and future bouts.

Quad State Terrors versus the Killamazoo Derby Darlins

Last Saturday night, Dianne and I went to Skatetown USA in West Chester to see the Quad State Terrors (QST) Rollergirls take on the Killamazoo Derby Darlins (KDD). The Quad State Terrors group is a pick-up team of skaters from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. For this bout most of the QST skaters were from the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls with Grand Raggidy Rollergirls Dot Matrix and Viva La BOOM joining for the bout. I was not familiar with the KDD team. The announcers mentioned that several of the KDD skaters were rookies skating in their first bout.

During the opening minutes of the first half, the Killamazoo team started well and they capitalized on a couple QST jammer penalties that let KDD take and hold the lead. The KDD skaters Lady Hawk, Javelin, and Charisnakov were doing most of the jammer work. According to the KDD website, Lady Hawk is the team captain and Javelin is a coach. Both are solid skaters. Javelin was doing a lot of good work as a blocker too.

After those initial minutes, QST settled down and started chipping away at the KDD lead. It didn’t take long before they moved ahead and kept the lead for the rest of the bout. At the end of the first half the score was QST 61 and KDD 37. The primary jammers for QST were EMolition, Roseanne Scarr (in the photo at right), Dot Matrix, and Petal to the Metal, with Viva la BOOM taking her turns as well. One of my favorite jammer photos of the night is this photo of Dot Matrix headed for the pack at full speed.



My impression was the QST blocking was led by Nuk’em and Juwanna Hurt. The photo at right shows Nuk’em giving a shoulder block to KDD pivot Noam Stompsky. The photo below shows what happens when Juwanna Hurt gives a booty block -- it sent KDD jammer Charisnakov flying through the air.



Many other QST skaters such as Nastee, Arche Enemy and Buckhead Betty were always busy in the pack making some hard hits. The first photo at right shows the result of Arche’s block on KDD skater Ivanna O’bliviacha. Click here to see a photo showing Buckhead Betty trying to slow down the KDD jammer Charisnakov.

The QST continued to pull away in the second half and the match ended with a final score of QST 144 and KDD 91. Congratulations to the Quad State Terrors on their first victory in 2009!

Both teams have some talented skaters. Skaters from both teams were able to get lead jammer status on and off throughout the bout. There were some high scoring jams – at one point Roseanne Scarr had a 14-0 point jam that was answered by KDD with a 14-0 point jam just a few minutes later. Dot Matrix was one jammer that had a grand slam. There were some good blocks here and there throughout the bout and some pack members gave whips to assist their jammers. While there were some great individual efforts, I didn’t get a sense that either team had consistent, coordinated actions in the pack. As the season progresses and teams get more experience communicating with teammates and anticipating their actions, both teams should improve their competitive skills.

The announcers, The Tank and JoeXCore, did a nice job during the bout. Both of them know the rules and used that knowledge to explain the action very clearly. One thing that was missing was the excitement provided by a good sized crowd. Although Pistol Whippin’ Wendy brought along a cheering section with signs (see a photo here), overall the crowd at this first local Quad State Terrors bout was small and relatively quiet.

Their next local bout is against the Riverside Rollergirls at the Hamilton Roundup on March 28th. After the bout I talked briefly with Skinnie Minnie (at right) and Nuk’em (photo below). Thanks to both of them for taking the time to chat. Dianne very kindly took photos of me with each of them. You can see more photos from the bout in my Flickr photo set here.

Upcoming Bout for the Quad State Terrors

What are you doing on the evening of Saturday, February 28th? I'm sure you'll be with me watching the Quad State Terrors Rollergirls take on the Killamazoo Derby Darlins at Skatetown USA in West Chester. You can see the QSTR on MySpace. It will be the first local derby bout in 2009. Here is the bout poster with more information.