The Outfit Mon May 13 2013

Shakedown, Shade Brigade Win For Outfit

By Bill Mayeroff

Just over two weeks ago, the Shakedown -- the c-team of the Chicago Outfit -- lost their home opener by 379 points.

But on Saturday, the Shakedown looked like a whole new team as they beat the Region Rat Rollers of Northwest Indiana 206-200.

The Shakedown jumped out to a 12-0 lead after two jams. But during the fourth jam, Shakedown jammer Maimy Winehouse had some trouble getting past Region Rat's blockers and eventually went to the penalty box, giving the visitors a power jam. Region Rat jammer Casstastrophe took full advantage, scoring 20 points and giving the visitors a 24-14 lead.

The Shakedown started to pick up steam as the first half wore on. A 20-point seventh jam by Puck put the Shakedown up 37-36 with 19 minutes left in the half. The Shakedown took advantage of the Region Rat Rollers' penalty problems and were able to go up 154-79 by halftime.

But in the second half, the Region Rat Rollers began to chip away at the lead. They chipped away for most of the half, eventually getting the Shakedown's lead down to 12 -- 193-181 -- with only 2 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game.

The 21st jam of the game began with the Shakedown's Scream Printer as the only jammer on the track. Though she took lead jammer, Scream Printer let the jam go a the full 2 minutes and scored 13 points to put the Shakedown up 206-185.

With 4 seconds left on the game clock, the Shakedown called a timeout, leaving time for one last jam. Region Rat Rollers' Trauma Cass took lead jammer and very quickly scored 15 points while her blockers held the Shakedown scoreless. Though the jam went a full two minutes, it wasn't enough time and the Shakedown won 206-200.

Pippi Long Smackings, a Shakedown rookie playing in her first bout Saturday, praised the way her team worked to fix the problems they had in the home opener.

"We tried to stay together," she said. "We constantly tried to stop their jammers."

Though she was happy with her performance, she said she does have work to do before the Shakedown's next bout.

"I need to hit more blockers," she said. "I have power and I need to use it on everyone."

The Outfit's b-team, the Shade Brigade, also won Saturday, beating the Peoria Push Derby Dames 191-103.

Shade Brigade jammers Graves, Jenergizer Bunny and The Big Lebekski seemed to find every hole in Peoria's defense. Though Peoria was up 16-11 after four jams, the Shade Brigade almost immediately took the lead back and didn't give it up.

Peoria kept it close for part of the first half, cutting the Shade Brigade's lead to 4 points. But the Shade Brigade held Peoria scoreless for the final five jams of the first half and took a 91-41 lead into the locker room.

The second half was all Shade Brigade from the start as they held Peoria to only 9 points over the first 7 minutes and 34 seconds of the second half. With 22 minutes and 26 seconds left in the game, the Shade Brigade was up 120-50.

Peoria was able to put together a couple strong jams in a row and managed to cut the Shade Brigade's lead down to 45. But that was as close as it got and the Shade Brigade won 191-103.

Photos by Steve Stearns