Hello rockers. Your humble blogger comes to you with despondent horns thrown. Our beloved Guns N Rollers lost the rematch against the Break Neck Betties last week, missing out on the chance to battle the #1 High Rollers for the Season 7 Championships. They will instead meet the #4-ranked Heartless Heathers on the track- in all likelyhood ending the season in the same #3 spot they were at after the Season 7 Opener.
At the risk of sounding like a broked record, penalty trouble killed GNR's chances at victory yet again. GNR skaters were in the box for minutes that sometimes spanned three consecutive jams (in one case, even four jams). Line-ups were constantly a skater or more short due to penalties, which left gaping holes on the track for the Betties to take full advantage.
It wasn't all GNR's fault. The Betties are, well, the Betties. There's a reason why they won the Season 6 Championships. They are really really freaking good. They have lightening quick jammers like SoulFearic ACID. They have sneaky jammers like D Konstructor. And they have solid, hard-hitting blockers like Scylla Devourer and Scrappy Go Lucky. All in all, they are a formidable opponent. The only way to beat them is to throw them off their game. This is not impossible. GNR did it a little over a month ago, in those glorious first minutes of the bout. But they couldn't keep up with the well-oiled machine that is the Break Neck Betties.
In addition to the penalty trouble, which I've discussed ad nauseum, here are a few things I noticed:
GNR got tired. Really quickly. Jammers had to work so hard to get through the pack that they had nothing left to go the distance and keep fighting for points. Blockers got fatigued and stopped paying attention to finishing their hits. Multiple times I saw a blocker hit a Betties jammer but not make sure she actually pushed her all the way out of bounds. Result: the Betties jammer simply passed her and skated on. I saw in-play positional blocking abandoned for no good reason. Pack awareness suffered under decreased stamina. In a word, GNR looked slow.
Something else I realized (ok, I came to this conclusion a while ago, but I am voicing it again with renewed vigor): GNR is in dire need of another jammer. Scald Eagle is amazing. Supa Sixpack is tenacious. Untamed Shrew is inspiring. But Shrew has been blocking instead of jamming (with the exception of the semi-final). And Sixpack doesn't always get the help she needs from her blockers. I started writing this post before last Thursday's draft, and was hoping to see GNR pick up a ready-made jammer like Mutch Mayhem or Feliz Brutality, who look to be exactly what GNR needs. Alas, it was not in the cards. I'm excited to see what GNR's draft picks (Scarlene and Yoga Nabi Sari) will contribute to the team. But I have a feeling I'm going to be continuing to wish for a solid jammer for GNR's rotation.
Going into the Championships against the Heathers, what can I say? GNR will probably beat them just like they did in the Season Opener. It will be a nice way to book-end the season. It's been an interesting ride, but I can't say I'm disappointed. This season inspired GNR fans to hope, which is certainly more than anyone could say last season. And I, for one, remain loyal to my favorite bad-ass ladies in black spandex. I'll be at the Memorial Coliseum on June 2nd at 6pm, cheering GNR on like I always have. I hope you'll be there too, rockers! GNR deserves our horn-throwing, butt-rocking support!!
In Other News...
Welcome to the Jungle, Scarlene and Yoga Nabi Sari!! Also, I swear I'm working on that video blog of the GNR Party forever ago. There's a lot of pictures and footage to compile, and I'm not so much with the fancy iVideo stuff... Soon, I promise!!
Rock on!! \m/ \m/
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