Motor City Disassembly Line 105 vs. G-Rap Attack! 92

Posted on May 5, 2009

by Rusty Wheeler
Grandville, MI
May 2, 2009

In the first half of a double-header between the “B” teams of the Detroit Derby Girls and the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls, Detroit’s Motor City Disassembly Line overcame a 16 point halftime deficit to defeat the host G-Rap Attack! by 105-92. G-Rap led 51-35 at the half, but the MCDL outscored G-Rap 70-41 in the 2nd half to rally for the win. MCDL was led by experienced jammer Effin’ Money with 48 points, 31 of those points in the 2nd half.

These two teams exist as a way for each league to have newer skaters gain experience playing against other leagues, although MCDL’s Effin’ Money, Cold Fusion, and Whiskey Soured already had beaucoup experience coming into this game. It appeared it was just the right amount of seasoning needed to help out the less experienced skaters on the squad. G-Rap also had some experienced players, namely Keisha Mei Ash, Lindsay Blowhan, Lucy Morals, Shutter Speed, and Tone Loco, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the MCDL.

1st Half

The G-Rap Attack struck first. After a scoreless opening jam, G-Rap’s Tamara Hurtsworse won jam 2 by 3-0, then GR’s Disarmin’ Darlin added a 4-0 win in jam 3. After GR got lead jammer in those first three jams, MCDL came back with 5 straight leads, but could only cut two points off GR’s lead in those jams 4-8. Combat Cat got MCDL’s first points in jam 5 with a 4-4 tie vs. Disarmin’ Darlin. Disarmin’ started that jam in the box, and Cat ended the jam in the box. After a scoreless jam 5, MCDL’s Effin’ Money edged Tamara Hurtsworse in jam 6, followed by a 4-2 jam win for Disarmin’ over Ghetto Barbie in jam 7, followed by a 3-0 win by Effin’ in jam 8. It was 17-12 for G-Rap.

G-Rap then proceeded to gain lead jammer in 6 of the next 7 jams, and outscore MCDL 26-6 in those jams. After a scoreless jam 9, Tamara Hurtsworse got a 4-0 win for GR in jam 10. Disarmin’ got the first of her two grand slams on the night in a 5-0 win in jam 11. Effin’ Money got the lead for MCDL in jam 12, but the best she could do was a 3-3 draw with Lucy Morals. GR’s Keisha Mei Ash got a 5-0 win in jam 13 (not a slam), then Disarmin’ won jam 14 by 4-3 over Combat Cat, then Keisha got a 5-0 slam win in jam 15 to extend G-Rap’s lead to 43-18. G-Rap had their largest lead of the game at 25 points.

Motor City called time out after jam 15, and must have had some energy drinks during the short break, because their Dizzy Devine skated to a 4-4 tie in jam 16 versus Lucy Morals, in spite of Dizzy starting that jam in the box. Dizzy did get lead on that jam. Dizzy had a toe-stop malfunction when she was jamming in jam 15, and she skated to the infield and tried to get the referees to stop the jam, but that was not to be. Then she skated on to the track and was sort of stationary, and was eventually sent to the box. I’m not sure what the penalty call was, and I forgot to ask afterwards or to check the penalty sheets, but that’s probably the real reason MCDL called a time-out - so they could repair her toe stop before she had to leave the box in the following jam.

In any event, MCDL’s Effin’ Money grabbed lead and quickly scored 4 points in jam 17. She could have called the jam, but instead kept going. That allowed GR’s Keisha Mei Ash to also score 4 points, but then Effin’ came around for another 4 point scoring pass and then called the jam with an 8-4 jam win. The final jam of the period was a 5-0 grand slam win by MCDL’s Combat Cat. It was sort of a strange jam as Cat went to the box early, but MCDL’s blockers were able to stymie GR’s Tamara Hurtsworse. Tamara was then sent to the box, Cat came out and was able to score her 5 points. That late rally by MCDL shaved 9 points off the GR lead and so G-Rap only led 51-35 at the half. GR had the edge in lead jammers 9-8 in the period’s 18 jams, and also controlled most of the blocking. Somehow, though, MCDL was able to stay close on the scoreboard.

2nd Half

The pace picked up to start the 2nd half, with GR’s Tamara Hurtsworse starting the half in the penalty box, MCDL’s Effin’ Money took full advantage with lead jammer, two slams, and a 14-0 jam win to cut the GR lead to 51-49. Jam 2 was without result (i.e., no scoring), and jam 3 was a 4-4 tie between Effin’ Money and Disarmin’ Darlin (Effin’ had lead). Keisha Mei Ash secured lead and a 4-2 win in jam 4 for GR, then Tamara got another lead and a 4-0 win for GR in jam 5. That put the GR lead at 63-55. That was to be the last jam in which they led, but nobody knew it then.

MCDL got lead in jams 6-8 and outscored GR 29-0 in those three jams. Ghetto Barbie started it rolling for MCDL with a 9-0 slam win in jam 6, followed by Dizzy Devine’s two slams in a 10-0 jam, capped by Effin’s 10-0 twin slam jam in jam 8. Suddenly, MCDL led by 21 at 84-63.

The Attack! didn’t just sit back, they struck back. MCDL’s Ghetto Barbie got sent to the box early in jam 9, so GR’s Disarmin’ Darlin scored a slam and 8 points before she too was sent to the box with a major for a back block on a play in which Disarmin’ was knocked down by MCDL’s Zooma Thurman. That did trim the MCDL lead to 84-71. Needless to say, jam 9 was one of the last “jammerless jams” we will see (this game was played under WFTDA 3.1 rules), and so each team had to select a new jammer from among the skaters who were remaining on the track. GR picked Lindsay Blowhan to wear the star, and MCDL countered with Whiskey Soured. Now, let’s just say that Whiskey does not sport a typical jammer’s physique–it can safely be said that Whiskey is “large and in charge.” Nonetheless, Whiskey got the lead and a 4-3 jam win, and the MCDL fans were loving it. I especially loved watching Whiskey skating for a short time with her tongue sticking out; it reminded me of old-time hockey player Eddie “the Entertainer” Shack who would frequently skate like that.

MCDL upped their lead to 92-74 when Goodnight Gracie got lead and a 4-0 win in jam 11. Jam 12 was scoreless. Tamara Hurtsworse got lead for GR but MCDL’s Combat Cat caught her and so Tamara called the jam. The Attack! edged a bit closer in jams 13-15, gaining all three lead jammers but could only outscore MCDL 8-2 in those jams. Disarmin’ Darlin won jam 13 by 2-0, then Tamara Hurtsworse won jam 14 by 4-0. Keisha Mei Ash skated to a 2-2 deadlock with Effin’ Money in jam 15. MCDL’s lead was down to 12 points at 94-82.

Jam 16 was huge for MCDL and Combat Cat as she got lead and scored 2 grand slams in a 10-0 win to put MCDL up by 104-82. It had the feeling of salting away the game, but there was still enough time for a couple more jams. MCDL’s Effin’ Money was able to eke out a 1-0 jam win over Disarmin’ Darlin in jam 17, more importantly using up some time. For the final jam of the game, MCDL lost their jammer Goodnight Gracie to the box about 30 seconds into the jam. G-Rap’s Keisha Mei Ash skated hard, earning two grand slams, but ran out of time in a 10-0 jam win that left MCDL with the 105-92 win.

Besides doubling their 1st half scoring and holding G-Rap to 10 fewer points than Half One, MCDL had more lead jammers in the 2nd half, 10-8.

Afterthoughts

This was an entertaining game. Each team led by 20 plus points at different times, although MCDL led at the end when it counted. While G-Rap had the blocking edge in the 1st half, MCDL evened that in the 2nd. This game was also played in streaks where one team would get several lead jammers in a row and outscore the opponent by a margin. The biggest of those streaks went to MCDL in jams 6-8 of the 2nd half when they outscored GR 29-0. Take away those three jams and GR wins instead. But, you must count all jams skated, and thus Motor City hangs on for the win.

I was helping out with stats-keeping in this game, and I have to say I had a little confusion at times. At least two different G-Rap skaters had large stickers on the right sides of their helmets that looked very much like the jammer’s star, although of course those stickers were visible only when those skaters weren’t wearing any helmet covers. A couple time I was about to credit Motor City blockers with a jammer knockdown, only to check to see it was instead a blocker on blocker knockdown. I would like to point out that WFTDA 4.0 rule 3.6.5.1 says: “Only the Jammer’s helmet cover may have stars on it or any marks that might be confused with stars.” Also, rule 3.6.4.1 says: “Only the Pivot’s helmet cover may have stripes on it that run the length of the helmet in any direction or any marks that might be confused with stripes.”

Statistics

Motor City’s Effin’ Money was high scorer in the game with 48 points while jamming 10 times with 8 leads (an outstanding 80% lead percentage), also scoring 4 grand slams, all in the 2nd half. Effin’ also was high in the game with a + 20 in plus/minus as a jammer. Other Motor City scorers were: Combat Cat (22 points, 11 jams, 4 leads, 3 slams); Dizzy Devine (14 pts, 3 jams, 2 leads, 2 slams); Ghetto Barbie (11 pts, 5 jams, 2 leads, 1 slam); Goodnight Gracie (6 pts, 6 jams, 1 lead); and Whiskey Soured (4 pts, 1 jam, 1 lead). I’m not certain, but that may have been the first career jam for Ms. Soured.

The G-Rap Attack! were led by a nice 1-2 combo of Disarmin’ Darlin (35 points, 10 jams, 5 leads, 2 slams, also +12 in plus/minus as a jammer) and Keisha Mei Ash (30 pts, 12 jams, 7 leads, 3 slams). Other GR scorers: Tamara Hurtsworse (17 pts, 10 jams, 5 leads); Lucy Morals (7 pts, 3 jams); and Lindsay Blowhan (3 pts, 1 jam).

Sorry, don’t yet have any blocking stats.

Future

The Motor City Disassembly Line next returns to action on July 18 at the Chicago Outfit.

The G-Rap Attack!’s next game is May 30 at Cincinnati.

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