ZO. M. G.!
Firstly, Lehigh Valley is like, an hour and a half's drive. I was offered a ride, and I took it, and well, I was under the impression that it'd be just two gals in the car, but instead it was gal, gal's husband, gal's serbian friend who is great but who gets on my nerves, and oh yeah, boy who I dated for all of a week and then just kind of stopped talking to. Crowded car, not my choice of car-neighbors... awkward.
But we made it, and the B team bout was to start at 6pm. The travel team, bless their flaky hearts, abandoned us, and we hadn't elected a captain, so we were somewhat at loose ends. Punchy and I agreed we needed to be a team, so we all took to the track for a group warmup, and did a few little drills. Most importantly, imho, we skated a few laps as a pack, making sure we could touch three girls all the way around (this is how you make sure everyone's close enough together to constitute a pack.) I think that initial five minutes of talking to each other, skating together and connecting really helped us out.
Then the first jam started, and we skated ok. The Lehigh B team wasn't much better than us, but we fell behind pretty quickly. Then Lulu took a bad fall and got a concussion and got taken to the hospital. After that we pulled ourselves together and started really skating as a team - building walls, not letting their jammer through, getting our jammer through. I was particularly proud to skate while Hurrican Al skated her very first time as jammer (in her very first bout) and got through the pack twice, AND got lead jammer.
So we were trailing by 7 points, and then new awesome jammer Lixxie Stix jammed and we were leading by 3 points. Then in the very last jam, Lehigh Valley jammer Helen Darrink scored 6 points, and they won the game. I can't lie, it stung a little. We were so close! Overall it was awesome tho'.
However, that was just the first bout. After a 15 minute break we got ready for the GSR Travel Team vs. the Lehigh Valley Hissy Fits. Jenna V.F. jammed first, and well, she just wasn't giving it her all. Then her leg buckled and it became clear she wasn't going to be skating for the rest of the bout. This was a huge blow. We all rely on J.V.F. a lot, maybe too much, simply because the girl scores mad points. So that was bad.
The other problem was, we were not skating as a team. We were skating like individual skaters - there were no walls, there was no talking. This was not good. It sucked because I really think that despite beating us by 70 points or so, LVRG really aren't that great. Their hitting was particularly weak - more than a few times, I'd get hit and the girl hitting me would be the one to fall down. It was weird because they looked like they could hit - they were mostly big and tall. (Size: sometimes it doesn't matter.) Also, they built a pretty good wall, but when we built a wall behind their wall, it totall worked. Also also, when we booty blocked, they wouldn't be able to slow down, so they'd end up back-blocking us and getting minors. So all in all, we shouldn't have done as poorly as we did. We all skated hard tho' - I'm always in awe of Lady Vengeance, and Leggs jammed a bunch, getting pretty beat up in the process, and of course Chelsea B. and Lixxie and everyone else were amazing. Steel Magnolia also engineered some amazing jammer take-downs.
Then Steel Magnolia got decked and possibly broke her arm - the skater responsible acted illegally was ejected from the game. I will say that the reffing was extremely fair, probably the most consistent reffing of any bout, home or away, that we've skated. Anyway, we were down a bunch of skaters, losing, and some of us were tired from having skated in the first bout.
I have to say though, I didn't care. I felt amazing. I finally felt like I not only knew where I needed to be in the pack, but could get there in time. My hitting is still pretty weak, but I changed lanes and booty blocked and a couple of times booty blocked the jammer, keeping her back. I was also able to assist the jammer once or twice by being between her and the opposing blockers.
I also did my fair share of being useless - falling behind, trying to hit the opposing jammer and failing, not communicating with the pack. And I took some nasty spills. It always seemed to happen at the same point on the track, and every time I fell the audience over there responded with an impressive 'OOOOOoooh!' So at least I know me falling is entertaining. It's a really good feeling to get up after a fall and keep on skating, too.
So, you know, it was a messy good time. We went to the hospital to check on Lulu, and she was doing better, and then we hit the road for home. Today I'm sore, tired, very hungry, and not sure how I'm going to make it to practice tonight... but I'm definitely going!
But we made it, and the B team bout was to start at 6pm. The travel team, bless their flaky hearts, abandoned us, and we hadn't elected a captain, so we were somewhat at loose ends. Punchy and I agreed we needed to be a team, so we all took to the track for a group warmup, and did a few little drills. Most importantly, imho, we skated a few laps as a pack, making sure we could touch three girls all the way around (this is how you make sure everyone's close enough together to constitute a pack.) I think that initial five minutes of talking to each other, skating together and connecting really helped us out.
Then the first jam started, and we skated ok. The Lehigh B team wasn't much better than us, but we fell behind pretty quickly. Then Lulu took a bad fall and got a concussion and got taken to the hospital. After that we pulled ourselves together and started really skating as a team - building walls, not letting their jammer through, getting our jammer through. I was particularly proud to skate while Hurrican Al skated her very first time as jammer (in her very first bout) and got through the pack twice, AND got lead jammer.
So we were trailing by 7 points, and then new awesome jammer Lixxie Stix jammed and we were leading by 3 points. Then in the very last jam, Lehigh Valley jammer Helen Darrink scored 6 points, and they won the game. I can't lie, it stung a little. We were so close! Overall it was awesome tho'.
However, that was just the first bout. After a 15 minute break we got ready for the GSR Travel Team vs. the Lehigh Valley Hissy Fits. Jenna V.F. jammed first, and well, she just wasn't giving it her all. Then her leg buckled and it became clear she wasn't going to be skating for the rest of the bout. This was a huge blow. We all rely on J.V.F. a lot, maybe too much, simply because the girl scores mad points. So that was bad.
The other problem was, we were not skating as a team. We were skating like individual skaters - there were no walls, there was no talking. This was not good. It sucked because I really think that despite beating us by 70 points or so, LVRG really aren't that great. Their hitting was particularly weak - more than a few times, I'd get hit and the girl hitting me would be the one to fall down. It was weird because they looked like they could hit - they were mostly big and tall. (Size: sometimes it doesn't matter.) Also, they built a pretty good wall, but when we built a wall behind their wall, it totall worked. Also also, when we booty blocked, they wouldn't be able to slow down, so they'd end up back-blocking us and getting minors. So all in all, we shouldn't have done as poorly as we did. We all skated hard tho' - I'm always in awe of Lady Vengeance, and Leggs jammed a bunch, getting pretty beat up in the process, and of course Chelsea B. and Lixxie and everyone else were amazing. Steel Magnolia also engineered some amazing jammer take-downs.
Then Steel Magnolia got decked and possibly broke her arm - the skater responsible acted illegally was ejected from the game. I will say that the reffing was extremely fair, probably the most consistent reffing of any bout, home or away, that we've skated. Anyway, we were down a bunch of skaters, losing, and some of us were tired from having skated in the first bout.
I have to say though, I didn't care. I felt amazing. I finally felt like I not only knew where I needed to be in the pack, but could get there in time. My hitting is still pretty weak, but I changed lanes and booty blocked and a couple of times booty blocked the jammer, keeping her back. I was also able to assist the jammer once or twice by being between her and the opposing blockers.
I also did my fair share of being useless - falling behind, trying to hit the opposing jammer and failing, not communicating with the pack. And I took some nasty spills. It always seemed to happen at the same point on the track, and every time I fell the audience over there responded with an impressive 'OOOOOoooh!' So at least I know me falling is entertaining. It's a really good feeling to get up after a fall and keep on skating, too.
So, you know, it was a messy good time. We went to the hospital to check on Lulu, and she was doing better, and then we hit the road for home. Today I'm sore, tired, very hungry, and not sure how I'm going to make it to practice tonight... but I'm definitely going!
posted by walkinhomefromthethriftstore at 11:27 AM
4 Comments:
Got decked as in, someone hauled off and popped her one? Because that would be both highly illegal and also way out of character for the usual style of roller-gurl vaaaahlince.
I'm not sure what happened, I just know it was illegal enough to get the instigator ejected. I think it was probably a back-block/tripping thing.
i love that your falling is entertaining. i don't know why. it's like, i'm so happy you're an accomplished and stylish faller.
This is teh awesome. You are so hardcore.
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