Have you noticed a void in your life since the Rose City Rollers home season ended back in June? Is your vast collection of boutfits laying idle, collecting dust in your closet? Has the lack of derby over the past few months left you jonesing for some track action? Well my friends, you’re in luck! The Rose City Rollers are hosting a jam-packed (ha ha, get it, jam-packed?) weekend of bouts for your viewing pleasure! It all kicks off this Friday, August 12th at 8pm, when the Rose City Rollers all-star team Wheels of Justice takes on Boston Derby Dame’s all-stars Boston Massacre.
The entire weekend is full of derby-related goings-on, of which the incomparable Frisky Sour has outlined briefly here. So let’s talk about the opening act: the match-up between WoJ and Boston. WoJ may not have bouted during the month of July, but they by no means took that time off. They’ve been training as hard as ever, keeping their focus on the Bridgetown Brawl Western Regionals, coming up in September at Portland’s very own Memorial Coliseum. After barely falling short of a trip to the WFTDA Championships two years in a row, WoJ is more determined than ever to get their shot at the Hydra. They hold a 6W-4L record so far this season (8W-4L if you count unofficial bouts against Rat City and Jet City) and are currently ranked #4 in the West by WFTDA. Derby News Network Power Rankings (which combines all regions) has WoJ sitting comfortably at #5. Their only losses were to powerhouse teams Denver(142-149, 98-112) and Rocky Mountain (63-161), and the virtually-unstoppable Gotham Girls (79-147 at ECE in June). It bears mentioning that although WoJ lost to Gotham, they managed to lose by the smallest margin (68 pts) of any team to lose to Gotham so far this season. That’s kind of a big deal, right? Conversely, WoJ has had impressive showings against Detroit(197-75), Philly (145-94, 131-53, they beat them twice, in fact), Rat City (165-88), Bay Area (167-123), and Texas (105-79), winning by an average of 66pts over the six bouts (math is hard, so I did it for you). WoJ also shook up their roster a bit prior to their trip to Feasterville, Pennsylvania for the East Coast Derby Extravaganza, giving new addition Havana Good Time and perpetually-rising superstar Scald Eagle some solid minutes on the track. WoJ is continuing to tweak their roster to cultivate athleticism and agility, making their current roster a dominate force to be reckoned with. Oh, and did I mention that two of WoJ’s skaters White Flight and SoulFearic ACID just made the US Derby World Cup team?!
Now, on to Boston. A founding member of WFTDA, the Boston Derby Dames have been bouting since 2005. So far they are 4W-6L this season, beating teams like Steel City (by a hair, 105-101), Maine (113-84), Dutchland (142-104), and Houston (also by a slim margin, 102-96), but falling to Montreal (84-112), Philly (59-163), Kansas City (95-164), Gotham (24-260), Tampa Bay (80-86), and Windy City (44-147). However, Boston does have something on Wheels of Justice: they got to go to Nationals. Back in 2009 they earned a trip to Philadelphia for the Declaration of Derby, where they squeaked by the Mad Rollin’ Dolls (104-96) but were sent home packing by Texas (111-72). Boston is currently ranked #6 in the East by WFTDA, and are sitting way down at #21 on Derby News Network’s Power Rankings (mostly due to their recent loss to Windy City). Friday also begins a three-day stretch for Boston wherein they bout against WoJ, Rat City, and Jet City. I’d love to see Boston lay it all out on the track against WoJ on Friday, but I don’t know if that will be the case. Regardless, their trip to the Best Coast will be a good way to get some solid experience until their collective belt before Eastern Regionals next month.
Like I mentioned, there’s a lot more derby going on this weekend than what I’ve talked about here. Four bouts featuring five different teams. Multiple afterparties. A fundraising brunch. If anyone knows the cure for derby burnout (besides, of course, more derby!), please feel free to find me at the hangar to impart your wisdom. I’ll be in the front row (since trackside seating, due to WFTDA regulations, has all but disappeared), cheering my derby-crazed butt off while simultaneously trying to keep Dropkick Murphys’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” out of my head.
Tickets and info for this weekend available here.
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