The Midwest Sports Hockey Complex will be rockin’ on Saturday night as two teams from Florida roll into town to take on the GateKeepers and the Arch Rival Roller Girls in what is sure to be some amazing travel team action. Doors for the double header open at 6:30 pm and the action begins at 7 pm. General admission tickets on bout day are $10 cash at the door. Kids 10 and under get in free. Save $2 per ticket with an online purchase in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

The GateKeepers open up their home travel team season ranked #2 with their only loss dealt to them by #1 Your Mom Men’s Roller Derby back on April 27th. A game the GateKeepers only lost by twenty three points at Des Moines. Since that loss the GateKeepers have racked up three wins at Spring Roll to move to 3 - 1 on the season. Spring Roll featured three big wins over #6 Mass Maelstrom (240 - 92), #9 Race City Rebels (443 - 65) and #11 Rock City Riot (416 - 50). Expect a heavy dose of Debaucherous Prime on the jammer line for the GateKeepers and you never quite know how Magnum, P.I.M.P. will make his presence known each bout. His ability to hurt you as a jammer or as a shut-down blocker make him a player you absolutely have to game plan for. Also a big question mark is the status of Bat Wing. He has been dealing with a leg injury and his current status for Saturday’s bout is unknown. Who will step into that jammer spot should Bat Wing be unable to go? Well, my money is on Short Knocks who has looked very good this Turf Wars season after coming out of retirement. The GateKeepers blocking corps has a great blend of size, speed and agility. With heavy hitters like Bled Zepplin, Wrecking Bill, Double Excel, Inquadable Hulk and Neil Death Experience punishing opposing blockers and jammer alike and the quick and nimble positional blocking of players like Gnat King Kill, Zombie Jesus, Sweet Tooth and The Saint; The GateKeepers are able to mix up their packs and really keep their opponents guessing.

The GateKeepers are going to have to play their absolute best to defend their home turf against the Magic City Misfits on Saturday.

Magic City is coming into the bout with a record of 5 - 0 with wins over un-ranked Tampa Bay (443 - 32), un-ranked Carolina (354 - 34), #11 Race City Rebels (350 - 88), #12 Harm City (446 - 87) and #6 Mass Maelstrom (182 - 144). Magic City boasts a roster full of some the best skaters in all of the MRDA. A significant number of players on the travel team come from jam skating backgrounds and those skills have translated quite successfully to the flat track. The combination of acrobatics and speed make Magic City a very entertaining team to watch. Be sure to keep an eye on #4 TJ Binkley who played out of his mind at Spring Roll and also watch #19 Jeremy “Streak” Strecker. To be honest, you have to watch the entire team as they bring a style of derby to the track that is unlike any other team in the MRDA.

These two teams have met twice before and have split the series. The GateKeepers beat Magic City way back on September 26th of 2010 by a score of 170 - 143, but just a little over two years ago the Magic City Misfits beat the GateKeepers at the 2011 MRDA Championships’ in the consolation match by a score of 170 - 145. To this day that loss is the GateKeepers’ worst loss in their history. These two teams are going to give it their all for sixty minutes!

You can read Muckety Mucks’ preview of the opening bout between the The Arch Rival Roller Girls and Jacksonville HERE!

On July 20th the 2013 Turf War season concludes with the Championship bout between the Dogtown Rockets and the RiverFront Crimes!

On July 27th its #2 vs #3 as the New York Shock Exchange come to town! This double-header event will also see the B-Keepers take on the Dow Jones Average (NY B-Team)!

See you at the bouts!

Star-Spangle Hammer

Star-Spangled Hammer and Magilla Guerilla are the announcers for the St. Louis GateKeepers.