CRG and DCRG Spring Fling

Last night I went to Louisville to see the Spring Fling roller derby bout between the Derby City Roller Girls and the Cincinnati Rollergirls at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center. It was a blow out (in fact the last name of CRG skater #32 Flavors comes to mind) with the CRG team scoring 181 compared to DCRG's 41.

This was a very different bout than the last CRG match in Indy a couple weeks ago where the pack was skating extremely fast. The DCRG pack had a slower tempo. Although CRG was pushing the speed, they were attentive to the 20 foot rule and slowed as appropriate to keep the pack tight and organized. Even when slowed down, the CRG blockers still controlled the inside and in many jams completely stalled the DCRG jammers. The photo at the right shows Blu Bayou and Sista Sacralicious blocking the DCRG jammer Envy Myoni. All that with what seemed to be not too many folks in the penalty box. An amazing job from all the blockers as usual!

It was fun for me to watch, but not much fun for the DCRG folks. I thought their fans were really great and supportive. The place erupted when, I think in the second period, a DCRG skater got lead jammer status for the first time. The DCRG was simply up against a far superior team. The DCRG group was persistent and tried hard the entire match. I thought their jammers Envy Myoni and Sir Wheel were pretty good and put out a great effort. At the conclusion of one jam I saw Sir Wheel take off her helmet and she had a disgusted look on her face. Despite her effort, things just weren't coming together for them. This photo shows Ruff'n the Passer blocking Sir Wheel.

As with the Indy bout, Sadistic Sadie, Hannah Barbaric, and Roseanne Scarr were doing most of the jamming duty. However, Sk8r-Kinney, Ruff'n the Passer, and Killian Destroy also got to wear the jammer star. It was nice to see them all zipping around the track. I lost track of how many grand slams they all had. The photo here shows Hannah Barbaric pulling on the jersey of Sk8r-Kinney to give her a little boost to get out of the pack and start her sprint.


The Cincinnati part of the crowd was pretty small. Where was the cow bell? Thanks to Juwana, I had a trackside seat with the CRG spectators and friends and got to meet and chat with a few folks including Jewel B. Hurt and Professor Murder. After the match I was able to meet Hannah Barbaric and, since Dianne is half way across the planet, Miss Print was kind enough to take a photo of us with Lamb Chop. I haven't seen a Lamb Chop puppet for years!

I put a few photos below. There are more to see in my Flickr set that you can see here. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger view and the captions.

If you haven't been able to catch the first two away matches, take advantage of the first CRG home bout coming up this Saturday at the Cincinnati Gardens. We're fortunate to have a very good WFTDA team in our backyard. It should be a fun time! Also, it's a double header so it'll be the first time seeing the Silent Lambs skate in 2008. Be there to cheer on all the ewes!

Killian Destroy, Sk8r-Kinney, and Roseanne Scarr.


Sk8r-Kinney about to pass the jammer star to Sadistic Sadie.


Envy Myoni and Hannah Barbaric sprinting.


Roseanne Scarr racing ahead of Sir Wheel.


I like this photo of June with the Cleaver going for a hit on Envy Myoni. It is the first of a series of three. See the others here and here.


My favorite series is this triptych showing one of the DCRG pivots trying to stop Sadistic Sadie (like that's going to happen). It's a nice series showing how she goes low and scoots around the blocker. In the background you can see Hannah Barbaric and Arche Enemy controlling the inside to stop the DCRG jammer. A great example of the CRG teamwork. It's a little hard to see this small, but you can see a larger version on black by clicking here or view the original here.