Georgia on My Mind

It was ATX versus ATL Sunday night at Playland Skate Center as Atlanta's Dirty South Derby Girls challenged Austin's own Texecutioners. "Is it always like this?" asked Council Member Laura Morrison, who had come with friends to watch the bout. The level of play? Yes. The scoreline? Not so much.

TXRG welcomes the Dirty South Derby Girls from Atlanta (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

The previous night, Atlanta had pushed Houston's HaRd Knocks harder than might have been expected. The Georgia team, currently #5 in the Women's Flat Track Derby Association south central region rankings, got within 26 points of their #2 opponents in the 101-127 battle.

Did they face an uphill battle in taking on the Texecutioners? Undoubtedly. But from jam 1, it was clear that Texas wasn't going to have it all their own way. Bloody Mary may have chalked up 14 points and two grand slams in short order, but the Atlanta pack was controlled mayhem. Aggressive, hard-hitting, and not afraid to take a fall. From the comfy seats in turn two, it was hard to remember the last time that Texas faced anyone that prepared to hit, hit, hit and hit again.

But it didn't last. The aggression was ramped down as Atlanta dug in for the duration. While Texas took an early and comfortable 22-1 lead by the fourth jam, the Georgia squad slowed them down, and began to re-balance the score, creeping up to 29-5 by jam 8. Holding Texas to a three-jam dry streak was a good sign, but then Olivia Shootin' John scored a triple grand slam, and they never seemed to regain their impact.

As the blocking became less effective, the Atlanta jammers seemed on the verge of coming into their own. Thunder Enlightnin' and Merchant of Menace both impressed, with Merchant staying neck-and-neck through the pack with Rice Rocket (no mean feat). But five-year veteran Demi Gore was a revelation, fast and accurate. So it seemed, well, odd that Atlanta decided to stop their jammers from really jamming. In the second period, they seemed to become additional blockers, deliberately hanging back in the pack rather than push on for points. Jammer-on-jammer blocking is one thing (and Atlanta never seemed afraid of that) but it seemed like they gave up on competing for lead jammer status.

ATX meets ATL (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

Meanwhile, Austin was prepared to turn this into an exhibition. Where Atlanta's pack skated tough, Texas skated tough and smart. Crackerjack, skating for the first time for an Austin crowd in the black-and-red (and borrowing her sister Lucille Brawl's helmet), proved why she placed on the travel team in her first season here. Shank and Belle Starr grinned their way through the bout, while Bullet Tooth Tracy was as unstoppable as ever and Rice used her speed to move back-and-forth through the pack to wherever she was needed. While Atlanta's jammers stalled, every skater on the Texas five-jammer rotation could fly through for multiple grand slams. Bloody Mary shook off her early-season blues to become a devastating force again, but the entire roster seemed ready for nationals already, closing out the evening with a dominating 224-26 victory and a lot of hugs all around.