Dust Devil Final results

Since the semifinal bouts didn't start until 1:00 on Sunday, there was time to recover from the previous day's action. Eventually, we made our way back to Bladeworld to see the Texas Rollergirls' Texecutioners take on Arizona Roller Derby's Tent City Terrors. It was clear from the beginning that our rivals from Arizona were in for a rough time. Jam after jam, the Texas skaters flew through the pack while their blockers were immovable. Despite putting up a good fight, it just wasn't enough and the Texecutioners moved on to the championship bout.

Next up was the Tucson Roller Derby's Saddletramps against the Minnesota Rollergirls. It was a bruising affair, filled with devastating blocks and penalties galore. Fair or not, the Minnesota team has gotten a reputation for dirty play, but both teams laid down some wicked hits in this contest. Despite the physical nature of this bout, the result was never really in doubt as the Saddletramp's speed and experience made all the difference.

The third place bout was the consolation prize for the Tent City Terrors and Minnesota Rollergirls. Both teams had played already and Minnesota only had an hour between bouts, so neither team had a set of fresh legs to spare. Even so, they came out swinging and took an early lead. It was another physical game as the penalties kept piling up as fast as the refs could blow the whistle and there were at least two ejections. It's hard to say if Minnesota ran out of steam or the Tent City Terrors simply out skated them, but by the end of the first period, Arizona took the lead and never looked back. When the dust settled the Tent City Terrors walked (or limped) away with third place.

In the battle everyone anticipated since this tournament was announced, the Texecutioners faced off against the Saddletramps for the first ever flat track derby championship. These teams have played each other before with Texas winning all previous bouts. From the start this was a great game with skill, speed and power going head to head in a winner-takes-all showdown. The first few jams went back and forth, with no team gaining a clear advantage. At some point in the first period, Texas started to take control of the bout with outstanding jams and rock solid defense. The Saddletramps, who seemed unstoppable against other leagues, were just one step behind the Texecutioners all night. On the strength of a 114-81 victory, the Texas Rollergirls claimed the Dust Devil Tournament national championship. The Tucson skaters can take consolation in the fact that this was the closest they ever came to beating Texas.

Quarterfinal results!

The quarterfinal match between the Dairyland Dolls and Tucson Roller Derby's Saddletramps was filled to capacity. The crowd had just seen an intense battle between Minnesota and Kansas City, so the air was electric as the home team skated onto the rink. In fact, the crowd was so hostile the Minnesota skaters had to be escorted off the rink by security.

The first period was filled with intense, hard hitting action and lots of penalties. The Dairyland Dolls started and ended the period strong with jams by Crackerjack and Dolly Pardon Me. In between the score went back and forth every jam. The crowd was very much in support of the Saddletramps and downright hostile to the Dairyland Dolls. Riding the home town wave, Tucson went into the locker room with a 26-23 lead over the Dolls.

The second period was a hard one for the Dairyland Dolls as strong jamming by Tucson's Flo on the Range and Fisti the Kid built on their lead. None of the Dairyland Dolls jammers had a lot of success, due mostly to the Saddletramps' speed and experience. The Tucson skaters were able to catch up to the Dolls on the corners, making it difficult to escape the pack. In one of the most bizarre moments of the tournament, the period ended on a jam with no jammers. Both team's jammers were called out on penalties before the jam started and, amazingly, the refs decided to make the pack skate it out anyway. On the bright side, this gave the blockers a chance to get to know each other pretty well. When it was over the Dairyland Dolls were behind 58-31.

The frustrations continued for most of the third period, but near the end the Dolls' jammers found a little daylight with Jewels of Denile and Crackerjack picking up critical points. Unfortunately it seemed like the Tucson jammers were able to stay on their feet when hit, which proved to be the difference. Even though the Dairyland Dolls hope for a national championship ended with their 82-52 defeat, they gained valuable experience and hope to come back strong next year.

Saturday February 25

In the second round the Dairyland Dolls faced a familiar foe in the Gotham Girls. Having lost to the visiting Dolls in the first flat track interleague bout East of the Mississippi back in August, the Gotham Girls had a score to settle. The first period started off with a pair of penalties called on Gotham jammers, leaving their team without a way to score. The Dairyland Dolls took advantage and ran out to an early lead behind the strong skating of Mouse and Jewels of Denile. The Gotham Girls learned a lot since the last time these teams met and came out with some fierce hitting by Surly Temple and Ginger Snap, but their intensity was matched by the likes of Lizzie Borden, Scabs and Peter Pannies, who gave Crackerjack a whip so hard she went airborne. At the end of the first period, the Dairyland Dolls doubled up the Gotham Girls, 54-27.

There was no letup in the second period, with both teams slamming bodies into each other and penalties called early and often. The Gotham Girls fought hard, but the Dairyland Dolls just kept coming. With the game under control, there was time to work on a little bit of strategy. Twice in the second period the Dolls passed the star, which is when the jammer passes her helmet cover to the pivot, who then becomes the jammer. This is something the Dairyland Dolls have not done before, but may need it in future bouts. Throughout the bout, it became clear the refs had trouble communicating with each other and the skates. There were far too many jams delayed trying to figure out who should sit in the penalty box.

Both teams seemed to wear down a bit in the third period, but still kept up the pressure. For some reason, the refs called a lot of penalties on jammers leading to some interesting strategies by both teams. With Rippin Kitten in the penalty box, the Gotham Girls tried to speed up the pack and the Dairyland Dolls refused to go with. Because the Gotham Girls were too far ahead of the pack they couldn't touch our jammer and she sailed through for four points. In another display of skill and athletic ability, Mouse rode around the corner on one skate to get around Emma Badapple and Donna Matrix. In the end, the Dairyland Dolls advanced to the quarterfinals with a 142-70 beating of the Gotham Girls.

Later tonight the Dairyland Dolls will battle the more experienced Tuscson Roller Derby team for a place in the Semifinals. Updates will follow.

second round matchups

Friday some time past midnight

Late tonight the final pool finished play with some drama. During a hard fought bout between Tucson and Rat City, Tombstone Teri was knocked off the track by a Rat City skater and slid into the boards. She was obviously hurt and the paramedics were called over. After putting her in a neck brace, a folding table was used as a stretcher. It was at that point I discovered that the paramedics were just volunteers, not actual EMTs and they didn't have an ambulance on site. In a tournament of this scale, 20 teams bouting nonstop for almost 3 full days, it seems like they should have had at least one ambulance on hand for just such an event.

When the Rattlesnake pool was settled, Tucson took first at 4-0, followed by Rat City at 3-1 and Providence the third team at 2-2. With all the preliminaries out of the way the seedings were set for round two.

1. Texas
2. Tucson
3. Minnesota
4. Arizona
5. Rat City
6. Kansas City
7. Mad Rollin' Dolls
8. Carolina
9. BAD Girls
10. Gotham Girls
11. Providence
12. Sin City

The first four teams get a bye in the second round.
Texas plays the winner of Carolina/BAD Girls
Tucson plays the winner of Mad Rollin' Dolls/Gotham Girls
Minnesota plays the winner of Kansas City/Providence
Arizona plays the winner of Rat City/Sin City

Day 1 of the Dust Devil Tournament

Friday February 24, 2006

The first ever women's flat track derby national tournament kicked off this morning with round robin action consisting of mini-bouts lasting 10 minutes. Each of the four pools had five teams, the top three moving on to the next round of the tournament. The Texas Rollergirls took first place in the Scorpion pool at 4-0, including a 70-1 drubbing of the Atlanta Rollergirls. Second place went to the Kansas City Roller Warriors who edged out the Gotham Girls 26-24. These three teams live to fight another day while Atlanta and Duke City become spectators tomorrow.

The Tarantula pool included our very own Dairyland Dolls. In their first bout of the day, the Dolls lined up against their good friends, the Windy City Rollers. These two teams have a bond that goes back to when the girls from Chicago rented a coach bus to cheer on the Mad Rollin' Dolls in their very first exhibition bout a year and a half ago. The Dairyland Dolls came out hard and fast behind a pair of 10 point jams from Crackerjack. Alternating jams with Jewels of Denile, the Dolls kept racking up points. They say defense wins championships, which is a good thing because the Dairyland Dolls pitched a shutout. Scabs, Princess Die, Peter Pannies and other blockers built a wall that never came down. In the end the Dolls skated away with a 42-0 victory.

In their second match, the Dairyland Dolls took on the Bay Area Derby (BAD) Girls. In a tougher match up than expected the two teams went back and forth, with Dolly Pardon Me, HackSAW and Pocahotass taking turns jamming. The game was tight for the first few jams, but with strong skating by Mouse and Jewels of Denile the Dolls pulled ahead and never looked back. A final score of 27-14 put the Dolls at 2-0 in their pool, setting up a battle of titans with Arizona Roller Derby.

On a snowy day in early December, Arizona Roller Derby sent their all star team, the Tent City Terrors to Madison. In a brutal marathon of a bout, the Mad Rollin' Dolls fell just short. Nearly three months later the Dairyland Dolls had another shot at their rivals in the Tarantula pool. Both teams came out hitting hard and the blockers definitely controlled the game. Outstanding plays by TCT's Denise Lightning and DD's like Scabs, Paine Mansfield and Vanna Whitetrash kept the scoring to a minimum. It took three jams before the scoreboard moved at all, but skillful jamming by the Arizona skaters gave them the first lead of the match. Mouse, Jewels and Crackerjack brought the Dolls to within two points going into the last jam, but the defenses of both teams held. In one of the most riveting bouts of the day, the Dairyland Dolls fell to the Tent City Terrors by a final score of 7-5.

With a place in the next round virtually assures, the Dairyland Dolls needed a win to give them second place in their pool and a more favorable match up in the morning. The Dallas Derby Devils, with only one win still had a shot at playing tomorrow, but the Dairyland Dolls would have none of it. The Dairyland Dolls scored early and often and solid play by Lizzie Borden and Ilse Von Blutsterne kept the Dallas jammers in check. Point differential will be used to break ties in seeding the next round, so the Dairyland Dolls really helped themselves by posting a 37-11 victory and a 3-1 record in the first round.

The last bout of the Tarantula pool was a bit of a shocker when the BAD Girls came out on fire against the Tent City Terrors and took a three point lead going into the last two minutes. Skill and experience came in handy and the Arizona skaters managed to tie it up going into the last jam. The final minute was a defensive battle with no jammer having an advantage and, in a nail biter, the two teams tied at 25.

The Black Widow pool saw the Minnesota Rollergirls come out on top with a 4-0 record followed by their rival the Carolina Rollergirls. The two teams split their previous bouts with each other, with the home team winning on both occasions. The rubber match went to our neighbors to the north. Carolina took second place with a 3-1 record and exactly the same point differential as the Dairyland Dolls. The tiebreaker will be a coin flip to see which team will be seeded higher in the next round. Hard Knocks, the Houston Roller Derby team took third place in the pool with a 2-2 record. Sin City and Assassination City have a little more time to drink beer and watch other teams skate.

The Rattlesnake pool just started and an update may have to wait until tomorrow when the second round seedings are set and the Dairyland Dolls take another step toward a championship.

Traveling Women

Today, the Dairyland Dolls head off to Tucson to kick some Dust Devil Derriere! We wish them luck!

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Rockabilly Hearts Roller Derby Part II

February 16th - Rockabilly Hearts Roller Derby Part II at The Crystal Corner. Your last chance to say you knew 'em before they made it big at the Dust Devil. Come party with MRD as we raise $$$ to send our Dairyland Dolls to the national tournament in Tucson. Rockabilly and rollergirls...this must be Heaven!