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3/27/2011 Gainesville Roller Rebels vs. Tampa Bay Bruise Crew

Prior to the Sunday evening bout, teams warm up physically and mentally as they prepare once again to ride their skates into battle. Tonight the Gainesville Roller Rebels host the Tampa Bay Bruise Crew who can be heard screaming “AAAAaaahhh! Bruise Crew!!” just before taking to the track. It’s shaping up to be a tough match just as our esteemed announcer Glypher ominously (or not) makes the mistake of introducing the Tampa Bay Roller Rebels, much to the home team’s chagrin. But hey, everyone makes mistakes, on to the bout!

Adding to the seemingly inauspicious beginnings, GRR’s star jammer Suzie Bonebreaker (#13) was sent to the penalty box in the first jam for cutting the track, leaving Tampa Bay’s Stella Knockout (#620) to score 15 points at leisure. Tampa Bay’s versatile Leia Flat (#80D) holds Patsy Clothesline (#63) to no points bringing their lead over Gainesville 20 to 11. It would be up to Suzie Bonebreaker to come back strong and tie the score at twenty. Then in a crucial, hard-fought jam, GRR’s Krispy Kreme-Her (#10) takes the team to a 1 point lead while Tampa Bay loses two skaters to the penalty box. The score would never be close again.

At the midpoint of the first half, Gainesville leads 54 to 28 with Patsy Clothesline and Suzie Bonebreaker scoring at will. Using an ineffective slow-pack technique to try to capitalize on skaters in the penalty box, Tampa seemed to lose their grip. Gainesville however, with effective and organized blocking and almost effortless scoring, continues to widen the score gap going up 96 to 36 by halftime.

On a side note, my raffle ticket – 409980 was not a winner. We do actually find out who the winner is somewhere in the first few jams of the second half, but all I know is that it was not mine. Now back to the action! A few confusing and chaotic jams lead off the second half, with GRR’s Suzie Bonebreaker and Tampa Bay’s Klymaxxx (#140) scoring points for their respective teams. In what would become the first of two big jams for Gainesville’s Roll It Up (#420), she explodes from the penalty box to score 15 points while Trip McNeely (#92%) struggles in Tampa Bay’s doldrums.

Tampa Bay’s Stella Knockout and Triple Check Tilly (#300.3) rally in back-to-back jams but are unable to overcome the 75 to 144 deficit. With just 10 minutes remaining and a thankfully minor injury to Leia Flat, a Tampa Bay Derby Darlin’ in the penalty box brings up another Gainesville Roller Rebel power jam. But as Tampa continues to employ the ill-fated slow-pack tactic, Roll It Up breezes through the pack, scoring an incredible 22 points, inexorably sealing Gainesville’s victory.

As the waning moments skate by, the crowd roars for a final score of 191 to 80. Though everyone played tough, the skaters elect their own MVPs. For the visiting team, Tampa Bay’s MVP blocker was Run Em Down Rhoda (#31), and jammer honors went to Stella Knockout. For the home team, GRR’s MVP blocker went to Sarah Jean Russell (#77) with MVP jammer going to Suzie Bonebreaker. Thanks for all your support Gainesville and thanks to the Tampa Bay Bruise Crew for a fantastic bout!