Honky Tonk Stomp

I just got back from probably one of the cooler derby events I've attended thus far in my short derby career, the Honky Tonk Stomp. It's the Tennesee state championship tournament: Memphis vs. Nashville vs. Knoxville. This year was Memphis' turn to host, so a bunch of us Dixie Girls drove up to watch.

I personally love watching the Nashville team play. They are phenomenal this year, and they have a very distinct skating style that I really covet. I always learn a lot from watching them play, and this weekend was no exception. They ended up winning the Stomp and taking the State Championship. Congrats NRG!

Saturday night, we headed out to the afterparties. Yes, as in Parties: PLURAL. The hosted event was a pub crawl, which is what we started off with... but we quickly hopped a cab with the Nashville girls to Beale Street and hit up a club there. Around 1:30am, about 12 of us piled into Hell Razor's Escape to hop back to the hotel (I was in the trunk with 2 other people). The hotel had a wonderful pool, so Asian Invasion and I continued the party out there with the rest of the Nashville girls. Somewhere around 5am, I finally hit the pillow...

That being said, my 9am wake up call came entirely too early. Sunday's activities were a full day of mini-bouts (7 total), which ChaChee, Asian Invasion, Hell Razor, Blazin' Barbie, FemiFist, Pinky Tuscadero and I had all signed up to play. My apparent insanity for derby caused me to sign up for all 7 bouts... yes, 7 back-to-back, full tilt bouts equaling out to a record 6 hours on skates for me.

The bouts were "themed", so our Dixie team was mixed up among the different sides along with skaters from all different leagues in the region. These were the bouts (the teams I played with are in BOLD):

• Steak vs. Tofu (Carnivores vs. Vegetarians)
  This was a tight bout, coming down to the last jam. Our jammer was in the box, so we didn't get to score in the deciding last jam.
  Final Score: 53-61


• Dumptrucks vs. Beanpoles (No explanation necessary)
  This was the bout that I originally had much anxiety over. The idea of facing off against the powerhouse blockers was a little scary, I'll admit it. Everyone had expected to watch the beanpoles get pumelled, but us little bean poles held our own against the biggest, baddest blockers out there! Wooohooo Beanpoles!
  Final Score: 75-25


• Generation X vs. Millenials (Born in 1979 or earlier vs. Born in 1980 or later)
  This was a fun game... nothing noteworthy that I remember. I tried to eat a banana before this bout and was feeling pretty quesy.
  Final Score: Not sure, but Millenials won!


• Inked vs. Clean Slates (Tattooed vs. Not-Tattooed)
  This may as well have been Dumptrucks vs. Beanpoles Part 2: Revenge of the Dumptruck, because let me tell you, they had some serious power on that team with the extra force of some really solid jammers. That was by far the roughest most demanding bout of the day, compounded by the fact that we only had 8 skaters on our team. I just wanted it to be over.
  Final Score: 109-19


• Breeders vs. Baby Eaters (Skaters with kids vs. Skaters without)
  This was the most exciting bout of the day. Most of our Dixie team was on the Baby Eaters team (with the exception of Femi), so that was comforting. ChaChee was trading scoring runs with Memphis' Lil Cinner most of the bout, and at the end of the regulation jam period, the score was tied. ChaChee faced off against Lil Cinner again in overtime, and squeaked out a victory over the Breeders with the help of Hell Razor, who delivered a massive critical hit to push ChaChee to the front.
  Final Score: 44-45


• Bizarro Derby Black vs. White (Everyone skates clock-wise)
  Bizarro was exactly that... BIZZARO. I think the bout was pretty evenly matched because most of us were just trying to get used to skating and blocking in the opposite direction. The refs had a little fun with this one too... we were edged out at the last minute on this one.
  Final Score: 32-35


• Fresh Meat Black vs. White (Newbies vs. Newbies)
  I was really looking forward to jamming on this one, but after only about 4 hours sleep and playing for a solid 5 hours, I just didn't have the fuel in the tank to make it happen. I jammed twice, but took myself out of the jammer rotation because it was more than I could exert myself at that point. I concentrated on playing power, which is my new favorite position, and where I feel most comfortable. The white team had some really good newbies, and our team had some really fresh meat girls playing for the first time, so we couldn't answer their runs.
  Final Score: 37-106

Overall, I'm very proud that I accomplished the insane task of skating for 6 hours straight. I'm sore as hell, but I feel pretty accomplished and learned a ton.

View photos of eRacer X from the Honky Tonk Stomp

Next up: Dixie Derby's Ragin' Rockets are playing Mobile away in 2 weeks!