The Big LeBOUTski - Those Skates DID Tie the Room Together!
The house was packed for the championship bout of the 2011 - 2012 North Star Roller Girl Season. Fans from as far away as Illinois were on hand to cheer on their favorite team at this final bout. 
Once the dust settled, the Banger Sisters rousted the Kilmore Girls and the Violent Femmes bested crowd favorite Delta Delta Di. The Prizefighters got the crowd warmed up for the action and the Tim Malloys took everyone through halftime (we’re you on the floor dancing during the Tim Malloys? Post your picture on our Facebook wall!)
At the end of the night, a new trophy was awarded courtesy of the handy work of NSRG’s own Aurora Whorealis. The celebration then moved from the Minneapolis Convention Center to NSRG after party headquarters, Hell’s Kitchen, where Fans, Skaters, Refs, and League Volunteers and Supporters wrapped up the season.
See the full bout recap below!
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Banger Sisters and Violent Femmes Run Away With Their Bouts; Femmes Retain Championship Trophy
Minneapolis, MN – The Banger Sisters and the Violent Femmes could not be bested tonight, bringing their "A" games to the Minneapolis Convention Center for The Big Leboutski, the final match in NSRG's sixth season. (Local bands the Prizefighters and the Tim Malloys brought their best games too; the Prizefighters kept us swaying and even the NSRG Unicorn could not help dancing to the Irish beats of the Tim Malloys!)
Banger Sisters (1-4) vs. Kilmore Girls (0-5)
The Banger Sisters took charge in the second jam of their bout against the Kilmore Girls and did not give it back; indeed, there was not a single moment the rest of the bout when one thought "hmm, maybe one good jam, and they could bring this close...". The closest the two teams came all night was the second jam, when the Bangers held a 2-1 lead. On the next jam, Katarina Hit put up 20 points while her defense tied up the Kilmore jammer, and the bout followed that same trajectory the rest of the night. The Kilmores' Scarlet Raven worked hard to score three here, four there, but ten points in one half don't go far when your opponents like Katarina and Misa Ornery are scoring 19-20 points on single jams. (Misa got up so much speed on one corner that she was only able to stay in bounds by taking a giant whip off of teammate Pippi Van Whalen's belt.) Excellent Banger blocking and speedy jamming gave the Bangers a 74-14 lead at halftime.
While the Kilmores scored over twice as many points in the second half as the first, including two bigger jams by RazorCake and Scarlet Raven, it was not enough to help them overcome the Banger Sisters, who played an extremely well-rounded game. Offensively, the Bangers' jammers were able to score 90% of the time that they were lead jammers, frequently taking advantage of an unguarded outside path around the pack. On the defensive side, the Banger Sisters held the Kilmore jammers to no more than one scoring run for most of the bout.
Lest I paint too bleak a picture, I must point out that this bout was not without many bright Kilmore moments. Brightest among them for me was Fiona Scalpel's evasion of Katarina Hit's jammer-on-jammer defense and subsequent dip under a defender's block, which was truly elegant, earned her the lead jammer whistle, and drew a well-deserved cheer from the crowd. With their restart year behind them, the Kilmores have a lot of skill to work with as they move into season seven.
Bout by the numbers:
At 10 minutes: BS 30 – 9 KG
At the half: BS 74 – 14 KG
At 30 minutes: BS 98 – 30 KG
Final: BS 116 – 48 KG
Derby4All Player of the Game: shE. coli
Delta Delta Di (4-1) vs. Violent Femmes (5-0)
The Femmes brought indomitable defense to the championship bout, their cool play holding the Deltas to just 15 points in the first half and 21 in the second. The more they were held back, the more frustrated the Deltas got, leading to an increase in major penalties, especially in the second half. Errors multiplied until, at one point, there was one defender in pink on the track; both Aurora Whorealis and Meagan U Bleed fouled out of the bout for having accrued too many major penalties (although Meagan scored 11 of her team's 36 points before leaving the track).
Points came in fits and spurts for both teams, especially in the first twenty minutes. With Dreidel Robber and Obscene Sheen jamming, the Femmes' offense took advantage of their two unopposed jams in the first half to rack up relatively big points (13 for Dreidel Robber and 24 for Sheen), which gave their team a 31-point cushion at halftime. A Delta comeback from the halftime score of VF 56 – 15 DDD was certainly not an impossibility, with Delta jammers having a history of 20+ point jams, but the space created by the two power jams definitely gave the Femmes some breathing room.
A double grand slam by Kayzilla started off the Femmes' drive to keep adding to that cushion in the second half. The play was still very evenly matched – the Femmes would score two, then the Deltas would score three; the Femmes would score four, the Deltas four – but one got the sense that frustrations were close to a boilover, particularly with the Deltas. The Femmes kept their heads and went on a 41-point scoring spree in the last seven minutes while a steady stream of skaters in pink made their way in and out of the penalty box. When the dust settled, the Femmes had capped off their undefeated season with a 117 – 36 win.
Bout by the numbers:
At 10 minutes: VF 36 – 7 DDD
At the half: VF 56 – 15 DDD
At 20 minutes: VF 72 – 28 DDD
Final: VF 117 – 36 DDD
Derby4All Player of the Game: Obscene Sheen
Thanks to all of you, our wonderful fans, for supporting the North Star Roller Girls throughout season six. Look for a season wrap-up and retirement report later this summer. - Ayn Rant
PBR loves derby, and the North Star Roller Girls love PBR
Pabst Blue Ribbon beer may be celebrating its 168th birthday this year (gosh, you look good for your age!), but this is our first year of honoring one of our league's newest and biggest sponsors.
The North Star Roller Girls would like to thank PBR for generously sponsoring us throughout the 2011-12 season. We look forward to many more years of sharing the Blue Ribbon with you, our fans!
Ever wonder where to get cool NSRG swag?
Just announced! Get all your favorite NSRG apparel online at our favorite custom apparel shop in (where else?) Minneapolis! Shameless is located at 2013 Hennepin Ave. S, they're a short hop, skip, and a jump from our bout headquarters in downtown. Swing by their shop for the latest cool stuff or order it here online!
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