Never Say Die.

Next to Funsize, I feel giant.
Cathy Kovach Photography

Going into the tenth jam of Saturday night, we had only scored four points. Sioux City had pushed their lead to 41 and I was getting frustrated. I knew we were a better team than this. Our walls were getting broken up and our jammers were not getting lead. At the rate of this point increase we were going to get annihilated. GLADi8HER put another 3 points on the board and we felt a small victory, until she went to the box and they power jammed their way to 51.

Finally I got in to jam again and took the line next to Anita Spur, one of their two very tiny skaters. I made my way through the pack and exited as lead jammer. As I made my way around I noticed their star was sitting in the box. Excellent. I pushed it hard for a few grand slams, cutting their lead in half. The crowd was roaring and I hoped that I renewed their faith in us, as well as our own. GLAD came back to score four more and then our momentum lagged for a few jams, but we kept them from barely scoring. After Triple D Zaster and A Few Screws Lucy added 5 and 4 points respectively, we got hammered with a 20 point grand slam by PBR. She was a strong and powerful force as a jammer, and extremely hard to knock down, but she wasn’t going to let us end the half on that note. I took advantage of their jammer in the box with 3 grand slams, putting it 82 to 49 at the half, their lead.

PBR was a force to contend with, jamming and
blocking back to back through most of the bout.
Photo by KORfan.

This was a strange bout to begin with because going into it we knew we needed to play some heavy defense. Anita Spur and Funsize both stand under five feet and hard to catch. The Triple Threat girls, PBR, Sum Mo Pain, and Dubbs, are solid blockers and know how to break up a wall. With Bat R Up out of town and our roster short one skater, we had to rearrange the way some of our usual lineups work. Ophelia Fracture spent a lot more time blocking in the first half as well as Trip, and we used a lot of power blocker combinations. We came into this bout prepared, but apparently we weren’t using the framework we provided ourselves for a solid defense.

Their jammers managed to slip through the pack, getting lead jammer more than half the jams, and were building solid walls. After my first power jam, they had a target on me and walled up in the back, forcing me into 3 back block minors in a matter of one lap which I proceeded to carry with me throughout the rest of the bout. They took control from the beginning, but we were slowly stealing it back.

We finally remembered what a wall looked like. Photo by KORfan.

With a solid rotation of GLAD, Ophelia and myself in the second half, we started hacking away at their lead, closing the gap to 19 points in just 4 jams. As we started getting lead jammer a majority of the time, and they started getting more friendly with the penalty box, we got to under ten points in the last quarter of the bout. A 13 point jam by Ophelia FINALLY put us in the lead with over 3 minutes left on the clock; 129 to 127. Now it was just a matter of tightening up our defense and keeping that lead. We held them scoreless for the last three jams as GLAD and myself added 12 more points to the board, and I called off the jam as the final seconds expired; 141 to 127. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized the amazing feat we just accomplished. We were an entirely different team in the second half; one I knew we could be. We were looking defeat in the eye for the first time in nearly a year, but it wasn’t going to be that night. On to Omaha. 

Cathy Kovach Photography

KORfan's Photos

Patrick Bloom's Photos

Joy Doehrmann's Photos

Tenderized Meat

Going through footage for my BFA project, I become more and more impressed with the group of girls I skate with. Our numbers are growing so large we will have to break into multiple teams under the league name of OCCRG, according to WFTDA standards, our ultimate goal. (There can only be 20 players to a team.)

I'm impressed with the teams in the area in general, and the progression of roller derby as a sport. My quick assessment of it in Iowa, is that there are eight teams beginning in the past four years: MIR April 2006, QCR 2006, MRN multiple incarnations since.. ?, SCRD Feb 2008, CRRG Feb 2008, OCCRG Oct 2008, D3 June 2009, and the Eastern Iowa Outlaws are just forming their team this year.


I feel like within the context of these teams, the timeline of events and each enjoying their own variations of success, we have progressed so rapidly and reached this level of athleticism and organization within a year and half... it's impressive. I attend practices with faces I don't know now, when I used to know the faces..and sweat of each of my teammates intimately. We've gone from filling a rec center gym, to scrambling for seats in the Marriott Convention Center. It's exciting, scary and amazing all at the same time. I'll be graduating soon with no real direction professionally, but it feels good to have this thing in my life that I am so proud of, so sure of, so happy to be a part of.

With that said, we played the Des Moines Derby Dames last weekend in their debut on the flat track. I was a bit wary of them bouting so soon, but I have to say, I'm quite impressed. I can tell they're a determined, eager team that will be a strong and intimidating competition in no time.

Also debuting last weekend were Old Yeller and Chemical Spill from our team, playing their first bout. Our fresh meat have been working hard on the track and off the track. I feel confident walking into the convention center on bout day because we have a strong organizational support staff of non-bouters holding down the fort.

Like I've said before, there's much more to roller derby than just the action, it takes way more people to put on a successful bout. Announcers, sound mixers, multiple people for stats inside the track and outside the track, scorers, multiple refs, merch ladies, people controlling the door, bout mistresses, security, EMTs, the staff at the Marriott, extra hands to set up, bout coverage, half time entertainment, .... all volunteer.

Not to mention, none of this would be possible without our fans. Our success can only progress with an audience who is as eager about the sport as we are. So please encourage anyone and everyone who has never seen a bout before to come check it out.. or even join. We love your support already this season.


-Deadykins

pssst. next bout, May 8th vs Cedar Rapids Roller Girls..