Day 1 at the Big O

Here we are at the Big O tournament!  4 teams facing off, including 3 of the NW A teams and the up and coming Cinder Kittens.  3 ranked bouts through the weekend, with I5 taking on the Reservoir Dolls and the Kitsap Derby Brats D-Bombers and the Dolls taking on the Kitsap D-Bombers.

Day one saw two of those ranked bout with I5 playing both of their ranked bouts in the first day.

9am found me bright eyed and bushy tailed (OK, so I hadn't had my coffee at that point) and ready to record the action!  The game started off pretty close, but I5 steadily pulled away, snagging lead jammer status an impressive 80% of the 20 jams in the first half.

While the Kitsap defense was holding firm, limiting the damage for a good portion of the half, the I5 power jams and some incredibly impressive walls with Lex Celerator jamming allowed I5 to shoot out to a 134-77 lead in the first half.

The second half started the bleeding all over again for Kitsap as Little Mean Sunshine was called for a cut track and out of play penalties combined to give I5's Dee Stroir a 20 point power jam.  Lex Celerator and Short Fuse added to the total with 5-0 and 12-0 decisions respectively in their jams.  Within 5 minutes of the first half, I5 had outscored the D-Bombers 37-0.

From there the Kitsap defense began to really step up.  Gaine Slayer and Red Rager combining with Quarter Pounder to stymie  the I5 jammers, holding them largely to single digit passes while Aqua Knock You Out, Little Mean Sunshine and Champ Pain grabbed their points and called things off, often without lead jammer status (I5 had a 66% lead jammer status in the second half).

The damage of the first half and the huge decision in the beginning of the second proved too much to overcome for the D-bombers and at the end, I5 found themselves with the win 251-182.

The next bout found the Kitsap Derby brats on the track once again, this time against the Lava City Cinder Kittens.  I had the opportunity to see the Kittens at last year's Big O tourney, and I remember being impressed with the huge amount of heart and the spark of brilliance I saw in this team.  While they were beaten big by everyone they played last year, it was clear they were an up and coming team who would be a force to be reckoned with very soon.

This year, they have thus far proven themselves as a definite force to be watched for  on the NW junior derby circuit.  While they did lose their bout to Kitsap (242-160), skaters Erma Gherd, Jabba the Butt and Scruffy Nerf Herder along with the rest of the Kitten s definitely held their own far more than the scoreboard attests.

Next up was the I5 Rollergirls skating against the home team Reservoir Dolls.  I was announcing this game as well, so stats were not really possible, but I5 continued their impressive roll this season.

The Reservoir Dolls got themselves into foul trouble early, allowing I5 to shoot out to a huge 206-44 lead in the first half.  Hunter, Liv Vicious, Lex Celerator, Izzie Exterminated, Audrey Headburn, Archer and all of the rest of the I5 squad taking their shifts as blockers combined to cause an incredible number of penalties for the Dolls.  When the smoke cleared, the Dolls had two players foul out and one skater ejected for an egregious out of bounds block.

When all was said and done, the I5 Roller Girls continued to an undefeated 4-0 record with a final 355-105.

Finally came the last junior game of Day 1, the Lava City Cinder Kittens against the Reservoir Dolls.  The Dolls played a lot cleaner in this one, the penalty trouble largely evaporating.  The Cinder Kittens were holding their own against the A level squad finding themselves on the lower end of a 153-80 halftime score.

The second half found the Cinder Kittens coming out with claws bared.  They fought and clawed their way through the ubiquitous scrum starts, earning lead and taking advantage of power jam opportunities.  About halfway through the second half, they had fought their way to within 35 points before Roma Mafia and Beautiful Deadly put the game out of reach and took the victory home 273-185.

Day one is in the books, and an AWESOME amount of junior derby action was witnessed.  Tomorrow will find me on the Mic at 9am as Emerald City takes on Kitsap Derby Brats D-Bombers in the final junior bout of the weekend.  I am told by one team that this is a ranked bout and by another that it isn't, so I will diligently try to determine the facts... After all, I have a press pass.  Facts are what I should do to earn it, right?