Season Opener
Bout recap by Phil Arnold

March 4, 2007

The Hell Marys and the Hotrod Honeys started off the season Sunday night trying to prove they would be the dominant teams of the Texas Rollergirls this year, and if the first games of the year are any indication, then each has a chance of carrying home the trophy at the end of the season. In the opening bout the Hell Marys beat the Hustlers 86-46, and in the final bout of the evening, the Hotrod Honeys slammed a young Honky Tonk Heartbreakers squad 106-39.

The Hustlers, a team with a lot of all-star quality veteran skaters, started off taking a 7-5 lead after the second jam. But a seven point jam by Buckshot Betsy followed by a 4 point jam by Sparkle Plenty would put the Hell Marys up 16 to 10, never to be caught. At the end of the first half, the ladies in red plaid would hold a strong 39-22 lead over the disco divas. One of the main trends was the Hell Marys throwing five shutout jams in the first half as they drew their lead out to 17 points.

That trend would continue in the second half for the Hell Marys as they shut out the team in purple for five more jams, having 10 shut-outs in 26 jams for the entire game. And the Hell Mary's offense would open up even a larger lead outscoring the Hustlers 47-24. Top scorers for the Hell Marys, who are looking to make a serious last-to-first run this year, were Buckshot Betsy with 36 points, Bloody Mary with 20 points, and Lady X with 13 points. Lady X did not look like a rookie as she did a very good job jamming, and pivoting for the Hells. High scorer for the Hustlers was Dinah-Mite with 21 points.

There was some question on how the three transfer players from the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers would skate with their new teammates. Perhaps because Buckshot, Sparkle Plenty, and Derringer have been skating on the Texecutioner interleague team with long time Hell Marys Bloody Mary and Muffin Tumble, there were no noticeable rough spots. In fact it looked like the three had been skating as Hell Marys for years. Derringer had 3 jammer takeouts for the Hell Marys and Sparkle Plenty added 4 effective blocks with Bloody Mary adding three effective blocks for the ladies in plaid. Slim Kickens led her team in blocking with two jammer takeouts, although there was plenty of hard hitting by many of the Hustlers like Curvette and The Crusher who also had several knockdown blocks.

In the second game of the bout, the Hotrod Honeys only had nine players because of injuries and illness. But with five of those skaters also being on the Texecutioner interleague team, the Honeys would blow out to an early 15-1 lead after four jams over the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers. They would not be threatened the rest of the night. The score at the end of the first period was 50-22, and the Hotrods would outscore the Heartbreakers in the second half 56-17.

One of the more amazing statistics of the night was the Honeys gaining lead jammer status 11 times out of 13 jams in the second half. Cat Tastrophe led the scoring parade for the Honeys with 38 points, followed by Rice Rocket’s 31 points. The Honky Tonks were led in scoring with Belle Star’s 11 points. Tinkerhell had an amazing four jammer take-outs in the game for the Honeys and Rice Rocket added two more jammer take-outs. Trouble of the Heartbreakers would score nine points on only three jams, but would also add some excellent blocking with a jammer take-out and long-contact backside blocking.

The two rookies skating for the Honeys were important skaters for the night since there were only nine skaters. Radio Active had an exciting jammer take-out almost into the crowd on the west end of the track and did a good job of keeping blockers off of her jammers. And Morphine was a little tiger as one time she seemingly latched onto an opposing jammer for two laps and kept her in the pack.

The Honky Tonk Heartbreakers also had some rookies that looked like they might be very good in the future. Mary Lou Threaten scored 9 points and Olivia Shootin’ John scored seven points.

As is usually the case at the opening bout for the Texas Rollergirls, the hitting was hard, and the skating was fast. But the most impressive item of the night was how sharp the skaters were, especially the all-stars just back from Tucson’s Dust Devil tournament for both the Hell Marys and Hotrod Honeys. And yes, the trash talking has already started between both teams after their dominating victories Sunday night. For Texas Rollergirls fans that will be a match to look forward to. But it will also be fun to watch the rookies develop and the teams get better as the season goes on. The next bout for Texas Rollergirls will be April 1st at Playland Skate Center.

Special Thanks to our Musical Guest:
Adrenaline Factor
DJ El Jefe spins thoughout the show