The Breakneck Betties deconstruct the GnR, 177 to 94. Post Mortem

Rose City Roller Derby fans certainly got their moneys worth last night at the Hangar. It was a hard fought throw down and the final score hardly reflects the drama on the track. A classic comeback story. A made for TV movie sort of thing, which my half ass notes, drunken fan perspective and junior college writing skills will struggle to tell. Like any good inside joke, you had to be there.

The Betties put a quick six points on the board with the first jam. You had to wonder if this was going to be the way the night going to go. Over the next three jams you could see the GnR had brought their “A” game with them. By the 4^th jam the GnR was up 20 to 6. And four jams in, the Betties appeared to be getting frustrated. The GnR continued to do the job, communicating in pack and controlling it, taking a comfortable 54 to 29 lead by the midway point of the first half. As we got closer to the end of the first half the Sin Bin was flooded with a sea of red, as the aggravated Betties picked up more and more penalties. It was 70 to 36 with two minutes left in the half, my designated “beat the crowd” departure point. As fate would have it, I missed the tipping point. The half closed after 18 jams with the GnR 70 to Betties 55.

As the second half began, the Betties had clearly found their “center” .Gone from their faces was the obvious frustration of the first half. They were on the comeback trail and after five second half jams had tied the score at 74. The Betties has managed to pull off a 38 to 4 run in the course of roughly six jams. You could see the pressure in the eyes of the GnR pack now. The Betties had returned to dominating the pack in the same way they did back in May. By jam 29 the Betties had a 100 to 74 lead over the GnR. There was no sign of them letting up. Over the next twelve jams the Betties would limit the GnR to 20 points and accumulate another 77 points for themselves. After 41 jams the Betties had 177 points to the GnR’s 94. The Betties are once again returning to the Championship bout, June 27^th at the Expo Center.

Two lousy paragraphs hardly does justice to the great plays and players in this bout. Since I’m no Elwood Bruise, I don’t have any factual stats to reflect efforts or heroics. Only the half baked impressions of who stood out in my mind. It’s also no secret I am not much of a Betties fan so I know I’ll fail to give proper props despite my efforts to play nicely with others.

On the GnR side, Blood Clottia has to be the “Iron Woman of Roller Derby”. I would swear she jammed every other jam last night. She racked up serious points as a jammer, dealt quite a few good blows and took some major shots. Including what looked like Licker pop’n her in the face in that critical 4^th jam.

Aura Brutalis was also a stand out. It felt like she and Clottia were just taking turns jamming during that first half. She is a fairly crafty jammer. With great blocking in the first half, she put up some major points for the GnR.

In the pack, Nepalm Beth, Viva, Smacks all put together a great first half. They had control of the pack and were running the floor. That first half, the GnR did a good job of sandwiching the Betties with walls of two in the front and back of the pack. They were talking and playing it smart, very aware of where the Betties Jammer was and creating holes for their own jammer. Sadly that didn’t last the whole 60 minutes.

As for those dang Betties, D. Konstructor and Rhea DeRange are two of the most dangerous jammers to face on the line. Both of them possess the ability to see a line through the pack and skate it hard. And per usual, that is what they did. Both played key roles with huge jams on the Betties comeback trail.

Licker is one of those Betties I struggle with the whole Love/Hate thing. Honestly she has some major jamming skills, she has the ability to literally “Hop” into a hole. She’s one tough lady and last night she had her war face on.

The blocking crew for the Betties as a whole deserves major kudos. It took the whole crew to turn the bout around. They managed to make the game time changes required to get the bout back to their style of play. The second half was that “Wall of Red” upfront and the GnR strung out with no way to be effective blockers or assist their jammers.

So the stage is set for the end of the season. The High Rollers will have their hands full with the Breakneck Betties in the battle for the Championship. Of course the Heathers faithful can expect a brutal match up against the GnR for the 3^rd place spot. (Insert some remember Sump Pump cliché here).

I know what I'd like to see. Hell, you probably already know what I'd like to see too. Do you think the High Rollers have what it takes to defeat the Betties “Derby Machine”? Will the injury riddled Heathers hand out another loss to the injury riddled GnR? Will all of this make for a highly rated, made for basic cable TV show? I guess we’ll have to theorize until it all plays itself out…June 27^th at the Expo Center.