“It’s still such an incredibly high level competition,” said Maven. “To be fair, I don’t care who’s watching, I don’t care if it’s televised, I don’t care if world championships are on the line. All I care about is really good competition. And what’s wonderful about Gotham is that even at the home team level, even at scrimmages during practices, it’s such a high level, it’s always so much fun to play.” The skaters are “still my league mates, they’re still my friends, they’re still my teammates. And then this one night, I get to make them my enemy and really show what I’ve got against them competitively. It’s a nice, fun change of pace and then on Sunday we’re all friends again,” Maven added.
For sixty minutes at John Jay College in NYC, there will be blood (not literally, but you get the idea) when the Bombshells look to even up their 2019 slate to 1-1 against the unbeaten Gridlock, who could conceivably earn a spot in this year’s home team championship game with a win.
Yes, that’s the downside of derby life in Gotham with each of the four squads only having three regular season games. But the upside for the fans is that every bout means something.
“We have to win this one,” said Maven, whose Bombshells dropped a 175-122 bout to Manhattan on April 13. “Unfortunately we didn’t pull out the win against Manhattan, but we cleaned up a lot of our play. We had a lot of penalty issues in that first game, and we’re focusing hard on getting a really strong, together, clean game for the Bronx. And the Bronx is coming into this on a high. They’re winning, they have a whole new jamming rotation which gave them a big boost. They still have some of the most incredible blocking lineups in all of Gotham and I think they might underestimate us a little bit, which is fine for me, but we definitely need to win and it’s Bronx’ game to lose right now.”
Yes, the Gridlock has made a complete 180 in the last year, going from the hard luck team that couldn’t buy a win to a championship winning juggernaut that kicked off the 2019 season with a 173-156 win over Queens in March. But don’t mistake that confidence for complacency.
“Morale is high,” said the Gridlock’s Sally Handsome. “I think even in the times when there weren’t a lot of wins for a long time, it wasn’t a bad team. I just think there was a lack of confidence and a lack of focus. And we really came into our confidence, we know each other well and we have great leadership that tells us that we can do it. And having a championship and a couple wins under our belt helps you feel a little more confident too. (Laughs) Stuff has changed and this is a team that people are excited to be on now.”
