Bout 9: Grand Prix Madonnas versus Pistolwhippers
Post-bout remarks from Captain Spanish Ass'assin and Co-captain Rocky Brawlboa of the Grand Prix Madonnas:
Detroit Area Dork: What are you thinking about the bout you just played?
Spanish Ass'assin: We're happy that we won, obviously, and went undefeated. We've got a lot of things that we've got to work on before we get to the championship bout.
Rocky Brawlboa: I totally agree. We have a lot of things we have to work on, but I think we're going to pull it together.
D: You didn't score anything in that first play. Were you worried at first?
S: We didn't come out as hard as we normally do. I don't know if people's heads just weren't in the game or what was going on. It definitely took some time to get in gear, and get our game going out. So I was a little nervous, I wasn't happy myself, as well as with how the whole team was playing together. We talked about it at halftime, pushed things around, and got going. Everyone was ready in the second half.
R: In our last bout we had really good momentum going. We had the lead the whole time, and this time they got the lead on us their first chance. It threw us off our game a little bit, but we brought it back at half time.
D: What do you think you got right tonight?
S: Well, I mean, we won, but...the thing that always keeps us together is our walls. I think our walls were not as tight and strong in the beginning, and we starting fixing that, and paying attention more, and trying to keep their jammers back, and giving our jammer a chance to get out. I think eventually we got our walls right. Our jammers were doing a phenomenal job. Those poor girls we getting the crap kicked out of them. They just kept going, and they were taking the hits. They have a tough job and they really pulled through for us.
R: Our walls were a little weak in the beginning. They threw a lot of jammers at us they I don't think we were expecting. We weren't expecting them to be as awesome as they were. A lot of Pistolwhippers' jammers were really well against us, and I don't think we were expecting that. Kudos to them. Uhura [Belle Death] was jamming, and it was like "Where did this come from?". There were a lot of things that threw us for a loop, but I think we brought it back together.
D: There didn't seem to be any controversies about offciating tonight. Do you think that the officiating was a little tighter?
S: I think that it's easy to blame things on the officials when you're out there and you're upset. No one really likes going to the box, but it is what it is. They're human beings, they make mistakes. They call as much as they can possibly call. A lot of times people get really mad, and they try to blame things on the officials. Then they go back and do footage review, then they realize "Oh, I really did do that, I really did make that penalty", and then they've kind of gotta choke down their ego a little bit, and understand that maybe they've just got to work on things, and get a little bit better. I think the guys did great tonight. They asked us at half time if there was anything that we weren't happy with, and we didn't really have anything to say to them. We were just glad that it seemed very consistent for both sides, and they were making calls. I didn't have any complaints.
R: You can never blame the officials for anything. Number one, they're are volunteers, who we need to play our game. Number two, like I said the last time, we're always evolving. We have a new ruleset this year. There were things that were called majors a few months ago that aren't majors any more. That doesn't bother me.
S: We're really happy with the officials.
R: You can never blame the officials. They know what they're doing. They do a great job all the time. There's some stuff that goes on that doesn't get called, and I think that might be like, "oh, just let them play". I get hit in the face, and nothing was called. I was a little angry about that, but it might not have been a penalty. I might have been in the wrong there. I wouldn't blame the officials for anything they do. I think they do their job, and I think it's a hell of a great job.
D: It's going to be GPM versus the Pistoffs for the championship bout again. How are you going to prepare for them?
S: We're going to do a lot of footage review. We're going to do footage review on them, and see what they've been doing well, and how they've been evolving through-out the year, and maybe things that they've changed up, and we're going to figure out how to counter that. We're also going to do footage review on us, and see what's not working well, maybe where some weaknesses are that we've got to work on. We're just going to come up with drills, and we're going to practice over, and over, and over again until we get it as perfect as we can before the championship bout comes around.
R: I totally agree. That's our game-plan. We're going to educate ourselves, then we're going to go and make a plan. Everyone on the team is on board, so we're going to do our best to win this championship.
Bout 10: Detroit Pistoffs versus Devil's Night Dames
Cookie Rumble, captain of the Detroit Pistoffs
Detroit Area Dork: What are your initial thoughts on that bout?Dr. Rocktopus, manager for the Devil's Night Dames:
Cookie Rumble: That bout was so much fun. From the intro, which we've been practicing with the Dames and keeping secret, all the way to the last jam. It was nothing but good times, hard work. Usually you get really stressed out and nervous before a bout, but because we've had a history of being kind of sister teams with the Dames, we've been around, been back and forth with the two teams pretty much for my whole career. I knew it was going to be a good time.
D: They were leading for a while in the first half. How do you think they got ahead of you?
C: Hard work, hard hits, playing smart. We kind of lost it. We were getting penalties, and rotating the box. They were keeping it pretty tight and locked down. They've definitely been practicing and it shows on the track. Their hits are hard, their walls are tought to get through.
D: Your team was leading for the whole second half, and you pulled far ahead. What changed in your game plan?
C: Voodoo. I shook a stick at them. At halftime we went downstairs and kind of took a deep breath and said "Hey, let's start playing our game. Enough with the penalties. Let's really kind of bring it back, do what the Pistoffs do, wall up, calm down, just keep hammering at them." I think that worked for us.
D: What worked right for the team, overall?
C: Staying together. Keeping our heads in the game instead of getting focused on one particular jam. If a jam didn't go well, not getting wrapped up in it. Leaving each jam as that jam, and moving forward. Not getting hooked on if we did something wrong in the previous jam.
D: The championship is going to be you versus GPM again. How do you prepare for them?
C: Drinking, and praying...and voodoo, don't forget the voodoo. No, I'm serious. Serious. Voodoo, drinking, praying. GPM has been busting their butts, and it shows. They are an awesome team. They work hard. They come to every practice. You can definitely tell that they're the team this year. They're the team to beat, kind of, since they've beaten everybody. So, yay!
Detroit Area Dork: So what are you thinking after the conclusion of that bout?
Dr. Rocktopus: I am really, really, really, really proud of everything the girls did. I thought that first half, they were really on fire. They were playing really well, with a lot of heart. They were playing as a team. The downfall, obviously, we got into a little penalty trouble. I think that's where people started to get a little flustered. Things get frazzled a little bit. Outside of that, I think they played an excellent game. There's a lot of positives. Three rookies came out, and they put it all out on the track, and I think they did really well. Mistress came out and nailed a power jam, nailed two grand slams. I think the team played really hard, and I think they played really well.
D: You were leading in the first half. You think the momentum change had something to do with penalties?
R: Oh, absolutely. When you've got four girls on the track and your jammer, you can do a lot more. When you're playing against jammers like Cookie Rumble, Kraken, Freakin' Rican, they're really agile, really quick. You need those four girls to really hold people like that down. That's where the Pistoffs are really good. They always capitalize on penalties.
D: Do you think the Pistoffs upped their game in the second half?
R: No, I think they played their style of game all the way through. They've always played really solid, and it always comes down to penalties. I think it's really hard to counteract when you have people in the box.
D: Your next bout is against D-Funk. How are you going to prepare for them?
R: We go back, we watch the film from tonight. Obviously we always stress and address playing clean. Really look for what people got called for on the penalties, and see if there's habits that people have, and just try to address those habits. I think if we can keep our four girls on the floor, and our jammer, we're a really strong team. As long as can keep that momentum up, the Dames are a really positive team, the most fun on the bench, and lighthearted. They're just a great group of girls. I think just having that, and keeping us out of the box, we're a strong team, and we'll just keep working on the basics.
All photos by Dan Bachorik
This written post by:
I'm a dork, I live in the Detroit area, and sometimes I take blurry photos on an outdated camera
