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Bout Recap: March 31st

Strong Island Derby Revolution (SIDR) vs Worcester Warriors (WoRD)
March 31, 2012 

Final – SIDR wins 94/88

Writen by Gary Fortcher, AKA “Pop-Pop EnforcHer”

The Sports Arena in St. James was once again sold out, as the Strong Island Derby Revolution’s season opener against The Worcester Warriors of Massachusetts got under way. On arrival, the parking lot was already full of excited fans eager to cheer on their team in what would turn out to be a hard hitting, fast paced and action-packed bout. Once inside the Arena, the atmosphere was electric with fans seeking the best vantage points and skaters from both teams performing warm up drills with speed and precision. Concession stands were busy and vendor booths packed with fans purchasing team support gear. Many supporters brought care package items for SIDR’s adopted soldier and his platoon. It was the beginning of an exciting night.

The whistle blew promptly at 8pm and SIDR took an early 9/7 lead with #13, Jenny from the Block, breaking out as lead jammer and scoring a grand slam before receiving the first major penalty of the night. SIDR’s primary jammers this evening were, in addition to Jenny, #87 Serial Mom, #3 Trinity, and #711 Archer Back. The third jam, lead by Trinity, opened up the score to a 25/14 lead. An excellent block by #02, Ninja Starr allowed Jenny to bring the point total to 30/14 in the fifth jam. The bout tightened up around this time with each team assessing the other’s skills and strategies – then adapting to the action. During the seventh jam, Archer Back got hammered while jamming and hit the track hard but quickly recovered. During the same jam, #747, Jett Bruise, went down. As she sprung up to continue pursuit, her injured leg failed to support her and she collapsed on the track. A time-out was called as she was helped by the EMT’s and assisted off track to the bench. Jett recovered and was back in the lineup later that night. In the interim, Serial Mom gathered another grand slam before being sent to the penalty box, and the score inched up to 39/29. The skaters of WoRD were beginning to adapt to SIDR’s strategies. #88, Senora Slaughter, a slight but tough and very fast skater dominated as a jammer for WoRD. She was instrumental to WoRD in closing the point gap and then taking over the lead by the end of the first half, behind the excellent blocking from her team. The WoRD blockers were tough and cohesive. They also picked up the pace as an effective strategic move. Their strategy now seemed to be to stay well ahead of the SIDR jammers and prevent them from passing for additional points. This strategy took a physical toll on the skaters of both teams. The fast pace sapped the energy of all the skaters as they rose to the occasion and kept the pressure on. Halftime score was WoRD 46 SIDR 44.

The second period showed immediately that the half-time locker room sessions were well spent. WoRD jammer #88 was nullified in the very first jam. Although she scored points, they were not easily won. The bout was now a back and forth battle of strength and perseverance. In the fifth jam of the half Jenny from the Block gathered 3 grand slams to take back the lead with the help of well positioned line screens from her blockers. It was now 61/56. And back and forth it went with very fast blocking pressure on the jammers. As they struggled to catch the pack, the lead jammer called off jams in time to prevent the opposing jammer from scoring. For everyone watching it was an exciting and tense period. The score was WoRD 88 and SIDR 80 going into the very last jam with the clock running down. As the teams poised for action, the fans were up on their feet. When the whistle blew it was all out war. The jammers tore forward and #13, Jenny from the Block took the advantage as lead jammer. As the house shook and fans went berserk, Jenny began raking up points as the clock ran out. When the final whistle blew, victory was in hand with a final score of SIDR 94, WoRD 88.

The SIDR bench exploded out onto the track with all team members celebrating their season opening victory together – as it should be – collapsing onto the track in a heap of black, white and red, sweat, muscle and skates. Life was good.