40 Will Enter, 1 Will Be Left Standing

On Monday, July 26, 2010, the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s regionals picture became clear. The best 40 of WFTDA’s 98 teams have been selected to play in four three-day tournaments that will take place in September and October. 2010 looks to be the most interesting, competitive, and controversial year yet for the WFTDA. Roller Derby Inside Track is dedicated to bringing you in-depth analysis all season along on the road to the WFTDA Championships in Chicago, Illinois as we break down each regional game by game. Sit down and strap in, because the road to the Hydra starts….NOW!

North Central Regionals: Thunda on the Tundra
Dates: September 10-12, 2010
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Host League: Brewcity Bruisers

The North Central tournament should be a fun weekend of games to watch due to the parity that exists, but in the end, it will not yield many surprises. Windy City, Detroit, and Madison have been the big three Midwestern teams dating back to 2007. All three teams are planning to make back-to-back appearances for the North Central in the WFTDA Championships, but No. 4 Cincinnati wants to make the big dance as well for the first time. Brewcity and North Star are also trying to play the part of Cinderella.

Team Breakdowns

1. Windy City Rollers: For the second year in a row, WCR is the top-seeded team in the North Central region. While their spot is the same, the team is not, having lost Eva Dead, Megan Formor, and Malice with Chains to retirement. This became evident early in the season, as they barely squeaked by Madison at Brewhaha and were completely dominated by Gotham at ECDX 2010 in June, but they then picked up a huge win at home over Boston. There is still a solid corps of veterans in Windy City: Varla Vendetta, Ying of Fire, Hoosier Mama, Beth Amphetamine, Shocka Conduit and more have played against the best players the sport has to offer. On top of all this talent, Jackie Daniels recently moved to Chicago this year and has made her presence immediately known. Windy City could be upset in this tournament, but it’s highly unlikely. Look for them to again be the North Central champions as they roll into the WFTDA Championships at home.

2. Detroit Derby Girls: Detroit is looking strong going into North Central regionals but is not invincible by any stretch of the imagination. Detroit is 8-2 on the season, their only losses coming to Philly. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some nail biters, however, including a close win over Steel City that had to make the ladies of the Motor City a little nervous. But winning tight games has been Detroit’s MO for years. They’re going to need that experience when they match up with Madison in the tournament. Racer McChaser, Cookie Rumble, Sista Slitchya, and Boo D. Livers are all in the lineup, but rumors are circulating that Sarah “Killbox” Hipel will have moved out of the city by tournament time, which could throw a wrench in the Big D Machine. Detroit might not always win pretty, but they usually find a way to win.

3. Mad Rollin’ Dolls: 2009 was a great year for the Dolls. After a disappointing 2008 season, MRD roared back into the national spotlight with a vengeance, securing themselves a spot at the WFTDA Championships in Philadelphia. Until just recently, the last game the Dolls had won was on Sept. 19, 2009, the game that secured them a berth in Philly. Since then, they are 1-10 (1-7 in 2010). The thing you have to remember about roller derby is that with the lack of a true regular season and schedule, a good team can look bad and a bad team can look great. The Dairyland Dolls are definitely the former and not the latter, as they have played top competition all year long. Their one win came from decimating Houston—who made the WFTDA Championships last year as the No. 3 seed from the South Central—by 100 points. The Dolls have talent and experience in Jewels of Denile, Dolly Pardon Me, Mouse, and Darling Nikki. Madison is a wild card to make the WFTDA Championships this season. Either their tough schedule will pay off for them, or they could end up like Carolina did last year when they tried to do the exact same thing.

4. Cincinnati Rollergirls: Until August, Cincinnati was the only undefeated team in the North Central with an 8-0 record (they were 8-1 on the year with their sole loss to San Diego, the best independent league in the world). But then they suffered back to back losses at the hands of the Kansas City Roller Warriors and the Bay Area Derby Girls. Going into this year’s tournament, Cincinnati is as big of a wild card as Madison. Cincinnati has dominated teams this year with their stellar defense and have started to get their penalties under control. That being said, Cincy has never beaten Windy City, Detroit or Madison, something they will have to do if they want to go to Chicago. Madison crushed Cincinnati at home last year at the Cincinnati Gardens, Detroit took advantage of two big power jams to beat Cincinnati for the third North Central spot to go to Philly last year, and Windy City has always controlled CRG whenever they have played. If Cincinnati is going to make a WFTDA Championship run, this is the year to do it, as Sk8r-Kinney and Karma Krash are human walls at the pivot position, with big support coming from Sadistic Sadie, Nuk’em, and Sk8 Crime in the pack. Hannah OuchoCinco and K Lethal are a brutal one-two punch of brains and athleticism. Cincinnati has the physical tools to make it into the WFTDA Championship tournament this fall, but the question is, are they mentally prepared to take that next step?

5. Brewcity Bruisers: Brewcity made the statement earlier this year that they want to make a run for the WFTDA Championships in 2010, but I think they are going to have to wait till 2011 or beyond to make that a reality. Brewcity is a good team that uses a combination of big blockers to bully opposing packs while their speedy jammers blaze through for points. The problem for Brewcity is that they can’t bully anyone above them in their region, and it has showed this year with losses to Madison, Cincinnati, and Detroit in the past year. High D. Voltage, Hacksaw, and Rejected Seoul are all great players and will continue to grow over the next year. Look for Brewcity to lose the opening round match up with Cincinnati but then go on to wreak havoc in the losers’ bracket.

6. North Star Roller Girls: North Star has grown leaps and bounds as a league in the past two years, but they are still a few years away from where they ultimately want to be. They made big waves this year at ECDX by handing Nashville their first loss of the season and then going on to defeat one of the original pillars of the WFTDA, the Carolina Rollergirls. Life inside the North Central region has been much harder, though, with losses to Windy City, Cincinnati, and Brewcity this season. Medusa and Jawbreaker are both high level players, but the rest of the team needs more experience and time to match up with the big teams in the North Central, as the best teams have the deepest benches.

7. Minnesota RollerGirls: Minnesota is stuck in middle of the pack again this season. They’re 3-0 this year, but none of their wins have been impressive, and two were decided by fewer than 5 points (+2 over Tampa and +4 over Providence). Losing Harmony Killerbruise to Oly is not helping their cause. Minnesota needs to use strategy and clock management better at the tournament then they did at ECDX to secure some wins. They are not going to make the trip to Chicago this season, but a moral victory for them would be to end up ranked at No. 5 in the North Central after the weekend is over. To do that, Vuedoo Prodigy and Suzie Smashbox are both going to have to be on top of their game all weekend long.

8. Arch Rival Roller Girls: A lot can happen in a year. Case in point: The decline of the Arch Rival Roller Girls. Arch Rival was the hot up and coming pick in 2009 with a lot of Internet buzz, as they came into the North Central Regionals in Minneapolis as the No. 5 seed. They were soundly beaten not only by No. 4 seed Cincinnati but also North Star. After this, they lost one of their top blockers, Overland Offender, and their top jammer, Chokehold Chanel, to retirement. This season, ARRG is 4-9, but they do hold victories over Duke City and Tampa. Arch Rival still has talent and can start building for next year at this tournament. Just like Minnesota, No. 5 would be a good place to end up for ARRG, but they are going to need Keligula and Mayor Francis Slayer to play lights out in every game.

9. Naptown Roller Girls: Naptown makes their first-ever appearance in North Central Regionals this year. While they are 8-3 on the season, one of those losses includes a head-to-head loss by 10 points this past February to Grand Raggidy, who did not make the tournament. Apparently, the WFTDA voters ignored this and gave Naptown their vote due to their record and huge improvement in the past year. Amooze Booche and Maiden America can get it done on the jammer line, but they have to stay out of penalty trouble. A victory over any team in this tournament is a step in the right direction for Naptown and will help them continue on the right path for 2011.

10. Omaha Rollergirls: The Omaha Rollergirls are making their first appearance in a WFTDA regional. Surely their impressive victories over original WFTDA members Grand Raggidy and Ohio helped them in the eyes of voters. Omaha is a young league with some talented jammers in Ima Firestarter and AnnA-ManiaC, but I don’t think their packs are ready for the strategy they are going to run into from other teams. Just like Naptown, any victory is a positive step in the right direction in this tournament.

Later this week I will post my tournament bracket breakdown. I am going to break down individual match ups and tell you game by game who I think is going to win. Find out where I think your favorite teams are going to land this post season.