The Spring Roll event opened the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins regular season with a pow-crash-bang! This was a double-header, featuring a grudge match between 2007 League Champion Cigar City Mafia and runner-up Vice Grip Vixens, and an interleague bout pitting the hometown Switchblade Sisters against the visiting Panama City Rollergirls. This was bone-rattling, board-thumping derby action at its finest.

April 12, 2008

The Tampa Tantrums, travel team for the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins, trekked up Interstate 75 to face off against the Atlanta Rollergirls in the Tantrums’ first-ever WFTDA-sanctioned bout. This would be the first time that Tampa Bay faced a team from outside of the state of Florida since the 2006 season. Tampa Bay learned a great deal from their defeat at the hands of the powerhouse Minnesota Rollergirls, and they spent the 2007 season building upon that hard-won knowledge and conquering their home state of Florida. Unwilling to rest on the laurels of being the dominant team in their home state, the Tantrums felt it was time to venture outward. Ever since the inception of the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins, they have been able to look to the Atlanta Rollergirls as their big-sisters to the north; a good example of both what to do to build and maintain a strong league. What better way for the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins to celebrate their emergence into the big show, than to challenge their big sister?