Wow, I’m behind in my recaps and writing in general, but I’ve been in and out of town a lot lately and trying to play catch up.

In the beginning of the month, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls took on Foco Girls Gone Derby at the Thunder in the Rockies, an annual motorcycle rally in Loveland, CO (right next to Ft. Collins, FGGD’s turf). Last year RMRG faced off against PPDD at the same event, but this year the Foco girls got a chance to prove their stuff close to home. Foco recently played one of RMRG’s home teams, the Sugar Kill Gang, and lost by only 5 points - this bout for Thunder in the Rockies was against a large majority of RMRG’s travel team members as well as quite a few alternates, since many of the regular players couldn’t make it to this particular bout. The first period showed RMRG far in the lead with 56 to Foco’s 15.

Foco looked to have a number of new players on their roster - after losing one of their top jammers, Slick Vick, to the Denver Roller Dolls, this defense-heavy team appeared in major need of some point scorers. Urrk’n Jerk’n as Booty Block Ya snagged the most points for her team by far, but even she is a staple as a blocker for Foco. Foco’s strength definitely lies in their hard hits and their ability as blockers to step in between opposing players and their own jammer just in time to interfere with defense, and these moves allowed them to play some catch up during the second period, with RMRG 82, Foco 64.

By the third period, RMRG was no where near ready to let Foco take the win. Ida Hustler stood out as a major player who both blocked well and jammed hard, especially with top jammer Frida Beater MIA during this particular bout. Smashbox was another jammer to be reckoned with, but she unfortunately took a hard fall in the third period and was taken to the ER due to a broken wrist. The final score saw RMRG at 136, Foco at 68.

While Foco played a great game and it was awesome to bout during the rally, one thing that really sticks out is the fact that Smashbox got injured. This is the third game in a row RMRG played at an expo-type venue, and the third game in which someone suffered a major injury (Rodeo Redd broke her ankle at Fat City and FWDG’s Devilyn Cide also broker her ankle at Taco John’s in Cheyenne). Fortunately Smashbox will only be in a cast for a short period of time and hopes to skate again soon. Hopefully this is the last injury we see for quite a while!

Two of Colorado’s teams, Ft. Collins’ Foco Girls Gone Derby and Colorado Springs’ Pikes Peak Derby Dames faced off for the first time this past weekend on FGGD’s home turf. This was only the third bout for Foco, which currently has just one team, the Kung Fu Donnas. PPDD’s Slamazons is a more experienced team and a member of the WFTDA, but the roster seemed to have quite a few new players in the place of some MIA and injured skaters.

The Kung Fu Donnas is a blocker-heavy team, with players constantly knocking into both jammers and opposing blockers throughout the jam. Urrk’n Jer’n as Booty Block Ya, both a pivot and jammer with a speed skating background, made it difficult for anyone to get past her with her impressive agility and speed, while hard hitters like Laura Mangles Wilder delivered numerous blows. On the Slamazon’s side, Kamilla Bloodspilla and The Swiss Missile put up a good defense, and jammer Rolleene Thunda did a great job chasing down jammers when she wasn’t scoring points. By the end of the first period, the Slamazons were ahead with 44 while the Kung Fu Donnas trailed closely with 42.

Though Urrk’n sticks out as the Donnas’ best blocker, she is by far their best jammer as well - her speed allows her to catch up to the pack quickly and she is great at picking precisely where to go when surrounded by blockers to sneak by untouched. Slick Vick is also a notable jammer who helped the Donnas continue to keep the score close. The Slamazons’ Sugrrr Rush, Susie QT and Rolleene Thunda are all quick and agile jammers that managed to rack up the points for their team. Though the PPDD girls have an assortment of good jammers, they commonly play their hardest blockers such as Kamilla and The Swiss Missile as jammers. Both players seem to hold their own as point scorers, however. Throughout the bout the score was constantly switching from one team’s favor to the other and remained close until the end of the second period, where PPDD squeezed ahead with 89 as Foco followed with 88.

With a one-point difference, it was clear by the third period that this was anyone’s game. There seemed to be many time-outs called and a number of indiscretions regarding the points as the bout was coming to a close. As a spectator, there were definitely a few jams in which the score did not seem to accurately represent the number of points that should have been awarded, and there were also some issues regarding girls in the penalty box serving their time. The Donnas were able to pull through at the end, bringing the final score to FGGD 133, PPDD 121.

It is understandable that issues may have arisen with Ft. Collins being such a new team as far as the score keeping and penalty timing, since the staff likely had little prior experience. Regardless of these issues this would have been an extremely close game either way, and a rematch will definitely be just as much of a nail-biter.