by Jim Almy
The final score, 160-154 in favor of the Throttle Girls, may have been the best evidence of how deep and talented the pool of players for the Rat City Rollergirls has become.
It also reflected what happens when members of junior league teams are invited to try out and play with RCRG league teams. The newcomers skate eager to show their big sisters how good they are, the seniors skate eager to show the rookies how far they have yet to come.
As a result both teams skated a physical bout, when the Galaxy Rockets took on the Throttle Girls in a pre-bout last Saturday, March 29, at the Rat’s Nest before an intercity match between the Sockit Wenches and Portland’s Guns ‘N’ Rollers (SW won 205-137). Youth and exuberance (and maybe the sort of physical condition a seventeen year old boasts) just about balanced age and experience (and maybe some of the cunning and intimidation that comes with a few more years), as the final score mirrored.
Throttle Girls member Vex Factor’s opening rendition of the National Anthem filled the rafters and ears of a full house.
By jam three It was standing room only when rookie (we’ll call all the junior league players rookies for this story) Lilly Lightning (#12), launched her body across the inner arc of a turn, keeping it in the air long enough to pass both lines on her way to scoring eight points for the Throttle Girls.
Just to establish the pecking order, a couple jams later Galaxy Rockets blocker Hard Cora (#247) delivered a “Hard” hit on the first turn to TG rookie jammer Miss Behavin (#253). It stopped play for 30 seconds before the rookie got up and left the track under her own power.
Midway through the first half Flyin’ Hawaiian (#808), a rookie jammer for the Galaxy Rockets, called off the jam while laying on the part of her backside that didn’t hurt, dumped their courtesy fellow rookies for the Throttle Girls, Spring Violence (#31) and JuVnile (#43). She had managed one scoring pass before meeting the hips of doom. TG jammer Raven Seaward (#53) came on in the ninth jam. No subtle tactics or nifty skating for the 15 points she quickly collected. She just used the Galaxy Rockets line for target practice. GR came back with a bigger line featuring rookie Rosie D. Kream-Her (#1212) and vets Missile America (#321) and Hard Cora. That put a crimp on TG scoring for a jam or two.
And so it went for the rest of the bout. Neither team ever ahead by many, both teams giving up points grudgingly. At the half it was the Throttle Girls ahead, 99-62.
The mayhem continued in the second half, though both teams, and particularly the rookies, displayed a keen sense of the flow of the bout. Players on both sides of the 18-years-old line of separation between junior and adult league showed strategy, tactics and good skaters instincts.
Still, for all their exhibition of bout skills, sometimes brute force carried the jam. Shock Therapy (#1400) jamming for the Throttle Girls, was blasted by Khaos Theory (#13) and Missile America, shook off both hits, held her skates and added 13 points for her team. Next jam GR jammer Ethel Vermin (#77) was blown up enough to require time with the medics.
Late in the second half the Galaxy Rockets, trailing 145-109, made a run. Lil’ Fist Fight (#411), the rookie jammer who led the Galaxy Girls with 41 points for the bout, got four before leaving the track holding her mouth. Absolutely Daft (#909) another rookie jammer for GR, added 12 points, her team now trailing by 14, 146-132. Lil’ Fist Fight returned to quickly pick another four but the Throttle Girls jammers, including rookie Pooky Poundya (#34) were adding scores of their own leading to their final six point win.
Luna Negra, captain and jammer with the Throttle Rockets, assisted Coach Betty Ford Galaxy in coaching the Galaxy Rockets. She called the bout a, “…crazy game, fast and hard hitting. As the skaters get better the game can go faster. There was some outstanding line work by the new girls.”
Lil’ Fist Fight is Luna Negra’s daughter. In addition to leading the Galaxy Rockets point total she was selected Most Valuable Player by the Throttle Girls. Others scoring for the Rockets were Parker Eyeout (#070) who had 12, Ella Whirled (#2010), 37, Missile America, 15, Ethel Vermin, 24 and two more rookies, Flyin’ Hawaiian and Absolutely Daft, who had 16 and 8.
The Most Valuable Player selected by the GR from their opposition was the Throttle Girls’ Calder Bluff (#3). Rookie Lilly Lightning led her team with 46 points, closely followed by another rookie with a penchant for piling up points, Pooky Poundya, with 42. Other scorers for the Throttle Girls were Shock Therapy, 17, Rattleskate (#16), 20, Miss Behavin, 7, Maximum Glitter (#26), 7, and Raven Seaward, 21.
Throttle Rockets advanced to Championships on 4/12 at KeyArena. Could they get their first Championship title in 10 years? Get tickets in person at the KeyArena box office or at Ticketmaster.com.