It was Heaven vs. Hell in this highly anticipated match-up between the Holy Rollers and the Hellcats.  The Holy Rollers were returning from an undefeated season to defend their Calvello Cup championship; the Hellcats had just won over the Rhinestone Cowgirls big-time.  The heavily Holy-Roller-favoring crowd at the Austin Convention Center was treated to a very competitive bout between these two teams.
The match got off to a sluggish start as both teams worked to find their rhythm.  Both teams jammed several different skaters.  The Hellcats jammers included Dixie Sanchez, Knottie Knoxville, Curly Suicide, and Purr Anna; the Holy Rollers sent Smarty Pants, Sacralicious, Cathy Lix, Hispanic Panic, and Helena Handbasket to the line.  After a few penalities, Dixie Sanchez’s loss of a wheel, Smarty Pants flying head-over-skates over the rail (and getting up to finish the jam in true Smarty fashion), the score at the end of the first quarter was Holy Rollers 13, Hellcats 10.
The score went back and forth in the second quarter after several low-scoring jams.  A major penalty sent Smarty Pants to the penalty box, and Horrorshow was subbed in as jammer.  Knottie Knoxville was able to capitalize on this and pick up 3 points to put the Hellcats ahead 18 to 16.  A full jam by Smarty Pants put the Holy Rollers back on top 19-18.  The defensive battles continued–often, the Holy Roller jammer would hold back and play defense if they were unable to get through the pack.  The halftime score was tied at 22.
The Holly Rollers came out strong in the third quarter.  Sacralicious scored two big jams to begin building a lead for her team.  The scoreless jams continued into the 3rd quarter with several frustrated Hellcat jammers skating their hearts out chasing down the pack only to come up short on time.  After some taunting by some extremely vocal Holy Roller fans, Johnny Stranger made a really impressive leap over the rail into the crowd. (Being a smart manager, he avoided an actual fight.)  By the end of the third quarter, the Holy Rollers were up 40 to 30 over the Hellcats.
The 4th quarter continued in the same vein–all of the Holy Roller jammers consistently put up a few points here, a couple points there, to build on their lead.  Their outstanding defense kept the Hellcats in check.  The final score:  Holy Rollers 47, Hellcats 34.

 Highlights:

•  Smarty Pants continued to be an all-around dominant force; when not jamming, she often skated as a pivot and blocked the Hellcat jammers to great effect.
• The Holy Roller defense, especially Punky Bruiser, Axle Rosie, and Helena Handbasket deserve a lot credit for the success of their team in this bout.
• Rookies from both teams are showing great improvement in their second game.  Hispanic Panic, Cathy Lix, Anita Confess (Holy Rollers) and Miso Vicious, Risky Rebellion, and Sindra Dee (Hellcats) all showed a lot of growth and improvement.
• Penalty Fun:  Purr Anna took an impressive pillow fight over Helena Handbasket.  Knottie Knoxville tagged in for Ruby Sioux and took an arm wrestle over Horrorshow.  Ruby Sioux destroyed Axle Rosie in what may be the most definitively won tug of war I’ve ever seen.  The penalty shocker of the night:  Sacralicious defeated Knottie Knoxville in an arm wrestle!!
• Mad props to Purr Anna for staying on Smarty Pants’ heels in multiple jams, coming out on top in several of them.
• Lots of incredibly hard blocking action in the bout–Axle Rosie, Glitterati, Knottie Knoxville, and Punky Bruiser all laid out blocks that made me wince.

Next bout is April 13 when las Putas del Fuego take on the Rhinestone Cowgirls, both teams looking for their first victory of the season.  See you there!
Lady A

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Bout Re-Cap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.