In their separate struggles Sunday night at the May bout for the Texas Rollergirls, two teams had something in common: The Hustlers needed to win, and the Hell Marys needed to not lose.
The Hustlers faced the visiting Green Country Rollergirls from Tulsa, Okla., and the reality is that any TXRG squad should be able to beat any unranked visiting team. But the Hustlers have had a bumpy season, and they needed a big margin and a better performance than they have managed so far this season to make this a real win. And as unranked visitors go, Green Country are a challenge, having already had five touring matches this season: even though they came in with only a 2-3 record, they’re used to adapting to fresh opposition.
Coming out of the first period, it was a win for the Hustlers, 68-41. It was a tough, scrappy pack, one that suited the aggressive style the new-look Hustlers are perfecting. But the 27-point margin didn’t yet feel like a dominating lead. Yet.
The new crash barriers took a beating as both green-and-back and purple-and-silver hit the floor, even taking out the penalty box twice. There were high points: Lady Stardust racked up points with effortless elegance, while Electra Blu carved up the pack with a grin. Green Country’s jammer powerhouses, Syko Path and Rosie the Wrecker, kept taking lead status and cutting into the home team’s advantage.
And then it happened. With 15 minutes left in the second period, Green Country was outclassed, out-skated, and locked out.
The cohesion that the Hustlers had lacked so far this season, that appeared in tempting flickers last bout against the Hotrod Honeys, suddenly materialized. For the last eight jams, they took lead jammer status every jam, scored every jam, shut Green Country out every jam. Das-It piled on the points, while co-captain Cheap Trixie blocked and dominated the pack. The 129-65 score on the board when the final jam ended seemed to be the beginning for the new Hustlers.
While the Hustlers are out of the championship picture for this season, there’s still a lot to be decided. The Honky Tonk Heartbreakers were running 1-0 on intraleague bouts: The Hell Marys, 0-1. If the Heartbreakers won the night’s match-up, then it looks like they’d be facing the 2-0 Honeys come the championship. If the Marys won, they’d still be in contention. The first period seemed neck-and-neck, with occasional explosive grand slams for both teams, but no one really capitalizing on lead jammer status.
Coming out of the break with a wafer-thin 3-point lead for the Marys, 25-28, former Bayou City Boss Flame & Rage made her home-field debut in the plaid skirt and sent a clear message that she is a talent to watch. Her big scoring moments helped break the defensive, jam-calling impasse that both teams were caught in, helping to deliver a 61-43 victory for the Marys.
So now the Hustlers face the Hell Marys on June 1: and, as their match-up for third place at the 2005 championship shows, never count out a Hustler until the wheels stop spinning.
This article appears in May 2 • 2008.
