Las Tejanas vs Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, Hustlers vs Hotrod Honeys
Bout recap by Phil Arnold

April 1, 2007

If Roller Derby is a contact sport, then the fans in Austin had to be happy with a couple of games Sunday night where jammer takeouts and knockdowns by blockers seemed to be the rule rather than the exception. The Hotrod Honeys defeated the Hustlers, 62 to 37 in the feature event, and in the first bout of the night, the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers beat the Alamo City Las Tejanas 86-37.

The Honeys opened up a 22-19 lead at the end of the first half in what had to be one of the toughest defensive bouts seen at Skateland. It seemed like it was a night of knockdown after knockdown. First Curvette would take out somebody like Rice Rocket. Then Rebellika would take out Dinah Mite. Then Dinah Mite would take out her fellow jammer, and later a spectacular takeout of Rice Rocket on the last jam of the half. Rice Rocket would follow up with a takeout of Barbarella. I had Curvette listed for three jammer takeouts alone, which means she probably had several more than that. And Rebellika had three jammer takeouts including at least one of the powerful Dinah Mite.

In the first jam of the second half Lady Stardust would tie the game up at 22-22. In the next five jams the Hotrod Honeys would outscore the Hustlers 31-9, opening up a comfortable margin. Then the Hotrods would play defense shutting out the Hustlers for the next four jams after the run. By then it was just too much for the Hustlers to overcome.

Unofficially, the leading scorers for the Honeys were Cat Tastrophe with 23 points and Lucille Brawl with 16 points. Dinah Mite was the leading scorer for the Hustlers with an unofficial 17 points. I would say the MVP for the Honeys was Rebellika with her excellent job of blocking, after having missed the bout in March because of the flu. And for the Hustlers, Curvette was just amazing striking fear into the heart of opposing jammers, and knocking down other blockers just for grins. The Hotrod Honeys win puts them at 2-0 for the season, and practically guarantees them a spot in the championship game. The Hustlers may be the most dangerous 0-2 team in the history of the Texas Rollergirls. They proved they can play with anybody last night, and take a back seat to none when it comes to physical roller derby.

In the first bout of the card, The Tejanas traveling team from Alamo City would end up against what looked to be a juggernaut of a team in the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers. Trouble would set the tone of the game on the first jam scoring 9 points, and Mary Lou Threaten would throw in a 14 point jam midway through the first 30-minute half. Crazy Duke would end the first half run with a five point jam, and the Heartbreakers were out to a 59-16 lead at the break. The squad in blue from Austin gained lead jammer status 11 out of 15 jams in the first half to help blow out to the big lead.

But the Tejanas from Alamo City came out determined in the second half, and tightened their defense up. The team in green would actually take lead jammer 8 times in the second half to the Heartbreakers 7 times. Ruby Wring would take lead jammer four of six times in the second half. In roller derby it is interesting how much easier it is to play defense when your team has lead jammer status. The Heartbreakers would outscore the Tejanas 27-21 in the second half, but there was definitely a change in the way this game was played.

Mary Lou Threaten and Olivia Shootin' John each unofficially scored 25 points for the Honky Tonks with Trouble adding 14 points. Miss Treater would unofficially score 13 points to lead in point production for the Tejanas, only jamming in the second half. Although one of the smallest skaters on the track, Miss Treater was one of the best blockers getting a knockdown and several effective blocks during the course of the game. Osa Pelagrosa would get several jammer takeouts, two in one jam. Twin sisters Ruby Wring and Fender Bender also add jammer takeouts for their team.

As might be expected veteran blockers Sic Shooter, Jen Entonic, and Bettie Rage skated a tough physical games and kept the Alamo City blockers and jammers under control for most of the game. Although the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers have nine rookies on their team this year, they skated like a veteran team. Perhaps most interesting about this team is how the veteran blockers ended up blending with the two rookie jammers who were the high point scorers for the game.

The next bout for the Texas Rollergirls will be on May 6th when the Hotrod Honeys will host the Houston Roller Derby HaRD Knocks traveling team, and the Hell Marys will take on the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers.

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