Yesterday, under drizzly skies, we made a 2.5-hour trek into the north country, up to Plattsburgh, New York. We were there to see the Lumber Jills host the Twin City Riot, and we expected it to be a good game. The Jills have a nice venue and a great sound system, so we could hear every word uttered by the fabulous, flannel-clad announcers, Rock Thudson and Malcolm Sex (and the fact that Flocci heard "wood chip toss" as "Wichita" had nothing to do with the sound quality or Rock's diction). We expected a few GMDD folks to be around, since their home base is just across the lake, but it ended up feeling like every time we turned around, there was another Dame. We definitely felt at home!
The last time we saw these two teams together, back in July, the score was pretty close, but the overall feel was kind of messy, and we thought that perhaps with better refs, this bout would be a bit smoother, especially since we noticed Doomsday and Darkness Visible, two of our favorite zebras, on the way in.
Well, the first half went smoothly, at least. The Jills took an early and decisive lead, and never let go. The Riot only managed to get lead jammer in six jams, despite fielding jammers who have been superstars in other bouts. (We're starting to wonder what effect coaching has on game outcomes, now that we've seen some skaters play for multiple teams with dramatically different results.) There weren't many power jams in the first half, but there were a couple of natural grand slams (when one jammer laps the other without the other being in the box) that made things interesting. The half ended with the Jills leading 84-32, and we wondered if the Riot would get enough of a pep talk during halftime to close the gap.
It almost seemed like our prayers were answered as the Riot got lead jammer in the first three jams of the second half, but they only added three points to their score, and then things went downhill. The skating got sloppy, the penalties got crazy, there were power jams and false starts and official time outs all over the place... it was rough. The Jills used power jams to strengthen their lead, and the Riot, despite scoring twice as many points in the second half as in the first, lost ground in all but a handful of jams. With less than a minute left on the clock, the Riot's Livid Loquita was ejected for excessive penalties, and there were several other skaters who would have followed her if the game had been a few minutes longer. When the dust settled, the Jills had spanked the Riot, 161-95.
Name of the Bout: Titsy Normous #36F (Lumber Jills)
Special Meritorious Service: Short Circuit, for venturing out onto the track during warmup to tape down a loose floorboard.
