by Chairman Meow
This Saturday September 3, 2011 your Ithaca SufferJets are participating along with 8 other New York teams in the 2nd Annual New York State Flat Track Roller Derby Tournament on Long Island in Old Bethpage, NY. More info here: Empire Skate Showdown Strikes Back 2011.

Post-tournament Update: The SufferJets are trickling back to Ithaca after competing at the Empire Skate Showdown on Saturday, September 3. Our skaters had a terrific time with a chance to play in 4 thirty minute bouts. The tournament style was double elimination with nine teams and 17 bouts.

Starting off the first bracket against our sister league Assault City Roller Derby, the SufferJets went in for a fight, after having lost an early season private scrimmage with ACRD this past spring. Always a great team to bout against, in a quick thirty minutes the final score was 128-21, a solid win for the SufferJets.

This win meant we next would play the Gotham Girls Roller Derby’s Wall Street Traitors. In an excellent match-up the skaters of both teams were fighting for every point. Final score: 59-38, a win for the SufferJets. An especially meaningful win since the SufferJets suffered losses to the Traitors at both the ESS last year (final score 32-53) and at their recent May home game in Ithaca (final score 102-125).

Something about this win made us very happy – check out the photo set from superfan Liz Hoyt: SufferJets vs. Traitors. Ultimately we were the only team able to beat the Traitors out of their 7 games.

Following these two high notes of the day, the SufferJets had several hours over the afternoon to watch some of the other bouts, grab a bit to eat, get new gear and merch from the many vendors representing including Black Mamba, Five Stride Skate Shop and our own CinderBlockerElla.

The action started again at 6pm with a bout versus Central New York Roller Derby (CNYRD). In a true showdown the two teams battled it out in an intense game! SufferJets jammers suffered quite a few penalties giving CNYRD some more chances to focus on scoring – ultimately helping them to edge in a win – final score: 35-46 – one of the lowest scoring bouts of the day – a testament to the very defensive play of both teams.

And finally the fourth bout, a decisive bout (for the SufferJets) that would decide if the winners would go on for one more game or finish at 4 bouts, the SufferJets took on the Long Island Roller Rebels, also hosts of ESS. Here the SufferJets were working hard to get jams going (many stalls initiated by LIRR just in front of the jam line by kneeling or holding a wall in front of the jammers). A tough bout and a long day finally took its toll, and the SufferJets were overtaken by LIRR 56-115.

The action didn’t stop there! Bouts continued into the late evening as the teams who made it into the championship brackets continued playing: Wall Street Traitors, CNYRD, Hellions of Troy (an amazing comeback from last year’s last place!), and Long Island Roller Rebels.

The Traitors, satisfying the double-elimination structure of this year’s tournament, then went on to play CNYRD twice in a row, winning both times.  This placed the Traitors first, CNYRD second and the Hellions of Troy third. A great day for derby in New York, and almost all New York state leagues participated in the tournament. We are very grateful for all the hard work by the tournament hosts, Long Island Roller Rebels, and the many volunteers, bout officials and referees in putting together and coordinating such an excellent tournament. Can’t wait for next year!

A tradition following bouts is for each team to acknowledge outstanding play exhibited by one of their opponents,  and our very own Momo-A-Gogo was awarded this honor for ILWR at the Empire Skate Showdown.

Momo-A-Gogo MVP for ILWR ESS 2011

Photo sets from the tournament are coming in from the many dedicated photographers who so generously share their expertise and photographic eye!

Please take a look & as always please credit the photographer:

Manish Gosalia – ACRD vs ILWR

Manish Gosalia – Traitors vs ILWR

Pete Rodriquez – ESS 2011
(go to the flickr set: ESS 2011)

Sean Hale – Rollerderby Photography – ACRD vs ILWR

Luna Obscura – CNYRD vs ILWR

Luna Obscura – LIRR vs ILWR

As more photosets show up we’ll try to post them.

A rare photo here showcasing the volunteer photographers gathered for LIRR.  Usually you won’t find these folks in front of a camera

Look for ILWR’s B team – the Ithaca BlueStockings to play the Crown City Rollerz in an exciting rematch on September 10th in Ithaca. More info here. Both the SufferJets and the BlueStockings will close out the 2011 home season with a final match at Cass Park Rink in Ithaca on October 1. The SufferJets will play Philly Roller Girl’s Independence Dolls and the BlueStockings will play Hudson Valley’s zomBsquad. We hope to see you enjoying one of our final 2011 home bouts soon!

Empire Skate Showdown Strikes Back 2011 Final Scores from all 17 bouts: (courtesy of DNN-Derby News Network)

Coney Island Freakshows 53
Union Squares 213
(men’s derby)

Assault City 21
Ithaca 122

Roc City 72
Long Island 70

Hudson Valley 40
Hellions of Troy 67

Albany 37
Central NY 80

Ithaca 59
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 38

Long Island 88
Assault City 18

Albany 10
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 189

Hudson Valley 19
Long Island 86

Hellions of Troy 74
Roc City 71

Ithaca 35
Central NY 46

Roc City 71
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 77

Long Island 115
Ithaca 39

Central NY 86
Hellions of Troy 32

Long Island 25
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 64

Gotham Wall Street Traitors 115
Hellions of Troy 23

Central NY 26
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 93

Central NY 41
Gotham Wall Street Traitors 92