From the very moment the men pulled up to the Tucson Memorial Stadium the pressure was on. The Afterschocks have an ongoing rivalry with the Rattleskates and this time it would be on the banked track. However, this was only the men’s second time ever on the banked. Weeks before they had practiced but both teams had never played a banked track game before.
Geared up and ready to go, they skated around the track as John Hall (old time OSDA skater and former LA T-Birds coach) joined Coach Lady Diesel during their warm-up. The excitement from the fans and skaters continued as the refs did their equipment check and a fun video promo was shown on the big screen explaining the rules of the game.
The action started after the first whistle as Afterschocks’ jammer Soulrider made lead, but was passed by Rattleskates’ Danielson who took the lead and put the first 9 points on the board for Phoenix. The game is a bit different then what you might be used to seeing on the flat track; each jam is 60 seconds and skaters don’t serve their penalties till after the jam is over.
The next few jams were tough, but Bobby Light came through and scored some points for San Diego. However, Phoenix came back quickly and racked up a 15 point power jam with skater Sidelicious as he flew around the track. This left the first quarter score 38 -15 Rattleskates.
Even though Phoenix took lead in the first quarter, San Diego’s captain, B Stang, fought back with a giant apex jump and a mid-air call to end the next jam. This was followed by Afterschocks’ Rave N Buster who brought some more points for the team. Phoenix, however, kept the lead with great jams from co- captain Pistol Pete; this gave them a 30 point advantage. Although they were ahead, blockers Mr. Awesome and Johnny Smokescreen were ejected due to their accumulation of penalties.
Halftime score 75 – 45 Rattleskates.
After halftime, Coach Diesel decided to switch up the lines as new jammer Override shot straight through like a knife through butter. The Afterschocks didn’t go out easy, though, as B Stang had multiple grand slams to add 14 points to the board.
However, with more power jams from Sidelicious and Danielson, Phoenix quickly made the score spread even further. On the last jam Evol Ernie and Cappie from Phoenix lined up on the jammer line. Whistles were blown and Ernie with San Diego went straight through and collected the final 10 points for the game.
Final score: Phoenix Rattleskates 152 – San Diego Afterschocks 101
MVP’s for San Diego Afterschocks:
Jammer- Bobby Light #1.21
Pivot- Rave N Buster #904
Blocker- Evol Ernie #13
Written by MAJOR THREAT