After coming back from St. Louis and seeing the Smashinistas v Stunt Devils ARRG derby match I was hooked, addicted, fiending for more. This time I was vying to see some All-Stars class sport with the Gotham Girls’ season opener at home against the Charm City (Baltimore) All-Stars. Some mates of mine wanted to go too, but we got around to the website too late and all the tickets were gone. I got in touch with the GGRD and asked if there was any possibility in getting on a waiting list for last-minute available tickets. There wasn’t, but a small batch of extra tix were going to go on sale on some day at midnight. 4 minutes after they went on sale they were GONE! I attribute that to a bug with their ticket software (that’s the nerd in me talking). Still, I persevered! A week later, just a couple nights before the bout, I got mention of a small – 20 – batch of post-press tix available, go, get them now! Needless to say within an hour of those final tickets getting posted they were snatched up!

The stress of getting a will call ticket was totally worth it, the payback was the excitement of the bouts and the top-notch class of sport played by Charm City and the Gotham Girls.

The opening bout was between Lake Effect Furies (Buffalo, NY) and the Wall Street Traitors, one of the local teams that make up the Gotham Girls All-Stars. The Traitors lost and it was unclear to me if this was in-part because some of their players (Hyper Lynx, Ginger Snap and OMG WTF) were playing on the All-Stars team and thus not playing in both bouts. It was good to see, but like I say I was really eager for the All-Stars team to make their debut.

Gotham v Charm City

It was back and forth for the first few matches, with Gotham routinely taking a lead and then Charm City coming back within a few points or to tie. Until! At some point it was 33-29 in Gotham’s favor. Then it was 44-30, then 48-30, then 57-30, then 71-30! Gotham just kept pulling away and pushing ahead and they went into the halftime at 89-34! Of course Charm City have given Gotham a fight in the past, so it was known that they could come out after the half and do just as much damage in return, forcing a tough 2nd half. But whatever pep talk the Gotham girls got was more riveting because the 2nd half saw some incredible teamwork and explosive action. Keep a watch out because if the Gotham All-Stars stay healthy and play the rest of the year the way they did, it’ll be a monumental season! Notable players that made a big impact were Em Dash (8212), Hyper Lynx (404), OMG WTF (753), Suzy Hotrod (55), Carmen Monoxide (12 – MVP), Fisti Cuffs (241 – Co-Captain) and especially Bonnie Thunders (340 – Captain) – those last two derby girls blocked and jammed their way to at least a hundred points! It’s understandable why Bonnie Thunders is captain – there were times when this ex synchro figure skater could hold her balance and skate through the pack sideways to get the lead jam and score points. Seriously impressive!



That’s Fisti Cuffs (241 – Co-Captain) on the far right in the penalty box – notice how high up her knees come!


The Gotham pack trying to hold Charm City’s jammer Joy Collision (747 – Captain) at bay. For the most part they did a damned good job!


Another shot of Joy Collision (what can I say, she’s hot, and good!) maneuvering to get ahead of the Gotham jammer to put a block on her. Joy was the clear candidate for Charm City’s MVP, as she was about the only one doing any significant damage – blocking or jamming – against Gotham.


the final score was actually 201-75 – way to go Gotham!

and lastly a big THANK YOU to Louise and Anne Frankenstein from the GGRD crew. I asked around trying to find where either of you were but no one knew exactly where to find you. so I’ll see you at the next bouts and again, thank you for organizing such a wonderful sport!

[my full photo set on Flickr]

here’s the second half of the Gotham v Charm City bout, you’ll see Gotham simply blow Charm City out of the waters!

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