Here’s the report from the recent Blue Ridge Roller Girls bout. By Bill Rhodes:
Nearly 2400 (mostly dressed in blue, thank you) attended Sibling Rivalry, the second home bout for BRRG, and it was just that. This was a double header with the debut of this year’s BRRG “B” team, the French Broads vs the Southern Illinois Roller Girls (SIRG) from Carbondale, IL in the first bout, and the second featured BRRG vs Little City Roller Girls (LCRG) from up the interstate in Johnson City, TN.
Why sibling rivalry, you ask? Well SIRG was created when crowd-pleasing roller girl, Krush Groove moved to Carbondale from Asheville last year. Krush is a strong skater, and has trained her new team well. As one roller girl said to me “I had forgotten what beast she is,” after watching her warm up. To add to the sisterly confusion, LCRG has three skaters, Chick Norris, Rock Nasty and Noli Chuck’ya, who have worn the BRRG black and blue at various times.
And, as sisters do, the fights were down and dirty, the history recalled, and used, and yet they remain friends above all. How do they do that? I have no idea, I am a guy. But they do. I saw several instances of really big, dramatic hits… epic hits… and few minutes later, the girls were laughing and hugging. It is amazing drama, making Roller Derby so much fun to watch.
The opener was a loss for BRRG 131 to 122, a very close, hard-fought bout from start to finish. Chief Goober went out with a shoulder injury in the first half after a nasty fall on turn 1, later returning in splendor in a hospital gown to high-five fans, sign autographs for kids, and cheer on her team. There were several new faces which turned in solid performances, and will be skaters to watch in the future, such as AsheVillian, Wild Jill Hipblock, and Vixen Torch Her. Some of the French Broads were better known like Moong Chi, Two Beers and Skelly-Tor, all in all they made a great showing. The SIRG just outlasted them in the score.
As we moved into the second bout, it was clear the Asheville CivicCenter was prepared for the crowd this time. The lines to get in, and at the concession stands were much more reasonable. There was one notable exception–the sound system. When it worked, it worked fantastically, but it failed more often than one would expect. This is being looked into as you read this.
The Main event was a bright palette of action. The hits just kept coming and coming. As the bout went on, the depth of the BRRG team began to show, and LCRG could not keep up with the onslaught. Jams which had been 8-6 or 10-7 began to be 8-0 and 10-0 in favor of the hometown black-and-blue-bruisers. BRRG’s brutal team of Sugar Magmalya and Rigor Mortica were able to keep Rock Nasty at bay, and even the speed and power of LCRG’s Noli Chuck’ya was not as evident as BRRG’s Drag N SlayHer and Mazel Tov Cocktail scored more points in jam after jam. The final BRRG 173 LCRG 87. These two teams meet again on October 9th up in Gray, TN, that should be interesting as well.
All in all, the BRRG teams are looking strong, and looking foreword to seeing you at the bouts this summer. Next up, a very tough opponent, The Carolina Bootleggers from Raliegh, NC.