We are smack dab in the middle of roller derby playoff season. Two Division 2 Playoffs have already taken place and the first of the four Division 1 Playoffs was held last weekend. Here’s how things are shaping up, and who will be travelling to Milwaukee in November to compete: Santa Cruz, Sac City, Jet City and Blue Ridge are on deck for the Division 2 Championships. London, Denver and Ohio are slated to compete for the Division 1 Champs so far. The next three weekends will determine which other nine Division 1 teams join them
Last weekend’s Division 1 Playoffs saw some come-from-behind surprises (Grand Raggidy over Bleeding Heartland, Ohio over Arch Rival) and some predictable blowouts (Denver over Cincinnati, Wasatch over Grand Raggidy). The surprise of the weekend may have been London’s win over Rose City, but there were plenty of London fans who weren’t surprised at all. The skaters from over the pond have been a highly adaptable team since their first visit to WFTDA playoffs in 2011 when they came in seeded 10th and left in 5th place. In last year’s Eastern Region tournament they played against Charm City in the bid for third place and a trip to Atlanta for the WFTDA Champs. There was a rumor running around Burlington that if they won, they would just have to stay in the States because they didn’t have the money for a second trip. But Charm took the win and saved them the fund-raising. This year they came with Milwaukee in mind and handily beat Montreal to take third place.
The Division playoff system has mixed things up and different teams are competing for the right to play at WFTDA Champs. Before Divisions, it seems that each geographical conference had its powerhouse 3 or 4 teams and it would take a tremendous effort to bounce those teams out of contention for Champs. Things certainly have changed.
In this weekend’s Division 1 Playoffs in Richmond, there are 4 teams who have made trips to Champs the past 2 years in a row: Texas, Kansas City, Naptown and Philly. And seeded above all of them is Angel City. So in theory, you have five teams that might have made it to WFTDA Champs if we were still in regional play. Well, there are only 3 seats on the bus that is heading out of Richmond. It should be an intense weekend. The 2 p.m. game on Friday will see Philly and Kansas City fight it out, followed by Naptown and No Coast. In the elimination style tournament, the first game is a big hurdle. Friday games determine who advances in the winner’s bracket and who drops to play for 5th place in the consolation bracket.
Jacksonville and Tampa, two teams the Furies played against in the Franky Panky Tournament, are also competing in this weekend’s Div. 1 Playoff in Richmond, along with New Hampshire and Terminal City. There have been upsets in every tournament so far and you never know when the next one will happen.
Over the weekend of September 20th, at D1P Asheville, you will see the likes of Gotham, Windy City, Minnesota, Rocky Mountain and Steel City compete for the top three spots at WFTDA Champs. The 2 p.m. game on Friday is between Minnesota and Steel City with Windy City playing the Mad Rollin’ Dolls at 4 p.m. Nashville, Oklahoma, Columbia and Houston round out the teams at Asheville competing for the trip to WFTDA Champs.
At the final D1P in Salem, Oregon, our sister league TORD’s team CN Power will be competing against the likes of Bay Area, Rat City, Charm City, Boston, Atlanta and Detroit. Salem’s powerhouse Friday games are Charm vs. Detroit and Rat City vs. Boston. TORD will play against Sacred City in the first game of these Playoffs. If they win, they will advance to play Atlanta.
We are planning on tweeting the play by play for the TORD games that weekend on the QCRG Twitter account (@qcrg) and will certainly be cheering them on. Those games are on Pacific Coast time.