Rollercon Friday Preview: #8 Rocky Mountain vs #9 Philly and #13 Minnesota

By Lex Talionis, Last updated Fri Jul 27 2012 12:01am

LAS VEGAS, NV -- The first day of WFTDA-sanctioned action at Rollercon 2012 comes as the second-quarter WFTDA rankings release is imminent, and should provide a few clues as to how three teams who'll be vying for a championships spot in three of the four regions are shaping up this year as tournament season closes in. Rocky Mountain, #8 in the nation via DNN, faces DNN #13 Minnesota at 12:15pm Pacific time and DNN #9 Philly at 7pm.

Rollercon WFTDA-sanctioned bouts are live on DNN on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Rocky, Philly and Minnesota all made it to championships last year and were knocked out by the teams that ended up placing first, second and third respectively. They've also all posted mixed results so far this year.

Rocky are 5-2 for the year--but those two losses came against regional rivals Bay Area and Denver, neither of whom made it to Championships last year. Their one win over top level opposition came over Kansas City last month--so they might be hitting form at the right time.

Rocky will be missing one skater who was key to their improvement after a shaky start to 2012--Urrk'n Jerk'n hasn't travelled to Vegas, and in fact won't be skating again this year.

Philly are 3-4 on the year with losses to Denver, Texas and Gotham. That Denver game gives a good indicator of the uphill struggle the Liberty Belles will face against the Fight Club--while Rocky lost to the Mile High Club by 16 points in a game that went to the wire, Philly lost by 98 in a game whose result seemed set at the half.

Minnesota have a rather unusual 7-1-1 record on 2012 so far, with their only loss being against Charm City, a team they beat in the opening round in Denver last year. Their other non-win was their tie against Charm's other Brewhaha victim, regional rivals Windy City.Their most significant victory over the year came immediately after their only loss--a comprehensive 160-point win over Detroit, a team they only beat by 21 points in a nail-biter that secured a second-straight Championships trip last year.

After playing Minnesota and Philly, Rocky have no action scheduled until September at the 2012 WFTDA West Region playoffs, Bay of Reckoning. Philly and Minnesota next face off against each other on Saturday July 28, at Rollercon--which will also be streamed live on DNN.