The D-Funk Allstars versus the Devil's Night Dames, in the Grudge Match for third place, May 4th, 2013
The bout started with D-Funk scoring 4, and calling off the jam before the Dames could score at all. They did this consecutively for the first 3 jams. The pattern was broken in the fourth jam, when Feta Sleaze of the Dames received the first jammer penalty, allowing Ally Sin Shoverland to capitalize on the power jam, and score 15. The Dames got another jammer penalty in the 6th, with Swift Justice being sent to the penalty box. Tinja scored another 20 points for D-Funk on this power jam, and put the score at 51-0.
The Dames didn't score until the 10th jam. Swift Justice scored 5 before calling off the jam, and preventing Meryl Slaugterburgh from adding any more for D-Funk.
Another big play from Ally in the 11th, scoring 14 points, but this time without the aid of a power jam. Ally didn't have to wait long for another power jam. Muffy Mafioso got sent to the box in the 13 jam, and Ally scored 24. Tinja scored 14 in the 14th jam before being sent to the penalty box. This was the first time that D-Funk had a jammer sent to the penalty box this bout. Most of Tinja's penalty time carried over into the 15th jam. Murder City Mistress was jamming for the Dames in this power jam, and scored 7, but the Dames still had a 19-118 deficit.
The last jam of the first half was confusing. Each team had 2 blockers in the penalty box at one point, but D-Funk's Roxanna Hardplace got the edge by gaining lead jammer status. Roxanna scored 12 points, but Swift Justice also scored 15 for the Dames. It was the first double-digit scoring drive of the bout for the Dames. Why didn't Roxanna use her lead jammer status to end the jam before she could be outscored? Whatever her thought process was, D-Funk was still far ahead at the end of the first half, 138-41.
The second half started out slow, with 9 points for D-Funk and 4 for the Dames over the first four jams. The Dames made the first big play of the second half. After Ally got sent to the box, Doom Shakalaka, in the Dames 2nd power jam of the bout, scored 15. The Dames would get four more power jams over the course of the second half, but wouldn't manage to score more than 5 in any of them. In one particular power jam, when Ghetto Barbie got sent to the box, the rest of the D-Funk skaters on the track were able to shut down the Dames' Murder City Mistress.
There weren't any explosives plays from either team in the second half after the 5th jam, until the very last jam of the bout. Cat's Meow scored 20 points for D-Funk, despite spending a little time in the penalty box before being sprung out early. The Dames' jammer, Sufferin' Sucka Bash, got sent there too. Two of the Dames' blockers were also in the penalty box, giving Cat fewer obstacle to navigate. Final Score, 194-108 for D-Funk.
Through-out the second half the Dames had been scoring a little more consistently, netting 67, compared to just 41 in the first. D-Funk's performance was far more lopsided, scoring only 56 in the second half. Despite outscoring D-Funk in the second half, the deficit after the first was just too much for them to overcome.
Also, in case you were wondering, the Detroit Derby Girls' travel team defeated Talahassee during the closed bout on May 10, 357-73.
From the D-Funk Allstars, Captain Fatal Femme, Co-captain Mad Hatcher, Manager Luigi O'Rolly, and Manager El Mattador:
Detroit Area Dork: What are your initial thoughts on that bout?
Fatal Femme: I'm really tired. That was a really hard game.
Mad Hatcher: She earned her status in that game. Fatal really played hard.
F: They brought it. They did awesome. A good way to end the season, two last games up. Now most of the girls will take the summer off and relax. Now they can relax in a good key.
El Matador: Our ladies brought a lot of intensity. They played hard, with a lot of heart, and the other team brought it, but it was a good win.
D: In the first half you scored 138 points, but only 56 in the second half. How do you explain that?
F: We did pull back a little bit in the second half.
M: We gave other players who don't often get a chance to pivot or jam an opportunity to do that, so that we can give experience all across the board. When we have a lead like that, we like to spread it out and give other people playing time that might otherwise not get as much time.
D: Do you think the Dames changed their style of play in the second half?
F: I think they did. It definitely seemed like they had more fire in the second half.
Luigi: Their offense off the line was working a lot more in the second half than in the first half.
M: They were doing some inside pick, they were doing some outside pick, they were really holding their spaces. That forced us to have to readjust a little bit.
El: They came back a little bit hungry in the second half.
D: You didn't seem to have too many jammer penalties in this game. Is that something you were working on? (Checking afterwards, I see 6 for D-Funk, and 4 for the Dames)
F: I felt like we had a lot of jammer penalties.
M: It wasn't bad. I remember going in the second half, Ally and Rox didn't have any penalties, and I felt really good about that, because I know it's something they both focused on. They were both more penalty having in the beginning of the year.
F: I think every team across the board is trying to stay away from the edges more, trying to push up the center, and not be taken to the outs where they can get cutting calls. I think that helped a little bit, staying more in the center of the track as a jammer. Besides that, I don't know. Magic?
D: How do you sum up this season for D-Funk?
Luigi: I'm really proud of everyone. Everyone did a great job. Everyone got better as the season went along. We started off with a change of rule-set so a lot of veterans had to relearn the new rules, and the new style of play. As the season went on and progressed everyone kind of got it. You can see in these last two games, it sort of all clicked.
El: Our don't think our goal really was to get to the championship. I think everyone is proud of how the season went.
M: Absolutely.
Luigi: We won more than we lost, which is always good.
D: Now that the season is over, what are you going to be looking for in the draft?
F: Big girls.
M: We have a lot of great, small, agile players, but we want to get a little mass and strength on our side.
Luigi: More variety.
F: They're solid, they can hold the wall. Literally, it's nice that we take up more space in the track if you're bigger. The way derby is now it's all about covering the track. Obviously, if there's a little spitfire jammer, we'll take her. We're not that picky.
El: From a coaching perspective, I want to see all my slim, lean players get a bigger upper body. Bigger arms, bigger shoulders, because we kind of kill it waist down. Just better cardio, more strength up top.
D: Do you have any info ahead of time about who is going to be retiring?
M: No, we usually learn that information over the course of the summer. I haven't heard anything from anyone yet, so we're just going to see what happens.
Dr. Rocktopus, Manager of the Devil's Night Dames:
Detroit Area Dork: What are your initial thoughts on that bout?Dr. Rocktopus: First half, a little sketchy with the penalties. I think that's what really set us back is that get some good power jams. You can't let that team have power jams. With jammers like Tinja and Rox, they can rack up points so fast. Second half was awesome. They really got together. I feel like there was a lot less penalty trouble. They just kept their walls solid. Their jammers initiated a lot more in the second half. It seemed like they got through a lot faster, and racked up the points.
D: What did you all talk about at halftime?R: We didn't really have a talk. We just kind of said, "the score is what it is, let's just have fun, let's have a fun game, and end this season on a fun note". Everyone just had fun on the bench, and they went out and played a killer second half.
D: Did you expect D-Funk to score so much so early in the game?R: You kind of always expect them to. I mean, they're a powerful team. They're deep from the top to the bottom of their bench. They're just stacked with a lot of amazing players. Seeing them score so much is not a surprise. You just have to do your best to combat it, and never give up on them.
D: How do you sum up this season for the Dames?R: I think we made a lot of positive moves in the right direction. I think we played a lot of really solid games. First half, we were strong all regular season. Put a lot of strong first halves out, kind of had trouble in the second half. I think that's where we're going back to look. The additions to the team are amazing. I think the more they practice together, and the more those girls play over the summer, it's going to build a stronger team. We've got a strong foundation right now, especially with the way that we try to give everybody a lot of playing time. It's just building a foundation, and that's what this season was. We got a good win against the Whippers, and I feel we played strong games throughout the rest of the season. I'm really pleased with how they played.
D: Do you know of any player retirements over the off-season?R: No one has said anything yet. I think everyone is just kind of soaking it all in. You never know what's going to happen over the course of the summer. People have real lives, where jobs change, lives change. No one's talked about it yet. Hopefully we can get everyone back, because I feel we have a really good foundation of a team right now.
D: What are you going to be looking for in the draft?R: You never know who is going to come into the draft. Sometimes you have an unreal transfer come in. They move to the area, and they want to play derby. Sometimes you see someone who just has a lot of natural talent. It's all at the last second. The girls watch them go through boot camp, and then they usually have a few scrimmages, and you just got to keep an eye on it. Sometimes it's not always about the best player, but the best fit for the team.
D: So there's not a particular talent of skill-set that you're going to aim for?R: Not necessarily. I think good fit is sometimes more important than talent. It's just looking for those personalities that work with us.
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I'm a dork, I live in the Detroit area, and sometimes I take blurry photos on an outdated camera