Naptown v Archies bout Preview!!

Aaaaaahhh yes...the incomparable Archies. The team the rest of you may know as Arch Rivals. They hail from the land of Budweiser, Arches and Cardinals and are taking the Derby world by storm. For my money the Archies are the most exciting, fastest rising team in all the land. YES- they lost against Deeeetroit (most do) and YES- they lost against KC....BARELY. They played tuff as nailz the whole bout and KC was lucky to escape with a victory 89-80. It needs to be noted here that KC was ranked #1 for a good chunk of last year and are waaaaay more experienced than those Archies. Very, very impressive. St L has a record of 3-4 since joining the "Major Leagues" and have defeated G Rag, NWA and No Coast besides winning the Fall Brawl last year in a rather unexpected classic showing. This team is scheduling SERIOUS heavyweights with upcoming bouts against the Crushers, my beloved Beer City and the Dukies! And thats after bouting against Car City and KC already. DAMN!! Whatta freakin' schedule.

With a Jammer corps of cool as hell Chokehold Chanel, Artemischief, Eva Lasting Jawbreaker and the Siege the Archies are set. They block VERY well, they scheme well, they have excellent team chemistry (ya know that), they are disciplined and have great Coaching. Weaknesses??? Hmmmmm. Honestly, I dont see any glaring weaknesses that can be exploited. Ya cant even use the 'ole "inexperience" card against these Rollergirls because they play together like a team thats been around for years (like NStar?). Shit, ya wanna know how to beat this team??? BLOCK better than them. JAM better than them. Stay the living hell outta the penalty box at all costs. Run yer scheme and be ready to adjust if it doesnt go down as planned. Show more tuffness and heart than them. And most importantly, if ya wanna get one up on the Archies, ya HAFTA have killer chemistry. Out chemistry the "Girls of Chemistry".

With Nap's most experienced Jammers coming back ( Ace, Slammy and hopefully Shadi the Superhero) Indy has the opportunity to stay in this bout. Certainly, if NRG plays like they did last season then they have the opportunity to win. The spirit that was so apparent last season must resurface and all the Nap skaters hafta be on the same page. Tactical schemes must be adjustable and must be made quickly so a hole isnt dug that is too deep to be overcome in the second half. Nap's deep, experienced Blockers must not only defend but also create chances for the Jammers to "shoot the gap" and score every f'n point possible. This is going to be a VERY tuff bout for Race City but if NRG wants to right the ship and show that they have the grit that it takes to beat a killer team like the Archies than they need to show it now. Currently the Archies are ranked #20 and Naptown is ranked at #39 (FTS 'natch!). NRG has to play a full 60 like they have something to prove and trust me...if they beat St L they will have made one helluva statement. CHEMISTRY people. Chemistry. Its golden...rare...impossible to force...it's being in synch with each other and loving each other. Its picking up your teamates spirit when they are down and disheartened (and when they have made a mistake or two). Its playing as one with a wink and a nod. Its f'n GOLD.

the Archies likely roster:

Artemischief (getting better every bout)
Jenny Bonebreak
Eva Lasting Jawbreaker
the too cool 4 school Chokehold Chanel (love her)
the Siege
Overland Offender
the Educator
Ana Warpath ( stay outta her way)
Eli Wallop
Grave Danger (?? hurt??)
Killer Tomato
Mayor Francis Slayer
Davey Blockit
Riddle Lynn (cool name!)

C ya at the bout Derby peeps. You can recognize me by the new Plasmatics shirt I'll be sporting. "Undermine the Satus Quo"...always.