It was a hot one (literally) on Saturday at the Midwest Sports Hockey Complex in Queeny Park. The 2012 Turf Wars season continued as the Hoosiers fell to the Hipsters in the expo bout and in the main event, the Rockets beat the Crimes 165 - 104 to move to 2 - 0 on the season.

To start of the evening, the Hipsters took on the Hoosiers in a continuation of the expo bouts that fans have come to expect as an opener to Turf Wars action. Losing to the Hipsters last year by a score of 96 - 53, the Hoosiers came in with a chip (or was that a Busch beer can?) on their shoulders and were determined to even up the series. The Hipsters seemed to not really be all that interested either way, and the bout was close the entire time. In the end, apathy won out as the Hipsters once again bested the Hoosiers by a score of 57 - 49.

The main event of the evening was the third installment of the 2012 Turf Wars season. The Rockets entered this bout coming off a convincing fifty-one point win over the defending Turf Wars champs The South Grand Slammers and were looking to continue their regular-season unbeaten streak. The RiverFront Crimes were looking to get their first notch in the win column this season and show the rest of the league they were for real and ready to stake a claim for this season’s title.

The bout began with Debaucherous Prime facing off against Magnum, P.I.M.P. on the jammer line. Magnum quickly shot through the pack to grab lead jammer, but Prime was hot on his tail and forced Magnum to call it off after grabbing a quick point. On the following jam, Shanego Fett was able to pick up nine points when the Rockets’ blockers kept The Saint tangled up in a physical pack. Screech Around got the Crimes on the board by scoring two points on the third jam as he took on High Pains Drifter. The Rockets then settled in and began to slowly build a lead. The Rockets were never held scoreless for more than one jam and the Crimes were having all sorts of trouble in the pack. It became pretty clear by midway through the first half that the Rockets were controlling the pace of the game and the Crimes were going to need some help to keep up. With about four minutes left in the first half and the Rockets leading by a score of a 59 - 14, that help appeared to be on the way. A jammer penalty sent Shanego Fett to the box and gave the Crimes the first power-jam of the game. Debaucherous Prime put eleven points on the board and the Crimes were fired up. The very next jam, High Pains Drifter got out of the pack first, but picked up a minor so he was not granted lead jammer. Drifter scored three points before being sent off for a track cut. Screech Around took full advantage and scored fourteen points before the jam ended to narrow the lead to twenty-five with a score of 66 - 41 in favor of the Rockets. The Rockets put up five points to the Crimes 4 on the next two jams to end the half with a score of 71 - 45 in favor of the Rockets.

The first jam of the second half was all Crimes as Debaucherous Prime grabbed lead jammer quickly and the Crimes blockers really laid the hammer down on Shanego Fett. Shanego went down hard going into turn three and would have to pass the star off to Magnum, P.I.M.P. to finish the jam. Prime was able to score a quick ten points and call off the jam before Magnum was able to do any damage of his own. The Rockets blockers then went back to work and like most of the first half, methodically controlled the pack as the Rockets’ jammers would grab points here and there, extending their lead to 158 - 81 with just under four minutes left to go in the game. The Crimes would show some signs of life when Oodles of Brutal put up twenty-one points on a power-jam courtesy of Magnum, P.I.M.P.’s trip to the sin bin, but by that point time was winding down and the Rockets were content running the clock out with a final score of 165 - 104.

Scoring (Unofficial):

Rockets: Shanego Fett - 63; Magnum, P.I.M.P. - 61; High Pains Drifter - 41

Crimes: Debaucherous Prime - 53; Screech Around - 22; Oodles of Brutal - 21; The Saint - 8

The Rockets’ packs were huge this game allowing their jammers to get lead 64% of the time and only allowing the Crimes to get lead four times in the first half and five times in the second half. While the Crimes’ jammers played very clean and didn’t get sent to the penalty box even once, the blockers were not so lucky and racked up quite a few penalty minutes allowing the Rockets to really control the packs. Screech Around really had a breakout game earning MVP honors for the Crimes scoring twenty two points. Kurt Mangle received MVP honors for his punishing pack work.

With the win, the Rockets move to 2 - 0 and really take a firm grip on that first spot in the championship bout. Falling to 0 - 2, the Crimes will now need to beat the Slammers (6/16) and the Rockets (8/18) in their final two bouts of this season to get to 2 - 2 and even have a chance at getting into the championship bout.

Next up, the B-Keepers will face off with the Carolina Wrecking Balls on June 9th as part of a double-header with the Arch Rival Roller Girls‘ Saint Lunachix who will be taking on the BrewCity Briuser Battlestars. That will take place at the Midwest Sports Hockey Complex at Queeny Park. You can get tickets now at Brown Paper Tickets!

The Turf Wars continue on June 16th as the Slammers will take on the Crimes. Tickets will be going on sale soon for this event so be sure to check back!

Don’t forget that the 2012 Men’s Roller Derby Association Championships will take place right here in St. Louis on October 20th and 21st. Gateway to the Best will feature the top eight teams in the MRDA battling it out at the Midwest Sports Hockey Complex with the last team standing being crowned 2012 MRDA Champions! Tickets can be purchased at a discounted rate right now at Brown Paper Tickets! But you better act fast as the price will increase as we get closer to the event!

See you at the bouts!

Star-Spangled Hammer

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