After a successful home opener last month, the travel teams of COMO Roller Derby return to their familiar flat-track Saturday afternoon for a pair of showdowns.
Photo Credit: Brian Ledford
The 4:30 pm opener at Bob LeMone Building at Hallsville Fairgrounds (500 E Hwy OO) has the COMO All-Stars tussling with the Old Capitol City All-Stars while the second game features COMO’s B-Rolls against the Rolla Rockets.
General admission tickets are $15 while children under 10 are free.
Both Columbia-based squads claimed decisive wins in front of a capacity crowd at the fairgrounds in March and plan to implement similar strategies in order to snare another league sweep.
“As always, we are looking to have fun and hope our fans feel that energy and enjoy watching some hard-hitting action!” said COMO’s Vanna Wipeout. “We will (also) be raising money to support Unchained Melodies – a local animal rescue that we hold near and dear to our hearts.”
There’s plenty of intrigue heading into the afternoon’s opening 60-minute tilt.
Photo Credit: Brian Ledford
The COMO All-Stars (2-0) remained undefeated after topping Southern Illinois, 143-84, two weekends ago. All things were steady at the road conquest.
“SIRG gave us some big hits but our blockers were able to take the hits and reform with our walls quickly.” reflected Wipeout. “They also had several juke-y jammers that wanted to get past us on the inside and outside lines, but we did a good job covering the whole track that night.
“(Our) jammers also did a great job of getting through (their) walls and getting lead, which allowed us to keep our score rolling upwards.”
The meeting with their opponents from Iowa City, Iowa has some pretty heavy implications as COMO looks to gain some traction within the Women’s Flat-Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Both squads are reps of the WFTDA’s North America – Northeast Region and whereas Old Capitol City (0-1) is currently ranked #97 overall, COMO is currently unranked.
WFTDA rankings are based on an algorithm with a methodology based on how a team performs over a designated calendar period against opponents in WFTDA-sanctioned contests and their own strength of schedule while also taking into consideration their opposition’s ongoing output.
On the surface, it reads like funky mathematics.
Just by playing a WFTDA-sanctioned game this weekend, COMO will be eligible for rank soon, win or lose.
But one thing is crystal clear. If COMO snares the win Saturday over #97 Old Cap, then safe money says that they will automatically claim a nice, opening entry into the WFTDA rankings’ mix.
Photo Credit: Brian Ledford
COMO is feeling confident, but cautious, heading into combat.
“(We are) feeling pretty good about our walls, jammers, and the way our team is working together this year,” assessed Wipeout. “We are going to be putting up similar walls and a similar jammer rotation since it has been working so well for us this season.
Alongside Wipeout, COMO All-Stars’ blocking includes Red Reaper, dethblok, Mesch‘er Up, Q.T. Kilr, L on Wheels, Mayday, Behr and host of others. Jammers include Weird Al Shank-A-Bitch, JoCo, Lady MacDeath, Tornado Aly and Fice-T.
“I think this familiarity alone gives us a good amount of confidence,” said Wipeout of COMO’s chemistry. “Familiarity builds trust between players and we’ve been keeping things consistent at practice to ensure folks are working well together, communicating clearly, and adapting to jammers as needed.”
Meanwhile, the visitors look to claim their first win of 2024 and solidify, if not improve, their own overall rank.
The Old Capitol City All-Stars suffered a 239-83 season-opening loss against #48 Fargo Moorhead in early-March. On paper (or computer), that scoreboard outcome was projected, considering the differential in rank.
Their slate is wipe clean as the Iowans’ line-up contains numerous returning starters and some hard-charging newcomers that are looking to snap COMO’s two-game win streak.
“The last time we met Old Cap City was back in 2017 and they slaughtered us,” said Wipeout. “We are definitely hoping that our skill levels are more evenly matched this time and we have a fun and challenging game.”
For fans, the recommendation is to push numerics aside. The easier goal is to relate to alphabetics. Most-specifically, a “W” on the scoreboard.
Saturday’s finale has the COMO B-Rolls (1-0) looking to stay undefeated following their 225-119 home-opening duke over St. Charles County-based SCDC last month.
Projected in the line-up are jammers Pushy Kat, Rose McPow’n, GenStoner and Bury Jane while blockers Space Case, Coffin Cutie, Breezy, Stinger, Butcherin’ Baker, Queen and others supplement.
“We are pumped to watch them continue to grow and get experience on the track,” said Wipeout of the league’s b-team.
The Rolla Rockets (1-0) claimed a victory over Cape Girardeau Roller Derby last month to start their season and seek their second straight triumph.
For more info on COMO Roller Derby, visit their official website.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
