In the first five minutes of the first half, D3 jumped out to a 9-0 lead on the strength of jammers Ella Diablo, Cosmo Disco, and a unified blocking corp that shut down the early Omaha jammers.
Defensive progress was made manifest to me at that moment. Remembering back to the D3-Wisconsin River Valley (with slightly more knowledge of the sport now) it seemed like D3's defense was a sort of slightly organized anarchic unit (again though, it was only the Dames ' second bout ever). In these first two jams, the blockers, now with Show Stopper back in the oval, kept Omaha off the board.
This looked to be good news early. In terms of jammers, I submit that one of the keys to how well the Des Moines Derby Dames will do in the upcoming fall season is not found in what Stella Italiana does while she is jamming, but what her fellow jammers do when she is not jamming. For example, what would happen if a team figured out how to stop her? What if she gets hurt? Or what if she has an off night? What would happen to D3's scoring ability?
This is why I suggest that the success of D3's capacity for victory lie in jammers Cosmo Disco, Ella Diablo and Minnie Mayhem (in conjunction with the blockers, of course), and their ability to give opposition blocker another set of headaches to worry about besides the ones that Stella Italiana brings. from my view that night, I saw some of this beginning to happen. Ella Diablo and Cosmo Disco began offensive matters with by scoring a combined 9 pts. while D3 blocking held Omaha scoreless.
One thing is for certain, however, if D3 jammers are to make a gigantic impact in the fall, they will need to control their time in the penalty box. Penalties bit them throughout the course of the evening and could have proven fatal to the Dames' cause. Here are a couple of examples:
1- About midway through the first half, Stella Italiana was sent to the box. Left as the sole jammer, Omaha's Midlife Crashes took full opportunity and notched a 12 pt. jam which put the Rollergirls in the lead for the first time of the night, 22-17.
2- Ella Diablo would up in the box resulting in Omaha's Sum Mo Payne (a member of the Sioux City Roller Girls, but skating with Omaha for this bout) racked up a 13 pt jam propelling the Rollergirls to a 43-33 lead with 4:45 left in the first. Her penalty minute carried over into the next jam, where Omaha increased their lead to 50-33.
The purpose of pointing this out is not to hold up Ella Diablo or Stella Italiana for criticism. In my limited derby experience, thus far, I have seen many teams wrestle with this issue. The point of above examples are to show just how essential it is to wrestle with this. As we have seen in the last couple of months, the gap in class between what could be considered the elite Iowa teams and the rest of the field is incredibly thin. For example, the undefeated Mid Iowa Rollers knocked off the Old Capital City Rollers by a mere three points at the same time the Dames were playing Omaha. D3 played Old Capital City less than a month ago and gave them all they could handle before succumbing by a 151-122 margin. Jammer penalties will be one of the key factors in separating the wheat from the chaff, bout wise in the coming fall season for many teams.
With 1:11 to go in the first half and Omaha up 50-33, thanks to a strong jamming corp, including Sum Mo Payne, Shirley DuPayne and Midlife Crashes, combined with stubborn defense, D3's Stella Italiana took the jammer line to concoct some of her most masterful work to date. It was a 22 pt. jam which involved thrilling sprints, stop-on-a-dime maneuvers, ducking, dashing and heart-stopping zig zags. Each time Stella Italiana passed the pack came a rising tide of applause, cheers and bursts of joy. I could not help but cheer and laugh at the sheer exuberance of this titanic jam. The Dames blockers also had a masterful performance during this major turning point of the game. Omaha's Midlife Crashes was all but cut off from significance by strangulating defense, leaving Stella Italiana to work her will.
When the jam concluded, all in the area turned to the massive scoreboard to see the damage. The D3 score side looked like a jackpot as 33 became 55 one number at a time. That was how it stood at the half.
D3 built its lead up to 81- 62 with roughly 20 minutes to go in the bout. Here we saw an impressive one-two combination from Minnie Mayhem and Cosmo Disco. Minnie Mayhem connected on a vibrant grand slam as a part of a nine point jam bringing the score to 76-58 with 24:11 to go. Cosmo Disco stepped to the jammers line and poured on 5 points of her own. D3 81, Omaha 58 with 23:25 to go. It was in this sequence, combined with Stella Italiana's masterpiece, that we saw the Des Moines Derby Dames at peak performance. Jammers working in concert with blockers. All playing with confidence and poise. At their best the D3 blocking corp can stand comfortably next to any other club in the state. The strides that Show Stopper, Elbow MacFearson, Neuro Sis, Toxic Moss, MOAB, Megger Bomb, Demanda Chaos, EM-80, Lil' Debbie SmackNSkates and others have made toward being a powerful entity are significance. A little tweeking and tightening over the summer and Dames defense could be one of the major plot lines of the fall season.
Then Omaha came roaring back to life, lead by Sum Mo Payne and Midlife Crashes, combined with D3 acquiring ill-timed penalties. Imentioned earlier about the hardships a team must endure when their jammer is in the box. Blockers in the box are just as bad. A jammer and more than one blocker in the box is absolutely devastating. Omaha was already inching their way back into the bout via an 8 point jam by Sum Mo Payne (D3's Minnie Mayhem gathered 4 on the same jam) bringing the score to 89-70.
Then a disaster.
The Dames sent Cosmo
Disco, who, sans penalties, was having a fine evening as a jammer and a blocker. In particular she delivered a crushing blow against an Omaha defender in the first half generated much approval from the D3 faithful. Pitted against her was Omaha's Midlife Crashes. In this sequence, Cosmo Disco was sent to the penalty box. She was joined by blocker Toxic Moss with less than a minute to go in the jam. Cosmo Disco was released from the sin bin but then Megger Bomb was sent off.
Amidst all this turnover amongst the Dames, Midlife Crashes racked up an formidable 19 pt. jam. Game tied 89-89 with less than 20 minutes to go. After a four point Stella Italiana jam, another slew of penalties were accrued by the Dames. This time, it was Show Stopper, Elbow MacFearson and Cosmo Disco on the bench. Omaha's Sum Mo Payne put up 19 points rocketing Omaha to a 108-95 lead with 14:18 to go.
The next jam, in my opinion, determined the outcome of the bout. D3 sent Stella Italiana to take on Omaha's Funda Bang. Funda Bang was sent to the penalty box (did not see for what) and left Stella Italiana alone on the oval. This proved to be the fatal error for Omaha. Stella Italiana was unstopable and the D3 blockers seemed to turn it up a notch to get her through the pack on the way to a 15 pt. Jam. With 9:09 to go D3 went up 121-108.
From their, Stella Italiana took over the bout. Working in perfect order with her blockers she posted up two 9 pt. jams and one massive 14 pt jam (as Midlife Crashes was sent to the penalty box). Chants of "Stella...Stella" were exclaimed by the engaged D3 faithful. It appears that Stella Italiana is one of those rare breed of players who not only excel at their sport but also cause their fellow players to play with more confidence at the top of their game. It is as if Stella's mere presence in the oval as a jammer puts the rest of the Dames at ease and causes them to execute their duties with determination and comfort. She is very difficult to stop in and of herself. When she and the blockers work in sync with one another, which happened numerous times in during the bout, she is all but unstoppable.
And as Stella Italiana put her hands on her hips calling off the final jam, the Des Moines Derby Dames defeated the Omaha Rollergirls AAA. Final Score 165 to 123.
They had finished at .500 on the season.
The audience, which was significant as D3 came within a hairs breath of a sellout, congratulated players. I saw Dames blocker Neuro Sis shed tears at the joy of it all. The girls that made up D3 had successfully written the first chapter of their story.
The fact that D3 almost sold out their home match on the same night as the Mid Iowa Rollers battled the Old Capital City Roller Girls in one of the biggest matches of the year should serve as excellent evidence that the Des Moines metroland area can sustain two roller derby leagues. Perhaps you could argue that many people at the arena were investigating the novelty of it all and weren't aware of crosstown battle. I don't think so though. The amount of D3 shirts I saw on fans prior to the bout and the lack of hands raised at the "who has never been to a derby bout before" question (followed by the half-assed demonstration that I have come to despise), shows me that if most of the crowd knew of the bout or not, they didn't care. They were Des Moines Derby Dames fans. They wore the green and black with gusto. D3 was the only derby bout with which they had to do with.
D3 belongs. And they aren't going anywhere, simply because there is no reason for them to stop. Show Stopper took a gamble on the hunch that Des Moines could stand two derby leagues. So far she has been proven overwhelmingly correct.
And with the end of one season, we have to ask what next season will bring.
Tomorrow never knows.
