ROCK lose nailbiter to BBRG

By Sugar Shock

Our regular reporter Troy Lyle apparently has a legitimate job somewhere that prevented him from attending our bout this past weekend in Florence, Kentucky, against the Black and Bluegrass Roller girls (BBRG). He asked me to write this in his stead.

There’s nothing quite like getting your ribs nearly shattered by a girl twice your size, and then finding your pen so you can take notes on it.

We, the Rollergirls of Central Kentucky (ROCK), started off the night by scoring 46 unanswered points. Our jammers took turns blasting through the pack while our blockers shut down BBRG’s jammers. Halfway through the first period, BBRG had yet to score.

Our next jammer, who may or may not have been me, got sent to the penalty box, allowing BBRG to score their first points. After that, they went on to get lead jammer status the next 10 jams in a row.

Roller derby rules state that in order to block the opposing jammer, you must be within a certain distance of “the pack,” which is defined as the largest group of players from both teams. This rule prevents fast blockers from chasing a jammer all the way around the track.

With that bit of knowledge in place, BBRG began employing their devastating strategy of skating so slowly, virtually rendering our blockers useless. If our blockers sped up, they would be too far away from the pack to block legally. If they stayed with the pack, they’d be skating too slowly to lay any sort of hit on the jammer as she sped by.

As you can see this posed quite the conundrum for our team and by halftime, BBRG had caught up and surpassed our earlier efforts.

ROCK 48, BBRG 54

Our troubles continued into the second period, with BBRG pulling away to an almost 30 point lead. By this point we’d had all we could stand and decided to turn it up a notch. We figured out their strategy and were able to use it against them. For the last 15 minutes, we’d close the lead, and they’d stretch it out again.

Last year, we played BBRG on my birthday. That night, we’d worked up a healthy 30 point lead, and I was stoked going into the last jam. Then I did something stupid, landing me with a two minute penalty. Then two of our blockers were penalized. As the final seconds ticked away I sat in the penalty box and watched in horror as their jammer made pass after pass. It’s was excruciating to see our lead slipping away. In the end, she didn’t overtake us. We won by five points, but I was devastated. I’d nearly lost the bout for the entire ROCK team.

I took the last jam against BBRG again last night. They were ahead by 25 with less than two minutes left. I made my first scoring pass. It was brutal. Everyone was on the floor at some point or another in those last minutes. But then, BBRG’s jammer and two of their blockers were sent to the box. Our blockers held their girls completely at bay as I skated and skated and skated. What sweet redemption!

But in the end all those passes weren’t enough. When the final whistle blew, I had scored 20 points; BBRG’s jammer had scored five.

ROCK 121, BBRG 131

Up next for us are the Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls from Indiana. The bout is set for August 14 at the Lexington Center adjacent to Rupp Arena. Doors open at 7 PM. The bout begins at 8 PM. For more information about our team dial us up on facebook or visit us at www.rockandrollergirls.com.

I hope to see you all there.