I ain’t gonna lie to you: there were no close roller derby games in Portland, Oregon this weekend. There were close moments, and shifts of momentum, but no one was biting their nails in the last ten minutes.
What we did have were four really fun games, three of which included the short-handed Boston Derby Dames all-star team, the Boston Massacre. Those girls are quick, agile, and fun to watch, no matter the outcome.
Rose City Wheels of Justice 239, Boston Massacre 61
One word: ouch. As someone who has been scrimmaging the Wheels of Justice once a week, I felt for those jammers being held behind walls of purple and getting hit, and hit again, and hit again. Acid had an incredible 30-point jam early in the first period, and WOJ didn’t look back.
Scald Eagle escapes Anna WrecksYa. Photo by Sharkey.
Rose City Axles of Annihilation 229, Rat City Rain of Terror 67
That was fun! My memory of this game is a kind of highlight reel including a high-scoring early jam from Napoleon, crazy team blocking, and Skatrina and Blood killing a powerjam. I’m not sure I’ve been in a game that involved so much high-fiving on the bench.
Blood and Skatrina kill a penalty. Photo by Axle Adams.
Seditious Heart won MVP for the Rain of Terror, and Blood Clottia won MVP for AoA in her final travel team game. Blood plans to step off travel team and go back to playing for a Rose City home team next season.
FYI, Boston’s b-team is called the Boston B Party. That’s funny!
Rat City All-Stars 192, Boston Massacre 89
Rat City held their opponents without points for, you know, a while (hey, I was too busy drinking my PBR to take notes, sorry ya’ll), but Boston came back to make this one interesting before Rat City was able to pull away in the second half.
Claire D. Way takes flight. Photo by Sharkey.
Can we talk about Claire D. Way for a minute here? She made the USA World Cup team, along with Acid and White Flight. This girl is really good at roller derby. And jumping.
Boston Massacre 199, Jet City 83
In the first fourteen minutes of this Sunday morning game, there were fourteen jammers sent to the box. Boston capitalized and scored more early, but Jet City showed that the west region ain’t nothing to trifle with, coming back with a scoring run of their own. Boston eventually took control of the game and got a win in their final game of the weekend.
Lobster doughnut from Voodoo! Photo by Sharkey.
Pinch pinch pinch!
Next up:
Derby Daze. Including another AoA bout.
Bridgetown Brawl, aka the WFTDA Western Region Tournament. In Portland.
The next game Wheels will play is vs. B.A.D. If you do not know why this is significant, we’ll be sure to tell you soon.
That Blood-Skatrina wall of doom during the Rain of Terror powerjam was a highlight of the derby year.
Oh, gotta add what everybody else already knows: the physical condition of the WoJ skaters was just amazing. That Hit to Fit thing, or whatever it is they’re doing, is really paying off.