Over the course of 12 days and 68 games, the Top 40 teams battled it out from each of the WFTDA’s 4 regions. After 4 weeks of regional playoffs action the WFTDA Championships have been made clear as the top 3 teams from each region advanced. Charm City, Philly, and Gotham advanced from the East; from the North Central Madison, Minnesota, and Windy City as well. Nashville, Texas, and Kansas City will be representing the South Central; while B.A.D., Oly, and Rocky Mountain battled their way out of the West. Uproar on the Lakeshore is upon us and Roller Derby Inside Track is your one stop shop for the WFTDA Championships.

**TEAM BREAKDOWNS **

**EASTERN REGION **

  1. Charm City Roller Girls: Charm City played in it’s first regional in 2008 at Derby in Dairyland; 2 years later and they are appearing in their first WFTDA Championship. While generally Charm City is a favorite in most games they play, they have a very hard road ahead of them to try and emerge with the Hydra in hand. The word I would use to describe them is “scrappy”. Charm is a team that is not afraid to fight you in the trenches; they make their bones controlling the pack, and do have jammers that can take firm advantage of a slow pack. I am interested to see if they will use Joy Collision on the jammer line at all or if they keep her in the pack. I am also interested to see Dolly Rocket play on the biggest stage of them all, as people either love her or hate her, but no one can deny her talent. Charm City opens up against Minnesota who were red hot at the North Centrals this year, unfortunately for both of these teams, the winner of that game runs into the buzzsaw known as Rocky Mountain who beat Charm City by over a 100 points this past June..

  2. Philly Roller Girls: Last year Philly was pulling double duty, hosting the WFTDA Championships and skating in them, this year they are squarely focused on winning a WFTDA Championship. Philly looked rock solid at the Eastern Regional this year with their only loss coming to Gotham by 29 points, which is GGRD’s smallest score differential of the year. Heavy Flo makes things happen in the pack, big, violent things. Ginger Vitis, Violet, Mo Pain, and Teflon Donna have been playing on this level for years now; they are more seasoned then southern fried catfish. Philly has a legit shot at making the final four and beyond, opening up against Madison and if they beat them their next game would be against Kansas City which would be a much easier game then Gotham, Rocky Mountain, or Windy City at home. There have been some big surprises this year and right now Philly is a dark horse to win the Hydra.

  3. Gotham Girls Roller Derby: New York is the city that never sleeps and this season Gotham is trying to be the team that never loses. Undefeated in 2010, Gotham has lived up to the hype all year long and decimating teams in the process, which includes beating 5 teams that are participating in the WFTDA Championships (Philly, Charm City (x2), B.A.D., Madison, and Windy City). Papierschnitt, Swede Hurt, and Hyper Lynx have made the best in the East even better this season with stand out play. They take on either Texas or B.A.D. and if the stars align right, which I believe the will, we could see Rocky Mountain vs. Gotham on Saturday evening which has the potential to be the best flat track roller derby game to date, whoever wins that game is the favorite to win the whole thing. While no bet is 100 percent, there is a good chanced that Gotham will be hoisting their second Hydra in 3 years.

**NORTH CENTRAL REGION **

  1. Mad Rollin’ Dolls: For the second year in a row the Dolls make the WFTDA Championships. MRD didn’t have an easy road to Chicago losing by 12 points to rival Minnesota and gutting out a back and forth game against Cincinnati to secure their spot. The Dolls bet their season on playing top ranked opponents and even though they lost more then they won, it paid off in getting them a spot in the WFTDA Championships. I like Madison and don’t feel that Darling Nikki and company get nearly the respect they should. They are going to need all the big game experience they can muster as they start the tournament against Philly,

  2. Minnesota RollerGirls: During the North Central tournament the world learned that Cinderella lives in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Minnesota ran the table beating the number all the way to the NC Championship game beating number 2 seed Detroit and number 3 see d Madison in the process. Juke Boxx, Suzie Smashbox, Vuedoo Prodigy, and L’exi Cuter have helped to bring Minnesota back into the national spotlight. The question now becomes did MNRG have one amazing weekend or are they ready to consistently play on the top tier of the sport? We find out when they play Charm City on Friday afternoon.

1.Windy City Rollers: Windy City kept its streak in tact of never losing to a North Central by winning all their games at Thunda on the Tundra. WCR has been tough to peg this year as the aura of invincibility that once surrounded the team has begun to fade. They recently dropped games to Rose City and Oly while on a west coast swing. What does it say about parity when a team that didn’t make the Championships gets a win over the number 1 seed from the North Central? Windy is going to need to dig deep to win this weekend because unless the entire Oly roster is abducted by aliens on Thursday night, that’s who they are going to face in their first game. To make matters worse Oly recently gave WCR a 159-point smack down. They are going to need as much defense as they can get out of Blossom Bruiso, and Jackie Daniels in the pack. Add on top of that the stress of hosting the WFTDA Championships and I think it’s going to be a rough weekend for WCR.

SOUTH CENTRAL REGION

  1. Nashville Rollergirls: If this was a Disney movie, Nashville is who you would put your money on. A team with the odds dramatically stacked against, taking on the best teams on the planet. Throw in a couple musical numbers and I’ll see if Emilo Estevez is available to star in it. Seriously, though every team in this tournament out guns Nashville and they play Oly in the opening round. That’s rough, I am talking the industrial bulk, single ply toilet paper that they had in high school back in the day, rough. On the positive side, Nashville has nothing to lose, everything to gain, and if they win will pull off one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Also they have these guys backing them… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpkVow1ro5w

2.** Texas Rollergirls**: What a difference a year makes, as last year at this time Texas was competing against Oly for the WFTDA Championship, now the question is will they make it out of the first round? Texas is 6-7 on the season, before 2010, they had a total of 9 losses from 2005 to 2009 according to flattrackstats.com. Very few of those losses have been blowouts and a jam or 2 could have made the difference in many of those games. Belle Star, Olivia Shootin’ John, Bloody Mary, and Curvette are all veterans who have played in huge games so this trip to Chicago is nothing new to them. They kick things off Friday against a red hot B.A.D team who they beat by 6 points in their last meeting. The winner of that game walks into the meat grinder named Gotham.

1.Kansas City Roller Warriors: Kansas City has continued to get better with each game and is picking up steam during the right time of the season. Since losing to Detroit in August, they have gone 4-0 including running the table at the South Central Regionals. The one two punch of Dementia and Kelley Young is devastating. While Kansas City does have a bye and won’t skate til Saturday, they will be taking on either Madison or most likely Philly, a team they lost to by 94 points less then 3 months ago. With the way KCRW is playing they definitely have the potential to make some noise at this tournament

WESTERN REGION

  1. B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls: E-40’s favorite team has worked their butts off to get to the WFTDA Championships. The 6th seed in the West took out both Denver and Rose City to get to Chicago and they show no sign of slowly down now. Burlybot and Astronaughty get their business done when they are rocking the star, but the thing that really impresses me about B.A.D. is their pack play. They do a great job creating anarchy in the pack, and then suddenly coming back together to form tight 2 woman walls. That strategy and the athletic ability to perform it give B.A.D. a big edge . They kick things off Friday afternoon against Texas, which should be a back and forth game.

  2. Oly Rollers: It felt odd to write a number other then 1 beside Oly’s name but they finally suffered defeat at Westerns this year. Americans have very short term memories and many people have narrowed the WFTDA Championships to a two team race between Gotham and Rocky Mountain, I am here to tell you that Oly is alive, well, and a definite contender to win back to back Hydras. Oly doesn’t have to cross paths with either Gotham or Rocky Mountain until the Championship game and the only team I see giving them trouble in the Black Pool is Philly. Atomatrix and crew are going to be reinvigorated and what better way to get the derby community to quit talking about your first loss then capturing another Hydra for the mantle?

  3. Rocky Mountain Roller Girls: In the course of a year, Rocky Mountain has gone from a team who played 4 games in a weekend to qualify for the 2009 WFTDA Championship to arguably the best team on the planet today, I say arguably because after Uproar on the Lakeshore we will know for sure. They won the hardest regional tournament and gave Oly their first taste of defeat in the process. Urrk’n Jerk’n and Psycho Babble, as well of the rest of he 5280 Fight Club who has one of the deepest benches in the game today. While nothing is guaranteed, these ladies could be hoisting their first Hydra very soon.

Keep checking into www.rollerderbyinsidetrack.com for more of our thoughts and analysis on the 2010 WFTDA Championship. All our writers will be releasing their bracket picks soon with breakdowns of our picks. And stick with us after the Championships as we start to breakdown new topics that are occurring in roller derby today.

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