Bout Recap - June 20, 2009

Manics rally to swipe Ivy King Cup from Belles

Hell’s Belles vs. Manic Attackers

The Hell’s Belles went into the Ivy King Cup championship June 20 with a vehement determination to claim their second season championship in a row. And, after they built a 28-point lead over the Manic Attackers at the end of the first half, the night was appearing to be in their favor. But the Manics followed the same pattern as they did last month, cranking out a hard-fought upset over the Belles in the second half. While they had been dominated in the first half, they dominated in the second. Trading the lead back and forth with the Belles, they tied the game with about 11 minutes left on the clock. Shutting down the Belles’ scoring in the last few jams of the night to build a 22-point spread, the Manics claimed a 137-115 victory. For the first time in WCR history, the Manictard-wearing team hoisted the gleaming Ivy King Cup to the roar of Windy City fans, sealing the first season championship held in the UIC Pavilion.

As The Polkaholics entertained between the exhibition bout and the championship, the Manic Attackers took the track for their warmup, dancing along with the audience as the band played the “Chicken Dance.” The Hell’s Belles were more reserved, quietly determined as they skated laps. Before team introductions, WCR’s announcer lifted the Ivy King Cup and spoke proudly of Chicago’s history as the birthplace of roller derby. The crowd roared in response to his question of which team would take the title for the evening, the fans loudly showing their team loyalties.

The Hell’s Belles skated as a pack for their intro, looking confident and collected as their fans cheered. The Manic Attackers stood in a circle, smiling their way through an exercise routine as their skaters took intro laps one by one. As both teams huddled before the first jam, a group of fans, thrilled that their team had made it to the season championship, wildly cheered, “ma-NIC, ma-NIC, ma-NIC.”

The bout started with the Belles’ Shocka Conduit clearing the pack fast thanks to a push from her blockers that included Varla Vendetta, Deb Autry, Belle Diablo and Megan Formor. Shocka took lead jammer and two points, calling it off before the Manics’ Beth Amphetamine could score. Ying O'Fire retaliated in the second jam, attaining lead while the Manics held Belles’ jammer Athena DeCrime scoreless. A huge hit put Ying on the floor and prompted her to call the jam, but not before she put 5 points on the board.

Varla Vendetta, playing with a still-healing broken nose from the May 30 bout against the Manic Attackers, took lead jammer against Ruth Enasia. Varla impressively fought through the Manics pack of Mo Vengeance, Di Richmond, Amy NoNamey and Helsa Wayton to tie the score at 5-5 with a 3-0 jam. In the next two jams, Shocka Conduit and Athena DeCrime took lead as the Belles blockers Harmadillo and Belle helped hold Manic jammers Beth Amphetamine and Ying O’Fire scoreless.

In jam 6, Shocka Conduit, again, took lead. She called it with three points, but not before Manic jammer Ruth Enasia sneaked through on the inside line to score four points. Ying O’Fire took lead jammer in jam 8, hanging back to play a little one-on-one on Belles’ jammer Athena DeCrime as Manics blockers Mo Vegeance, Puck Eruption, Di Richmond, and Amy NoNamey swarmed around Athena to reabsorb her in the pack. The jam ended with the score close, 18-16 with the Belles hanging onto the lead. The Belles steadily increased their lead in the next few jams, picking up lead jammer in jams 10-12, and exhibiting some ferocious blocking, including a gret performance by Mona Lott, who totaled five blocks on jammers for the evening. Shocka Conduit took lead and a grand slam and two additional points in jam 12.

Manic jammer Beth Amphetamine swept up lead jammer in jam 13, but was sent off the track for a major. The Belles’ Athena DeCrime used the opportunity to score the Belles’ second grand slam in a row, amassing
12 points of her own and raising the score to 43-28 with 11 minutes left on the clock. In jam 14, Shocka Conduit put up four more points as the Belles’ defense held Ruth Enasia scoreless. And with Ying O’Fire getting sent to the box twice in jam 15 – once for a major and again almost immediately for her fourth minor – Varla Vendetta tore up the track with a 20-point jam and the most grand slams for the Belles that evening. In a matter of minutes, the Belles had widened the gap to 67-28.

The period ended with a flurry of jammerless jams with neither the Belles nor the Manics gaining much ground. The Manic fans seemed unfazed by the score, again starting up their chant of “ma-NIC, ma-NIC, ma-NIC,” and they were rewarded for their loyalty. In the last jam of the period, Manic jammer Ruth Enasia took lead jammer and put
15 points on the board as Belles’ jammer Athena DeCrime was sent to the box for a major track cut. The jam ended before returning Athena could score, with Ruth shrinking the Belles’ lead to end the period 74-47. Manic fans cheered with renewed hope, no doubt wondering if the jam meant the Manics could regain control of the bout.

For the second time in a row this season, the Manics overcame a first-period deficit for a dramatic win, taking the track with extraordinary ferocity in the second half. While the penalties had favored the Belles in the first half, they favored the Manics in the second. Shocka Conduit and Beth Amphetamine tied 3-3 in the first jam of the second period. In jam 2, Ying O’Fire took lead jammer, barely escaping a ferocious hit from Belles’ blocker Megan Formor. As Belles’
jammer Athena DeCrime was sent scoreless to the penalty box for her fourth minor, Ying put 15 points on the board, fighting for every one of them as the Belles threw everything they had at her. At the end of the jam, the Manics’ point deficit had closed to 12 points, with a score of 77-65.

Shocka took lead jammer and a 3-0 score in jam 3. In Jam 5, Ying O’Fire exited the pack first, without gaining lead jammer status, and played defense against Athena DeCrime, getting another chance to rack up points as Athena was sent to the box for a major. The jam ended with the Belles ahead by only two points, at 88-86. Ruth Enasia took lead in jam 6 and scored 8-4 over Belles’ jammer Athena DeCrime as she returned to the track from the penalty box. Ruth put the Manics in the lead with a score of 94-92.

Varla Vendetta took the scoreboard back from the Manics in jam 8, giving the Belles a 95-94 lead. In jam 9, Ruth Enasia was sent to the box for a major track cut, and Shocka Conduit scored a 13-0 jam to widen the Belles’ lead to 108-94 before being sent to the box herself.
In the jammerless jam that followed, Manic jammer Malice With Chains countered with her own 10-0 jam as Belles’ jammer Goldie Shocks! was sent off for a major. At the end of the jam, the Belles held a slim lead at 108-104. Beth Amphetamine took advantage of the Belles’ jammer starting jam 11 in the box, scoring 4 points to tie the game at
108-108 with 11 minutes left on the clock.

In jam 12, Ying O’Fire put the Manics back in the lead with a 4-0 jam against Varla Vendetta before both jammers were sent to the box for major penalties. With the Manics ahead at 112-108, Belles’ jammer Megan Formor took the lead against Wreck N’ Shrew in the jammerless jam that followed. The jam was called scoreless as Shrew went down hard and lay flat on her back, grimacing. Gameplay went silent as she was helped off the track. Thankfully, she didn’t appear to be seriously injured.

Jam 14 saw Megan Formor taking the line for the Belles for the second time in a row, and also obtaining lead jammer a second time. Megan scored 2-0 against Ruth Enasia to close the Manics’ lead to 112-110 with eight minutes left to go. The margin stayed close the next three jams, with neither team giving ground.

In Jam 18, Beth Amphetamine swept up lead jammer and scored 4-0 against Shocka Conduit, who had lined up to jam back to back. Then, in jam 19, Varla Vendetta was sent to the box, leaving Ying O’Fire to add two more grand slams to her collection for the evening. With a little more than two minutes left on the clock, the Manics had increased their lead to 132-115.

Beth Amphetamine added five more points to the board in the jam that followed, then was called to the box following a rough hit by Harmadillo. The resulting jammerless jam put Malice on the jam line.
She pulled out first to get lead jammer as the Manics counted down ecstatically as the scoreboard ticked down to zero. The Manics won 137-115.

At the final whistle, Manic skaters dog piled in front of their team bench, and fans rushed onto the track to join in. As the Manic Attackers uncorked champagne bottles, misting the track and soaking their hair and uniforms with spray, both teams exchanged hugs and tears. The skaters in blue claimed their first Ivy King Cup, lifting it together in the center of the track as they celebrated a first in WCR history.

“We traditionally take a long time to get our feet underneath us, and that was the exact same thing that happened the previous game,” Manic Attackers co-captain Beth Amphetamine said in a brief interview trackside after the bout. It may have taken the Manics five seasons to get their feet under them, but they surely did it June 20, proving that their May 30 win over the Helles Belles was no fluke. The Manic Attackers are league underdogs no more.

Bout statistics:
Most jam points: Ying O'Fire (MA) - 60; Shocka Conduit (HB) - 49 Most grand slams: Ying O'Fire (MA) - 8; Varla Vendetta (HB) - 4 Most offensive actions: Amy NoNamey (MA) - 8; Megan Formor (HB) - 7 Most defensive actions: Malice With Chains (MA) - 16; Megan Formor (HB) - 21

Most minor penalties: Wreck N' Shrew (MA) - 14; Belle Diablo (HB) - 22

Most major penalties - Malice With Chain (MA) - 3; Mona Lott (HB) - 6

Lead jammer percentage, by team: 51.16% (HB); 46.51% (MA)

White Zombies feast on The Dark Side

The Dark Side vs. White Zombies

Before the Hell's Belles and Manic Attackers took the track in a tense match-up for the Ivy King Cup on June 20, the Double Crossers and The Fury had a little fun saying their farewells to Windy City Rollers’ fifth home season. After their close-fought bout on May 30, in which The Fury claimed their first win of the season, the two teams mixed up their rosters for a black vs. white exhibition bout, skating as "The Dark Side” and the “White Zombies.” The bout, played in two 15-minute periods, started what would become an intense night with a little friendly competition.

A choir made up of members of the Windy City Rollers belted out the National Anthem, the high notes ringing strikingly clear in UIC Pavilion as some fans sang along. The night was to mark the end of WCR’s first home season in the stadium, a venue change that has reflected the league’s progress in becoming a fixture in Chicago’s sports scene.

The Dark Side took the track first, circling the track menacingly to Darth Vader’s theme, “The Imperial March.” Their fan coach, who won an eBay auction to lead the team, dressed for the part in a Darth Vader mask and cloak. The White Zombies’ team members lay face-down in front of their bench, rising one by one to claw and moan their way around the track for their introductions. Both teams played it up in outrageous outfits and face paint, ready to start the night off with a party-like atmosphere.

The Zombies, led by jammers Peg Legs, Eva Dead and Riley Coyote, outscored The Dark Side by a more than 2-1 ratio. The first 15-minute half ended 36-15 Zombies. The point gap stayed the same in the second half, with both teams exactly doubling their scores for a final score of 72-30.

The Dark Side put Yvette YourMaker on the jam line against Peg Legs for the first jam of the night. The ladies in black shut down Peg, as Yvette got lead and put four points on the board before calling it off. It would be the only time that black would lead the scoreboard for the evening. In the next jam, Zombie jammer Eva Dead, who adopted the name “Resident Eva” for the night, answered back with five points of her own. And when Dark Side jammer Yvette YourMaker got sent to the box in the fifth jam, Eva took advantage, scoring grand slam after grand slam for a 15-0 jam. In jam 7, Dark Side blockers Tori Adore, Myra Maines, Yvette YourMaker and Nina Millimeter hit Peg to the floor, who by then was lead jammer, but was forced to call it off.

The Zombies kept the heat on, gaining lead jammer and holding The Dark Side scoreless with solid blocking from the likes of Ivy Sedation, Psyche O'Sis, and Julia Rosenwinkle in the last few jams of the first period. Zombie jammer Peg Legs lined up against Go-Go Hatchet for the last jam of the period, playfully gnawing on Go-Go’s arm before scoring a vicious nine points that ended the period 36-15.

In the second half, Yvette YourMaker again took lead jammer and four points as black held the Zombie jammer – this time Eva Dead – scoreless. But Zombie jammers Riley Coyote and Peg Legs gained lead in the next two jams, steadily pouring on the points as their blockers shut down the Dark Side jammers.

In the fourth jam, when Dark Side jammer Sonya MouthShut got sent to the box, Zombie jammer Eva Dead took advantage, sailing through the pack with one grand slam after another. As she lapped the pack and made it look easy, Eva played it up to the crowd’s delight, crouching down on one skate with the other pointed outward in a “shoot the duck”
trick. The jam ended with the score at 58-19.

Jam 5 saw blocking powerhouse Hoosier Mama on the jam line for the Zombies, pitted against Yvette YourMaker. Yvette got lead consistently each of the three times she jammed in the second half, leading The Dark Side’s scoring to help close the gap as their blocker kept the Zombies’ jammers contained.

Dark Side blocker Sargentina decided to get a little fun revenge as Zombie jammer Riley Coyote got lead in jam 8 as white blockers Psyche O'Sis, Dee Monica, Hoosier Mama, and Ivy Sedation held back Dark Side jammer Mel Content. The black-clad bad girl grabbed a handful of Hoosier Mama’s uniform, flinging the Zombie blocker to the floor. As more than one ref blew a major penalty whistle, Sargetina pumped her arms in the air and circled the outside of the track, celebrating on her way toward the box. Hoosier Mama decided the penalty box wasn’t good enough punishment and tackled Sargentina before she got there.
The two rolled around in a good-natured scuffle before the last jam of the night.

The Zombies sealed a 72-30 win in the final jam, and the team benches cleared as both black and white stormed the track. The bout ended with as much fun as it had started.

--Recaps by Jeniece Smith ("Jen Detta")

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