Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Slay Ride & Keeping your Eye on the Jammer

Photo: Charm City v Houston, East Coast Derby Extravaganza 2008 (©K.T. Ryder Wilkie)

If you were at ECE (or even if you weren't), you know about the gigantic block Beyonslay laid on Rice Rocket during the Gotham v Texas matchup. Punchy O'Guts has a nice blog post where she not only gives this block the props it deserves, she also comments on the smart play involved:
"What's really notable - besides the giant, most incredible hit I've ever seen - is the smart play.
1. Beyonslay easily moves Rice Rocket out with a booty block. She pays attention to the track boundary and lets up at just the right moment.
2. As the pack moves toward the outside Beyonslay sneaks through the inside - as Rice Rocket does - and prepares for her hit.
3. If the team hadn't raced back up with Beyonslay she wouldn't have been able to legally lay on on her.
4. Rice Rocket took the biggest hit I've ever seen and hopped back up as if nothing ever happened. And this was after another blocker gave her a sternum block. Most jammers would probably lie there in utter shock. Rice Rocket is incredible."
All nice points. I went back and watched the video a couple more times just to see the strategy going on. Really interesting stuff. Going through my bazillion photos from ECE one of the things that struck me is how you can tell the good teams just by looking at the photos because everybody has their eye on the jammer. No matter what was going on in the pack or how far away the jammers were, they all had their eyes on a jammer. Which is a lesson I shall try to take to heart.

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