CRG Rain of Pain

On Saturday night Dianne and I went to the Cincinnati Rollergirls Rain of Pain event at the Cincinnati Gardens. It was their home opener, a double header, against the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. We were part of the 1800+ crowd -- no doubt due in part to the local newspaper, radio, and TV blitz this past week to drum up excitement for the match. Not only are they practicing and organizing events, the skaters also do a lot of promo work. There seemed to be quite a few derby virgins in the crowd, so hopefully they got hooked. We talked with one first time spectator who thought it was a blast to watch. Also part of the crowd was Mama Sac (at the right), the proud mom of CRG skater Sista Sacralicious and probably the most easily identified fan with her cow bell. I went over to say hi and see how she was doing since we missed her in Louisville.

In the first bout of the evening, the CRG Silent Lambs skated against the Fort Wayne Flying Squirrels. It was the first bout of the season for several rookie skaters and some of the returning CRG crew. The Lambs took the lead and held it over the first part of the match, but the Fort Wayne skaters came back, took over the lead, and held the Lambs off at the end. I missed the final score. It was quite the nail biting battle -- especially in the middle of the match. There were times where the Silent Lambs' defense was well organized and slowed Fort Wayne, but it wasn't consistent enough to minimize Fort Wayne scoring. On top of that, the Fort Wayne blockers were pretty tough and gave some hard hits to the CRG jammers. Oreo SlamHER was particularly tough, but many of the Flying Squirrels were dealing out hard blocks. Check out the size difference here. Miss Print seemed faster than last year in the open, but was bottled up a couple times and took some hard falls. Of note for the Lambs was jammer CandyKICKass, shown above about to get a whip from Ima Payne. Candy must have put in a lot of work during the off season because her skating ability is much improved from last year! She was a good contributor on the jamming front.

In the second bout, the Cincinnati Rollergirls' Black Sheep took on the Fort Wayne Bomb Squad and defeated them 100 to 35. This bout was another fantastic effort by the Black Sheep. What more can I say about the CRG blockers? They were great at controlling the pack and shutting down the Fort Wayne jammers. For much of the first 30 minute period, the Fort Wayne score stayed at 3 -- they had multiple jams with zero points. Their jammers were just stuck behind the CRG folks as in the photo here where Ruby Killer (red jammer) tries to deal with Blu Bayou (in front) and Panterrorize on the inside. It's not just one or two folks, but the whole blocking team that deserves kukos for their effort.

As in the first two away matches, Sadistic Sadie, Hannah Barbaric, and Roseanne Scarr did the bulk of the work as jammers. The photo to the right shows Sadie scoring as she passes the Fort Wayne pack in red. But it was no picnic for the CRG jammers. The Fort Wayne blockers were tough and there were quite a few hard hits like this one and this one. Fort Wayne blockers Mayhem and Bang Bang LaDesh (who went down hard at one point and was limping after the match) seemed especially tough.

After the match I was able to talk with a few skaters and Dianne took some photos. Thanks to all for taking time to say hi and chat. The first shot is of me with Ruff'n the Passer. She was doing a lot of blocking, but did wear the jammer star on a couple of the jams. First saw her skating with Gem City about a year and a half ago -- sat next to her mom. A very good skater all around.

The second photo is of me with Arche Enemy. She is another one of the amazing blocking crew on the Black Sheep team.

The third photo is of me with CandyKICKass.

Dianne and I were honored with seats on the VIP couch for the match. Thanks much to the CRG group for that. Also, you may notice in these photos with the skaters I'm wearing a new CRG T-shirt. A special thank you to Juwana Hurt for giving me a special Juwana shirt. A very pleasant surprise!

I have a bunch of photos you can see in my Rain of Pain Flickr set here. I posted a few favorites below. I have to say the lighting in the Gardens kinda stinks, so I can't wait to see the always wonderful photos from Jason and Jeff who were both at the match. I'm sure they'll post photos soon. Also, ESPN was there filming last night for a SportsCenter segment on flat track roller derby. Keep an eye out for that!

The next CRG home match is May 17th in the Gardens. In that bout the Black Sheep will be going up against the Philly Roller Girls, a higher ranked team. It should be an exciting match to see. Perhaps by then it will be a little warmer to make tailgating a little more do-able. Don't miss it!


Below, Sk8 Crime (with the jammer star) and Ima Payne look to take on Oreo SlamHER.



Below, The Librarian and Cherry Choke (in black) have a good position to slow down the Fort Wayne jammer Sugar Guns.



Below, Hannah Barbaric leaves a Fort Wayne skater falling behind her.



This is another shot illustrating the CRG team work. CRG skaters Blu Bayou, Panterrorize, and Ruff'n the Passer have the Fort Wayne jammer Ruby Killer (red star) boxed in while Hannah Barbaric has a clear path around the outside as Mayhem falls behind her. Perfect positioning for the CRG group. That is fun to watch!