August 10 Analysis - It's back, baby

After a long absence, the Derbytron Rankings are back. Pushed into seclusion after a couple of predictions that were way off the mark, the Derbytron is back and stronger. The new method is over 87% accurate in official games this season.

On to this weekend's action. Rose City (#11, 3-1) traveled to San Francisco to battle Bay Area (#21, 1-3) and needed a late 2nd half comeback to overcome the ladies in gold and black, 138-120. The Portland crew had never defeated Bay Area in two tries but both teams were moving in opposite directions heading into the bout. The home team lost a May bout to Rat City (#9, 4-3) by 65 points which was the first chink in the armor after strong showings at Western Regionals and a close loss at the hands of 3rd place Philly (#2, 6-0) at Nationals. Then came July's drubbing at the hands of Boston (#12, 5-6) by a score of 129-58 at RollerCon. On the other hand, Rose City was coming off a strong win over Carolina (#28, 1-6), 120-62, after 4 months off. Those games 4 months ago were strong as well, with a 14-point win over Rat City and a close loss to undefeated Oly (#5, 4-0).

In some more western action on Sunday, Duke City (#17, 3-4) packed up and took it to Tucscon (#34, 1-2) for a 131-80 win. The Munecas Muertas of Albequerque had been struggling lately after two games with short rosters. First, they lost a close home game to unpredictable Arch Rival (#27, 5-4) and then lost in Boston by 48. Tucson was playing its first game since the Four Corner Feud in February.

The Honky Tonk Stomp, or Tennessee State Roller Derby Championship, was also held this weekend in Memphis. It was a round-robin format and the Nashville Rollergirls (#37, 6-2) came out on top going 2-0 on Saturday knocking off Memphis (#41, 4-2) 118-60 and Hard Knox (#49, 1-4) 110-64. In the 3rd game, Memphis delighted the home crowd with a 114-96 win over Knoxville.