By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Tue Nov 10 2009 7:35pm

Philly | Gotham | Boston | Windy City | Madison | Detroit | Texas | Kansas City | Houston | Oly | Rocky Mountain | Denver

Boston (East #3)

First bout: vs. Madison, 3:30pm Friday

2009 record: 9-8

2009 biggest win: 298-22 over Pikes Peak, September 19

2009 biggest loss: 188-44 to Gotham, March 28

2009 closest bout: 82-81 loss to Carolina, June 27 (East Coast Extravaganza)

2009 background: Boston started slow in 2009, losing six out of their first 8 bouts against tough competition, but after a 155-107 win over Duke City in July, their season began to turn around a bit. A big 129-58 victory at Rollercon against Bay Area announced that they were a serious national threat, and they made good on that promise at Eastern Regionals by beating two teams they'd lost to earlier in the year -- first decisively taking the upper hand in their long rivalry with Carolina by dismissing them 112-40, and then hanging on for a upset of favored Charm City in the third-place bout, winning 156-142 to advance to Nationals.

Boston is one of four Nationals teams to have played a bout between Regionals and Nationals -- they spanked Pikes Peak in August, 298-22.

Tournament history: This is Boston's first appearance at Nationals, and in doing so they shake off a tough-luck reputation from their 2007 and 2008 Regionals appearances, where the went to the last jam with Detroit (in 2007) and Carolina (in 2008) before being eliminated in those two bouts. Notably, they did knock off Madison 90-88 in a thriller of a consolation-round bout in the 2008 Regionals; Madison will be their first-round opponent here to kick off Nationals.

Lowdown: Boston's defense can get lights-out when things are completely clicking --they held Pikes Peak, Carolina, Montreal and Connecticut to under 40 points each this year. However, they have shown an occasional propensity to allow big scoring runs for their opponents that can either put a mostly close game out of reach or allow a game that seemed won to almost be lost.

The most notable examples of that this year came in their June bout against Carolina, where Boston had a tough time getting started and was behind 47-12 before getting it together, and their Regionals bout against Charm City, where they were up 145-72 with about 12 minutes to play, but a massive Charm City surge brought that 73 point lead all the way down to 14 points before time finally expired. Boston certainly won't be able to afford any lengthy lapses like those if they're going to go deep in this very tough tournament.

Players to watch: Blocking is keyed by lanky pivot Shellby Shattered, a serious force in the front of a pack, Harley Quinn, who excels at one-on-one blocking, and the particularly hard hitting from Etta Maims and Harlot Fevah. Savvy longtime vet Anna Wrecks'Ya can also provide some confounding positional play in the pack. On the jam line it's Krushpuppy and Claire D. Way who usually lead Massacre scoring, with the particularly agile Claire occasionally performing some crowd-pleasing, physics-defying 360 spins to keep her balance after hits.

Road to the championship: A first-round date with Madison (#2 North Central) will be followed by a match against South Central #1 Texas on Saturday if Boston prevails; Texas defeated Boston 118-84 earlier this year, but as noted before, Boston has managed to get revenge on two teams already this year. If Boston can score a huge upset on Texas, they'll face Philly, Rocky Mountain or Houston in the final four.

Roster: Anna Wrecks'Ya 101 // Claire D. Way 1984 // Etta Maims B52 // Harley Quinn 9669 // Harlot Fevah 99 // Kitty Twister 138 // Krushpuppy (843) // Lois Carmen Dominator 011 // Maude Forbid 7:1 // Maura Buse 34B // Mrs. Dash 360 // Pina Collidah 77 // Pussy Venom 28 // Quick Sandy 24 // Rocky 5 // Shellby Shattered -0 // Sugar Hits 1001 // Triple Deck-Her 3D