Still smarting over their two losses at the East Coast Extravaganza (here and here), the Tampa Tantrums travelled to Alabama for Rocket City Rumble II looking for vindication and... Dallas. In roller derby, as in all sports, never underestimate how large a role revenge can play as a motivator. But first they'd have to go through tournament hostesses Dixie Derby Girls. A task Tampa wasted no time accomplishing, handily winning the bout (187-41).
Hitting Dixie with everything they had early on (i.e. jammers Little A, Sixgun Susie, and Rojo Grande), the Tantrums quickly staked out a considerable lead (18-0). Even after hitting a rough patch, and Tampa losing the majority of its blockers, Dixie still couldn't pull ahead (19-2). Setting the stage for one of the biggest routes Tampa's had a skate in all year.
The Tantrums' roster, learning from their loss to Dallas at Franky Panky, was now skating clean, and capitalizing off of Dixie's miskates. Dixie, on the other hand, was struggling to keep their jammers out of the box, a situation that is readily apparent from looking at the scores. This penal discrepancy allowing Tampa's all-star blockers (Leia Flat, Bettie Kruger, Anita Bopabitch) to do what they do best; deliver devastating blows and run the pack. The Tantrums would dominate so completely that Cakeface Killa's aforementioned two point jam would be all Dixie would score in thirty minutes (99-2)!
Dixie was still unable to control its penalties in the second half, though they did get a handle on the jammer penalties. Letting jammers such as Wicked One bring in small offerings of points as the Tantrums began experiencing penalty problems. Also losing a number of its blockers throughout the half, though, with Tampa's jammers still on the track scoring, their absence was negligible. The Tantrums only ceding a couple extra points every time a blocker (or two) fouled out.
These penalties, along with the ubiquitous half-time strategy change, accounting for Dixie's improved scoring in the second half. Despite their considerable improvement between the halves, it just wasn't enough, ending with the Tampa Tantrums over the Dixie Derby Girls (187-41).
With one win to their names, the Tampa Tantrums prepared for the rematch to end all rematches, Dallas!
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