2009 WFTDA Eastern Regionals: Wicked Wheels of the East

Top ten leagues from WFTDA's Eastern Region head to Raleigh to see who advances to Nationals in Philadelphia.

This is the first of four regional championship tournaments this year for WFTDA affiliated leagues.

This is being held in the amazing Dorton Arena. This one might call for shades...

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Comment by Grand Poobah on September 12, 2009 at 12:05pm

Advancing to semi-finals are Gotham Girls, Philly Rollergirls, Charm City, and Boston Derby Dames.

The outcomes of the top three seeds prelim bouts were no suprise. Boston put a rather solid beating on their perennial rival (who always frustrates their chance to play in Nationals) Carolina Rollergirls. Boston didn't just win this won, the won a decisive upset victory. They aren't likely to mean they'll win their semi-final bout against Gotham, but I could see them putting on a solid showing in the bout for third place on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the teams eliminated in yesterday's competition will play for 5th to 10th places.

Later today, Gotham will probably advance to finals (and Nationals) with their bout against Boston at 6:15PM EDT (3:15PM PDT). Gotham beat them rather decisively a few months back.

The real headliner of today's games is Charm City vs Philly Rollergirls at 8:00PM EDT (5:00PM PDT). They faced off a few weeks ago, Charm City won a decisive upset, though Philly had already clinched the second seed to this tournament, and decided to bench their best jammers and give more skaters from their chartered roster a chance to skate with the travel team. This should really be a good bout. I'd possibly give a slight edge to Philly, but you never know. Charm City's Joy Collision broke a WFTDA tournament record for high-scoring jam earlier in the tournament.

Earlier there are a few more consolation bouts that serve to place yesterday's losers. I'd expect Carolina, Providence and Steel City to fare best in those.

Interesting situation in game 8 (right now), Carolina's Princess America jammed against her sister, Dominion Derby Girls' Duchess America (Princess won it 4-0). Not a very good bout (read: likely blowout) but interesting anyways. There was once a bout between an Atlanta home team and a travel team from a rookie league in CA where a daughter from Atlanta faced off against her mom's team. They played it on Mother's Day, too.

Comment by Grand Poobah on September 11, 2009 at 11:43am

Friday's game to watch will be #4 Carolina vs #5 Boston. Aside from their close ranking, their recent bouts have been rather close for modern flat track derby. Carolina took their match-up at this year's ECDX by one point, and beat Boston by two points at last year's Eastern Regional tournament.

Needless to say, the hosts of this tournament made this the Friday night headliner bout, at 8PM EDT and 5PM PDT. Video streaming and live text play-by-play will be available at Derby News Network.

Earlier in the day you'll be able to watch the top three seeds in the region take on their first opponents. I wouldn't expect any upsets, but it's a good look at three of the strongest travel teams in WFTDA.

Gotham Girls Roller Derby's travel team takes on 6th seed Providence's Rhode Island Riveters at 2:45PM EDT/11:45AM PDT. GGRD aren't just the #1 East seed, they're the national champs and ranked #1 in the country by every ranking system I know of. This won't be a close one, but it will be a good view of what they bring to the table.

Fast jammers, excellent team work and solid defense. Watch for Bonnie Thunders (340) and Suzie Hotrod (55) on the jammer line. Beyonslay (Top 40) is a blocker who's not just big, she's agile (has a figure skating background) and excels at being right where she needs to be. If you see their pivot seem to give a jammer just a soft block from up front, she's very likely setting up 'Slay for the kill. Too many great all-around skaters on this team to mention all of them.

At 4:30PM EDT/1:30PM PDT, Charm City Rollergirls (#3 East) takes on either DC Rollergirls (#11 East). Charm City is a tough and effective team. Played doubleheaders all season with their same team taking on two different opponents. Clearly gearing for tournament play.

At 6:15PM EDT 3:15PM PDT the hosts Philly Rollergirls (#2 East) will take on Steel City Derby Demons (#8 East). Philly is a very powerful team, they tend to use their size to their advantage, and they're no strangers to strategy. Steel City is probably the strongest team to make it out of prelims, but I'd probably give this one to Philly.

Comment by Grand Poobah on August 16, 2009 at 6:50pm

Bracket picture available for download here: bracket_main.jpg

Seeding for the East is as follows:
1) Gotham Girls Roller Derby
2) Philly Rollergirls
3) Charm City Rollergirls (Baltimore, MD)
4) Carolina Rollergirls (Raleigh, NC)
5) Boston Derby Dames (Boston Massacre)
6) Providence Roller Derby (Rhode Island Riveters, Providence, RI)
7) Steel City Derby Demons (Steel Hurtin', Pittsburgh, PA)
8) Connecticut RollerGirls (Stepford Sabotage, Waterbury, CT)
9) DC Rollergirls (Washington, DC)
10) Dominion Derby Girls (Virginia Beach, VA)

This just missed becoming an international event, with Montréal getting ranked at 12th in the East. Peut-être l'an prochain?