Larry Swanson’s Blog

They didn’t beat the Honky Tonk Hearbreakers, but the Derby Liberation Front did outscore them in the second half of the battle between the Rat City Rollergirl league champ DLF and the Texas Rollergirls champs.

It looked in the first half like the DLF was going to get schooled by the champs of the league that launched the flat-track roller derby craze five years ago. But the DLF learned fast - how to skate on the slicker concrete surface and how to compete with the likes of Sparkle Plenty and Buckshot Betsy - and held their own in the second half. The Honky Tonk Hearbreakers prevailed by about 15 points (63-47??), but the DLF clearly won the respect of their TX hosts.

D-Bomb, Momma Cherry, and Diva State were great as blockers, opening the way for the team’s kick-ass jammers, including the rookie sensation Meg MyDay. Ann R. Kissed made her presence known with several solid blocks, clobbering with authority some of the best derby girls in the country.

The DLF took on the best team in the best league in the country and displayed resilience and creativity, coming back strong after a potentially demoralizing first half to outskate a championship team. And they did it without 2005 RCRG MVP Burnett Down, who was out with a knee injury. They’re still the team to beat in Rat City.

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A personal highlight of the trip to Austin was getting photos of me with Honky Tonk Heartbreakers Sparkle Plenty (one of the best blockers you’ll ever see) and Buckshot Betsy (a wicked-fast jammer who can take an elbow to the jaw and still score 8 points in a jam) and especially with the woman with the best name in roller derby, Lucille Brawl of the Hotrod Honeys.

Sparkle Plenty

Buckshot Betsy

Lucille Brawl