Weekend Preview: 5/18/2012

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Fri May 18 2012 1:04pm

Top WFTDA Action

(5) Rose City @ (3) Texas; (5) Rose City @ (23) Houston -- See DNN's Feature Preview.

(9) Rocky Mountain @ (2) Denver -- See DNN's Feature Preview.

(22) Ohio @ Tri-City (Saturday); (22) Ohio @ Toronto -- Going by rankings alone, Ohio would seem to have a relatively safe trip to Canada ahead of them this weekend; they're ranked 7th in the North Central while Tri-City is #17 and Toronto is #15. However, Tri-City (Kitchener, ON) put up a surprisingly strong fight against 11NC Grand Raggidy just last week, losing 157-146. Overall, Tri-City is 3-2 on the year -- and, notably, the other loss was to Ohio's other opponent this weekend, Toronto.

Ohio has been on a tear this year, building up a 10-1 record marred only by a 15 point loss to Carolina -- however, their narrow 19-point win over #21NC Killamazoo and 35-point win over shared opponent Grand Raggidy will give the Canadian hosts some hope that Ohio could be vulnerable to a big upset.The last time Ohio and Tri-City went head to head, Ohio won 131-76 in June 2011. No live coverage scheduled for Ohio / Tri-City; live coverage of Ohio / Toronto courtesy of of Toronto Roller Derby on Sunday.

Dutchland @ (20) Boston (Saturday); Dutchland @ Maine (Sunday) -- Somewhat like Tri-City, Dutchland (#9E WFTDA) was building up a relatively unexceptional series of results this year before putting up an extremely close loss to a considerably higher ranked team; they lost by just six points to Steel City (#17 DNN, #5E WFTDA) on May 5. If that result reflects a recent jump in Dutchland's strength, this bout could be trouble for #7E Boston, who barely escaped a challenge from #8E Carolina the same weekend; Boston won by nine. On the other hand, the last Boston / Dutchland matchup, which took place during Dutchland's controversial appearance at last year's East Playoffs, saw Boston dominate Dutchland 213-90. No live coverage scheduled.

DC @ Cincinnati (Saturday); DC vs Bleeding Heartland (Sunday) -- After alternating wins and losses for the first five games of their season, DC's been on a roll recently, rattling off four big wins in a row in their region and punching their way into the East top ten. Cincinnati (#9NC) looks to provide a stiffer challenge than most of DC's opponents, though Cincy has been fighting to stabilize their own fortunes for about a year now; they're 3-2 on the year with a big 155-point loss to #2NC Minnesota in their last match. DC and Cincinnati have never met before. In DC's Sunday match, they take on Bleeding Heartland (#12NC); BHRG suffered a serious setback to their hopes to penetrate their region's top 10 when they were solidly defeated by Arch Rival two weeks ago, 173-58. Live textcast coverage courtesy of Cincinnati Rollergirls for DC / Cincinnati; action starts at approximately 8:30 Eastern on Saturday, May 19. Live textcast coverage for DC / Bleeding Heartland starts at 10am Eastern on Sunday.

Tournament Action

Got to Be NC -- Carolina, currently ranked 8th in the East, once again hosts the annual all-day round-robin in the famed Dorton Arena, this year featuring Carolina and some lowly-ranked state competition: Cape Fear (#18E), Charlotte (#26E) and Blue Ridge (unranked, South Central). Each team plays three games in the day, facing everybody else once. Live textcast coverage courtesy of the Carolina Rollergirls all day Saturday; first bout (Charlotte v Blue Ridge) begins at 10am Eastern.

General WFTDA / MRDA Action

WFTDA East: (17) Steel City hosts Burning River; (18) London faces Auld Reekie in Auld Reekie's second-ever WFTDA game; Roc City travels to Hudson Valley; Connecticut hosts Providence (live textcast); Lehigh Valley visits Columbia and Dominion; Rocktown plays New River Valley.

WFTDA North Central: Black and Bluegrass hosts Southern Illinois; Derby City hosts Fort Wayne; Killamazoo hosts Old Capitol City.

WFTDA South Central: No Coast hosts Des Moines; Northwest Arkansas goes to Oklahoma City on Saturday and OK Victory Dolls on Sunday; Mid-Iowa goes to Omaha; Duke City hosts the West's Choice City in inter-regional action.

WFTDA West: Emerald City hosts Humboldt (live video on DNN courtesy Emerald City Roller Girls - start time 6pm Eastern); Pikes Peak goes to Sin City; Angel City hosts Wasatch.

MRDA: The Capital District Trauma Authority (Albany, NY) hosts the Quadfathers (Utica, NY) on Saturday night; both teams are looking for their first MRDA-sanctioned win.

Also Live on DNN

In banked-track action, LADD home teams Tough Cookies and Sirens battle it out Saturday night; live video courtesy of LA Derby Dolls, start time 8pm Pacific.

Current WFTDA champs Gotham have a local Saturday night bout between Queens of Pain and Bronx Gridlock (full bout preview from Thomas Gerbasi). Live video courtesy Gotham Girls Roller Derby; action begins at 8pm Eastern.

Santa Cruz hosts non-WFTDA Long Beach on Saturday night; live textcast courtesy of Santa Cruz Roller Derby, start time 6:30pm Pacific.