Blood Spill on the Hill has ended, and the final match saw Forest City taking on hosts RVRG to decide the title. This was an incredibly physical match that saw what looked like an evenly matched pair of teams going head to head, based on the dominance of both teams throughout the tournament. The outcome was far from matched, though, as Forest City took an early lead, and soon found themselves widening that gap as the Rideau Valley Vermin were having a hard time staying out of the box.
Actually, there were penalty issues on both sides, and it was a rare jam that started and finished 5 on 5. Forest City were able to benefit from a fair number of power jams that helped them run up the score, with their main jammers Killson and Slacker Smacker alternating for the entire first half, and probably 80% of the second. Andi Slamberg, who played a pivotal role in the jamming line up during their earlier matches spent most of her time in the pack, marshalling their defensive line which made it difficult for Rideau Valley's main jammers Death from Below and Crash Karma.
That's not to say there werent positives for RVRG. Semi Precious was an absolute monster in their defensive line. She had running battles with everyone that put on that star helmet cover, and sent them flying with solid, clean hits. She and Slacker Smacker seemed to have the fiercest rivalry, and most of their altercations ended up with Smacker picking herself off the side of the track, the pack having moved around the next turn. And both of RVRG's jammers battled for every point they earned, never once giving up on their team.
Its fair to say that the best match was saved for the final, and these girls wont be waiting long to lock horns once more. In fact, Forest City are sending both of their regular teams down next weekend for a double header against RVRG's Slaughter Daughters and the Riot Squad. There will be more on that as we get closer to the weekend.
There was a sour note to the game, however, as the Forest City captain Anya Face went down with an ankle injury (I think it was near the end of the 1st half). The injury looked serious, and her foot was immediately immobilized by the paramedics on hand before she was rushed to the hospital. Tts a shame that the only major incident in the entire tournament was in the final. Our thoughts go out to Anya for a swift recovery.
Before I run through all the scores from the 2nd day of the tournament, I want to take a second to hand out my awards from the weekend. These are purely my own thoughts, and mostly come from the final bout, as it is the one that is most fresh in my mind.
- Jammer MVP - This one goes out to Killson from Forest City Derby Girls, who wracked up huge points during the various power jams that she was part of. She was an incredibly battler, who would take hard hits, while travelling at full speed, and still manage to stay on her feet throughout. During some of the power jams, at times with only 2 blocker on the track for their opponents, her own pack mates would simply form a line on the outside of the track and let her through on her own, knowing that she was more than capable of dodging (or simply taking) the incoming hits.
- Blocker MVP - This was another easy choice, and goes out to Semi Precious from RVRG. She sometimes single handedly held the Vermin's back line, knocked the opposing jammer on her ass, and before you could blink, she'd be in the front of the pack helping her own jammer get through. Of course, this is very much a team oriented game, but often she would single handedly deny even an initial pass for the opposing jammer.
- Most Heart - This one was tough to chose, as there were so many ladies that gave their all. But in the end, it can only go to Slacker Smacker, also from Forest City, who (at times) was struggling to pick herself off the track floor after yet another massive hit from a blocker sent her flying, and tumbling. There were jams where she was looking gassed even as the jam whistle blew, but she never gave up and fought for every point she earned.
- Best Interviewee - Again, this was a hard call to make, but it definitely ended up being Burn'n Rub'Her from the Muddy River Rollers. It might not come through in the audio interviews themselves (coming up shortly in a mid-month special podcast dedicated to this tournament), but it was a joy to have a short coversation with her after every bout they were in. She was almost bubbling with excitement and happiness, regardless of how high or how low they scored, win or lose. It was hard not to be caught up in the excitement along with her.
- Best Name to Announce - This one was the easiest call to make. As an in-arena announcer for 8 of the 11 matches, there were a lot of names that I read out on the mic. There was one that I enjoyed saying most though, out of all the teams, and that was Brass Brawls, one of the jammers from the Royal City Rollergirls.
There was just something about how it sounded in the arena, and every time I said it, I would let my voice drop lower and lower, and draw out the Brawls for as long as I could. She suffered a shoulder injury partway through the second match, and was taken out of the jamming lineup, to avoid her getting a further injury. She would still skate in the pack as a blocker, but there wasn't a reason to risk her as a jammer, as they were fully in control of the bout.
Joking with her coach during the Saturday night after party, I begged him to let her jam again, just so I could say her name, and he did let her go during their 3rd place match against the Muddy River Rollers. She jammed for the first half of the first period, and I was happy.
With the awards out of the way, here are the final results of Day 2 at the CWRDA Eastern Championship:
Game 7:
- Hammer City Harlots 58
- Forest City Derby Girls 218
Game 8:
- Rideau Valley Vermin 163
- GTAR GStars 52
Game 9:
- Muddy River Rollers 73
- Royal City Rollergirls 116 - RCRG takes 5th place
Game 10:
- Hammer City Harlots 53
- GTAR GStars 128 - GTAR takes 3rd place
Game 11:
- Rideau Valley Vermin 90
- Forest City Derby Girls 166 - FCDG takes 1st place.
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