Quad City Chaos: Recap

Defecaitlin fights through Terminal City's pack.

THE RESULTS

No surprises at this weekend’s Quad City Chaos, unless Montreal’s New Skids being even better than advertised could be considered a surprise. Montreal easily won the first annual Quad City Chaos invitational, posting lop-sided victories over all involved, including topping 200 points in two of their three bouts. CN Power (2-1) finished a strong second in the tournament, with Hammer City’s Eh! Team third after edging a game Terminal City squad in an exciting and closely contested conclusion to the tournament.

TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	POINTS FOR	POINTS AGAINST
New Kids on the Block (MTLRD)	3	0	597	126
CN Power (ToRD)	2	1	231	395
Eh! Team (Hammer City)	1	2	228	401
Terminal City All Stars (TCRG)	0	3	238	372

THE BOUTS

The bouts involving CN Power, The Eh! Team, and the Terminal City All Stars were all close, hard fought battles, with the teams often changing leads. The differences between these three teams were negligible at best, and you got the feeling that on any given night any one of these teams could prevail. That parity made for an exciting weekend and bodes well for the future of roller derby in Canada.

After a disorganized, and potentially jet-lagged opening half against the CN Power, Terminal City noticeably improved with each bout, often quickly adapting to the nuances of the eastern game and the strategies of the opposing teams.

Brim Stone and Perky Set at the top of the pack.

Skater for skater the girls from Vancouver matched up well. Despite the 0-3 record, The All Stars showed moments of brilliance over the weekend; at times this team was like a shape shifter, adapting to and countering strategies of other teams. They were capable of keeping Montreal under 200 points (160) almost solely due to their defense on power jams. Not wanting to get into a slow, strategic positional-blocking battle with the Skids, they instead elected to race ahead of the Montreal blockers and stretch the pack to encourage one on one battles. This also forced the jammer to work twice as hard, resulting in extremely fast-paced, low scoring jams.

The Eh! Team looked a little unpracticed at times this weekend, with loose formations and no answers to the pack strategies being employed by the Skids. But they had some great jamming and also improved with each bout and will undoubtedly use this weekend as a starting point for what should be a challenging but exciting WFTDA season.

Even missing a few star players, The New Skids on the Block look poised to make a breakthrough in WFTDA’s Eastern division. Almost militant in their preparation and surgical in the execution of strategy, Montreal constantly frustrated the other teams with a few different blocker traps (at the back and on the line), some well-timed and well-placed hits, and an almost unhitable arsenal of jammers. This is a team to watch in 2010, and, as long as the players stay healthy, should make its well-deserved debut in the WFTDA Regionals.

Collide-O-Skope Kid and Iron Wench at the line.

THE PERFORMANCES

Such a long tournament and there were so many amazing performances that it is hard to narrow down key players on each side. Terminal City’s Lambe Baste Her, Luludemon, and Roller Girl provided strong jamming all weekend, while Barra Couga was a tenacious thorn in more than a few sides. LA Gunns did not look like someone returning from a major injury and delivered some serious hits in the pack, and 8-Mean Wheeleer provided solid leadership.

For the Eh! Team, Carla Coma and Vicadoom continued to carry the jam load, but big hitter Bitchslap Barbie stepped in against TCRG and put up a lot of points in the victory. Perky Set battaled hard all weekend, and Lock N Roll made her return to The Hangar wearing a visitor’s jersey for the first time, and looked up to the tastk, even taking her turn with the star against her former CN Power teammates.

The New Skids on the Block simply had no weaknesses in its lineup. The Iron Wench continued to show that she is a world class jammar, with strong suport from Lyn-dah Kicks and Georgie W. Tush.  Jess Bandit proved that she can lead a pack with the best of them, and Ewan Wotarmy and Smack Daddy did double duty, providing solid pack blocking with some energetic jams.

THE HOME TEAM

Mach Wheels holds Avi Hater outside while Lunchbox takes the inside.

Any way you look at it, this was an extraordinarily successful weekend for the members of CN Power. They had an opportunity to test themselves against the best that the country had to offer and managed to grind out two impressive victories; perhaps more importantly, they faced intelligent, tough opponents with different strengths and weaknesses, which will undoubtedly teach them a lot going forward. While the two victories were important, the way they happened was potentially more so.

Feeling confident and urged on by the home crowd, CN Power came out flying in its opening game against Terminal City. Employing a strategy of slow packs and aggressive jamming (reminiscent of their victory over The Rideau Valley Vixens), the trio of Lunch Box, Land Shark, and Defecailtlin lead the team to a huge lead early against a bewildered, and unfocused Vancouver squad, taking a 40 point lead into halftime. But the second half was another story and the All Stars were like a different team–relentless defense, aggressive hitting, and defensive jamming all contributed to a much more competitive second half, and although CN Power held on for a 97-79 victory, they  paid a physical price for it in the end.

The effects of playing back-to-back bouts were obvious as the hometeam fell behind early against their provincial rivals from Hamilton (55-49 at the half). But CN Power, still stinging after a two year losing streak to the Eh! Team, sent a clear message in the second half: the team has come to play in 2010. With Defecaitlin seeing limited action due to injury, Bambi stepped up and provided key jams in the second half, and in a spirited effort, CN Power took the lead and held on for an amazing 89-87 victory.

It was a different story against the Skids. After an emotionally exhausting Saturday, CN Power was never really able to get anything going against the powerhouses on Sunday. Constantly frustrated,  CN Power did show signs of the potential for a stronger performance late: even in the face of such opposition, Lunchbox was her usual calm self and provided some much needed consistency at the jam line, and Land Shark displayed a new level of toughness mixing it up with (and even getting the better of ) Montreal’s super pivot Jess Bandit on a few occasions. CN Power also showed some ingenuity in the second half  including giving Montreal a taste of its own medicine with a well executed trap. But in the end the inability to defend against the power jam allowed the Skids to run up the score.

Brim Stone and Rebel Rock-It provided solid leadership up front all weekend and Nasher the Smasher, making her 2010 debut, also looked comfortable in the stripe. Mach Wheels continues to impress with her unbelievable control and poise and made more than her fair share of hilight-worthy assists on the weekend (including an impressive ‘waitress’ against the Skids).

PS: ToRD.TV LAUNCHES!

This weekend also saw the launch of ToRD.TV, a site dedicated to hilighting ToRD and its skaters. Keep an eye out for upcoming specials (interviews, bout hilights, etc…) from this weekend’s Quad City Chaos.

Quad City Chaos Preview: Terminal City All Stars

For most derby fans here in the east, the Terminal City Roller Girls are an unknown quantity; unfortunately, the same goes for the Derby Nerd. But I’ve got scouts working out west and have been watching my fair share of video to prepare this Terminal City primer for all the fans at Quad City Chaos. Part of the original wave of derby growth in Canada in 2006, Terminal City has grown into a well established three-team league. The play widely in western Canada, but also south of the border where they’ve earned their cred playing some of the finest derby teams on the left coast (including representatives from the Oly Rollers and Rat City). Last year, Bad Reputations took the TCRG league championship against the Riot Squad (Faster Pussycats rounds out the competition in the league).

THE TERMINAL CITY ALL STARS
Bouts: Vs. Toronto’s CN Power (2pm on the 27th); Vs. Montreal’s New Skids on the Block (6:30pm on the 27th); Vs. Hamilton’s The Eh! Team (3:30pm on the 28th).

Starting up front, expect to see Tiki Timebomb and Bustylicious spend their fair share of time wearing the stripe and leading the way, with pack support from big hitter Barra Couga, Shift Kicker, and Sissy Straight-edge, while LA Gunns supplies  assists for her jammers, 8-Mean Wheeler holds the line. Expect triple threats Luludemon and former “most feared” award winner Lucrushya Boardya to also have a big impact in the tournament.

The Terminal City All Stars look as if they also have a lot of depth at jammer with many girls able to step up and wear the star. The champion Bad Reputations will be well represented at the jam line lead by veteran skater RollerGirl. Look for her to share duties with former rookie of the year Avi Hater, Lamb Baste-her (who can also provide some solid hitting), Collide-O-Scope Kid, and Booty Quake.

THE DERBY NERD THINKS

They’ll need top performances from all of those potential jammers to match up with the depth of jammers in the tournament, particularly from the New Skids, but they’ll also need to be willing to be defensive against the aggressive jammers from CN Power. In the pack they’re going to need to maintain the scrappiness and persistent aggression that they’ll face against the Eh! Team, but keep control of things against the the Skids’ tight packs and CN Power’s active pivots.

THE DERBY NERD PREDICTS

The Derby Nerd picked victories for the other teams against the Terminal City All Stars, but honestly the Terminal City skaters could very easily come east, pull an Oly Rollers and completely dominate the whole tournament. Like the Derby News Network says, watching video “aint at all like being there!”, so earlier predictions were based on video comparisons, which just don’t cut it. What I can safely predict, is that this is going to be an amazing and competitive tournament featuring the highest level of roller derby yet seen in Canada.

ROSTER

(Jersey number and club team in parentheses)

Avi Hater (747 Riot Girls), Barra Couga (25 & Under  Bad Reputations), Booty Quake (8.0 Bad Reputations), Bustylicious (33 Riot Girls), Collide-O-Scope Kid (3 Bad Reputations), 8-Mean Wheeler (18 Faster Pussycats),  LA Gunns (0.45 Bad Reputations), Lamb Baste-Her (K0 Bad Reputations), Lucrushya Boardya (4 Riot Girls), Luludemon (44 Riot Girls), RollerGirl (77 Bad Reputations), Roxie Hardknox (16 Riot Girls), Shift Kicker (27 Faster Pussycats), Sissy Straight-edge (2 Faster Pussycats), Tiki TimeBomb (3.2.1 Faster Pussycats)

Quad City Chaos Preview: The Eh! Team

This should be a huge year for Hammer City. The Eh! Team is currently ranked 17th in WFTDA‘s North Central division, and look to move forward from there. The experience they will gain and the quality of competition they will face will undoubtedly expedite their growth.  They opened 2010 with a tough loss against The Fort Wayne Derby Girls Bomb Squad, but will only get stronger as the year progresses. Like the Skids, their roadtrip featured a fairly lean roster, so they’ll have a lot of skaters eager for action at the Quad City Chaos.

THE EH! TEAM

Games: Vs. ToRD’s CN Power (4:30pm ont he 27th); Vs. Vancouver’s Terminal City All Stars (3:30pm on the 28th).

Up front , The Eh! Team is going to need to make sure that they keep their packs tight and quick. Look for the solid Perky Set and Judge Jodie to be leading the way pivoting, but it will be imperative that the big hitters in the pack like Ivy Rupted, Haykeye Pierce, Eduskating Rita, and Dicey keep things together and make sure that they stay unified in their defense.  Expect Bitchslap Barbie to throw more than her fair share of shoulders and hips around the track. Also watch for the return to The Hangar of former ToRD standout Lock N Roll, who will certainly be relied upon for her blocking abilities and could potentially run a few jams as pivot.

The workhorse Carla Coma and the speedy Vicadoom twill take the jam line as the Eh! Team’s 1-2 punch, but you can expect scrappy jams from the tough-as-nails Mean Little Momma and the fearless Dicey too. It will be key for Hammer City’s jammers to hold their own against the opposing jammers, including stepping up defensively when necessary.

THE DERBY NERD THINKS

The Eh! Team will need to keep an active pack if they want to succeed at Quad City, and that means keeping things tight and maintaining a physical level of play. They’ll also have to follow the lead of their pivots and help their jammer when needed. While the Hammer City girls can hold a mean line, they’ll also need to be sure that they aren’t getting beaten to the outside. Their jammers will be relied upon defensively too and will need to take an active role in neutralizing the opposing jammers.

THE DERBY NERD PREDICTS

1-2 and third place in the tournament. Things could get tough for Hammer City; they have to contend with a fired-up CN Power in front of their home crowd, and Montreal has far more bouts under their belts at this point in 2010 and could be a step or two in front of everyone because of this. The Eh! Team will be hungry for a victory by the end though, and are bound to take out their frustrations against the Terminal City All Stars.

THE ROSTER

(Jersey numbers and club teams in parentheses)

Bitchslap Barbie (98 Hamilton Harlots), Boom Boom Betty (31 HamiltonHarlots), Carla Coma (621 Hamilton Harlots), Chainsaw Mary (NC17 Hamilton Harlots), Cut Off (706 Death Row Dames), Dicey (905 Hamilton Harlots), Eduskating Rita (2009), Hawkeye Fierce (4077 Hamilton Harlots), Hozone Slayer (Death Row Dames HO3), Ivy Rupted (4 Death Row Dames), Jett Girl (15 Hamilton Harlots), Judge Jodie (67 Hamilton Harlots), Little Red Rollerhood (7 Death Row Dames), Lock N Roll (00), Mean Little Mama (0 Death Row Dames), Miss Carriage (33 Death Row Dames), Perky Set (3 Hamilton Harlots), Snuffette (822 Hamilton Harlots), Tori Nado (8 Death Row Dames), Vicadoom (420 Hamilton Harlots)

Quad City Chaos Preview: New Skids on the Block

Montreal’s New Skids on the Block have certainly been the busiest team in Canada in 2010, and just may be the hottest team in WFTDA! Having played in a number of games south of the border this year, the skaters are coming to Toronto in game shape. They’ve just returned from an east coast road trip that saw them go 3-0 making some pretty good competition look pretty bad. According to flattrackstats.com, their current winning streak has them sitting in 8th place in WFTDA’s Eastern Region, a huge leap from 13th where they started the year. Needless to say, this is a very good team with very few weaknesses. To make matters worse for the competition at Quad City, the Skids only carried an 11 person roster on their road trip, meaning they’ll have plenty of fresh faces for the tournament.

NEW SKIDS ON THE BLOCK

Games: Vs. Vancouver’s Terminal City All Stars (6:30pm on the 27th); Vs. ToRD’s CN Power (1pm on the 28th).

The New Skids on the Block are making quite a name for themselves by their ability to handle a pack, and who’s going to argue with players like Smack Daddy, Trash ‘N Smash, Nameless Whorror, Bone Machine, Wrath Poutine, Jess Bandit…well you get the idea. This is not a pack to take lightly. There is power, skill and depth up front and it will take a huge effort by an opposing pivot to wrestle control away from them. Word on the track is that key veteran Beater Pan Tease has been nursing a knee injury that caused her to sit out the recent round trip. Although her name is penciled into the roster, it remains to be seen how much of a role she will have at Quad City. For the fan’s sake, let’s hope she’s healed up and ready to go.

There is no less depth at jammer on this team. Led by the phenomenal Iron Wench, the Skids will undoubtedly rotate Georgia W. Tush, Izzy Skellington,  Ewan Wotarmy, and Romeo at the jam line, but don’t be surprised to see some of the blockers mentioned above (and even some who haven’t been!) get a shot with a star. This is a diverse, well-organized team that can mix it up positionally based on the situation.

THE DERBY NERD THINKS

Their jammer’s ability to neutralize the other team’s jammer will be key.These are jammers who can mix it up with other jammers and even blockers if needs be, but they also have the endurance to out pace a pack. But despite the unbelievable depth at jammer, victory in this tournament will be based on the Skids’ pack control. Their ability to trap blockers and pace packs will be what separates them from the competition.

THE DERBY NERD PREDICTS

The Skids will go undefeated in the tournament and take first over all, but it won’t be easy. While I don’t think the Skids are invincible (and The Eh! Team was within spitting distance in a bout against them last year, losing by only 4 points), they are simply too hot right now. They have burst out of the gates in 2010 and have been playing a lot of games against some solid competition, so I think they are ahead of the other teams in terms of game-readiness.

THE ROSTER

(Jersey number and club team in parentheses)

Beater Pan-Tease (1976 Les Filles du Roi),  Bone Machine (1111 La Racaille), Cheese Grater (289 Contrabanditas), Ewan Wotarmy (7734 Les Contrabanditas), Georgia W Tush (Contrabanditas), Iron Wench (516 La Racaille), Izzy Skellington (182, La Racaille), Jess Bandit (8 Les Filles du Roi), Lady J (86), Lyn-dah Kicks (75 La Racaille), No Holds Bard (2X4 La Racaille), Romeo (222 Les Filles du Roi), Smack Daddy (3X Les Filles du Roi), Trash N’ Smash (1.18 Contrabanditas), Karla Shnikov (AK 47 Contrabanditas), Lil Mama (2 Les Filles du Roi), Nameless Whorror (202 Les Filles du Roi), Rae Volver (38 Les Filles du Roi), Wrath Poutine (30 La Racaille)

Beater Pan-Tease (1976 Les Filles du Roi),  Bone Machine   (1111  ), Cheese Grater (289), (Ewan Wotarmy 7734 Les Contrabanditas), Georgia W Tush (Contrabanditas), Iron Wench (516 La Racaille), Izzy Skellington (182, La Racaille), Jess Bandit (8), Lady J (86), Lyn-dah Kicks (75), No Holds Bard (2X4), Romeo (222 Les Filles du Roi), Smack Daddy (3X Les Filles du Roi), Trash N’ Smash (Contrabanditas), Karla Shnikov (AK 47), Lil Mama (2), Nameless Whorror  (202), Rae Volver (38), Wrath Poutine (30 La Racaille)

Quad City Chaos Preview: CN Power

The Quad City Chaos is a four team round robin style tournament that will be played over the 27th and 28th of March at The Hangar. It will feature four of the best roller derby rosters in Canada, the all star teams from the leagues in Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal and Vancouver. The complete schedule can be found here. I’m going to start my four part Quad City Chaos preview with, who else? The hosts, Toronto’s CN Power.

CN POWER

Games: Vs. Vancouver‘s Terminal City All Stars (2pm on the 27th); Vs. Hamilton’s Eh! Team (4:30pm on the 27th); Vs. Montreal’s New Skids on the Block (1pm on the 28th).

CN Power kicked off 2010 with a lopsided victory over the scrappy Rideau Valley Vixens, exactly the kind of confidence booster that this squad needed after an uneven 2009. The 2010 version of CN Power looks focused and organized, and they’ll need both given the nature of the competition in this tournament.

The key to the victory over the Vixens was an uncontainable early onslaught by three of ToRD‘s top jammers, Lunchbox, Land Shark, and 2009 Jammer of the Year Defecaitlin (AKA: Dust Bunny). I don’t see CN Power veering too much from that strategy this this weekend, and the return of Bambi to the lineup will give them the depth that they will need as the weekend progresses. Over the course of the tournament, keep an eye out for jams from Betty Bomber, Memphis Kitty, 2009 rookie of the year Kari Mia Beere, and Marvel S. Maven, the standout sophomore who had an amazing 100% lead percentage in the bout against the Vixens.

Hit for hit, CN Power can go shoulder to hip with any team in the country. With the likes of Mega Mouth (AKA: Mega Bouche), Nasher the Smasher, Hoff, Lady Gagya and Dolly Destructo throwing hits, there will be no shortage of toughness on this squad. The return to the line up of 2009 Triple Threat winner Dyna Hurtcha will make up for the loss of Seka Destroy, who was excellent in her CN Power debut against the Vixens. Another big hitter, Jubilee, also has returned to ToRD after a year-long hiatus and will be making her 2010 CN Power debut at the tournament.

While they will need top jamming and big hitting to match up against Terminal City and The Eh! Team, in the key Sunday afternoon bout against The New Skids, CN Power will need to wrestle control of the pack from the pack-masters from Montreal; that means pivots Brim Stone, Rebel Rock-It , and Mach Wheels will need to control a tight pack when the stripe’s on their helmets. Also the consistency and calming influence of veteran Demolition Dawn will go a long way over the course of the grueling weekend. Look for sophomore skater Panty Hoser (who was also solid in her CN Power debut) to get some very important experience leading her pack.

THE DERBY NERD THINKS

Laying down the law early will be key for ToRD. It was the quick, efficient rotation of  ToRD’s top three jammers early on in the bout against the Vixens that sealed the deal in the season opener and they will need to establish that presence at Quad City. Also, keeping calm in the pack against the relentless grinding of the Hammer City girls and the shifty play making of the Skids will be key. This is going to be a long two days, so rotating the line up to keep everyone fresh and  limiting opposing power jams by staying out of the penalty box will be keys.

THE DERBY NERD PREDICTS

A close, early win over Terminal City will give CN Power the confidence they’ll need to pull off an upset victory over the WFTDA ranked Eh! Team (giving them some much needed revenge after a tough loss in 2009); unfortunately,  I don’t think things will go as well against the powerhouse Skids on Sunday, leaving the hosts with a second place finish. But let’s hope that CN Power proves me wrong!

ROSTER (with jersey number and club teams in parantheses)

Bambi (33, Gore-Gore Rollergirls), Betty Bomber (23 Death Track Dolls), Brim Stone (21:8 Gore-Gore Rollergirls), Defecaitlin (2 Gore-Gore Rollergirls), Demolition Dawn (36 Death Track Dolls), Dolly Destructo (e^[pii] Chicks Ahoy), Dyna Hurtcha (21, Chicks Ahoy!), Hoff (65 Chicks Ahoy), Jubilee (27 Death Track Dolls), Kari Mia Beere (06 Chicks Ahoy), Lady Gag-ya (212 Gore-Gore Rollergirls), Land Shark (1/3 Death Track Dolls), Lunchbox (7-11 Gore-Gore Rollergirls), Mach Wheels (V12 Chicks Ahoy), Marvel S. Maven (22 Chicks Ahoy), Mega Mouth (26er Chicks Ahoy), Memphis Kitty (56 Smoke City Betties), Nasher the Smasher (2by4 Chicks Ahoy), Panty Hoser (99, Death Track Dolls), Rebel Rock-It (7 Chicks Ahoy).

Bambi (33, Gore-Gore Rollergirls)
Betty Bomber (Death Track Dolls)
Brim Stone (21:8 Gore-Gore Rollergirls)
Defecaitlin (7 Gore-Gore Rollergirls)
Demolition Dawn (36 Death Track Dolls)
Dolly Destructo (e^[pii] Chicks Ahoy)
Dyna Hurtcha (Chicks Ahoy!)
Hoff (65 Chicks Ahoy)
Jubilee (Death Track Dolls)
Kari Mia Beere (06 Chicks Ahoy)
Lady Gag-ya (212 Gore-Gore Rollergirls)
Landshark (Death Track Dolls)
Lunchbox (1/3 Gore-Gore Rollergirls)
Mach Wheels (V12 Chicks Ahoy)
Marvel S. Maven (22 Chicks Ahoy)
Mega Mouth (26er Chicks Ahoy)
Memphis Kitty (Smoke City Betties)
Nasher the Smasher (2by4 Chicks Ahoy)
Panty Hoser (24, Death Track Dolls)
Rebel Rock-It (7 Chicks Ahoy)

Word on the Track

Cardinal Skate Co.

The Derby Nerd can’t be about stats all the time ( at least not until the regular seasons when there actually are stats all the time…), and even though ToRD’s regular season hasn’t started yet, everyone knows that the roller derby season never really ends.

NEW DERBY RETAIL OUTLET

Toronto finally has its first roller derby retail outlet! Cardinal Skate Co. opened its doors this weekend in Bloor West Village, and it features the physical manifestation of the popular roller derby web shop Rollerbug.com. I popped by the stylish little shop on Friday night and it was amazing to walk into a store and see a wall lined with derby skates. Stop by to show your support! Tell all your friends!

FAN”S CHOICE SCRIMMAGE

ToRD hosted its third preseason scrimmage on Saturday evening. It was another well attended and entertaining affair with only one difference: a closely contested bout between two evenly matched teams. The first 32 fans in attendance were given either a black or a white tee; twenty minutes before the bout was to begin, the fans were instructed to give the tee to the roller girl of their choice. Team Black, made up by a lot of ToRD players, quickly gelled and had doubled up Team White by the end of the first half. In the second half  White, made up of a lot of visiting skaters and ToRD rookies, finally came together and poured it on, eventually winning 101-92.

There were a lot of great showings from members of ToRD’s 2010 rookie class, and some of the skaters from sister leagues continue to put up impressive showings in these scrimmages. Thames Fatale‘s Mirambo looked great playing in only her second scrimmage since returning from a long stay on the injury reserve. Her Forest City leaguemate Killson dominated the second half from the jam line, putting up a lot of White ‘s 70 second-half points. Tri City‘s Barleigh Legal laid down some huge hits for White and was another key in the comeback.

TOURNAMENT UPDATE:

ToRD is still playing coy about its upcoming tournament (March 27-28), but word on the track is that four travel teams will be playing a round robin tournament beginning Saturday afternoon and continuing into Sunday evening. One guarantee is that the derby will be amazing: CN Power will be hosting The Terminal City All Stars (Vancouver), Hammer City‘s Eh! Team (Hamilton), and Montreal‘s New Skids on the Block, arguably, the four best teams in the country. Considering that The New Skids and the Eh! Team are the only two WFTDA ranked teams in Canada, this tournament provides a great opportunity for CN Power to see how it stacks up against some of the best competition on the continent.

Look for a full tournament preview (including possible lineups!) early next week.

PS: SPEAKING OF WFTDA…

Recently, there have been a few major blowouts stateside, including  a ridiculous 409-22 Charm City victory over River City (March 14th), and an amazing 305-31 Rocky Mountain victory over Bellingham. Anyone know what the WFTDA record is for total points / margin of victory?

The Jammer Quotient Explained

Defecaitlin takes the lead

THE JAMMER QUOTIENT EXPLAINED

Since I began to watch roller derby, I’d always wondered where the stats were. From what I could tell the leagues made a huge effort to record data—all those people sitting in the centre of the track and around the penalty box pens in hands—but as a fan I wasn’t seeing them. And since roller derby is a relatively new sport (particularly in its flat track form), and I new to it, I didn’t even know which stats were important and worth following. The Derby Nerd went to work.

Every major sports league finds some way to statistically compare its players, and I wanted some way to do the same with roller derby. The JQ is the best way I could think of to compare jammers, who have the most visible role on the track.* The JQ is a statistical comparison of jammers based on their rankings in five categories. Here are the the JQ Ratings for the February 27^th,2010,CN Power (199) and Rideau Valley Vixens (49) bout at The Hangar.

Jammer	Total Points	Points Per Jam	Plus/ Minus	Jam %	Lead %	JQ
Lunchbox (CNP)	48 (9)	4.36 (9)	+36 (9)	23.4 (8)	72.7 (9)	44
Land Shark CNP)	53 (10)	3.78 (7)	+45 (10)	29.7 (9)	57.1 (7)	43
Defecaitlin (CNP)	45 (8)	4.5 (10)	+29 (8)	21.2 (6)	70 (8)	40
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	25 (7)	4.16 (8)	+20 (7)	12.7 (3)	100 (10)	35
Soul Rekker (RVV)	19 (6)	1.18 (4)	-35 (5)	34 (10)	50 (6)	31

Below is a breakdown of the five categories used to determine the total JQ  (only the top five in each category are shown). For a condensed explanation, check here.

Total Points

Jammer	Total Points
Land Shark (CNP)	53 (10)
Lunchbox (CNP)	48 (9)
Defecaitlin (CNP)	45 (8)
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	25 (7)
Soul Rekker (RVV)	19 (6)

When all is said and done, most points always wins. There’s no way any analysis of jammers could exclude this. Land Shark was the workhorse for CN Power putting up a remarkable 53 points.

Points Per Jam

Jammer	Points Per Jam
Defecaitlin (CNP)	4.5 (10)
Lunchbox (CNP)	4.36 (9)
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	4.16 (8)
Land Shark (CNP)	3.78 (7)
Sister Disaster (RVV)	1.57 (6)

Points per jam is also an important indicator of a jammer’s value, particularly in situations where a team might need a guaranteed score, or if the opposing team’s jammer is in the penalty box and a team wants to be sure to put up a lot of points. Defecaitlin may not have been as busy as Lunch Box or Land Shark (jamming anyway; she did her share of mixing it up in the pack too), but she made the most of her jams, gaining well over a full score (4 points) each jam.

Plus/Minus

Jammer	Plus/ Minus
Land Shark (CNP)	+45 (10)
Lunchbox (CNP)	+36 (9)
Defecaitlin (CNP)	+29 (8)
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	+20 (7)
Ripper A Part (RVV)	-25 (6)

The last of the pure points categories is the plus/minus. A jammer’s plus/minus indicates the difference between the amount of points a jammer scores and the amount of points the opposing jammer scores against her. This is a good indicator of how well aware a jammer is of the other players on the track at all times. Land Shark (and the other CN Power jammers) dominated in this category as well.

Jam Percentage

Jammer	Jam %
Soul Rekker (RVV)	34 (10)
Land Shark (CNP)	29.7 (9)
Lunchbox (CNP)	23.4 (8)
Ripper A Part (RVV)	23.4 (8)
Defecaitlin (CNP)	21.2 (6)

The jam percentage represents the percentage of a team’s jams that a jammer does. This is the only category that has two members of the Vixens in the top 5. Soul Rekker really stepped up for the overmatched Vixens and wore the panty every third jam for both halves, a truly remarkable performance.

Lead Percentage

Jammer	Lead %
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	100 (10)
Lunchbox (CNP)	72.7 (9)
Defecaitlin (CNP)	70 (8)
Land Shark (CNP)	57.1 (7)
Soul Rekker (RVV)	50 (6)

The final category, the lead percentage, represents the percentage of a jammer’s jams in which she wins lead jammer. Marvel S. Maven made the most out of all the jams she got, never giving up the star on any of them. It’s interesting to note that Land Shark and Soul Rekker, who did the most jamming for each of their teams, and often against each other, had lower jam percentages. I suspect that patterns such as this (and the match ups they represent) will be most evident in the final two categories.

I’m looking forward to applying the JQ over ToRD’s full 2010 season.

Just a note: There’s a ToRD “Fan’s Choice” scrimmage this weekend that should be a lot of fun. The first fans who arrive get to choose which players are on which team. Word around the track is that there will be guests from other leagues including some fan favourites from Forest City.

(*A similar comparison could be done with blocker stats too, and I’ll start working on that soon).

The Jammer Quotient

The JQ is a statistical comparison of jammers based on their rankings in five categories. The maximum JQ a jammer can receive is 50. The table below illustrates the evaluation of a JQ for the February 27th bout between ToRD’s CN Power and the Rideau Valley Vixens (only the top 5 are shown)*.

Jammer	Total Points	Points Per Jam	Plus/ Minus	Jam %	Lead %	JQ
Lunchbox (CNP)	48 (9)	4.36 (9)	+36 (9)	23.4 (8)	72.7 (9)	44
Land Shark CNP)	53 (10)	3.78 (7)	+45 (10)	29.7 (9)	57.1 (7)	43
Defecaitlin (CNP)	45 (8)	4.5 (10)	+29 (8)	21.2 (6)	70 (8)	40
Marvel S. Maven (CNP)	25 (7)	4.16 (8)	+20 (7)	12.7 (3)	100 (10)	35
Soul Rekker (RVV)	19 (6)	1.18 (4)	-35 (5)	34 (10)	50 (6)	31

CN Power’s Lunchbox received the highest JQ. Interestingly, she didn’t actually lead in any of the five categories but placed second in four and third in the fifth (the numbers in brackets designate the ranking points, 10 for first place, etc). So for this bout, consistency was rewarded, as I imagine it always will be. Overall, all of the CN Power jammers had their way with the Vixens; despite a huge effort by Soul Rekker, the difference was in the jammers. The game was essentially over after the fourth jam when Defecaitlin (that’s Dust Bunny to all you Gore Gore fans) skated to a double grand slam and more than doubled the lead to 19-2.

This particular example doesn’t provide ideal data for a number of reasons. For one, it’s just one game, and there were only eight skaters who jammed a statically significant amount of times (I cut it off at 6 jams). The more data available, the more accurate the JQ, so during ToRD’s regular season, the teams will play enough games and get in enough jams to make a much more accurate judge of the statistical significance a jammer has to her team.

The data in this example are also skewed heavily in CN Power’s favour given the one-sided nature of the bout (199-49). I wouldn’t expect such high JQs over an extended period of time or among a much more even playing field. .

In the next post I’ll look at each category in more detail and justify the decision to include it.

* These stats are unofficial and are based on post bout analysis of video shot by Layer9.

Introducing The Derby Nerd

Lady Gagya makes some space for Land Shark.

Like any other sport, you need to watch a lot of roller derby to really understand it. But it doesn’t take too long for all of that violent frenzy to turn into something a lot more coherent. For me it happened in Montreal during a La Racaille game. I know that because I clearly remember the moment, seeing the extraordinary Iron Wench cutting her way through a pack, grabbing jerseys, accepting assists, dodging shoulders. It was at that moment when I realized that all of the chaos was actually quite orchestrated.

It’s been a few years now since a sudden surge of roller derby in Canada saw teams emerge in Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, and other cities very soon after. We’ve gotten to the point now where the sport in Canada (at its very best) has developed to nearly the highest levels. It’s an exciting time to be a derby fan, and things just seem to keep looking up.

Almost as soon as I had my moment of derby clarity, my sports brain took over and I started to think of different ways to statistically compare the jammers. After a few false starts, I eventually developed something that I’ve been calling “The Jammer Quotient” or JQ. Its inspiration is varied, but basically it gives points to jammers based on their rankings in five different categories (total points, points per jam, plus/minus, jam %, and lead %). The top jammer in each category gets 10 points, the second 9, the third 8, etc (some fantasy sports players may recognize this points system). It might sound complicated, but it all adds up to one simple number between 10 and 50.

I’m working on a practice JQ comparison based on CN Power’s resounding 199-49 victory over the Rideau Valley Vixens on February 27^th. A one game analysis isn’t ideal, especially a bout so one sided, but it’ll make for a good practice run.

I’ll post it shortly.

coming soon: The Derby Nerd

the scores, the stats, the stories