By Derby News Network, Last updated Wed Dec 7 2011 8:59am

Bout of the Year

Winner: Rocky Mountain 147, Oly 146 (856 votes, 54%)

Second Place: Charm City 152, Boston 136 (88 votes, 5%)
Third Place: Victoria 78, Sun State 76 (82 votes, 5%)

It wasn't even close for this one -- in our 11 categories this year, Bout Of The Year was the only one where the winner took a majority of the votes, and it's not hard to see why. From its setup as the rubber match between a 14-1 Rocky and a 15-1 Oly both with their only losses in 2010 at the hands of the other, to its spectacular individual performances from Atomatrix, Frida Beater, Tannibal Lector and Amanda Jamitinya, to its final two neck-snapping momentum swings (a 23-8 jam for Oly followed by the game-winning 9-0 to Rocky with no time remaining on the game clock), it would have been almost impossible to script a more dramatic game to cap the WFTDA championship. If you considered going to Chicago for the tournament but ended up not making it, you probably totally hate yourself right now. As you should.

Best Rivalry

Winner: Rocky Mountain / Oly (399 votes, 25%)

Second Place: Gotham / Philly (271 votes, 17%)
Third Place: Charm City / Boston (179 votes, 11%)

See above. In a year that saw WFTDA's West Region establishing itself as one of the primary enclaves of power in the sport, RMRG and Oly battled for dominance at the top all year long. The three games that Rocky Mountain and Oly played in 2010 went 121-101 Oly, 127-86 Rocky, and 147-146 Rocky -- just a 22 point differential over 3 hours worth of gameplay. Notably, Rocky Mountain was also the winner for last year's Best Rivalry, against Denver.

Most Improved Team

Winner: Rocky Mountain (281 votes, 17%)

Second Place: Bay Area (223 votes, 14%)
Third Place: Montreal (190 votes, 12%)

In 2009, they exploded out of their region and into the national tournament for the first time with mid-season additions of DeRanged, Psycho Babble and Ecko, but even though they managed to finish #4 overall, their season would end on a sour note with an ugly moment in a loss to Texas and a solid defeat at the hands of cross-town rivals Denver. In 2010, though, RMRG upped their individual and team games, showing significant growth when they easily dismissed Texas by 99 points in May, and plugged in the last two elements for a championship team by adding transfers Urrk'n Jerkin As Booty Blockya and Amanda Jamitiniya (from Fort Collins and Duke City, respectively).

Best Regular Season Event

Winner: East Coast Derby Extravaganza (506 votes, 32%)

Second Place: RollerCon (309 votes, 19%)
Third Place: Wild West Showdown (139 votes, 8%)

First held in 2007 and now with four editions under its belt, the three-ring circus ECE (or ECX, or ECDE, or ECDX, depending on who you're talking to) is the most venerable of the regular-season multi-bout events, and the Philly Rollergirls' success in pulling it off has inspired similar large-scale events around the nation. But although you might be able to get two tracks of sanctioned action going on at your event, and you might be able to get an extra challenge track for fun bouts going on at your event, and you might be able to schedule the best in the nation to play at your event, you're still going to need to put the whole shebang next to a summer pool party if you're really gonna compete with ECE.