Unedited: Oly-Nashville 11/05/2010

Defending champions Oly would be a difficult matchup for Nashville, who were bit of an underdog in the South Central regional tournament just to play at Uproar on the Lakeshore. Plagued by mental errors, Nashville suffered at the hands of Oly, who capitalized on every opportunity the Music City Allstars gave them.


Oly's fast pack, evidence of a heavy speed skating background, would hold Nasville to five points to their 50 in just 3 minutes and 26 seconds of the first whistle. Rambo Sambo mustered 4 points, while Maulin' Monroe earned just 1 point, with 16:34 in the first half.


Sambo would go on the defensive with the jammer star in the sixth jam, earning lead before slowing down Oly's Licker N Split, No. 523, enough to suck her back into the pack and then earning three points before calling the jam.


Nasvhille's Showstopper dropped Scara 2 Death hard in the center track to force her to call the jam with a 9-0 point swing in Oly's favor.


A phantom whistle in Jam 12 would confuse everyone on the track when skaters thought they heard four whistles and some returned to their bench. Sambo was albe to pick up five more points than Split, before the jam would officially end and the referees would call an official timeout to sort out the source of the whistle with 8:47 to go in the first half.


Tannibal Lector, No. 9 for Oly, would jump a fallen skater in Jam 13 to earn lead and a 4-2 score pass versus Monroe's 3 points.


Lector would intentionally pick up her fourth minor in Jam 18, in which Sambo and Harmony Killerbruise would jam. Killerbruise would get boxed for a track cut major, and Nashville's defense force Oly's lead blockers out of play to spring Rambo for lead and earning 7 points, before Oly's jammer exited the box, completed her intial pass, and could begin her scoring pass.


In Jam 19, Clitty Clitty Bang Bang, No. 9mm and rail-thin jammer for Oly, was boxed for a major track cut, but Monroe was unable to earn lead jammer for Nashville because of a minor track cut. With the jam going two minutes, Nashville failed to recoginze opposing skaters coming out of the box for a possible trap on two different occasions to optimize the power jam opportunity. Instead they chased after the front Oly blockers, and neither team was able to score any points to end the half 94-40 for Oly.


Oly's control in the second half would contain Nashville's jammers to a paltry 13 points: Sambo, 8 points in three jams; and Lady Fury (No. 5ft3), 5 points in two jams, the lone scorers for Music City.


Mental errors plagued Nashville's jammers, too. Maulin Monroe earned lead in Jam 12 of the second half, but doesn't call the jam despite Automatric initiating her scoring pass, giving up 5 points to Oly and burning precious time off the game clock.\


Oly's defense and offense gelled in the last 8 jams of the game: Their jammers scoring 64 points (10 grand slams at 5 points apiece) while holding Nashville to 3 points, as another Cinderella story gets knocked out of the national tournament.


Oly's win earned them a shot at the North Central region tournament champions, the Windy City Rollers, on Day 2 of the WFTDA championships.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west

The third Women's Flat Track Derby Association's 2010 regional tournament gets under way this weekend, October 1-3, in Sacremento, California. The Western Regional Tournament, dubbed Rollin' on the River 2010, begins Friday and features the top 10 teams in the western region.

The defending WFTDA champions, Oly Rollers, stand at the top of the Western rankings, and hope to repeat their bid to be the best in the U.S.

The top three finishers earn an automatic bid into the WFTDA Championship tournament, dubbed Uproar on the Lakeshore, and to play for the coveted Hydra Trophy in Chicago on Nov. 5-7.

Oly Rollers, ranked first in the WFTDA Western Region and No. 2 nationally in Derby News Network's September 2010 power rankings, and Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, WFTDA W2 and DNN3, get byes in the regional tournament. Oly will face the winner of Duke City (W8) versus Tucson (W9), and Rocky Mountain will face the winner of Jet City  (W7) versus Sacred City  (W10).

Other participating leagues include: Denver Roller Dolls (W3), Rose City Rollers (W4), Rat City (W5) and Bay Area Derby Dolls (W6).

Oly, Rocky Mountain and Denver all played for in the final two games of the 2009 national tournament, Declaration of Derby 2009. Denver placed third in nationals last year, while Oly took home the championships, beating Texas (No. 1, currently, in the South Central regional currently, and 10th in DNN's power rankings) 179-100 in the 2009 championship game.

Teams from the Western Regionals occupy seven of the top 25 teams nationally ranked teams according to Derby News Network's power rankings as of September 2010. Besides Oly's DNN2 ranking and Rocky Mountain No. 3 ranking, Denver (DNN5), Rat City (DNN6), Rose City (DNN7), Bay Area (DNN8) and Jet City (DNN23) are all looking at an opportunity to represent the west region in Chicago. That's more representation on DNN's list from any other region.

In comparison, the Eastern region has six DNN top 25 teams, and South Central and North Central regions each have five.

Windy City, Minnesota and Madison's Dairyland Dolls all advanced from the 2010 North Central Regional Tournament to the championship tournament hosted in Chicago, Illinoin. Gotham (NYC), Philly and Charm City (Baltimore) advanced from the Eastern Regional Tournament to the championships.

So far both regional number one seeds, Gotham and Windy City, have advanced to the championship tournament with decisive 3-0 records.

Gotham won The Hydra Trophy as national champions in 2008. Kansas City and Texas won WFTDA national championships in 2007 and 2006, respectively, before the introduction of the trophy which was first awarded to Gotham in the Northwest Knockdown in Portland, Oregon, in 2008.

One week after Western Regionals, the South Central Regionals, Amber Waves of Pain, will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska, on October 8-10.

Schedule
Friday
10 a.m. - Game 1 Duke City Derby vs. Tucson Roller Derby
noon  - Game 2 Jet City Rollergirls vs. Sacred City Derby Girls
2 p.m. - Game 3 Rose City Rollers vs. Rat City Rollergirls
4 p.m. - Game 4 Denver Roller Dolls vs. B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls
6 p.m. - Game 5 Oly Rollers vs. Winner Duke City Derby vs. Tucson Roller Derby
8 p.m. - Game 6 Rocky Mountain Rollergirls vs. Winner Jet City Rollergirls vs. Sacred City Derby Girls

Saturday10 a.m. - Game 7 Loser (Jet City Rollergirls vs. Sacred City Derby Girls) vs. Loser (Rose City Rollers vs. Rat City Rollergirls)
noon  - Game 8 Loser (Duke City Derby vs. Tucson Roller Derby) vs. Loser (Denver Roller Dolls vs. B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls)
2 p.m. - Game 9 Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 3
4 p.m. - Game 10 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 6
6 p.m. - Game 11 Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 5
8 p.m. - Game 12 Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8

Sunday
10 a.m. - Game 13 Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8
noon - Game 14 Loser Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12
2 p.m. - Game 15 Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12
4 p.m. - Game 16 Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10
6 p.m. - Game 17 Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10