Rollerdames!

Wrong! The two teams were well matched, and to say skate on there shoulder is just trash talk. Those time management tactics almost hurt them at the end. ND scoring two Grand Slams in the final minutes made thing real interesting. All the Dames could do at the end was keep their fingers crossed from the penalty box. Soco and Killah are great jammer's, but my hat's off to Bolt Action of Fargo/Moorhead. Respect.

Sure, well-matched if you mean the points were close.  But I don't come to see Fargo use their shoulders to force Rollerdames out of bounds instead of, say, skating...

Our bench is deep with lithe, agile, speedy jammers (Wright Round Ya, Norwegian Squirrel, Soko Rebel and Killah Cletah, to be sure)!  If you can't outskate-them, slow down to an absolute crawl and try to force them out of bounds!

(And yes, their jammers were talented -- especially talented at calling off the jam when a Rollerdame was right behind them!)

Trash talk, indeed!

I have to agree with Hair of the Monk. It was very well matched, and in the end the game came down to the last jam.

I play with the Dames, and rest assured that shoulder hits are perfectly legal. Fargo was completely legit in it's use of checks. Checking, hitting players out of bounds and trapping opposing players to control pack speed are a basic elements of roller derby strategy. It's not only about skating fast and agile, hip and shoulder checks are a big part of the sport as well. The closest comparison would be hockey, where skating skill is very important, but checks are a well-known and integral part of game play. Here's a link to the official rules if anyone is interested.

Woot to the dames -- we loved the wings at BWW tonight.  And double-thanks to Jilli Willi for saying hi at our table.  We owe you guys a lot for being tough yet graceful, wild yet family-friendly entertainment.

Those were two well matched teams that the Fargo girls are a classy bunch, they play hard, but they don't play douche-derby.  When they win, they win because they played hard, if they lose, they still played hard, just didn't turn their way.

The Dames are a great team, and definitely working their way up in the sport, will be fun to watch them as this year goes on, they are only getting better.