MRD wins the Tennessee Mid-State Conference

by Nox

The "Honky Tonk Stomp," Tennessee's first statewide roller derby conference, was held at the Nashville Fairgrounds, July 14-15. The Memphis Roller Derby's travel team was slated to play both Nashville and Knoxville on Saturday the 14th.

The first bout pitted the Nashville Roller Girls' own "Music City Rhythm & Bruisers" against the undefeated MRD Travel Team. Both teams came off of the line hard and the fans quickly realized that this was going to be an exciting bout. Nashville, clad in blue and black, opened with a well coordinated defensive game - quickly establishing control of the front of the pack against the now notoriously aggressive MRD Travel Team wearing cardinal red.

Everything Memphis does is on the attack, and even the Memphis jammers have been known to knock a girl down if the opportunity permits, but Nashville wasn't intimidated. Fans witnessed some first ever 0-0 point jams and the outcome was uncertain. The first period ended with score of 15-11 in favor of Memphis, but it was anyone's game.

As the second period began to unfold, it quickly became clear that Nashville was putting better use to what they had seen in the first period than Memphis was. The second period was all Nashville &emdash; grabbing lead jammer, outscoring Memphis, and tying the score for a roaring Nashville crowd.

However, MRD's hallmark stamina is hard to beat. Near the end of the second period, as the Nashville girls started to tire, the Memphis girls gave no quarter. It was then that Head Coach Jonjitsu drove the first nail in Nashville's coffin by fielding a fresh jammer, Memphomaniac, who he had kept in reserve. Mempho, a whip-smart ex-speed skater with long legs and a low profile, cut through the pack like a scalpel and scored a quick 5-0 and immediately called off the jam in two separate jams, giving MRD a commanding lead going into the third period.

The final score: Memphis 85, Nashville 41.

Hoping their stamina would last through another bout, MRD immediately faced off against the Knoxville 'Hard Knox Rollergirls' (HKR) &emdash; known for being brutal heavy hitters. Many wondered if MRD could really defeat two travel teams back to back, but Coach Jonjitsu was confident.

From the start of the first jam, it was clear that HKR was not prepared for Memphis' style. Unable to effectively hold Memphis' jammers, intimidate the Memphis blockers or defend their own jammers from MRD's hyper-aggressive tactics, HKR quickly fell behind as Memphis scored 4-0, 5-0, 4-0 in the first three jams. HKR was unable to pull together a coordinated defense and the first period ended with a vicious 31-8 in favor of Memphis.

If MRD thought they had it in the bag, the second period was an unpleasant surprise. HKR came out playing MRD's game, and played it better than MRD. The game got more aggressive, and much rougher as Knoxville turned up the heat. By the end of the second period, HKR had scored 20 points to Memphis' 18, using much the same tactics that MRD relied upon but with a better established forward defensive position. Outstanding jamming from HKR's Goblynn and Jamie Skull helped bring the period home.

The MRD fans held their breath going into the third period. With so much improvement between the first and second period by Knoxville, and only a 21-point lead, there was plenty to worry about. However, as the third period began to unfold, it became clear that the game was all Memphis. Once again Memphis' fierce tactics and superior stamina wore down their opponent &endash; and MRD skated away in the final period scoring big and holding back the Knoxville scoring efforts. Final Score: Memphis 80, Knoxville 38.

The night ended with "Whoop that Trick," MRD's anthem, blasting from the speakers and its two biggest fans, H-Bomb and Field Marshall, holding up pre-made 'MRD 4-0' signs. At July 17th's practice, the entire league cheered as Hustlin' Flow presented the Travel Team the Tennessee Mid-State Conference Championship Cup.