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2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #4 Magic City Misfits

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #4 Magic City Misfits

By James Brains

The #4 Magic City Misfits are one of the most exciting teams to watch in all of roller derby. The team from Jacksonville, Florida paved the way to their second-straight MRDA Championships appearance by putting up some staggering offensive numbers. The Misfits, MRDA’s only undefeated team this season at 4-0, set an MRDA record for most points scored in a bout (617) and beat each of their opponents by at least 160 points. Yet, despite these impressive numbers, the Magic City Misfits remain a bit of a question mark. They are the only team to qualify for the 2012 Championships that has not played any of the other qualifying teams this year.

Since joining MRDA in September of 2010, the Misfits have lost one game: an eight-point loss to the eventual-champion New York Shock Exchange in the semi-finals of the 2011 MRDA Championships. The Misfits proceeded to beat the St. Louis GateKeepers in the third-place game. Since then, the Misfits posted three big victories at Spring Roll against the Rock City Riot, Connecticut Death Quads, and Sioux City Korn Stalkers. Their fourth win of the 2012 season was their closest: a 267-107 home victory against the Race City Rebels.

“My favorite part of the 2012 season was our first home game in the three years that we have been a team,” Magic City Misfit TJ “Just the Tip” Brinkley said. “A big thanks goes to the Race City Rebels for being the first team to travel to Florida to play us.”

Magic City is well aware they are going to face some stiff competition at Champs and are preparing accordingly. “The entire team has been training on and off skates: hitting the gym, lifting weights, and working on cardio,” Brinkley explained. “Everyone gives 150% all year. I’m 200% certain we will be prepared once we step on that track.”

Magic City will need to be prepared when they take on #5 Puget Sound in the first round’s most anticipated match-up. “I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that we are stoked about playing Puget Sound,” Brinkley affirmed. “They have some awesome skaters, and I think it will be a true derby game. Hopefully, we will have a fast-paced game with a lot of skating and little-to-no slow derby. Both teams match up pretty well. Both teams have awesome skaters. This will be the game to watch on Saturday.”

Puget Sound and Magic City play each other for the first time at Championships. They were scheduled to face off in July at RollerCon, but a last-minute snafu put an end to those plans. Fans can expect to see some of men’s roller derby’s most talented skaters playing old-fashioned, smash-mouth derby. Magic City will showcase their trademark backwards blocking, while Puget Sound will demonstrate what happens when a hard-hitting team has a large target zone to work with.

“The fans can expect awesome individual and TEAM skating. The Misfits will be a well-oiled machine: level-headed and balls-to-the-wall,” Brinkley added. “We have tunnel vision, and we’re not going to be knocked off track. Expect the unexpected.”

 

Tickets are still available for the MRDA Championships “Gateway to the Best,” taking place October 20-21 in St. Louis, Missouri. Visit Brown Paper Tickets for more information. And, keep your browser refreshed at MRDA for more team profiles and interviews.

Other Previews:

#5 Puget Sound Outcast Derby

#6 Portland Men’s Roller Derby

#7 Dallas Deception

#8 Mass Maelstrom

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #5 Puget Sound

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #5 Puget Sound

By James Brains

#5 Puget Sound earned their second trip to the MRDA Championships due in large part to two victories against #6 Portland Men’s Roller Derby. The first was a 232-93 walloping at the Big O in February. Puget Sound followed that up with a 261-90 stomping at their annual Throwdown in the Sound tournament, where they also beat up on the Lane County Concussion, 368-47. Those are Puget Sound’s three victories in a minimal season. Their only loss came in July to #1 Your Mom in Des Moines. Skating short-handed, Puget Sound had a rough time of it and succumbed to a 257-143 defeat.

“My favorite moment of 2012 was playing at the Big O in Eugene (Oregon),” Puget Sound jammer extraordinaire Speed Dealer said. “The venue was great, and it was nice to see some newer MRDA teams play.” The Big O was very special for Speed Dealer because he set a Guinness World Record for the longest jump on roller skates.

Puget Sound blocker Radillac’s favorite moment was a trip to France where he got to share his love for roller derby. “I definitely enjoyed going to France and getting to play derby there. I practiced with the Toulouse Quad Guards. Those guys are on their way to being a top team. I also skated around Paris which was awesome.”

In addition to Puget Sound’s usual training regimen, to prepare for Championships, Radillac hits up the skate parks, an increasingly popular way for derby skaters to cross train. Puget Sound also scrimmages against WFTDA’s Western Region Champion Oly Rollers every week.

Last year, Puget Sound lost a heartbreaker to the Shock Exchange in the MRDA Finals to take second. Yet, with the competition ramped up this year, Puget Sound will have a tough go at it if they hope to make it to the Finals again. Both skaters I interviewed are excited for a chance to take on Magic City, their first round opponent. “I am interested in skating against Magic City. They are one of the teams we have not played against yet,” Radillac said. Magic City and Puget Sound were set to face off for the first time at RollerCon this year, but the bout fell through at the last minute.

What can we expect from a bout between the only two MRDA teams to predominantly feature skaters using their real names? Well, aside from a nearly total lack of puns, hard hitting is on the docket. “We have been working on the slow game just like everyone else, but I like to play the faster game. So, expect to see some fast big hit derby,” Radillac said.

Speed Dealer concurred: “Fans can expect to see a hard hitting and fast paced game with Puget.” This, coupled with Magic City’s tendency to race around and lay skaters out, should produce the first round’s best bout.

Tickets are still available for the MRDA Championships “Gateway to the Best.” Visit Brown Paper Tickets for more information. And, keep your browser refreshed at MRDA for more team profiles and interviews.

Other Previews:

#6 Portland Men’s Roller Derby

#7 Dallas Deception

#8 Mass Maelstrom

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #6 Portland Men’s Roller Derby

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #6 Portland Men’s Roller Derby

By James Brains

Having joined in December 2011, Portland Men’s Roller Derby is the newest member to qualify for this year’s MRDA Championships. Portland hit the ground skating participating in three tournaments this year: The Big O, Spring Roll, and Throwdown in the Sound. Don’t let their 3-4 2012 record fool you. Despite being the only team to earn a trip to Champs with a losing record, Portland is a force to be reckoned with. They never shy away from a tough battle: all four of Portland’s losses came to top five-ranked MRDA teams.

Portland’s all-star travel team, the Bridgetown Menace, showed up on most teams’ radars with their performance at Spring Roll. “Spring Roll was my favorite derby moment of 2012.,” Portland skater Shreddy Mercury said. The entire weekend was a blast! We came into the tournament unranked and played very well against four MRDA-ranked teams. That performance in Ft. Wayne is what earned us our spot at Champs.”

Specifically, Portland absolutely handled the then-#10 and #11 teams. Most notable was a 170-61 win over a very strong Race City team, who subsequently shot up to #7 due to their Spring Roll victories. Portland’s other triumph that weekend was a 296-72 shellacking of the Connecticut Death Quads.

So, how is Portland preparing for this year’s championships? “I’m preparing my mind and body for Championships with a steady diet of gangster rap, caffeine, and BBQ asparagus,” the always light-hearted and smiling Shreddy Mercury joked. But, Portland has put in some serious track time. 2012 was their inaugural home team season. The league is so successful they were able to field three local teams to compete against each other. In addition to intraleague play, Portland has continued to nurture their relationship with their sister league, the Rose City Rollers, one of the top women’s teams in the world.

Portland will need to do all they can to prepare for their MRDA Championships first-round bout against the third-seed New York Shock Exchange. The Shock Exchange handed Portland one of their biggest losses of the season at Spring Roll, a 270-82 pummeling. And, though the Shock Exchange appear to have lost a step based on a recent defeat by the St. Louis GateKeepers, the younger Portland team will likely have to wait for future seasons to beat these tricky veterans. Watch out for Bleed’Em & Reap and Twin Cities Terrors-transfer Bustin Morenose to have a big impact for Portland.

Shreddy Mercury is excited about the bout for more personal reasons: “I can’t wait to see Chad Von Sausage Claus (former Portland jammer who now skates for the Shock Exchange). It’s been way too long since we were on the track together. I hear he’s kicking ass on the East Coast. We miss Sausage!”

Shreddy Mercury also wanted to pass a message along to the fans. “If you are a fan of us, we are fans of YOU! Come say ‘hi’ at the after party. We’ll get silly.”

Tickets are still available for the MRDA Championships “Gateway to the Best.” Visit Brown Paper Tickets for more information. And, keep your browser refreshed at MRDA for more team profiles and interview.

Other Previews:

#7 Dallas Deception

#8 Mass Maelstrom

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #7 Dallas Deception

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #7 Dallas Deception

By James Brains

Despite finishing #5 at last year’s tournament, the Dallas Deception traveled a difficult road qualifying for this year’s MRDA Championships. The Deception earned a trip to St. Louis, Missouri due in large part to a convincing 237-130 win against then -#9 Twin Cities Terrors. The most remarkable part about this victory is that the Deception experienced a league split over the off season yet were able to rebuild and remain a championships-level league.

“We suffered major jammer loss in the off season and it amazes me how fast we picked up the pieces,” Dallas Deception skater Ugotta Be Rad said.

The league split has helped the Dallas Deception, 3-1 in 2012, come together as a team: “Unless they are jamming, my guys and I probably don’t stand out much. We stand together,” Deception skater Uncle Jesse McNasty added. “This past year we have done much to lose the egos and the individual play. An all-star team can beat a team of all-stars.”

Uncle Jesse McNasty is trying to keep his team focused in their training leading up to Champs: “We are training until what we want to do is second nature, but we’re also trying to keep it interesting. It is incredibly difficult to jam against twelve blockers working in unison, but it is also incredibly difficult to work in unison with eleven other blockers. If you can accomplish a task at its most simple as and most difficult, then anything in between should bring no unexpected hurdles.” The Deception have also been working with sister leagues Dallas Derby Devils and Assassination City for symbiotic training opportunities in preparation for Championships.

Both Ugotta Be Rad and Uncle Jesse McNasty want a shot at #3 New York Shock Exchange at Championships. “I missed out playing against New York at Spring Roll 2011 (New York won 182-46) due to injury,” Ugotta Be Rad said. “Playing them is playing the rule book, so you have to bring your skating skills and smarts against them.”

The Dallas Deception will have to defeat their first-round opponent the #2-ranked host league, the St. Louis GateKeepers, before they can get a shot at the defending champs. The Deception took a pounding against the GateKeepers in June, 340-83, for their only loss of the season. But, despite the seemingly lopsided score, Uncle Jesse McNasty felt his team learned a lot from the experience: “Though we lost, it was a defining moment for the Deception. We took a very short roster into the lion’s den and found the true measure of ourselves and our team. We got our butts kicked and came home with a renewed sense of what we needed to do and how to apply what we had been working on.”

No matter the outcome, Uncle Jesse McNasty expects a positive experience for all involved. “When the smoke clears and the dust settles, Dallas Deception will accomplish the goals we set for ourselves for MRDA Championships. Win or lose, we will represent what Texas men’s roller derby has to offer. And, we will do it with dignity and respect. My children started junior derby recently. The torch has been passed. In St. Louis, that same torch will burn brighter than ever, held high by eight teams. After the last bout has been played, and the trophy has been awarded, it will be the fans who will take that torch home.”

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #8 Mass Maelstrom

2012 MRDA Championships Preview: #8 Mass Maelstrom

By James Brains

Though they were the last team to punch their ticket to St. Louis, Missouri for MRDA Championships, the Mass Maelstrom competed and won the most games of any team to qualify for men’s roller derby’s top tournament. The team from Lancaster, Mass. participated in thirteen MRDA-sanctioned bouts this season and won nine of them. Maelstrom earned their first trip to MRDA Champs with a breakout showing at the Mohawk Valley Cup in August. They took second place in the eight-team tournament and beat then #7 Race City.

“My favorite moment this season was our rematch against Race City at the Mohawk Valley Cup,” Mass Maelstrom’s Stryker said. “Their entire team is full of talented skaters and they play a really tight game. It’s really challenging and fun to play against them. Our loss to them at Spring Roll was disappointing for me because I felt like we played a sloppy game. I knew if we got another game against them we could take them.”

Teammate Zed enjoyed the Mohawk Valley Cup for a different reason. “One of my favorite moments of the 2012 season was the huge outpouring of help and love I received from the derby community after I broke my leg at the Mohawk Valley Cup,” Zed said. Zed remains confident and focused on returning to the track in time for MRDA Champs despite his major setback: “My preparation for Champs involves resting, healing, eating properly, and exercise. I’m hoping for a swift recovery to be able to play!”

Stryker is able to take a more active approach to his training: “I’m eating better and hitting the gym a bit more frequently. I take competition and team play very seriously. I refuse to let Maelstrom down by becoming fatigued during a game. As a team, Maelstrom is bumping up our practice time from one two-hour practice per week to two two-hour practices. We’re also reviewing bout footage and talking out game theory.”

Both Zed and Stryker would like a shot at the Magic City Misfits. “Although the seeding makes it fairly unlikely, I would love to skate against Magic City,” Stryker said. “When I watched Championships last year and saw how they played, it opened my eyes to an entirely new concept of how to play roller derby. They have some of the best skaters I’ve ever seen play the game. I feel like we would learn a lot playing them.”

So, what can we expect to see from Mass Maelstrom at the MRDA Championships? “From the start of our season Maelstrom went out to not only win but to make our games enjoyable to watch as a fan. We refuse to play ‘stroller derby’ and have gotten away from using pace-lines to rack up points on power jams. We go out every game to PLAY the game, not to stand around for two minutes not doing anything. We love and appreciate all the support our fans give us, and the least we can do in return is play the game they’ve come to see.”

Mass Maelstrom take on undefeated #1-seed Your Mom Men’s Derby at 9am, Saturday, October 20th in the first bout of the tournament. Both Zed and Maelstrom jammer Peter Rottentail are excited to face off against Your Mom. “I believe the harder the opponent the more you learn,” Rottentail said. “I skated in toe plugs for the past 2 years. After seeing (Your Mom blocker) Seahorses Forever at Spring Roll, I decided to put toe stops back on. They have been my best friend ever since.”

You can expect to see fast, action-packed old-school roller derby in this bout as both teams play a very “no nonsense” game. The Maelstrom will likely be over-matched skill-wise by a Your Mom teams that features world-champion speed skaters. Keep an eye out for Maelstrom’s No Big Deal and Jack Hammer’d winners of the Mohawk Valley Cup’s Jammer MVP and Blocker MVP, respectively.

Tickets are still available for the MRDA Championships “Gateway to the Best.” Visit Brown Paper Tickets for more information. And, keep your browser refreshed at MRDA for more team profiles and interviews.