Well, as y'all know, I just love going to see some derby. And, as a sports fan, I like to see close games. If the result's decided before halftime, it's really far less fun. Sure, it's good for teams to work on their tactics, to give new jammers a run, etc. But as a sports fan, I want to see it come down to the last jam.
That being said, I've compiled a list of bouts I'd love to see. Most of 'em are really close:
Roll'd Firm: Glasgow v Auld Reekie
Glasgow are more highly ranked, but it's a natural rivalry and about a 60-40 win likelihood. That means it's really anybody's bout. I have no doubt the atmosphere would be awesome!
Eastbourne Extreme re-match: Croydon v Big Bucks
In the summer, down by the seaside, these two went to the last jam. Hell, these two went to the last pass! It came down to when the fourth whistle went, how many points had been racked up. Oh, man, these two deserve a re-match!
Roses-Leafs: England v Canada
Sure, Canada are highly unlikely to do a European tour, like USA did. However, it'd be wonderful to settle that score. Who's #2 in the world? 60 minutes to settle the question. Win percentages? 55-45 in favour of Canada. (Did I hear you say OT?)
4 Nations: England v Scotland v Wales v Ireland
Ok, England's gonna win the tournament, at least the first time around. Thing is, the other bouts will be excellent, it'll be a good time had by all, and planning the event will spur Wales into forming a team. How great would this be to have as a standard summertime fixture?
Battle of the Blokes: SDRD v Quad Guard
No explanation necessary. Needs to be an annual fixture, needs to be at Earl's Court, if not ExCeL. Or O2. These guys could turn that thing into "rollerdome" for one night.
If anybody knows when one of these is scheduled, feel free to tell me. I'd love to be there!
Roll on!
4 nations every 2 year's or every year would take UK derby to a whole new level and I'd travel to France to.watch sdrd vs quad guard
ReplyDeleteSo, 4 nations.
ReplyDeleteLet's just say we're working on it.
I think everyone who's ever thought about it would love for a 4 Nations to happen. I note only that we're just waiting for a Team Wales to get up and running ;)
ReplyDelete(And, yes, Team England v Team Canada would be a beautiful thing to see.)
Glasgow played Auld Reekie only last year (it was one of the Auld Reekie Festival Fringe Bouts - the score was 126 ARRG : 91 GRG (Cannon Belles v Maiden Grrders), and I wrote up the bout on my blog for August 2011). There've been a couple of lineup changes since then, though, and it was a shame that they didn't get to play each other at Chaos On The Clyde (they were seeded in different groups, and exited the groups with Glasgow in the First Place playoff, and ARRG in the Third Play playoff).
Yeah, come on, that's not the A-teams for the Roll'd Firm. I want to see A-team, and maybe B-team in the DH. As for 4 nations, I think that setting up the tournament would spur Team Wales into forming.
DeleteI admit, I was expecting you'd complain about it not being the A-teams when I wrote that comment :D.
DeleteIt's definitely something I'd like to see happen - it feels like GRD and ARRG are almost reluctant to play each other now, since they're the "obvious, local" challengers, and they're both interested in spending their bouting time playing National and International teams.
(It looks like Rollin' News are on the case with the 4 Nations, so I guess we can just wait until Freddie gets everyone into line? [The lack of the European Tournament with National Teams this year slightly depressed me partly because I had just started to try to persuade TBB to get going with a Team Wales for it when it started to become clear that it was going to be delayed or cancelled...] )
Yeah, I don't blame 'em. Establish themselves as European powers. Thing is, a local rivalry run a max of once per year would dramatically boost attendance, and boost the public image of both teams.
DeleteAnd, yeah, if Freddie sets up a 4 Nations, we know it'll be good!
Oh, and a thought about UK/Canada:
ReplyDeleteit would be interesting to see how well it matches
Friday's 2:00pm Game 4 Montreal Roller Derby (#3) vs London Rollergirls (#6)
(I know Team England is only about 55% London Rollergirls, and Team Canada only 28% Montreal, but they're the highest ranked teams composing their national teams...)
I have to say that I almost lost my voice during the Glasgow/ARRG bout at Tattoo freeze in January. It was so close and came down to the last jam, Glasgow won but the lead changed quite a few times during the bout. I love seeing them play each other, would be nice to have a double header of A vs A and B vs B. I think it was great of ARRG to host a play off between their 3rd placed home team and Glasgows 3rd placed home team too (can't remember the date of that one)
ReplyDeleteIt would be really nice to see a proper A&B DH between the two, wouldn't it? I can just imagine the atmosphere broadcasting that one. We'd have to do some kind of awesome intro to set it up.
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