September 10, 2011 | Chicago, Ill.
The Twin City Travelers, TCDG’s all-star team, made the trek this past weekend to take on the Chicago Outfit at the Windy City Fieldhouse.
This bout marked the first time TCDG, as an apprentice league of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) competed against a full WFTDA team in their home state. The Outfit’s WFTDA Chartered Team, The Syndicate, was recently ranked #20 in Derby News Networks power rankings and earned a spot to play in the North Central Regional Playoffs, being held next month in Indianapolis.
Twin City, in green, went up against the black-clad Shade Brigade, the Outfit’s B-team in the undercard match-up. TCDG started off strong, racking up a 21–0 lead in the first three jams with impressive performances from star jammers Houchebag and Oh No Bobo. The Brigade struck back, with a 17–4 run over the next six jams, including a 14-point effort by Brigade jammer The Joan Ranger.
Not to be outdone, Oh No Bobo logged eight points of her own and Houchebag added another point to bring the score to 38–22 halfway through the first period.
With a strong defensive walls and points from Brigade jammers Ranger, Graves, and Valerie of the Dolls, the ladies in black were able to hold TCDG scoreless for five jams and brought the score within eight points, the closest of the bout.
Valerie of the Dolls was sent to the box, which allowed Bobo to take advantage of the power jam situation to rack up 10 points for TCDG. Houchebag followed with 10 points of her own to bring the score to 58–30 in TCDG’s favor. The Joan Ranger responded with nine points for the Brigade, but it wasn’t enough as TCDG went on a 12–4 run, including four points by Therafist, to end the half with a 79–44 lead.
The beginning of the second half saw Houchebag and Bobo putting up eight and ten points respectively, while the Brigade remained scoreless. Valerie of the Dolls put up the first points for the Brigade in the second half, but they were no match for Oh No Bobo and Delta Badhand, who put up four and five points respectively.
The next six minutes were a testament to the strength of TCDG’s defensive as blockers Heidi Slice, Amber Alert, Tommy Knocker, Terror Misu, Tyra Shanks, Kimbuktu, and others were able to hold the Brigade to just five points as jammers Delta, Therafist, Bobo,and Houchebag put up 24 points for the ladies in green.
In the last half of the second period, a few non-traditional jammers took to the line. Towanda Steel and Fitch Base, in their final bout for Twin City, both donned the star, as did Candy Molish’r and Anthrobrawlogist, who scored five and four points respectively to secure the win as TCDG triumphed over the Shade Brigage 138–71.
This marked the third win against full WFTDA opponents for the Travelers A-Team, who finished their season with a 6–4 overall record. The B-team, who did not play Saturday night, went 3–0 for the season.
The Vice Quads, TCDG’s Rookie Team, will hit the road October 8 for their final bout of the year against Dark River Derby Coalition of Quincy, Illinois.
All photos by Moosie. Used with permission.
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Disclaimer: Cari Rich is PR/Community Outreach Chair for Twin City Derby Girls. She also skates with The ‘Paign and the Twin City Travelers B team, but did not participate in Saturday’s match.
Smile Politely is happy to announce that we have a new writer who will be regularly covering the Twin City Derby Girls’ bouts next season.