Scene Report: MIR Vs. Sioux City- The Garden of Derby Delights Part One

DES MOINES -- The first two matches my friend Noel and I attended were slaughters, for lack of a better word. Yet I never consider a derby experience a waste. In fact our first two bouts have given us keener eyes to what is going on on the track since we could pay attention to pack dynamics, pivots and jammer moves rather than get swept up in the drama of a close game.

You might even say that the first two bouts prepared us for what happened on Saturday, when MIR successfully remained undefeated against the Sioux City Roller Dames....but not by much. With the previous two bouts giving us insight, we could now take in a close match and gain a fuller appreciation of what was going on.

Taking a fuller appreciation of things was easy to do on a day like Saturday. Nice sunshine. Low humidity. My good friend Noel. Derby. Traveling to my hometown. 

As many of you know, the Mid Iowa Rollers are the matriarchs of the Iowa Roller Derby Scene. They began their journey in 2006, and have left a very impressive wake behind them, with a scene that is approaching 10 teams.

But this might be their best year so far. They are undefeated on the season and, like other Derby teams in recent weeks, have begun to get more local media attention, not just in the features pages, but in the sports section of the nightly news, as witnessed in their coverage by WHO-TV last week when the station gave the result of their bout against Mahaska.

Sioux City is a team to be watched very closely. It was my understanding going into this bout that they had just picked up their first win of the year the week before (but I might be mistaken). This wouldn't be such a big deal if the team was anyone other than regional powerhouse #12 Omaha Rollergirls AAA. Combine that with this Saturday night performance and you are looking at team that is congealing very well, earlier setbacks be damned.

Saturday night was the fullest revelation of everything that Derby can be that I have seen in person so far. Like other sports, Roller Derby now has the capability to produce heroines in pressure situations. In particular, I am thinking of jammers cTAL faTAL and Mizz Lolli Pop Ya of the Mid Iowa Rollers and Krystallica and Funsize of Sioux City Roller Dames.

These jammers engaged in a titanic battle throughout the evening both with the opposition members of the pack and with each other. While there were many other athletes from both teams who served as Jammers, but these four stick out in my mind. It seemed like whatever their teams asked them to do, they did, or almost died trying.

Funsize, from the early stages of the match, was a revelation. Was she the fastest jammer I have ever seen? No. She wasn't even the fastest person in the oval on Saturday night. Yet that does not matter. Oh, don't get me wrong, she was quick, but the secret of her success in derby is her sheer courage and determination combined with agile reflexes. Although I do not know her exact height, Funsize used her appearance to her advantage. The mere sight of a short girl with no apparent muscle mass wearing the jammer star on her helmet closing in on the pack can whet the appetite of a blocker, visions of a crowd pleasing hit dancing in their heads. This vision occurred to more than one MIR blocker as the almost telegraphed said fantasy hit. Seemingly at the last minute Funsize would dart out of the way, leaving more than one MIR blocker on the floor. Not only was she a threat on the jamming side, Funsize's blocking abilities are choice, featuring an excellent sense of timing and an astounding whoomp to her hits. Perhaps the most dangerous women in flat track roller derby are the ones who are not of advanced height and look like they possess little to no athletic ability. I think Stella Italiana of the Des Moines Derby Dames, Gladi8her of Old Capital City and, yes, Funsize.

For MIR there was cTAL faTAL. She was the picture of absolute confidence during her jams. It wasn't arrogance, mind you. She just gave the impression that if her team called her to do something she could do it. It was a scene played out over an over throughout the night. cTAL on the jammer line. Ref blows whistle. She takes off like a rocket from the crypt. She reaches the pack. Bobbing. Weaving. Searching. Resisting hits. Fighting. Moving. She breaks through.Then she starts to skate like she's in a trance once she breaks free. Don't get me wrong, she still flying. But her aura becomes that of a machine. Stride. Stride. Stride. Corner. Freeze. Right arm extended slightly upward. The skates don't seem to move as she rounds the corner. Stride. Stride. Stride. She reaches the back of the pack. Back to full throttle. No concern for personal safety. Bob. Weave. Duck. Get hit. Hit back. Go. Go. Go. Through. Four points. She calls off the jam. Then it seems she lets her hair out in an excitable burst of emotion when the jam is done. Anger when it doesn't go right. Joy when it does.

And nothing too much.

Mizz Lolli Pop Ya was just as efficient. It seemed her style of skating was more rough hewn than cTAL faTAL, but there is obviously nothing wrong with this. Comparing jammer styles is pretty useless unless you are talking about who is getting through the pack and racking up the points and who isn't. It looked like Mizz Lolli Pop Ya was the fullback to cTAL faTAL's halfback if we dare use a football analogy. Lolli seems to prefer to head into the heart of the pack to grab her points. If this approach works, and it certainly was more successful than not most of the bout, it serves a dual purpose of scoring points and grinding the opposition blocks and wearing them down over the course of a match. To use another sports analogy, this one more appropriate given Lolli's background in basketball, her style of jamming is similar to that of a baller heading in to the paint for a layup.

The game was neck and neck for most of the first half with a few lead changes. But two major events happened toward the end of the period. Funsize, who was relatively unchecked by MIR defense for most of the half, began to get shut down. Heading this effort were MIR's Eastside and Pleasant Hill PunishHer in particular, who all but shut the door on Funsize by concentrating on closing off all possible routes she could take and making short, concentrated, yet walloping bumps and blocks rather than selling out for the big hit.

With this problem seemingly sewn up, the Rollers offense tonight under the leadership of cTAL faTAL and Lolli , built up the first sizable lead of the night, MIR 70, Sioux City 42, at halftime.

To be continued.....