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Grand Ole Derby Recap

The Nashville Rollergirls competed in their first away game of the 2008 season against the 39th-ranked WFTDA member Dixie Derby Girls of Huntsville, Alabama. The Nashville girls went to Huntsville with the intention of shaking the 2-game losing streak that seems to have set the tone for their second season. Even with the close losses in their past two outings hanging over them, Nashville brought with them a complement of fans and their signature can-do attitudes. In a season fraught with close battles and even closer point margins, it seemed Nashville had finally broken the streak, only to be disappointed by yet another narrow defeat.

Period one began slowly with Slammylou Harris getting edged out for lead status by C.U. Afterclass, in a 7 to 4 first jam. Ramb0 Samb0, jammed behind the blocking of newcomer Eurine A. Hole, and old favorites Bootsy Brawlins, Slugs Bunny, and Olive Turmoyl in the fifth to claim the second of her 3 shutout jams in the first period and to keep Nashville close behind Huntsville. DDG would go on to hold the lead for most of the first period until Nashville claimed their first, but certainly not last, lead of the game in a ninth-jam shutout that saw blocking by Olive Turmoyl, Molotov M. Pale, Maulin Monroe, and Smith N. Wesson while Ramb0 Samb0 scored 4 unanswered points as jammer. Ivy Push Her exemplified the true nature of the game earning 3 offensive assists in jam 6, and 8 overall in the first period, while blocking for Molotov M. Pale during a 9-point scoring run. Nashville’s lead continued as Slammylou out-scored DDG’s Wicked One 3 to 2 in the tenth jam despite Wicked One earning lead status. After a bit of craziness with the scoring, the first period was called a tie with both teams having scored 35 points. Nashville’s first-period jamming crew of Maulin Monroe, Molotov M. Pale, Ramb0 Samb0, and Slammylou Harris dominated the initial race through the pack and earned lead 6 out of the 12 jams to DDG’s 3. Jammers were not Nashville’s only stars in the first period. Nashville blockers, led by Smith N. Wesson’s 13 defensive moves and Slugs Bunny’s 10 defensive moves, shut out 6 jams to DDG’s 3, allowing the Nashville jammers to score 10 unanswered shutout points.

The roar of the Nashville fans continued to drown out the Huntsville crowd as Nashville got up to speed in the second period. The first two jams were unsuccessful for the Nashville jammers with neither scoring a point; but the Nashville defense came alive in the third jam racking up 11 defensive moves against the DDG jammer, including a huge jammer knockdown by Hildabeast, and allowing Ramb0 Samb0 to score 8 points to C.U. Afterclass’s 4. The Nashville lead would hold out until the eighth jam when Wicked One scored 13 points to Nashville’s 4 and DDG took the lead by 2. Nashville quickly responded with a 4-point shutout jam by Ramb0 Samb0, and the Dixie Derby Girls would hold the lead only once more, in the tenth jam, of the second-period seesaw battle when C.U. Afterclass scored 4 unanswered points of her own. Nashville scored 7 points in the next 4 jams, while holding DDG to 3, through some strategic lead jammer call-offs, and ended the second period with a 69 to 67 lead. Ivy Push Her and Fully Addomatic led the Nashville defense in the second period with 13 and 10 defensive moves respectively, using mostly stall blocking tactics to hold the DDG jammers at bay.

After the second intermission the Nashville fans were abuzz with hopeful musings over the outcome of this close and exciting bout, but the Dixie Derby Girls had other plans. They led the score by 1 after the first jam and extended their lead in the second when Wicked One put up an impressive 8 points to Nashville’s 1. After a 4 point shutout jam by Ramb0 Samb0 for Nashville in the third, they were struck by two injuries, Ivy Push Her in the 4th jam of the period and Slugs Bunny in the 5th. Ivy’s injury was preceded by a rare jam by Nashville’s E $$$ in which she outscored the DDG jammer 3 to 1, but Slugs’ injury happened too early in the jam to allow for any scoring. Only Ivy would return from her injury in the 10th jam to score 2 offensive blocks and knock down the opposing jammer. Nashville didn’t regain the lead until the seventh jam of the period when Ramb0 Samb0 and the Nashville blockers held DDG to the second scoreless jam of the third period while racking up 4 points of their own through a judicious lead jammer call-off. Jam 8 would prove advantageous for Nashville as Slammylou scored 13 points to DDG’s 8, extending the Nashville lead to 94 to 89. The next three jams saw the Dixie Derby Girls score 7 unanswered points and take the lead by 2. Both teams scored 4 in the next jam, bringing the score to Nashville 98, Huntsville 100. In jam 13 the Nashville defense, consisting of Olive Turmoyl on pivot, with Smith N. Wesson, Molotov M. Pale, and Hildabeast blocking, held C.U. Afterclass to 0 points while Slammylou scored 4 and Nashville took the lead by 2, working Nashville’s fans into frenzy. After fighting so hard in their last two outings and losing by a margin of 1 and 2 points, and after battling the Dixie Derby Girls for 39 tough jams, defeat was again handed to the Rollergirls of Nashville in the form of a wayward helmet panty and five painful points. Jam 14 turned out to be the last viable point-scoring jam as time ticked off the clock, and both teams put their best jammers of the game on the line. Ramb0 Samb0 had already scored 40+ points for Nashville, 25 of which were unanswered; and Wicked One had racked up 40+ points herself, but only 5 went unanswered for her team. It was the jam of the game and both teams lined up accordingly. Wicked One started things off right for DDG earning lead in the first lap despite having blocker Bitch On Arrival in the penalty box, but Ramb0 Samb0 was close on her heels. Then in the first scoring pass, Nashville’s bad luck kicked in, as a huge pileup took down both jammers. Both were quick to return to their feet, but unfortunately Ramb0 Samb0 had left her jammer star on the floor. With no way to designate who was jamming for the Nashville team, the refs were forced to award her only 1 point while Wicked One scored 8. Jam 15 was but a formality with only 40 seconds left on the game clock and Nashville’s jammer in the penalty box for her 4th minor. The flip-flop game ended in favor of the Dixie Derby Girls of Huntsville, 108 to 103, and for the first time of the night the Huntsville fans cheered louder than the Nashville fans.

Master Bates - NRG stats geek.
Photos by the Brian Murphree.

Announcing the First WFTDA League in Tennessee

The Nashville Rollergirls are proud to announce they have been accepted into the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the national organization that fosters flat track derby all across North America. NRG is the 55th member league and the 1st league in Tennessee to be accepted for membership. Being a WFTDA league will allow us to be ranked nationally, compete in regional and national tournaments, and be a part of the growing derby network that is spreading across the world. Thanks to the Dixie Derby Girls, Atlanta Rollergirls, and the Windy City Rollers for their help in recommending us for membership. For more information on the WFTDA, go to www.wftda.com.

The Goon, The Bad, And The Derby Recap

March went out like a lioness at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena. Saturday, March 29th your Nashville Rollergirls played host to Birmingham’s Tragic City Rollers for, The Goon, the Bad, and the Derby. Even the allure of March Madness Elite Eight games and the pouring rain could not keep derby fans from filling the arena. For the 2nd bout in a row, the Nashville Rollergirls hosted a sellout capacity crowd that was treated to a match-up that went right down to the barbed wire.

DJ Fat Andy began by whipping the crowd into a cheering frenzy as Dr. Gonzo announced the team line-ups. The biggest ovation was for Nashville’s own queen of the shutout, Hildabeast. Of the 12 jams that Hildabeast skated, she helped her team shutout TCR while helping her own jammer score 16 unanswered points. Would it be enough? The first jam of the night featured Tragic City’s Schnott Nose Kid, the hero in TCR’s last bout, jamming against Music City’s star jammer from their last outing, Slammylou Harris. The tone of the bout was set early on with some very hard hitting by TCR, allowing Schnotty to capture lead jammer. It was the last time TCR would earn lead jammer in the first period. Slammylou, behind the blocking of Hildabeast and Four Leaf Roller, was able to skate to lead jammer twice in the first period. Ramb0 Samb0 picked up lead jammer in the last scoring jam of the period along with some great blocking from returning all-star, Fully Addomatic. The story of the first period was full-length jams. Of the eleven jams only four saw either jammer earning lead status. Highlighted with a nine-point jam by TCR’s Acute Pain, period one ended with TCR holding a 33-25 lead.

No matter the score, the Music City Jeerleaders, Rhinestone Ruckus, are always ready to entertain… and throw down if need be. The first intermission was fantastic, with a show that paid homage to “Say Anything” followed by a dance-off straight out of the 80’s.

The second period brought more of the same. Music City was able to capture lead jammer six times to only two lead jams by TCR. In a strategic move by Music City coach Papa Squat, Maulin Monroe was moved from blocker to jammer for most of the period. Music City jammers Slammylou and Molotov M. Pale had both picked up three minor penalties and Maulin was called up to prevent Music City from skating without a jammer had either skater picked up her fourth penalty. It was a bold move highlighting Maulin’s debut on the Sports Arena track, and one that kept Slammy and Molotov away from the jammer line for the entire second period. The hitting was getting harder as Ivy Push-Her, E$$$, and Bootsy Brawlins blocked and Olive Turmoyl pivoted for the Nashville jammers. The tide seemed to turn when Ramb0, Four Leaf Roller, and Lady Fury were able to catch lead jammer in four of the last six jams of the second period. In spite of Nashville’s efforts, the second period ended with TCR holding their biggest lead of the bout, 61-50.

The third period started off “with a bullet” from Music City, as Molotov M. Pale blocked for Slammylou Harris in a four point shutout jam for Nashville. The second jam of the period continued the hard hitting by Music City with MegZilla racking up a momentum-slowing hit and a knockdown on the TCR jammer while also scoring two offensive blocks and a whip for Molotov M. Pale! In the third jam of the third period, in spite of surrendering lead status to Acute Pain, Ramb0 Samb0, behind the teamwork blocking of Slugs Bunny and Bootsy Brawlins, was able to keep pace in an 8-8 jam. Music City caught a break in the next jam when TCR’s Schnott Nose Kid was hit with her fourth minor of the bout and was sent to the penalty box. Slammylou took full advantage and earned eight unanswered points, giving Music City their first lead of the period at 73-74, and only their second of the bout, with 9:17 left in the game.

TCR was able to control the next few jams taking lead in four out of the next five and building a 2 point lead while running the clock down to under two minutes.

All hell broke loose in the 31st jam of the bout! Slammy was able to take lead jammer with the intent of making up points and calling the jam quickly. As she got to the pack she caught a huge hit and was sent flying off the track in turn three. While in the air Slammy called off the jam giving Music City three points. The question was, how many points had TCR’s jammer, Acute Pain, scored? The clock was stopped for an official’s timeout and for a conference. Acute Pain was screaming she had scored three points, Dixie Thrash had been sent off the track with her third major penalty, Music City’s Smith N. Wesson was at the center of the track making sure that Music City’s interests were protected, and the crowd had never been louder. In fact, the next day Head Ref, Weird Al Spankabitch would say, “I've been to NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and IRL events in multiple cities and I have never heard a louder, more fired-up audience anywhere than the one I heard in the third period last night.” After the official’s conference ended, it was determined that Acute Pain had scored three points as well, leaving only 33 seconds for Music City to make up the 87-85 point difference. There was simply not enough time for Ramb0 Samb0 to catch the pack, and Music City lost another heartbreaker in the last seconds of the bout.

The Bishop - NRG stats geek.
Photos by the Hungry Photographer.

The Goon, The Bad, And The Derby

Come see your very own roller derby queens, the Nashville Rollergirls, take on the Tragic City Rollers of Birmingham on March 29^th at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena. In NRG's second bout against B'ham you can expect to see the fiercest of the fierce, the loudest of the loud, and the strongest of the strong go head to head as Nashville tries to settle the score after losing to TCR by a score of 92 to 115 in their last meeting on Birmingham's home turf. Both teams have been eagerly anticipating this second go around, and this time it's on our turf, so get ready Nashville, blood will be spilled and mayhem will surely ensue!

Come see if Slammylou Harris, Nashville's highest scoring jammer this season with 35 of the 77 points scored against the Knoxville Rollergirls in last month's Mardi Brawl, can help the ladies of NRG shut down the Schnott Nose Kid, Birmingham's highest scoring jammer this season with 58 of their 115 points against the Dixie Derby Girls of Huntsville in TCR's first bout of the 2008 season. Watch as Olive Turmoyl, and Slammylou Harris, two of the three former Tragic City Rollers that defected to the Nashville Rollergirls, take on their former teammates in this derby grudge match. Don't miss Maulin' Monroe's debut, and Fully Addomatic's return as the Nashville Rollergirl All-Stars show how much pain Music City's ONLY Roller Derby brings!

The Goon, the Bad, and the Derby is brought to you by The Goon, a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. Half-time entertainment will be provided by Rhinestone Ruckus and DJ Fat Andy. A portion of proceeds will benefit CASA of Nashville. Come on out and show your support for your Nashville Rollergirls! Tickets are on sale now. Doors open at 6pm, game starts at 7.

Mardi Brawl Recap

Saturday, February 16th wasn’t your run-of-the-mill weekend day in the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena. There was derby to be played and an action-packed bout in the making. The Hard Knox Rollergirls of Knoxville came to Nashville to take on our very own Music City Rhythm and Bruisers in the “Mardi Brawl,” and both teams brought their A-game to what would prove to be their closest scoring match-up yet. In their two previous meetings, Knoxville took the “Capital Punishment” bout in May of last year 111 to 81 and Nashville won at the “Honky Tonk Stomp” in July by a margin of 78 to 76. Neither team wanted to concede their second loss.

After DJ Fat Andy warmed up the sold-out crowd of 1,300 with his mash-ups of some of the Rhythm and Bruisers’ favorite tunes, the Rhinestone Ruckus showed off their jeerleading skills, and Halfbrass led the Arena in their rendition of the National Anthem, things got under way. Unfortunately Nashville was plagued by penalties right off the bat when an overzealous Molotov M. Pale succeeded in calling off the first jam at a minute and 24 seconds without having won lead jammer status. As we would see, an unbalanced amount of penalties would cost Nashville dearly in the jams to come. Penalties notwithstanding, Nashville did a superb job of controlling the pack with some skilled blocking by newcomers MegZilla and LeAnn Crimes and returning old favorites Lady Fury, Bootsy Brawlins, and Slugs Bunny. Once the Nashville jammers settled down they were able to take command of the score. Ms. M. Pale, Ramb0Samb0, and Slammylou Harris managed to earn lead jammer five of the ten jams in the first period with Goblynn and the other Knoxville jammers only earning lead twice; but Slammylou proved that being lead jammer wasn’t necessary to score points as she out-jammed Trace of Death twelve to four in a leadless fifth jam. Nashville racked up a commanding 44 to 14 lead over the Rollergirls of Knoxville by the end of the first period.

The second period proved disastrous for the ladies of NRG as the huge amount of minor penalties called by the referees against Nashville in the first period started to add up and kept at least one Nashville skater in the penalty box for the majority of the period. With fewer blockers to pass, the Knoxville jammers Goblynn and Drop Dead Gorgeous were able to earn lead jammer five times out of the ten jams and pretty much monopolize the second period with only one appearance each by Knox Villain and Trace of Death at the jammer line. Meanwhile Nashville added Olive Turmoyl, Lady Fury, and Four Leaf Roller to their jammer line-up and six jammers managed to squeak out three lead jams between stints in the penalty box. It was apparent that the overabundance of penalties on the Nashville roster in the second period cost them dearly as Knoxville’s Goblynn scored seven and ten unanswered points in jams six and nine respectively, Drop Dead Gorgeous scored nine unanswered points against Slammylou Harris in the second jam of the period, and Knox Villain scored five unanswered points in her only jammer appearance of period two in the eighth jam. Knoxville scored 44 and Nashville only scored 8 points to bring the totals to Nashville 52, Knoxville 58 at the end of two periods of play.

At the beginning of the third period it was apparent that Nashville had some work to do if they wanted to pull this one out, as Knoxville wasn’t gonna give an inch. Nashville jammers Slammylou Harris, Ramb0Samb0, Molotov M. Pale, and Lady Fury scored crucial points in this period to tie the score with Knoxville by the tenth of eleven jams. After a scoreless first jam, Slammylou earned some vengeance as she scored nine unanswered points in the second while Bootsy Brawlins, E-$$$, Lady Fury, and Ivy Push-her held Knoxville newcomer jammer Drop Dead Gorgeous in the pack long enough for Ms. Harris to earn lead jammer and call the jam at a minute and 20 seconds, bringing the score to Nashville 61, Knoxville 58. Knoxville’s Goblynn earned lead in the third jam and scored three points, but didn’t call the jam until Nashville’s Ramb0Samb0 scored four points to up the Nashville lead from three points to four. In the fifth, Slammylou Harris once again outscored Knoxville five to two in a leadless jam against Drop Dead Gorgeous bringing the score to Knoxville 68, Nashville 73. Knoxville answered in the next two jams while Nashville once again returned to the penalty box, with Goblynn scoring four points and Drop Dead Gorgeous scoring five points, bringing the score at the end of seven jams to Knoxville 77, Nashville 73.  No more points would be scored until the tenth jam of the period when Nashville’s own Lady Fury, in her first bout since recovering from an injured knee, scored four unanswered points and called the jam at 44 seconds preventing Drop Dead Gorgeous from scoring, tying the score at 77, and bringing the crowd to its feet for the final jam. With less than a minute left on the clock, Nashville was forced to skate the final jam down one player due to more time in the penalty box; and despite blockers E-$$$, Ivy Push-her, and Olive Turmoyl’s best efforts, Goblynn scored the final bout-winning point in the final seconds of the jam, bringing the final score to Knoxville 78, Nashville 77.

Masterbates - NRG stats geek.

Nashville Rollergirls 2008 Calendar

Rollergirls modelling for Dr. Sketchy's

The Nashville RollerGirls will be the featured models for the Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School on February 9th, 2008 from 3pm-6pm at The 5 Spot in East Nashville. Visit Dr. Sketchy's myspace page to pre-register and sign up to sketch your favorite rollergirl. There will be contest prizes to include NRG merchandise and bout tickets. This will be a benefit with a portion of the proceeds going to a United Way charity so please come out and support local art and NRG!

Big Thanks

Thanks for making the Tennessee Conference a success!! A BIG HUGE THANKS to Memphis and Knoxville for making the trip.