Nov 8, 2019 | Bout News
Bout Recap – ROLL CALL! Home Team Mini-Tournament – 10.5.2019
SETTLING SOME BEEF; HOME TEAMS COMPETE FOR GILDED STEAK.
Written by Sana Sandra “Squirrelly” Karbal
The Legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium saw the kick off of Season 16 for newly-rebranded Minnesota Roller Derby. This change from the Minnesota RollerGirls was instituted to better represent the league, fan base, and community. Non-binary people, gender expansive individuals, and diversity are empowered under this new umbrella. All are welcomed and all are encouraged to thrive within this community.
During this mini-tournament, the four home teams: the Atomic Bombshells, Garda Belts, Rockits, and Dagger Dolls, competed for the Gilded Steak. Yes, you read that correctly. This delightfully decadent cow trophy is a little taste of what the teams play for in the Championships – the Golden Skate.
The first mini-bout saw the Bombshells take on the Gardas. There were a few skaters making their debut for their team; Jeffrey Bomber and MaSheenaGun of the Bombshells and Booty Trap, Kim Burly, and R.I.Punzel for the Gardas. We saw the first successful apex jump of the night from Peppers in jam 16, just after coming out of the penalty box for a failed apex jump. Switch Please managed to rack up quite a few points during a power jam, ultimately sending the Gardas to the mini-tournament final, leaving the Bombshells to duke it out for third place. Final score: Atomic Bombshells 59 – Garda Belts 71.
The Dagger Dolls took on the Rockits – who won the Golden Skate in the Season 15 Championship bout in March. Rockits had the largest number of members skating their first bout at four skaters; Captain Cordelia, Link, Polly Pocketknife, and The Ish. Rockits’ Moose Def-initely took lead jammer in jam 4, the first for the team in this tournament. The score stayed fairly close until jam 13, when Bri Zuss earned an incredible 20 points just before colliding with another skater and being led off the track. Both teams’ defense was top notch in jam 14, with both jammers getting recycled and blocked by tripods until Captain Cordelia was named lead with only 25 seconds left on the jam clock to earn their 2 points. Moose grabbed another 20 points for the Rockits. Both teams again locked down jammers Val Kyrie and The Ish in the final jam. However, the Rockits had maintained their lead the entire bout, and sent the Dolls to fight for third against the Bombshells. Final score: Dagger Dolls 53 – Rockits 98.
Third place
After SYM1 took the stage for the halftime show, the bout for third place commenced. Velvet Wench hyped up the crowd by celebrating lead jammer with a backwards shoot-the-duck, reminding everyone of the showmanship that MNRD is about at its core. Val Kyrie, in her signature bout makeup, earned 15 points for the Dolls in jam 7. Jam 9 began with a 3-on-3 pack as both teams had a blocker in the penalty box. Bombshells kept up their tough defense, but were unable to stop Little Rascal and VK from being top jammers in the bout, leading to the Dagger Dolls victory. Final score: Atomic Bombshells 57 – Dagger Dolls 73.
Finale
The mini-tournament finale launched into full-throttle when Switch effortlessly earned the Gardas 24 points in jam 2, the most we saw in a single jam for the night. Bri Zuss returned to the track after her tumble earlier in the night and earned 22 points in jam 8 for the Rockits. Jam 13 saw Homo Erratic – Rat to her friends – land a tricky turn hop on the apex after fending off the tough Garda defense. With less than three minutes on the period clock, we saw a power jam for the Rockits when Ginger Snap was sent to the box. Moose Def, the lead jammer, took advantage. She continued to push the Garda defense, wearing out her opposition. This proved a key strategy, allowing her to rack up 11 points for the Rockits. The Garda’s Switch Please closed out the last jam of the evening as lead jammer, but it just wasn’t enough. Rockits took home their second win of the evening. Final score: Garda Belts 70 – Rockits 97.
After a stellar performance by all four teams, the Rockits took home the coveted Gilded Steak!