WFTDA Bout Preview: (12) Arizona @ (11) Minnesota
Posted by Justice Feelgood Marshall on 7th December 2007
In a way, the derby fates have treated #11th ranked Minnesota and #12th ranked Arizona quite similarly in 2007. Both were sitting a few slots higher in the rankings going into their respective regional tournaments, both were odds-on favorites to make the final four and advance to the national tournament, and both got an unpleasant surprise at the hands of upstarts. Arizona was knocked out of the Western Regional by Kansas City in a 75-70 classic, and Minnesota went down to Detroit, 99-77. After WFTDA nationals, both teams found themselves ranked outside the top 10 for the first time since the WFTDA ranking system went in place; for the 2008 cycle, both leagues will be looking to regain their previous standings.
Although they’re two of the older leagues in derby, these two have not faced each other on the track before (CORRECTION: AZRD defeated Minnesota in the third-place bout of the 2006 Dust Devil, 115 to 88). A conveniently indirect way to compare them, though, comes in the fact that each of them most recently faced the current #1 team, Kansas City. Minnesota battled to a 122-84 loss in mid-September, while AZRD was outscored by just over a hundred points in early August, suffering a 153-51 defeat. Both games were in Kansas City.
It looks like Arizona will be fielding a relatively new interleague team, with not too many of the crew from Dust Devil still on the roster. Noticeably, neither of their one-two jammer combination from that tourney will be playing against Minnesota — Sheriff Shutyerpaio is off the roster, and Denise Lightning went to Carolina over the summer. Minnesota’s Team Army features the wickedly speedy Roxanne Rolls and Rebel Stella among a crew notorious for being some of the hardest hitters in derby.
UPDATE: Minnesota takes it to Arizona in a romp, going up 51-9 at halftime and coasting to a big 87-24 win (full recap to come.)
Citizen Pain F16 // Scarmen Hellectra 28 // Rebel Stella 99 // Misfit Maiden 313 // Flora Flipabitch 4 // Sparkle Ninja 1111 // Pain Gretzky 1337 // Hanna Belle Lector 37 // Lizzy the Axe 41 // Jawbreaker 86 // Demora Liza <0 // Mary Tyler Roar 94 // Mitzi Massacre 3 // Roxanne Rolls 300
French Lyck 11 // Wend E. Machete FM // Hacker TooPieces 31 // Loca Lena 51-50 // Bad Betty 333 // Diana Sauras Wrexx 5 // Shirley Demise 25 // Candy Cannons 327 // Domiskatrix Cat 0 9 Tails // Deez Nutz 56 // Babe Ruthless 9 // Rayna Rage 3 // Messy Missy 57 // Paige Burner 282
Posted in Arizona Roller Derby, Bout previews, Interleague Bouts, Minnesota Rollergirls | 3 Comments »