The Cincinnati Rollergirls finished their 2013 home season undefeated after taking down Kitchener, Ontario’s Tri-City Roller Girls at their June 8 double-header at the Cincinnati Gardens. Tank has a recap.
Everything comes to an end at some point. Time is an unstoppable, uncontrollable force that is always in motion. There is no pause button in life as each day the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the seasons change and the grains of sand slip one by one through the hourglass. And thus the 2013 Cincinnati Rollergirls’ home season came to an end, but just like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it had a happy ending, as both CRG squads were able to defeat their Tri-City opponents.
The night kicked off with the Violent Lambs tussling with Tri-City’s Plan B. From the jump, the Lambs stepped on the gas pedal and never looked back as it was obvious that Plan B was playing checkers while the Lambs were playing chess. The Lambs strategy to bully the opposing team’s jammer worked very well as they delivered a healthy mix of hitting and wall play. This turned Cincinnati’s packs into a proverbial mine field as the slow walls they constructed would slow down Plan B’s jammers and allow the bigger hitters on the Lambs to explode into them. Plan B had some individual success via Slaughterhouse Streeter, but one arrow is not as strong as a bundle of arrows. In the end the Lambs were the ones who led Plan B to the slaughter, winning the bout 332 to 97 and preventing their Canadian counterparts from breaking the century mark.
There were a number of interesting stories in this game. Hot Slice has had more injuries in the past two seasons then Captain Lance Murdock, but just like the fictional daredevil, she keeps coming back for more. She looked great in this one as Tri-City was confused by her ability to get through small holes in the blink of an eye. Bombtrack (The) got a chance to show off her superior athleticism in this game at one point getting lead jammer against a pack of three Plan B skaters and one Lamb. She also showed off her leaping ability by jumping the inside of turn four and coming down inbounds.
Finally, the young players of this season are really starting to grow and prove that they are valuable contributors to this veteran heavy squad. Cincy Pysch-O has impressed me with her ability to be hindrance for opposing jammers, whether that means blocking or hitting them, she finds a way to make contact with them. She has a very strong, physical presence but at the same time is surprisingly agile and I look forward to watching her develop.
Tru D. Vicious brings another strong jammer into the Lambs rotation. I love her natural instinct to go for any opening in the pack. That fearlessness is something that can’t be taught, you either have it or you don’t and this woman has it. She will however have to work on her ability to control her speed and absorb hits because there were multiple times in this bout that she would get hit and fly out of bounds like she had been hit by car. The coaching staff will need to work with her on developing how to absorb hits and keep on trucking. Once she gets that down, I look for her to become a very devastating weapon in the Lambs arsenal.
Just like their B team sisters, the Black Sheep came out of the gate hot in this one and thus the win was never in doubt. Recently the Sheep have had some problems against slow packs in the beginning of jams, but in this one they were able to trap Tri-City’s jammers and give Wheezy and K. Lethal time to pick their way through the pack or find lanes to get lead jammer and points. K. looked fantastic in this one as she had the room to work her way through packs with her ninja-like moves. As the season rolls along, I find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with Wheezy’s jamming. Just like the Incredible Hulk, there seemingly isn’t all wall that can stop her. She is like a cyborg rhinoceros, an unstoppable force that never tires.
The Sheep’s pack play was impressive as they showed incredible hustle and so much recycling I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t Earth Day. candyKICKass!, Ruff’n the Passer and Jungle Lacy all continue to impress me with their pack play this season. They all play their respective parts very well, all three are in the best shape of their career, and their years of experience are paying off for the Sheep this year. Nuk’em is playing really well in this system as well, as it seems her prime directive is make life hell for opposing jammers. I lost count of how many times her star spangled clad hips would force Tri-City’s point scorers out of bounds. She is making a strong case for not only best blocker for the Sheep this year, but also quite possibly the overall league MVP.
The Black Sheep won the game, 284 to 125, thus bringing them to an impressive 9-1 record on the season. Even though the curtain has come down on the home season, it’s now time for the ladies to do their best Mad Max impressions and become road warriors. First up they will be playing Midwest rivals, Detroit and Madison, two squads they’ve never beaten in WFTDA sanctioned play. Will Cincinnati’s hot hand keep the wins rolling in or will history unfortunately repeat itself? Stay tuned to my column here to find out.