August 04, 2017

Bronx Nabs First Win since 2014; Queens Sends Message to Brooklyn in Coney

August 04, 2017/ Carnage Electra

By Thomas Gerbasi

It was fitting that the Gotham Girls Roller Derby league’s annual visit to Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island on July 15 was next to Luna Park, because both games epitomized the rollercoaster ride that has been the 2017 home team season. It’s been a campaign that has seen a defending champion go winless, two juggernauts battling for the title, and an underdog finally breaking back into the win column.

And we haven’t even reached the postseason yet.

In the opening bout of the doubleheader, the Queens of Pain continued to roll, as they handed the Brooklyn Bombshells their first loss of the year, 167-118. The top two teams in the league will meet again at John Jay College in NYC on August 26 to determine who wins the GGRD Golden Skate trophy.

But it was the closing game of the evening that made the most noise, as the Bronx Gridlock won their first bout since May 2014, defeating the defending champion Manhattan Mayhem 138-119. These two squads will also meet again, this time in the league’s third-place game on August 5 at John Jay.

This win for the Gridlock comes after years of frustration in which injuries, team turnover, and plain ol’ bad luck has kept them from getting back into the win column. This is a team that even had to borrow skaters from the opposing team for one bout in order to make up a complete roster. But in spite of all this, the Gridlock kept showing up to practice, kept showing up on game night and kept giving a supreme effort.

On July 15, they were underdogs again, and things didn’t get off to a great start as Manhattan earned an early 25-9 lead. As is their custom, the Gridlock kept it close, but at halftime, they were facing a 20-point deficit and the reality that the dynamic defensive duo of Violet Knockout and Roxy Dallas were going to do anything in their power to keep the cabbies from scoring.

The Gridlock were undeterred, and with their defense taking advantage of the absence of veteran Mayhem jammer Em Dash, Bronx’ own scoring machine, Kate Sera Sera, kicked things into high gear, with a 19-point jam to start the second period cutting the lead to 1. Five jams later, the Bronx took the lead, 93-90, and while Manhattan would briefly get the advantage once more, the Gridlock, led by Kate’s game-high 91 points, regained the advantage and never looked back, making it clear that this Saturday’s rematch is going to be one to watch.

In the opener, Queens reminded the league and its fans that if there is a favorite to win the Golden Skate this season, they wear black. Dominant all year, Queens made it 18-0 before Brooklyn even got on the board, and by halftime, it was a 95-41 lead for the team looking to secure its first GGRD title since 2013.

Brooklyn did make their run in the second half, but without GGRD All-Star V-Diva on the track, Miss Tea Maven was an all-night target for the Queens blockers, allowing Suzy Hotrod, Puss ‘N Glutes and their veteran squad to finish up the regular season with a win and an unbeaten record. Now all they have to do is repeat that win in a few weeks, a task easier said than done.

BROOKLYN vs. QUEENS STATS

1 2 F

Brooklyn41 7 7 118

Queens95 72 1 67

Brooklyn MVP – BlueJ

Queens MVP – Low Maim

Leading Brooklyn Scorers

Miss Tea Maven 63 points (28 jams)

Bellatricks 26 points (5 jams)

BlueJ 26 points (6 jams)

Leading Brooklyn Blockers

Lady Fingers 30 jams (-58)

D.A.R.Y.L. 29 jams (-37)

Papierschnitt 27 jams (-3)

Leading Queens Scorers

Suzy Hotrod 67 points (15 jams)

Low Maim 40 points (13 jams)

ShortStop 40 points (15 jams)

Leading QueensBlockers

Puss ‘n Glutes 33 jams (+26)

Pinky Swears 26 jams (+29)

Livvie Smalls 26 jams (-3)

Brooklyn Penalties

Minutes in Box: 23 Jammer Box Trips: 6

Queens Penalties

Minutes in Box: 46 Jammer Box Trips: 6

###

MANHATTANvs. BRONX STATS

1 2 F

Manhattan76 43 119

Bronx56 82138

Manhattan MVP – Veronica Ache

Bronx MVP – Kate Sera Sera

Leading Manhattan Scorers

Kid Vicious 47 points (11 jams)

J Rod 42 points (14 jams)

Lumiknoxity 29 points (10 jams)

Leading Manhattan Blockers

Roxy Dallas 25 jams (-1)

Violet Knockout 23 jams (-32)

Spork Chop 19 jams (-12)

Leading Bronx Scorers

Kate Sera Sera 91 points (17 jams)

Big Banger 19 points (10 jams)

Heronymus Boss 11 points (3 jams)

Leading Bronx Blockers

Caf Fiend 22 jams (-15)

Fast and Luce 20 jams (+11)

Cherry Napalm 19 jams (+17)

Manhattan Penalties

Minutes in Box: 33 Jammer Box Trips: 9

Bronx Penalties

Minutes in Box: 30 Jammer Box Trips: 10

Stats compiled via Rinxter

July 14, 2017

For Pride or Glory - Gotham Home Teams Visit Coney Island with Different Goals

July 14, 2017/ Carnage Electra

By Thomas Gerbasi

With the Gotham Girls Roller Derby league’s regular home game season coming to an end at Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island on Saturday, it’s not a time to figure out who will be playing for the Golden Skate championship trophy on August 26 or who will battle it out for third place on August 5.

Instead, those two post-season games will get regular season previews in the league’s annual visit to the boardwalk, and if anyone thinks that any of the four teams will mail it in or try to conserve themselves for the playoffs, they obviously haven’t been following this league.

And that’s the beauty of derby. There’s no resting of an all-star for the next big game or taking the foot off the gas to conserve energy or avoid injury. Every game is played like the seventh game of the World Series, and as soon as the Queens of Pain and Brooklyn Bombshells take the track for the opener, expect to see the kind of war these two teams always come prepared to wage.

With both Queens and Brooklyn unbeaten, and Manhattan and the Bronx winless in 2017, even a loss won’t keep Queens and Brooklyn from the championship game. But an undefeated record is important to every member of both squads, and maybe even more important to Queens, who suffered a crushing 179-152 defeat to the Bombshells that kept them from chasing their first league title since 2013. And given that they’ve been in the hunt for years, it’s clear that the ladies in black feel that this is their time to strike.

The last time Brooklyn hoisted a championship banner was in 2015 and they were perilously close to a repeat last year. Some wondered if they would make it back to the title game after a huge turnover of players, but when those newbies are players like V-Diva, Donna Matrix, Sweets McBacon, Girl Friday and Bellatricks, that makes the transition much easier, and they’ve been firing on all cylinders since.

So will it be the new look Bombshells or the reliable Queens of Pain? Round one is Saturday. But don’t think the opener is the main event, as Manhattan and the Bronx are gutsy battlers with the talent and determination to be in next month’s championship game. But in a three-game home season, one bad night, one bad trip to the penalty box or one key injury can be the difference between winning and losing. In short, the Mayhem and Gridlock are a lot better than the 0-2 records they share, and derby fans will see that on Saturday.

As far as the stakes involved for the teams who will play for third place next month, Manhattan has a lot of pride on the line as they look to salvage the season after their championship-winning one. So expect all-star blockers Violet Knockout and Roxy Dallas to deliver the hurt on jammers trying to break loose. But the Gridlock have been chasing a victory since their last one in May 2014, and if they can pull it off against the defending champs, expect Abe Stark Arena to erupt.

In short, don’t let the records fool you. All four Gotham teams have plenty to play for this weekend.

Tickets for Saturday available here.

July 13, 2017

Brooklyn Deliver KO Blow to Mayhem’s Repeat Hopes

July 13, 2017/ Carnage Electra

By Thomas Gerbasi

The tradition of knockdown, drag ‘em out bouts between the Brooklyn Bombshells and Manhattan Mayhem continued at John Jay College in NYC on June 10. And while Brooklyn’s victory wasn’t decided at the final jam like so many of the bouts in Gotham’s greatest rivalry, everyone who competed in the Bombshells’ 155-142 win knew they had been in a fight by the time the final whistle sounded.

That’s the way it ought to be when these two teams collide, and while last year’s meeting saw Manhattan emerge victorious and take the Golden Skate championship trophy, this year saw Brooklyn get a measure of revenge by sending the defending champs to their second consecutive defeat, dashing their hopes of a repeat.

But all’s fair in love and derby, and though Brooklyn took a little time to get warmed up, by the time BlueJ put up a 20-point effort in the sixth jam of the game, the Bombshells had a 22-13 lead, and they would never relinquish that advantage.

Of course, it’s not as simple as that, as Manhattan stayed close throughout, with veterans J Rod and Em Dash combining for 91 points as Violet Knockout led a defensive effort that held scoring machine Miss Tea Maven to “just” 48 points.

Stepping up for the Bombshells jammers was all-star V-Diva, who delivered a game high 65 points in just seven jams. And while Manhattan was almost always within striking range for much of the bout, a 29-point burst from V-Diva early in the second half put Brooklyn up 104-64, and they never looked back as they kept their unbeaten 2017 record intact.

MANHATTAN vs. BROOKLYN STATS

1 2 F

Manhattan 64 78 142

Brooklyn 71 84 155

Manhattan MVP – Em Dash

Brooklyn MVP – Papierschnitt

Leading Manhattan Scorers

J Rod – 49 points (10 jams)

Em Dash – 42 points (11 jams)

Kid Vicious – 30 points (9 jams)

Leading Manhattan Blockers

Violet Knockout – 24 jams (43)

Roxy Dallas – 24 jams (-17)

Bonita Apple Bomb – 22 jams (2)

Spork Chop – 22 jams (-12)

Leading Brooklyn Scorers

Vanessa V-Diva Sites – 65 points (7 jams)

Miss Tea Maven – 48 points (20 jams)

BlueJ – 41 points (5 jams)

Leading Brooklyn Blockers

Papierschnitt – 22 jams (-25)

D.A.R.Y.L. – 20 jams (32)

Lady Fingers – 16 jams (-18)

Manhattan Penalties

Minutes in Box: 42 Jammer Box Trips: 9

Brooklyn Penalties

Minutes in Box: 38 Jammer Box Trips: 2

Stats compiled via Rinxter

June 09, 2017

Opposites Attack as Manhattan and Brooklyn Renew Rivalry on Saturday

June 09, 2017/ Carnage Electra

By Thomas Gerbasi

It’s the broken record of all broken records in roller derby. If you’re going to watch one Gotham Girls Roller Derby game all year, it’s this Saturday’s bout between the defending champion Manhattan Mayhem and the Brooklyn Bombshells at John Jay College in NYC. To the uninitiated, that’s mere hyperbole. To those who have seen this rivalry play out, it’s an understatement. But as we do every year, a look at the numbers tell the tale.

2013 – Brooklyn 178, Manhattan 171

2014 – Manhattan 170, Brooklyn 169

2015 – Brooklyn 153, Manhattan 148

2016 – Brooklyn 161, Manhattan 158

2016 – Manhattan 149, Brooklyn 146

Five games decided by a combined 19 points. For you mathematicians at home, that’s an average of 3.8 points. In derby, that’s unheard of. In fact, if one game ends with one team up by 19 points, that’s considered a nail biter. So while the ladies of Manhattan and Brooklyn are friends off the track and league mates through and through, when the whistle blows, it’s always Ali vs. Frazier on skates.

“There’s a reason why we didn’t pass on a Memorial Day practice,” laughs Chugs Brewkowski of Manhattan. And after losing their opening bout to Queens in March, there’s even more on the line if they want a chance to repeat as champions in August.

“It’s a pivotal game, and it’s a championship game to us in the sense that however it goes affects how the rest of our season goes,” Chugs said. “So there’s no loss of weight to it, especially because of who we’re going up against. It completely affects our season and, in a lot of ways, the rest of the games for the entire league.”

A win for Brooklyn, who defeated the Bronx Gridlock in their season opener, will put them in the driver’s seat for a return to the championship game, with their likely opponent being the unbeaten Queens squad. But there’s sixty minutes of derby to be played before that possibility can even be discussed.

“For me, personally, I don’t even look at the championship game as a championship game,” said Brooklyn’s Miss Tea Maven. “For me, a game is just a game. If you put any additional weight behind it, I feel like it’s just giving yourself and your team extra, undue stress. We all feel it, we all know it, there’s no reason to call more attention to it. But as always with Manhattan games, we always know it’s going to be really physical and extremely tough. We know that going in, but we’re always prepared to just play Brooklyn’s game.”

The Brooklyn way of derby didn’t truly make an appearance until the second half of the Bronx game, a testament to the difficulty of bringing in a host of new skaters to the roster. Sure, some of these skaters are well known competitors like Donna Matrix, V-Diva, Sweets McBacon and Bellatricks, but the sport has shown that putting a bunch of all-stars on a team doesn’t make them a team.

“It’s a different team,” Maven said. “They’re veteran roller derby players, but they’re not veteran Brooklyn players, so this season has been very focused on trying to get everyone on the same Brooklyn page. It’s been a lot of retraining habits and strategies to fit within Brooklyn’s strategy.”

By the second half against the Gridlock, though, it was Brooklyn again, as they skated to a 167-148 victory. Now they’ll look to put a dent in the championship aspirations of the team that killed theirs in the final bout of 2016. And Manhattan knows the Bombshells will be coming at them hard.

“The pressure is always at 110,” Chugs said. “And any loss hurts just as much as a loss that keeps you in or out of it (the championship). We came into the season as returning champs and as a team that went through some big losses and retirees and a variety of injuries, but it’s a whole new season. There was an insane amount of pressure in the first game, and there’s definitely even more now.”

With the stakes higher than ever, the intensity should ramp up even more, and with so many GGRD All-Stars on the track and a packed house expected, the skaters are hoping it was Saturday night already.

“One thing that I’ve experienced a lot is how much the fans affect the experience and why it feels so epic every time, every game,” Chugs said. “There’s always something about the boroughs, the teams and the fans that we both have that makes every moment full of oohs and aahs. The sound in the arena is overwhelming from the minute the game starts.”

And is there anything like that sound?

“It’s phenomenal and empowering and devastating, all at the same time,” Chugs laughs. “It adds so much intensity to every feeling that you have about the game and what’s on the line, and how proud you are of your teammates. Everything you feel, you feel ten times more because the crowd is adding to it. It’s deafening sometimes because it’s hard to focus in and remember that everything you’re doing on that track, you’re doing for your teammates. But it’s a nice bonus to have a whole arena that cares about it too.”

So it all comes down to the same question asked every year. What is it about Brooklyn and Manhattan that makes for such compelling and dramatic derby? Maven believes it’s because of a clash of cultures, with the Mayhem bringing the intensity and the Bombshells being more laid-back.

“We’re very calm throughout the entire game,” she said. “I find that Manhattan brings all of their passion into the game, which sometimes brings them up to the next level and sometimes that passion leads to more penalties. Brooklyn is steady the entire game, and that can mean victory at the end or we come out just a little bit short.”

Fire and Ice, then? Or maybe we can call this one “Opposites Attack.”

Tickets for Saturday available here.

June 08, 2017

Spirit of 2013 - Queens Beats the Bronx, Stays Unbeaten

June 08, 2017/ Carnage Electra

By Thomas Gerbasi

If one word can describe the home season of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby League over the past several years, it’s “parity.” Among Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, that the old sports cliché “on any given night” rings true.

But at John Jay College in Manhattan on May 6, the Queens of Pain were doing their best to shatter that notion of parity and “any given night” as they scored a 232-108 victory over the Bronx Gridlock that moved them to 2-0 in 2017 and one step closer to August’s championship game.

In the process, their 124-point margin of victory was the first three-figure spread in the league since Queens defeated Manhattan 262-171 in June 2013. That year was also the last time Queens hoisted the Golden Skate championship trophy, and they’re clearly aiming for that coveted trinket once more this year, if the win over the Bronx was any indication.

Trading points back and forth in the early going, Queens took an early lead, but the Bronx was staying within striking range. In the 16th jam, however, the Gridlock’s Kate Sera Sera was hit with a Gross Misconduct penalty and ejected from the bout for colliding with a referee.

At the moment of the ejection, Queens led 81-46, but by halftime, that lead ballooned to 126-60.

With one of their top scorers out of the game, Bronx’ Big Banger and Legs // Cite did their best to keep the points coming for the cabbies. But with veterans Suzy Hotrod and ShortStop stepping on the gas on the jammer line for Queens as their defense clamped down, it became a hill too high to climb for the Gridlock, who dropped to 0-2 on the season.

QUEENS vs. BRONX STATS

1 2 F

Queens 126 106 232

Bronx 60 48 108

Queens MVP – Suzy Hotrod

Bronx MVP – Lucky Scars

Leading Queens Scorers

ShortStop 79 points (15 jams)

Suzy Hotrod 72 points (13 jams)

Beauty Andie Beast 61 points (11 jams)

Leading Queens Blockers

Livvie Smalls 22 jams (+67)

Puss ‘n Glutes 21 jams (+32)

Chopstick Murphy 18 jams (+86)

Leading Bronx Scorers

Big Banger 49 points (14 jams)

Kate Sera Sera 29 points (7 jams)

Legs // Cite 20 points (17 jams)

Leading Bronx Blockers

Cherry Napalm 24 jams (-55)

Rude McSlamahan 22 jams (-100)

Fast and Luce 21 jams (-44)

Queens Penalties

Minutes in Box: 24 Jammer Box Trips: 4

Bronx Penalties

Minutes in Box: 37 Jammer Box Trips: 8

###

League News

League News

Bronx Nabs First Win since 2014; Queens Sends Message to Brooklyn in Coney

For Pride or Glory - Gotham Home Teams Visit Coney Island with Different Goals

Brooklyn Deliver KO Blow to Mayhem’s Repeat Hopes

Opposites Attack as Manhattan and Brooklyn Renew Rivalry on Saturday

Spirit of 2013 - Queens Beats the Bronx, Stays Unbeaten

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