As the Switchblade Sisters and Cigar CIty Mafia took out their aggressions on the track (here and here), it was also discovered that Girls Just Wanna Have… was hosting another derby chick bout! The Tampa Bay Derby Darlins aim to please, of course, since junior derby is practically the only thing derby girls love more than PBR[link], blood, mayhem, and Sparks (the drink, not the band)[link].
Now, in case you missed the Derby Chicks' first bout, junior derby is roller derby shrunken down to its pre- through post-pubescent form; just without all the hitting. The key to understanding the modified defenses is that positional blocking is allowed, but intentional blockbusting is verboten.
Tonight, going along with the bout's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun title, the two derby chicks teams adopted 80s nostalgia themes. With each tie-in relating to that teams' colors, we had the Pretty in Pinks battling the Black to the Futures. (This color tie-in also explains how such names such as "the Breakfast Clubs" could be overlooked.)
Team name changes aside, the teams themselves were still balanced, with the lead changing almost as much as it did in their grown-up counterparts' match. Black to the Future's defense would ultimately hold though, as it did during their first bout, so that in the end they proved victorious (30-34).
Black to the Future's victory was not easy though, as the score testifies, as Pretty in Pink came out looking to win. Apolo Ana wasting no time setting the pace by scoring the match's first grand slam during the first jam (5-0).
Black to the Future responded with a series of successful jams. First, jammer Hot Wheels made quick work of Pretty in Pink's defense. Showing skills beyond her years, Hot Wheels cut through a Sugar N Spice/Pink E wall; nearly tying things up in just two short minutes (5-4).
Next came Speedometer, who brought Black to the Future into the lead, by scoring their first grand slam. Perhaps it's this dedication to both duty as well as the peripheral achievements that makes Speedometer easily one of the crowd's favorite skaters (5-9).
Here the bout's innate equality became apparent, as both teams traded jams of varying success until their halftime within a halftime. Wildkat and Pink E going point-for-point, Rage… uh, raging, and Pink E returning to the front to take on an impressively vicious Taryn-aSauerus-Wrex (15-17).
If the first half seemed jammer-centric, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Junior Edition's second half focused on the defense. Proving just how pivotal (pun intended!) positional blocking is to success on the track, Meatetarian and Rage shut out Em & M while their team pulled farther into the lead (15-22).
Pretty in Pink's Sugar N Spice next showed her mettle as a jammer, overcoming a strong Katastrophee presence to boost her team (22-24). This push was followed by Apolo Ana, who tied the scores up before falling victim to a track cutting call (24-24).
Impressively, this penalty would be one of the few penalties of the night; proof that it's possible to skate both hard and clean. The only other major penalty coming during the next jam, as Apolo Ana was sprung from the sin bin early when Future's jamming A Tilly da Hun hit a Em & M, Brazilian Beatdown, Pink E wall head-on, and earning a back-block.
Setting up the final jam perfectly; which was fittingly also dominated by blockers. Black to the Future's Meatetarian, Rage, and Katastrophee kept the Pretty in Pinks on lockdown, while Brazilian Beatdown and Goldie Blocks tried their hardest to contain Hot Wheels. Wheels would not be denied though, forcing her way through and scoring just enough to secure the lead and the match (30-34).
At the top of their game(s) tonight, the best blocker awards went to Pretty in Pink's Sugar N Spice and Black to the Future's Rage, while Em & M and A Tilly da Hun (Pink and Black respectively) were awarded top jammers.
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