The defending champion Vice Squad emerged the most victorious, but the other three teams proved they aren't to be taken lightly.
First, the bottom line, and then, a team-by-team run down:
VICE Squad 42 - Furious Truckstop Waitresses 4
Copper Queens 22 - Iron Curtain 17
VICE Squad 28 - Copper Queens 17
Iron Curtain 24 - Furious Truckstop Waitresses 7
VICE Squad 29 - IC 23
Copper Queens 35 - Furious Truckstop Waitresses 5
And here are the teams that brought you those numbers:
Furious Truckstop Waitresses (0-3)
A casual TRD fan might gawk to think that FTW could ever sit at the bottom of the standings after so many years of dominance, but it turns out that roller derby is a real sport and in the real sports world, things change - and in the case of FTW, a lot has changed.
Only five players remain who were with the team last year: Peaches Rodriguez, Zippy's Takeout, Sunni Sideup, Sassy Sue and Gracie Spoon. The rest are rookies.
The future looks bright, however. There is some serious excitement over rookies Skeletor (because she's fast), and Jackrabbit Slams (because she's a tank), and the Waitresses played a lot better than the final scores indicate. They stayed in position, they fought to control the front of the pack and they were always paying attention. In other words, they were playing smart and they were working hard, which is all one can really ask of them.
On top of that, they exuded the one thing that has never changed about this team: positive attitude. When they win they don't gloat, when they lose they don't pout.
If their team chemistry is good and they can keep from letting losses frustrate them, this group could whip into shape rather quickly. TRD has seen it happen before with the Copper Queens, who were able to become serious contenders in just their second year.
VICE Squad (3-0)
I could go on and on about some of these ladies so I should probably just list everyone on their roster and tell you that they're all good.
Okay, let's do it.
Anita Donut, Turkish Slammer, Barbicide, Sami Automatic, Deadlock Doe, Polly Graf, Sgt. Pepper Spray, Carrie Gunns, Myna N. Possession, Whiskey Mick. (They're all good).
On Saturday, Myna N. Possession inadvertently reminded the crowd how good she was not by her performance on the track but by an appearance in the bout program, specifically the part where she was listed as 2008's Rookie of the Year. It wasn't that she was Rookie of the Year that impressed so much as the fact that she was so good last year that it was easy to forget she was even a rookie. Just saying.
Anyway, what this team has going for it is chemistry. Nearly everybody on this roster has been playing with the others for years now. They set up great defenses and create big holes for their jammers and they barely even have to talk to each other any more to pull it off.
Tucson fans who think that the addition of Deadlock Doe to the team could threaten this precious chemistry are likely to be proven wrong, wrong, wrong. Doe is even more effective with this group, which may be owed to the fact that VICE doesn't need her to play Pivot and micro-manage the defense as much as FTW did. She's free to just hit anything that moves and needless to say, she's quite good at that.
There really isn't any one player that the team relies upon too heavily, which makes them pretty much immune to injuries and other strokes of bad luck. It also makes them the most consistent team in town, and right now they are still the team to beat.
HALFTIME: Derby Brats!
It's important to mention the junior leagues that exhibited themselves at halftime for a couple of reasons. First, just to give recognition to them. The Tucson Derby Brats and the LA Junior Dolls played a full bout earlier that afternoon. The result on the scoreboard may have been a lopsided 163-11 in favor of Tucson, but the audience had nothing but praise for the visiting team. The Tucson Derby Brats are one of the first junior leagues in the country, so the team is full of girls who have already been playing for years and by extension the average age of Tucson's juniors is much higher than other cities. It was only natural that they won handily.
Impressive, though, was the way LA responded, not by giving up, but by working harder. They responded to the tough competition and got better and better each period. With a work ethic like that, they're going to be really hard to beat once they all get a little bit older.
Of course, the other reason for mentioning the Derby Brats is ...
Iron Curtain (1-2)
On Saturday a Tucson junior officially graduated into the adult league. Her name is now Luc3f3r, (formerly Pixie Stix), and the cliche around here is that she is the future of TRD. A cliche, yes, but it's true: she is.
There are a number of reasons why this is the best Iron Curtain ever to assemble, but undoubtedly the arrival of Luc3f3r will prove to be a big part of any success they enjoy. And the fans know it too: on an already noisy night, the biggest cheer came when Luc3f3r took the line for the first time. She's already the fastest skater in Tucson and utterly tireless to boot and she's only 18. She's a sure bet for Rookie of the Year and barring anything unfortunate like injury or out-of-state college we're only going to watch her improve.
Sure enough she will have to adjust now that her skating abilities will face genuine competition, but if her progress over the course of a mere Saturday night was any indication -- she went from struggling against the Copper Queens to scoring a 10-0 jam against the VICE defense and almost spear-heading a comeback -- she's going to do just fine. It's intimidating to consider how much damage she might do in a full 60-minute bout, and absolutely mind-boggling to imagine how good she could be in 3 or 4 years.
But that's not all for the Iron Curtain. They also picked up Helen Wheels from the VICE Squad and Punch Kisser from Milwaukee's Brewcity Bruisers. With Helen comes stability, leadership and discipline that will benefit the entire team. With Punch comes a versatile triple threat.
Luckily for IC fans, the remaining roster is composed entirely of veterans, ladies who have been dedicated to this team and performing well no matter how badly things may have been going for them on the track: Kassi Nova, Dot Stoevsky, Bianka Trohl, Kamanda, Karla Marx and Kosma Nauti. With no disrespect meant to any former Iron Curtain skaters: there is no more chaff left on this team.
Despite the 1-2 start, it doesn't seem crazy to suggest that the Iron Curtain could shock everyone and become the 2009 champs. They played well enough to win in both of their losses and it's likely they will benefit tremendously from skating full 60 minute bouts, considering how well conditioned their jammers are.
Also: Best. Uniforms. Ever.
Copper Queens (2-1)
Like VICE, the Copper Queens are returning to this season more or less intact. An exciting addition to the roster is Powder Keg, formerly Bolshe Vixen of the Iron Curtain. After taking a year off, Powder Keg spent much of Saturday night reminding everyone that she is one of the hardest hitters in town.
At one point last season the Copper Queens sat alone atop the local standings and like the Iron Curtain, they played well enough on Saturday to beat the VICE. A full bout could easily end with a different conclusion.
The Copper Queens have always played a smart, team-oriented game and while the other teams may not ever want to admit it, it seems this team's ability to mature quickly under a consistent gameplan has influenced the entire league's approach to the game on some level.
The Queens can land some hits and are able to play solid defense, but they seemed to do better helping their jammers get through the pack and what's more, ensuring that their jammers could score as many points as possible once they did. Dirty Teri is arguably the smartest jammer in TRD and rarely does she give away unnecessary points whenever she gets lead. If you enjoy the game's strategies, they are a fun team to watch.
The all-star Tucson Saddletramps (West region, currently ineligible for WFTDA ranking, ranked #22 nationally by DNN) will skate next at the Four Corners Feud on February 20th and 21st in a six-team tournament. They're against Denver (ranked 4th in the West region by WFTDA and #17 nationally by DNN) in the first round. Two weekends after that will see a return to intraleague play as the VICE Squad takes on the Furious Truckstop Waitresses.
Photos: David Anderson
