I skated as a sub again in LBRD's third game of their second season, but this time I played with the brand new team The Belmont Hot broads! LBRD only had three teams last year, and this year added a fourth. I was stoked to be able to play with them, especially since it's Pigeon's team. In my Pigeon blog I mentioned that we played in the first two games together as subs and both times our team won. Lo and behold, we pulled out another win, 100 to 97.
I can easily say this was the most exciting game I can ever remember playing. (With the exception of course, of this debacle). Fifteen minutes before the end of the bout I remember looking around at my team and saying, "You know what, no matter who wins this was one great game. We have been neck and neck all night!" And we HAD been pretty much evenly matched, the entire night. But with like 6 minutes to spare, the Terminal Island Tootsies had gained about a 12 point lead on us. It seemed improbable we could pull a win out, but still possible. Pigeon had been jamming A LOT. Our awesome coach for the night Dangerous was calling the shots. She looked at the gals going in for the next jam and said, "okay, she's going to go around and earn 4 points right now, (indicating Slice Princess, ...I believe...) and then Pigeon is going to go and earn 4, and then Auntie, if we still have time, you will jam and get 4 points. But everyone, THEY CANNOT EARN ONE POINT IN ORDER FOR US TO PULL OFF THIS WIN!!" The pressure was fucking ON.
It happened just like Dangerous said it would. Slice Princess jammed, she got the points, called it off. Now Pigeon, ...done. Now me... There is seriously like 3 minutes on the clock or something crazy.
This is always what I envision when I am skating for endurance. Just when I am too tired to skate anymore, I push it for two minutes, and imagine it's the end of a crucial game and everything hinges on me. But I was TIRED. I was getting all in my head and I admit... I had checked out. I took a big hit, went down, and somehow- instinctually, I CALLED OFF THE JAM.
WHAT? I MOTHER FUCKIN' CALLED IT OFF??? IN THE LAST JAM WHEN EVERYTHING DEPENDED ON ME?
I'm telling you. I don't KNOW WHY I did it. It was STUPID. I skated back to my team's bench with my head hanging low and pretty much everyone was screaming some sort of "WTF" at me. Dangerous said, "I saw the points. They were RIGHT THERE. You HAD it!" I swear to god I thought I had lost the game for everybody. I felt terrible. And in such a moronic way no less. It would have been excusable perhaps if I had gone out in some marvelous fit of glory, but I hadn't. I just wasn't thinking and for some stupid reason I called it off.
But then, ...
MAGIC HAPPENED.
We all looked up, and TWO MINUTES RE-APPEARED ON THE CLOCK. We were all perplexed. No one understood where they came from but we didn't care. We put Pigeon in. The captain of the Belmont Hot broads and one of LBRD's star skaters.
The entire audience was pounding the grandstands with their feet. We were in the last jam, over time technically, and the whole game hinged on these two minutes. The energy was crazy, the suspense palpable. In the first two games of the season, the winning team had pulled out a pretty big lead by half time, leaving many of the fans bored. But no one was bored at this game. It truly was a toss up, and no matter who you were rooting for, there was no denying it was exciting to watch. This was mother fucking SPORTS at its finest. WE wanted to win. THEY wanted to win. Two minutes in the balance.
 |
| Pigeon! |
(Pigeon also works at
Moxi Skate Shop,
...by the way)
It happened in slow motion. Pigeon pulled it off. She got through the pack while our blockers held off their jammer. She got through once, twice, three times, called it. She tossed her head back, closed her eyes and smiled with a slight scoff of disbelief. Like, "Oh my god, I did it. This is really happening". I knew in that moment, that she had always envisioned the same dream I had... To pull it out in the last two minutes and win the whole game, and be the star of the night. And she fucking PULLED IT OFF. She skated towards us and we swarmed her with congratulatory high fives. We hadn't even seen the score yet. We saw what happened on the track. WE KNEW.
But we looked up, and there it was. 100 to 97. She did it. It was glorious. And my little grinch heart grew three sizes and secretly inside I knew. I was SUPPOSED to call it off, so PIGEON could win it. I was only a sub. The Belmont Hot broads are a brand new team and Pigeon is the captain. It's only right that she be the one who gets the glory. That she be the one who is the star of the show. It felt so RIGHT. I was so glad for my stupid mistake. ...
... And for those two minutes. What happened was during a previous challenge with the refs, they had let the clock run when they weren't supposed to. I guess realized it last minute, (literally) and added time to the clock. It was our saving grace!
I was especially happy because it was Jerry Seltzer's birthday, and I had vowed that our team would win, sort of as an homage to The Commissioner. I even drew a heart with his initials on my arm like a tattoo, (don't worry Little Iodine, I'm still "blank slate" Kallio). I had also put a sign in my car window that day announcing to the world it was his birthday. Perhaps the extra positive vibrations also helped us pull out our win. When I posted on J. Seltz's facebook page that we had won for his birthday he said, "Why of course! You didn't think I'd let you lose did you?" =)
Sadly I don't think there will be a highlight reel from this game, but check out the highlights from the last two! They still kick ass!
We Bleed Green Highlights
Bad Luck Brawl Highlights
And besides, I think I got more still shots from this game than any other, so I hope that makes up for it.
If you want to read an awesome article about Pigeon pulling out the win in the last two minutes, read this article featuring her! And if you dig her style as much as I do, 'like' Pigeon's facebook fan page!
Here's me conjuring good spirits and feeling the positive vibrations before the game.
"Let the bout come to you,
let the bout come to you..."
And here's some photos of me skating, cause let's face it, this is all about me here.
To check out more photos from this game, visit these albums on facebook.
Jen Fuj Photography
Fusaro Photography
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