Blood Sweet Blood

Akron roller derby league draws blood
Akron, Ohio – June 25, 2009 – The NEO Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls, Akron’s premier roller derby league, presented Chalan Geul, Events Manager for the Summit and Portage County chapters of the American Red Cross, with a check for $704.44. The donation is the proceeds of NEO’s second game at the Summit County Fairgrounds. The event, dubbed Blood, Sugar, Skates, Magik, also was preceded by a blood drive which allowed donors to get into the event at a discounted rate.
“We feel really good about being able to do this,” said Meredith “Suicide Blonde” McGrew of the NEO Roller Derby. “Blood is something that you just can’t buy and yet so many people rely on blood donations and the services of the Red Cross. You can actually save three lives with one donation, so we have such a great sense of pride right now that not only were we able to raise money and blood donations, but also awareness to a very worthwhile cause.”
The non-profit league of skaters will also be volunteering for the Red Cross by signing up participants for the 7th annual Ride for the Red event on September 13th.
The next home game on August 29th will feature an auction of local artist renderings of roller girl busts; the proceeds of which will be given to Stewart’s Caring Place of Akron in honor of breast cancer survivors.

For more information about the NEO Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls visit NEORollerDerby.com

Akron’s NEO Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls Swat Fort Wayne’s SWAT

Roller Derby Team Beats Indiana B Team in a Benefit Bout for the Red Cross

Tallmadge, Ohio (6-13-2009) - Fort Wayne Indiana’s Roller Derby League is a fantastic league. The players are phenomenal and as their record shows, they are a formidable force of skaters. Fort Wayne’s B team S.W.A.T. may honestly be a better team than the NEO Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls, but Akron’s first and finest had fire in their hearts and played a textbook game of roller derby. NEO beat S.W.A.T. 92-47 in a blood drive bout aptly named Blood, Sugar, Skates, Magik; a spoof of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s album and a charity drive for the American Red Cross.

At the start of the game it appeared as though the teams were evenly matched. With slow packs, low scoring and few penalties, it was clear from the beginning that this game was to be played out in the trenches of roller derby a.k.a ‘The Pack.’ The teamwork from both teams was impressive as they built and busted through blocker walls and kept the jammers at bay resulting in low scoring jams and plenty of single scoring passes. The overall strategy both teams were displaying was to get four points and call it and try to control any scoring outbreaks. That was in effect for the entire first period which ended with S.W.A.T. taking the lead 31-25.

The second period was a completely different beast. S.W.A.T. was determined to keep their lead and NEO, who has displayed second half heroics throughout their season, was hell bent on adding a win to their record. NEO’s Twin Pistol started racking up points in the second half then Chrissie B. Hynde and Teeny Houdini added to the steadily growing lead over S.W.A.T. The penalties were starting to fly and the packs sped up. The game took on an intensity that left the crowd realizing what derby should be: an even fight to the finish full of frenzied females.

S.W.A.T.’s Sweet Avenger tied for high scorer for the game accruing 26 of her team’s 42 points and her teammate Kiki U. Skullzen with only 11 of those points showed such determination and skill that one would have expected her total to be more. Her problem was the penalty box and the NEO blockers imagining a target pinned to her hips. The general strategy for blockers is to take down the biggest threat. Kiki appeared to be such a threat that NEO made sure to keep her from scoring. NEO’s top scorer was Twin Pistol with 26 followed by Scarlet GoDancin with 20. Scarlet, however, also receives the Queen of the Penalty Box tiara with three minutes spent in the Cheater’s Chair.

Other very notable performances were turned in by Suicide Blonde and Chrissie B. Hynde with their personal quests to out do the other with Jammer Take Outs (they tied), and team captain Taking Names who earned 11 points as jammer and as a blocker proved to be such a bee in S.W.A.T.’s bonnet that they awarded her the MVP for the game.

As for the Red Cross, there was a Blood Mobile parked outside and anyone who donated blood got into the bout for $5 (plus the obligatory tin can of pineapple juice and snack pack of Oreos to up the blood sugar). NEO will also be donating the proceeds of the bout to the American Red Cross.
Congratulations to both teams and all players for a wonderful game for a terrific cause. In August NEO is hosting Gang Green from Columbus’ Ohio Roller Girls in a charity bout that will raise money for Stewart’s Caring Place; an organization that provides relief and rehabilitation for those battling and surviving cancer. The bout will be called Bust-a-Palooza and will feature a half-time auction of rollergirl busts that were casted then redesigned by area artists including Leandra Drumm and Derek Hess. As always, keep your bearings pointing toward the Akropolis and stay tuned to the NEO Rock ‘n’ Roller Girls.

For more information log onto NEORollerDerby.com