Things are starting to heat up, and there are just two more weeks left in Quarter 2 for those teams in WFTDA. The next batch of rankings to come out determines who goes to Regionals, and who hits the track to get ready for their next season. For everyone else, it is just another week of derby action. My own rankings will come around the week of June 27, when all the Q2 action is completed. Anyway, this weekend is going to have a lot of really well matched teams playing each other!
Note: I'm pretty sure I am missing quite a few interleague games going on this weekend, and I apologize. Lots of planning is going into the new designs, and I had to cut something this week. Good luck to you!
Nashville's Music City All Stars (3SC/16FTS) vs. Chicago Outfit All Stars (9NC/25FTS/22DNN)
Prediction: Well, this is obviously the top game in the South Central to watch. After Nashville's run of great performances, taking down Jet City (7W/35FTS), Memphis (11SC/69FTS), and Hard Knox (12SC/58FTS) with ease, they are predicted to take home the win here. Chicago is no slouch, having stayed near the top of the pack since they first appeared on the WFTDA scene. Their recent conquests include South Central top 10s like No Coast (6SC/31FTS) and Omaha (8SC/52FTS). While there isn't any direct comparisons available, Nashville seems to be the stronger team here. I expect a hard fought victory for the South Central.
Nashville 150 - Chicago Outfit 110
Nashville's Music City Brawl Stars (Nashville B-team) vs. Chicago Outfit's Shade Brigade (Chicago B-team)
Prediction: Both high powered teams with solid B-teams that could take on many full WFTDA teams. The Brawl Stars looked really strong at Honky Tonk Stomp 2011, and I will give them the advantage here, especially after Shade Brigade's slightly less stellar performance at Brewhaha. To their credit, they played some slightly harder teams, and this should be a good match.
Brawl Stars 160 - Shade Brigade 90
Hard Knox All Stars (12SC/58FTS) vs. Big Easy All Stars (18SC/66FTS)
Prediction: Big Easy has languished in the lower positions of the South Central for a long time, but has recently been making a bit of a name for themselves. They most recently took down newcomer Jacksonville (-SC/59FTS) in a surprising upset, and played a close game to Bleeding Heartland (13NC/49FTS). Hard Knox, on the other hand, was a regular top 10 team, and has seen a lot of pressure from loses to newer lower ranked teams like Jacksonville and Gold Coast (11SC/63FTS) push them a bit lower. While there is an easy triangulation between Hard Knox, Jacksonville, and Big Easy, I am still not quite convinced it will play out that way here. Watch for Big Easy to give a great performance, but Hard Knox regroup from a series of tough games for the win.
Hard Knox 160 - Big Easy 125
Hard Knox Brawlers (Knoxville's B-team) vs. Big Easy's Crescent Wenches (Big Easy Home Team)
Prediction: Another solid set of B-teams. While the Crescent Wenches aren't really a B-team, it is my understanding that they are a home team. That said, I'm not sure if some people are playing in both games or not and if this would really be consider a true B-team matchup. Either way it should be good, and I'm going to side with Knoxville again.
Brawlers 130 - Crescent Wenches 110
Dixie Derby Girls All Stars (19SC/85FTS) vs. Derby City (17NC/74FTS)
Prediction: There isn't a lot of comparison points between these two teams. They share similar placement in rankings in their respective regions, and both have been struggling for wins. While Dixie is a long time participating member league in WFTDA, their only win this year comes a 26 point victory over Alamo City (23SC/88FTS). Derby City is relatively new, but has made a bit of a splash with their decent loss 54 point loss to Bleeding Heartland (13NC/49FTS) this year. While I really want the South Central to win, this is going to be a close one. In the end Derby City is likely to walk away much happier.
Dixie 110 - Derby City 130
Dixie's Rocket City Rollers (Dixie B-team) vs. Tragic City's Plan-B (Tragic City B-team)
Prediction: This is a bit of a warm up for when Dixie and Tragic City play a proper All Star game later this year. Tragic City was one of my top rated Apprentice leagues in the South Central, and I imagine their B-team is similarly strong. This is also a rematch from last year where Plan-B emerged the victor by a 2 to 1 margin. I am expecting a good game, but for Tragic City to prevail similarly to last year.
Rocket City Rollers 60 - Plan-B 120
Memphis's Hustlin' Rollers (11SC/69FTS) vs. Jacksonville (-SC/59FTS)
Prediction: This game could make for some odd triangulation. I'm not going to go into the details, but believe me when I say it would make for a complicated flow chart between Memphis (11SC/69FTS), Knoxville (12SC/58FTS) , Tallahassee (14SC/56FTS), Gold Coast (13SC/63FTS), Big Easy (18SC/66FTS), and Jacksonville (-SC/59FTS), as to who is the higher ranked. The 10-15 spots are complicated right now. While both teams have been on surprising downturns lately, Jacksonville seems to be favored by the robots at Flat Track Stats. I think it is going to be a close one, and Memphis's home field advantage will pull through for them.
Memphis 160 - Jacksonville 120
No Coast (6SC/31FTS) vs. Northwest Arkansas (16SC/76FTS)
Prediction: No Coast is very good, Northwest Arkansas, not quite as competitive. I don't think there is any doubt as to who is going to win this one. No Coast has beaten Dallas (10SC/65FTS) when they were still highly regarded last year; whereas, Northwest Arkansas recently lost to them by almost 150 points. There isn't much else to say regarding who is going to win here, so I'll wrap it up with the score prediction.
No Coast 250 - Northwest Arkansas 50
Ft. Myers Derby Girls (Florida) vs. Atlanta's Rumble B's (Atlanta B-team)
Prediction: Ft. Myers should be riding high after a solid win over Tampa's Bruise Crew, and seem to be eyeing better and better teams. I'm not sure if they have WFTDA aspirations or not, but they are turning out to be a solid addition to the many great teams in Florida. Atlanta's Rumble B's are nothing but serious, they lost by just about 10 points to Gold Coast (13SC/63FTS), and played a respectable 100 point loss against Apprentice power house Columbia Quad Squad. A win here would place Ft. Myers prospects rather high for if they ever decide to join WFTDA, somewhere in the mid teens of rankings. Either way it should be close, and I don't feel comfortable picking either team to win. But I guess I have to!
Ft. Myers 135 - Rumble B's 130
Dallas (10SC/65FTS) vs. Pueblo (-W/-FTS)
Prediction: Dallas has begun their upswing, and is taking on new WFTDA member Pueblo. I can't find any information about Pueblo's recent bout scores, so I will have to give the advantage to the size and experience of Dallas.
Dallas wins
Tri-County (Florida) vs. Gainesville (Florida)
Prediction: Tri-County is a team I can't find much on, so we'll talk about Gainesville here. Gainesville plays lots of local teams and almost always wins, including against Gold Coast and Tampa's B-teams. Given that I will side with them. This pains me as a Seminole to side with Gainesville, I must admit.
Gainesville wins
Bradentucky Nuclear Bombshells (Florida) vs. Sarasota (Florida)
Prediction: Same as above, Sarasota is hard to find information on, and I don't see any score results for Bradentucky despite an otherwise informative webpage.
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