Saint Paul, MN

by The Oxford Commakaze

In a nail-biting game m in which the underdog Victorian Roller Derby League of Melbourne, Australia, (Tucson #1) led the Gotham Girls Roller Derby of New York, N.Y., (Omaha #1) for 35 jams, the reigning champions held on to snatch victory in the last five minutes with just a two-point gap. Gotham will move on to play the Rose City Rollers on Sunday at 6 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s championship game.

Photo by Donna Olmstead

“It was like any close game — surreal. You feel very present. … Things are happening, and it doesn’t feel like you’re in your body, almost,” Gotham blocker Caf Fiend said after the game. “I definitely think we were expecting it to be physical. We did mentally and physically prepare for that. You can’t predict every single thing that’s going to happen in a game, especially a team you haven’t really played much before, so we were doing our homework, but it was really rough.”

Rotating power jams for each team left anyone hoping for an early lead antsy, with Bonnie Thunders posting 10 points for Gotham as Sexy Slaydie drew a cut on VRDL jammer Christy Demons, which Demons then answered after a forearm sent her opposing jammer to the box and blockers Chuck and Bicepsual cleared the way for her own 10-point jam. With an audible roar from the crowd, VRDL jumped into the lead in the second jam with a 5-point power jam, bringing the score to 15-10 four minutes in. Two short hit-and-quit jams built a slight lead for VRDL, forcing Gotham to use a time out just ten minutes into the game to halt the Australian team’s momentum — and it worked, allowing Gotham’s Bonnie Thunders to fend off Bicepsual at the front for a 9-point jam to close, but not overtake, the point gap.

VRDL eased the gap back open as Christy Demons overcame a formidable two-wall of Roxy Dallas and Caf Fiend for lead jammer, running the jam long as a star pass from Miss Tea Maven to Fisher Twice went bad as the helmet cover ended up inside out, preventing a Gotham pass from accumulating points because Fisher Twice had no visible jammer insignia. A two-minute jam brought the game back within single-digit points — a frequent occurrence — that VRDL quickly eliminated with two grueling low-scoring jams, but a difficult jam that took nearly 50 seconds to establish lead allowed Gotham to bring it to a one-point game, 48-47, with barely 10 minutes to go in the half.

Another fast jam for Christy Demons put five more on the board for VRDL, but Bonnie Thunders closed the gap back to two points after a physically demanding jam that required nearly 1:30 for her to establish lead, tangling with blocker Bamma at the front for what felt like an eternity before emerging as lead. In her second jam in a row, Bonnie Thunders brought the game to its second tie, with six minutes to go. Gotham jammer Shortstop picked up a track cut on a failed apex jump in the critical next jam, and Christy Demons swooped in for nine points in her absence. Three more lead jam calls for VRDL sealed the half 82-70, despite a last-jam power jam for Vicious Van Gogo, thanks to offensive/defensive blockers extraordinaire Tui Lyon and Chuck and the indefatigable Christy Demons.

Photo by Steve Jurkovic

Although VRDL picked up a point in the first jam of the second half, the speedy 30-second jam indicated a departure from the unmoving defense both teams relied so prevalent in the first half — although such jams were far from gone, as Christy Demons took 1:10 to establish lead in the next jam. A depleted blocker pack couldn’t restrain Gotham in the following jam, as Sexy Slaydie and OMG WTF successfully contained Mary Fagdalene as Shortstop, in her first lead jam of the night, pulled in nine points Gotham desperately needed five minutes into the half, bringing the score to 83-82 still in VRDL’s favor.

Six straight lead jam calls for VRDL helped widen the gap, but it was a tenuous hold at a 20-point lead with less than 20 minutes left in the half. Another multi-pass jam for Shortstop, this time on a power jam, brought the score back within spitting distance despite vicious recycling by Tui Lyons and Screw Barrymore, and a miraculously penalty-free jam that saw Bonnie Thunders leap over the fallen Tui Lyons (who hopped straight up a half-second later) brought the score to 105-103 VRDL with 15 minutes left.

After a time out to reset, VRDL nudged the gap wider by containing Bonnie Thunders in her second straight jam as Christy Demons shoved her way up the inside line. A lead jam call for Mary Fagdalene caused Gotham jammer Vicious van Gogo to pass her helmet cover to pivot Hela Skelter, but VRDL ran the jam long anyway, pushing the gap to a game record of 25 points.

But a massive Gotham surge came right as VRDL started to encounter heavier penalty trouble than it had in the entire game, losing standout blocker Bicepsual as she fouled out. Gaining lead jam in every jam for the rest of the game and holding VRDL scoreless for five, Gotham demonstrated exemplary game knowledge, preventing helmet cover passes and managing the clock while Bonnie Thunders, Miss Tea Maven and Shortstop each put up points. Bonnie Thunders donned the star the last three jams in a row, first for a lead change while besting first-time jammer PorFavor and then employing defensive jamming against Christy Demons to burn time. With 1:34 remaining on the clock, Bonnie Thunders got lead one last time, getting tangled in VRDL’s blockers on her first pass but able to call the jam before Mary Fagdalene could gain all the points she needed to overtake Gotham, calling the jam with a final score of 143-141 for Gotham.

“I feel like the whole time, the thing that really helped us get back on top at the end was that we always believed we were going to win it,” Caf Fiend said. “I think our whole time feeling unified in that belief and continuing to encourage each other and build each other up was really special, and was the reason we were able to pull out the win at the end.”

FINAL SCORE

Gotham Girls Roller Derby (Omaha #1): 143
Victorian Roller Derby League (Tucson #1): 141