Photos courtesy of Phil Arnold.
The Texas Rollergirls’ Texecutioners reign as undefeated and unbeatable queens of national flat track roller derby is over.
Word from Austin, TX, is the reigning roller derby national champions Texas were beaten tonight by….
...THE TUCSON SADDLETRAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The epic bout is said to have gone into overtime tied at 59, with the Tramps edging out Texas in extra play, 62 to 60.
“It’s still sinking in,” Saddletramps’ blocker Hard Anya said via telephone from Austin, TX. “I’m still absorbing it.”
Until tonight, Texas’ Texecutioners had never been beaten. Ever. EV-AH.
“It means that we’re number one in the country,” Anya said.
It also means the Saddletramps made history tonight.
Though it was an exhibition bout and the true test is still to come at the 2007 Dust Devil national tournament in Tucson, it’s huge.
It means tomorrow in the derby community, word is going to spread across the nation, from California to Seattle to Minnesota to Florida to New York to Boston: the Tucson Saddletramps are the real deal and have unseated the “Godmothers of roller derby” in the city where modern derby began its revival.
If you’ll also remember, the Saddletramps were beaten by Texas’ Texecutioners in last year’s championship bout.
A huge congrats to the Saddletramps, Tucson Roller Derby and Tucson in general. I know this win is something each skater and coach had wanted for a long time, not to mention fans and family.
The skaters have been talking about this win all year at a fever pitch. It was like this insurmountable challenge each girl knew could be overcome.
That it happened out of town may be tough for Tucson fans, but then again it’s almost all the more dramatic it happened in Texas’ house, in front of Texas’ fans.
I hope there is film out there.
Amazing.
What more can be said?
Congratulations to the Saddletramps!
UPDATE: Austin-based derby fanatic Phil Arnold gives a full bout recap.
Click here or read it below!
“When two top-ranked teams get together in sports, often it becomes a defensive battle because the two teams are so evenly matched.
Such was the case Saturday night in Austin, Texas as the visiting Tucson Saddletramps pulled out an amazing 62-60 overtime victory against the top rated Texas Texecutioners.
The game was so close, that any play, any jam, any penalty had the potential of effecting the outcome of this game.
Texas started off opening up the first period with a 22-15 point lead. But Tucson came right back in the second period and tied the game up 38-38.
The game, and in particular the third period, was so brutal that
blood would stain the track and first one team’s defense and then
the other team’s defense would shut out their opponents; well after Rice Rocket and Sloppy Flo opened that period with the biggest scoring jams of the night with each scoring eight points.
In the rest of the period each team would score only 13 points. Tucson opened a five point lead after star jammer Sloppy Flo scored 4, which seemed like a huge lead early in the third period, but Lucille Brawl would come back with a six point jam and Texas would take a one point lead 53-52.
In a close game like this there has to be some controversy, or Roller Derby wouldn’t be a sport.
The Tucson jammer was in the penalty box, a great chance for Texas to expand its lead. Cat Tastrophe was jamming for Texas and got through the pack, but did not get lead jammer status.
That alone may have been controversial.
Then after Cat had broken free from the pack, Tucson started a skate-away from the Texas portion of the pack. Texas slowed down to try to control the pack as Cat was skating her way
around to try to pick up some points.
Finally the penalty was over for the Tucson jammer and she was able to work her way through the pack, and gained lead jammer status, when she immediately cut off the jam before Cat could score any points.
It was a crushing loss of opportunity for Texas, and you can just imagine the arguments and the discussions that ensued, allowing a chance for tired jammers to recover late in the game.
But Texas came back the next jam and scored four while shutting out Tucson, and Cat followed it up with 2-0 jam and Texas was out by what looked like an almost insurmountable 59-52 lead.
But Tucson was not done and would score seven points on the last 2 jams to tie it up.
It appears Flo scored those seven points, but somehow Fisti the Kid (possibly listed as Fisti Cuffs in the program) may have been in one of those jams, or Flo may have skated both of those jams
with a timeout giving her a break.
With the game 59-59 it was over time, and perhaps the rules were not clear in the skaters minds.
Although fans may have thought they heard an announcer say the first point scored was the winner with no lead jammer status.
But that was not the situation and it would make a difference.
From the jammer’s position it was Fisti the Kid matched up against Lucille Brawl.
Lucille broke out of the pack first with Fisti to follow. Lucille caught up with the pack, and scored the first point, but the game did not end.
Lucille got knocked down and tried to cut off the jam, but there was no lead jammer status allowing her to cut it off.
The jam would go the full two minutes, and Fisti took advantage by scoring three points to make the final score 62-60.
It seems like the last ten minutes of regulation was just bedlam,
almost mass confusion. The fans didn’t know what was going on part of the time, and it seems like both teams didn’t know what was going on at various times.
That just creates more drama, and seemingly there may be no atmosphere like this in any other sport.
Probably the MVP for Tucson for this game would be Deadlock Doe Holliday for superior blocking out of the pivot position, although Soppy Flo scored an amazing number of points.
Fisti the Kid, and Jezebelle (possibly Jezze James in the program) also had amazing games.
For Texas, Lucille Brawl scored 21 points unofficially, and did a
very good job at the pivot position. She would be a likely
candidate for her team’s MVP.
Cat Tastrophe also had a very good game scoring fourteen points and skating a solid game at the pivot position.
Throw in Rice Rocket for some kudos as she scored sixteen points unofficially and was extremely versatile on defense pivoting and blocking as well has her usual jamming duties.
It appears to some observers that the more physical team won this game, as Tucson was just brutal at times in their blocking.
But Texas’ quickness would compensate against this team particularly on defense as they scrambled all game long to shut down Tucson.
According to unofficial stats, the Texecutioners shutout Tucson for
13 jams, while Tucson shut out Texas for 12 jams out of a possible 32 jams.
While those are unofficial statistics, they should give readers an indication of not only how even this game was, but also how defensive this bout was.
This game was about as even as anyone can hope to see, and those in Austin got to experience one of the biggest high-ranking nail-biting games in the history of roller derby.”
Phil
UPDATE 2:
More pictures from the Greatest Bout Ever Told by clicking here!
— Sweet N. Lowdown 12/02/2006 10:39 PM #
TRD has always had a gigantic fearless heart, getting its ass handed to them over and over in the beginning, by AZRD then the Texas Rollergirls, but what didn’t kill them, made them a force to be reckoned with, and now, finally they can claim #1 status, officially or not, we know it’s true.
This has been 3 years in the making. To finally see it a reality is awesome. Truly great.
Amazing Tramps, great work!
Where’s the homecoming party?
xoxo,
Kim
— Kim Sin 12/02/2006 10:52 PM #
tucson derby love.
— mandi festo 12/02/2006 11:13 PM #
— Butta Fly 12/03/2006 01:06 AM #
You Guys ROCK! You Guys RULE! YOU ARE THE BEST!
Walter
— Doc 12/03/2006 05:34 AM #
That was THE best bout that I’ve ever seen. Close all the way. Tied 38-38 after the second period. 59-59 at the end of regulation. An electrifying two minute jam with no lead jammer for the overtime.
Amazing.
I LOVE this sport.
Hats off to the Saddletramps and a tip of the hat to Doe Holliday who was the MVP (IMHO).
—Clif
— cuddlefish 12/03/2006 07:44 AM #
You are the best!!! ... Til the Dust Devil.. When you have to show the hometown fans how you did it!!
— Bones 12/03/2006 08:25 AM #
”......But the real congratulations & gratitude need to go to the Texas Rollergirls for doing so much work to bring us all within reach of their level! I truly hope you see this as an accomplishment and not a loss. Such a gift you’ve given to so many women to try to meet your challenge. You’re always such encouraging mamas even though I’m sure you’ve been tempted to take so many over your knees and…oh wait, you have… Seeing this makes me explode with love for you. It’s as if we love you so much, we don’t want to disappoint you and we ALL want to live up to mom’s expectations & give you a run for your money!”
— Sweet N. Lowdown 12/03/2006 09:55 AM #
The Dust Devil in February is actually only the regional tournament, where we will meet Texas again to determine Western Region rankings and then we will meet them again next October at the National Championships, where the Tramps will bring home our first NATIONAL CHAMPS trophy!
A hearty thank you goes out to, of course, the Austin Texecutioners themselves. These girls have been wonderful mentors and sisters and we look forward to all of our continuing rivalries with them.
Again, thank you all so much.
— Randi Canyon 12/03/2006 11:05 AM #
Thank you for skating w/all your heart in it…
— Deborah 12/03/2006 12:58 PM #
Man, I wish. I hear that there weren’t any video cameras capturing the action. That’s a damned shame, as all reports suggest this was an epic bout, probably the most exciting bout to date.
As much as I hoped my beloved Rat City Rollergirls would take Texas down first, the Saddletramps clearly earned every inch of this victory—deservedly so. Nicely done. I can’t wait to see this team (both these teams, all these teams) in action in February!
— Hurt Reynolds 12/03/2006 02:52 PM #
You and me both Hurt.
Better go get your uniforms.
The multiple story lines heading into the Dust Devil are shaping up to make it nothing less than an epic saga for the books.
Think this is ridiculous, just wait until the national championship in Austin a year from now.
— Kevin 12/03/2006 03:11 PM #
So to those who had any question of how “deep” the TXRG go….just ask the Saddletramps. We may have lost 8 of our best skaters, and only had one month to train together, but we always have back up.
Until the Dust Devil…....
— Cat Tastrophe 12/04/2006 08:11 AM #
— West Nile Iris 12/04/2006 08:56 AM #
It was so great to see all of you and the game you played against my girls was truly a beautiful thing of violence!
From start to finish that was the greatest game ever played on the flat track and no doubt as every team across the nation gets better and better, there is sure to be more nail biter nights of mayhem for all of us to enjoy!
Enjoy your hard fought victory…you’ve earned it, but be it known, 90 days isn’t a very long time and the Texecutioners will be taking that shit back at Dust Devil and I’ll be there drunk with Kim Sin enjoying every second of it!!!!
Big love to the Saddletramps and the 2007 Texecutioners!
Eight Track
— Eight Track 12/04/2006 07:41 PM #
— Doc 12/04/2006 08:28 PM #
— deadlockdoe 12/09/2006 09:39 PM #
Sweet N. Lowdown
Dominion Derby Girls
Virginia Beach, VA
— Sweet N. Lowdown 12/10/2006 10:00 PM #
— Norman Richards 12/12/2006 09:53 PM #
— Kim Sin 12/15/2006 08:51 PM #