You know, I’ll bet our own Phannie of the Opera has the loveliest voice in all of derbydom, maybe the world. If the Windy City Rollers decide to make her our official anthem-singer (ala Robert Merrill for the New York Yankees) they would get no complaints from these quarters.

The Rollers also may have the most enthusiastic cheerleaders in the steadily growing Power of Cheer ensemble. Their routines were more complex and well drilled than in their last appearance, but I fear I found myself squirming just as much this time around.

And a special shout out goes to Varla Vendetta, who was honored before the game with the annual Fan Favorite award. After a home season that can only be described as defining, this sweet acknowledgement was well deserved, indeed.

The travel team opened this season sporting new uniforms with the Chicago flag’s six-pointed stars festooning their flanks (silver, not red, but never mind). So it was with an especially sanguine state of mind that we settled in to witness the night’s entertainment.

Windy City Rollers vs. The Dairyland Dolls

The rubber match of the ongoing Chicago-Madison grudge fest kicked off last Saturday, June 14, 2008, at the ever inviting Cicero Stadium, which failed, by act of providence, to live up to its reputation of a sweltering sweat box.

These two teams first butted heads at the 2006 Dust Devil in Tucson, where the badger state beauties coolly dispensed a crushing shutout of the fledgling WCR to the tune of 42-0. Smart enough to take a hint, the Chicagoans skulked back home and extensively retooled and revamped their play and approach. These two next collided in Spring of 2007, at the Heartland Havoc eastern regional tournament in Columbus, OH. A hungry Windy City severely jostled the Dairyland Dolls on that occasion 94-63, leaping over the Mad City crew to advance to the finals in Texas. So it was with great interest we arrived to witness the third skirmish here on Cicero’s linoleum oval.

Humidity is supposedly good for our notoriously slippery floor. Still, the Dolls must have missed their skate friendly wood surface… though they did bring a number of enthusiastic fans along to make them feel more at home. Which reminds me: Why wasn’t Crackerjack skating? I swear I saw her there. Rumor has it she may be joining her fearsome and fiery sibling down Tejas way…

In any case, no sooner did Windy City welcome their Wisconsin counterparts to town than the limits of their hospitality became clear. WCR jumped out to an early lead that widened consistently until some particularly successful Dairyland jams in the second half. It wasn’t enough, however, and WCR emerged victorious and rendered moot any further use of the word “upset” in regard to this rivalry.

Widely regarded as one of the premier jammers in the country, Dairyland’s Mouse is everything a jammer should be: slight of build, agile, difficult to knock over and as fast as the dickens. On the occasions we trekked up to Madison to catch her act, we found ourselves left breathless by her speed.

But I wasn’t prepared for the awesome blocking clinic she put on Saturday night, slashing diagonally through the pack and pulverizing walls of black. Ditto numbers 925 and 2, respectively Dolly Pardon Me and the terrifying Dutch Oven, the dame with the molybdenum hips. And fans should also note a new skater, Mauly Tov, whose monster hit sent Eva Dead to the medics for an ice bag in the second half. We also saw WCR’s Megan Formor upended on more than one occasion, no mean feat for any challenger.

For Windy City’s part, they put any question about management changes to bed immediately and demonstrated a strategic savvy that, paired with awesomely agile jamming, carried the day. While WCR’s jammers saw the penalty box several times (the new extra-seat allowance in WFTDA 3.0 seemed penned for the occasion) and their blockers we no slouches in the chair-warming department either, they repeatedly killed their penalties and gave little power play advantage to the visitors.

Kola Loka, after a regrettable absence, showed peak form, combining speed with brawn and consistently muscling her way to the head of the pack. Athena de Crime was astounding in her ability to whip around the track before the challenging jammer cleared the pack, as was Yvette Yourmaker in her unique, snake-like mastery of the few holes allowed by Madison’s tight pack-work.

As for the Windy City blocking, Nina Millimeter, Donna Party and Blossom Bruiso demonstrated the patented wall that makes the Double Crossers such a defensive behemoth at home. Belle Diablo cemented her status as a national-grade blocker/pivot/last line of defense, often single-handedly holding back the Dolls’ cadre of crack jammers when she wasn’t blazing across the track to put a decisive hit on a jammer held at bay by the fearsome tush of Tori Adore or the wide holding stance of Malice w/ Chains.

Madison’s jammer line up introduced another new face, Wildberry Punch, who made an impressive debut second only to Mouse in her total points scored. Chop Suzzy, Darling Nikki and Jewels of Denile also scooped up armloads of points throughout the night. But for me, the most exciting jammer of the night was the most manic of the Manics, our own Ying o’Fire, who crazy-legged it untouched through a gauntlet of swinging hips to push the game out of the Dolls reach in the second half.

Although the caliber of play was top grade, the outcome was never really in question. The WCR travel team survived their baptism by fire and, next weekend, both of these finely tuned units hit the road for the East Coast Derby Extravaganza in Philadelphia, taking on Philly on Saturday and Carolina on Sunday. Their next home match will be against Tucson on July 12.

Final Score: Windy City Rollers 132 – Dairyland Dolls 74

Grand Slams: Yvette Yourmaker – WCR (3)

Most Jam Points: Kola Loka – WCR (36)

Most Blocks: Blossom Bruiso – WCR (5)

Most Whips: Nina Millimeter – WCR (4)

Most Minor Penalties: Princess Die – DD (16)

Most Major Penalties: Beth Amphetamine – WCR (4)

Lead Jam%: WCR (60.00%), DD (31.43%)