Derby Dolls Recap: Tough Cookies Defeat Fight Crew, 114-107

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On Saturday night, Southern California’s premiere women’s banked track roller derby league witnessed the Tough Cookies prevailing over Fight Crew 114-107.

The thrilling match was held at the Doll Factory in historic Pilipino town. The Factory was packed to capacity, and the crowd was cheering and screaming as if it was at a heavy weight-boxing championship. No, this isn’t your ordinary factory. The dolls that come out of there are fit, fiery and absolutely fierce. Seriously, where else can you see, fishnets, blood, sweat, and hot ladies dueling on roller skates?

Spectators drank beer and snacked on the food truck cuisine as the teams warmed up by circling the track underneath a roller-skate-shaped disco ball, preparing themselves for an adrenaline packed evening. When it came time to “jam,” all the players lined up, the gloves came off and the battle of the dolls commenced.

The rules to the game are easy. To score points in a match, a designated scoring player (a “jammer”) laps members of the opposite team while the opposite team tries to block them.

If you have never been to one of the games, you are missing out! Aside from witnessing a hard-core match of wit and skill, you can also enjoy a full range of entertainment off the track, with the Vendor Village featuring art, jewelry and clothes, food from various local hot spots.

The first half of the game saw the Tough Cookies hold a big lead over Fight Crew but as it came closer to half time, Fight crew stepped up heir offense and showed their opponents they weren’t going away without a fight.

The real heroes on this evening were the Tough Cookies’ blockers, who repeatedly slowed the Fight Crew’s sick power jams, and kept them under 10 points more often than not. The Tough Cookies’ captain, Babe A Fett, called out the order and her team continuously put skaters on the ground and out of bounds.

At half time, the score read Tough Cookies 61, Fight Crew 42, and although Fight Crew had come back to narrow the gap to a 10-point lead, Vigee La Bruse was confident that her team would continue to dominate the second half of the game.

“We have a lot of very experienced players, and that experience will come through in the end,” she said. “Right now we’re just focused on stopping their jammers and scoring a lot of points.”

On the other hand, Fight Crew’s jammer/blocker Lusty Loveless was equally confident about winning and out for blood.

“We’re not scared of them, they should be scared of us,” she said before beginning the second half.

Fight Crew brought on a little stronger defense in the last quarter narrowing the gap with their opponents, but that wasn’t enough to win he game.

In the end, the Tough Cookies did not crumble under pressure and sent the Fight Crew home without a win.

Haught Wheels, Fight Crew’s jammer/blocker, was diplomatic when speaking about her opponents, but was clear about the final outcome.

“All of the teams are evenly matched this season. We all work really hard, but what it comes down to is who’s got the most heart and soul that night,” she said.

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