Friday, October 31, 2008

3.5 Nationals underway

So Dirty Garland is in the Flight IV which has a later start time but they should be on the court right now v. Caribbean (El Caribe de Terrible per Greg Wiley)

After that they match up with the Southern team at 3:30 PST.

So if they get out of today unscathed they should be set up very well for the weekend.

I see that Nor Cal and So Cal have lost their first matches. New England scored a win, WOW! Looks like there is some good teams from all over, if Big John and his crew can do well this weekend they will have played some great tennis.

Keep up the posts, I am actually out till late tonight but I look forward to checking on their progress when I get home late tonight.

Monday, October 27, 2008

4.5 Week 8

Flight A
Northwood and Coredawg continue to roll on and this week they have Hackberry before their showdown with 2nd place Brookhaven. Nwood should do fine and clinch their playoff spot before putting on the brakes in their final match. Team Branch posted a big score over Diet Branch and continues to try and climb back into the playoff race although I wonder if they might be losing players while trying to post big scores.

Flight B
The battle of unbeatens happens this week. I have to go with Royal Oaks here but it could be close. High Point will be Royal Oaks fans this week because a OC/Feldman win all but ends the HP/4.0 bump-ups chances of making it to the dance. But keep trying guys we want to make sure you stay 4.5s and if you don't, please scroll down to my contact info: bazan.dean@gmail.com, we are interviewing new candidates for April.

Durdy Garland goes to Nats

So I know some of you had strong words for the Garland guys but I hope you will cheer them on as they attempt to bring home a national title for Texas.

I do think they are in the toughest flight with Southern and the Caribbean but at least they don't have a CA team in their flight. The good news is the Southern team lost 3 players to DQ (They are realllllllly DURDY!)

Any thoughts on these other teams?? I think So Cal looks good from seeing how well they did at So. Cal sectionals against some pretty good competition.

3.5 Week 8

So in flight A, Brookhaven gets a much deserved week off after going 1-1 in their big tests and should have sewn up one of the playoff spots with those results. Now CC, HP and LTF have to fight for leftovers and it starts with LBH attempting to get another upset win this week as they face LTF. They look like they may have a few strong players that could make this interesting including a self rate that played his first match and proved to be the difference in easily winning line 1 singles last week v. HP. CC and HP have winnable matches so they should still hang where they are at now.

Flight B............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I guess we will see how Westlake does w/o the three durdy's who will be at nats this weekend. They can handle a loss so even if that happens no big deal this late in the season. If Greenhill wins this weekend they should all but clinch that 2nd spot and end the hopes and run of Oak Creek playoff appearances.

Flight C
Interested to see how Samuell Grand does as they finish the season but looks like they should cruise in these last two matches. CC should be locked into the 2nd spot since they have two rather easy matches but you never know and GEagles is gaining fast and don't count out the Oakdridge boys who were the preseason favs and now look like they will stay home for the playoffs.

4.0 final regular season matches

So Flight C and D have bid adieu to the regular season and Lifetime, BH-Pearlman, Greenhill and the Lakes qualified for the playoffs.

Flight C ended up as expected but Garland finished 2-5 which was a little unexpected and Eagles Landing never could get complete enough to make a run at the top but did make it interesting for a little while.

Flight D caught some flack but I think this was the best flight from top to bottom. Greenhill or the Lakes may not win the Fall DCC but they are battle tested from playing in this flight I assure you. Stonebridge after making the playoffs since the beginning of time at 4.0 has missed two season in a row now, they have to think of some new membership perks I think. TBar had tough finish losing out on tiebreakers and they probably lose Shannon Grant to 4.5 in a few weeks as well. I think they will be a force in the Spring because they seem to have no problem finding new players and have good numbers. As far as Brookhaven it seems their lack of singles play hurt them and their doubles teams are not quite the dominating force they seemed to be just about a year or so ago.

But enough about looking back there is some 4.0 tennis this week.

Flight A has the big match up between us and Springpark. Oh wait it doesn't mean anything anymore. We still hope to have fun match this Sunday. There are still two teams fighting it out in our flight, BH-Helterbrann and LB Houston. I like BH's chances but they are light at singles and that could hurt them if Canyon Creek brings their best players. LBH has JCC who has been spreading playing time around lately so LBH has a chance to post a big number. They will need a sweep to really put themselves in position at the very least a 4-1 win.

Flight B has HP and OC just needed any type of win to hold onto their spots at the top with Durdy Garland lurking in the shadows ready to take one of those spots if they falter. Don't see it happening since Bob and Don have got these teams back on track after one bad loss for each.

By this time next week we should know or have a good idea on seeding and hopefully we can see a schedule and then let the smack talk begin.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Weekend League Results

So 3.5 had some interesting results as HP/Jameson lost to LBH and BH beat LTF in our MOW at this level.

Now flight A is very close between 4 four teams and it will come down to the final two weeks to see what happens. Brookhaven seems to have an inside track to get one spot since their ind. win total is so high a 2nd loss wouldn't hurt them but CC, HP and LTF are all in the mix.

Flight B, ho hum. GH and Westlake.

Flight C: Gleneagles is making a late run but not sure they can make it but you never know.

4.5
Royal Oaks wins our MOW but did have a close call at line 2 singles as Keller almost pulled it out. Molina as out but the might Russian flexed his muscle over Tikashi who took out Forrest Feuille today in 4.0 action.

OC Feldman also got another win to stay undefeated. The Lakes and HP are both at 5-2 and will have solid season but this flight is all but decided now.

NWood Noel and Brookhaven got victories to stay in their 1-2 positions as well and look to be staying in control. Noel does face a solid Hackberry team this coming weekend while BH has OC/Bovermann and then the two will meet in 2 weeks to decide the final positioning.

4.0

Not much posted yet. Lakes locked up their playoff spot with a 4-1 win. TBar made their case for a spot beating a good BH/Bartlett team 4-1 but unless our HP guys pull off a major upset over Greenhill, GH will get that other spot.

There looks to be a lot of 1 loss teams in 4.0 so it will come down to winning percentage, sets lost, etc to come up with the seeding for the playoffs.

I hope our team can remain undefeated and not be in that group but I did just agree to a challenge next week in our match v. Jim Walters in doubles. I hope they win so we can have a good match with something on the line other than me and Jim's pride.

Any other new results???

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

4.0 Week 8

Flight A
My team will stay on the couch this Sunday and let the rest of our flight for scraps as LBH takes on the Village with the winner having an inside track to 2nd place. (Village wins here) Springpark takes on Fretz, don't sleep on them Jim, Dan and his crew come to play and BTW are great guys. (Fretz scores the upset 3-2) Brookhaven takes on JCC so they have a chance to stay in the mix for sure. (Brookhaven wins 3-2) In the battle of the bottom Canyon Creek takes on Nasty Garland. Both teams have a couple of good players but I like CC in this battle.

Flight B
OMG! Has this flight got interesting again all of sudden. It was looking like a boring fat lady just sung flight and then the Village B team scored the upset of the year over OC/Smith. WOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! I still can't belive this one. Now Durddy Garland is back in the mix as is LBH/Hicks. LBH actually controls their destiny because if they win out they are in. I have always been perplexed by this LBH team, when at full strength I think they can play with anyone but they tend to lose close matches. I do see them taking out OC this Sunday but losing to Garland the following week which would send Durddy Garland to the playoffs. OMG! Say it ain't so. Lost in all this is HP who snuck by the LTF B team this Sunday with Newman and Voss losing at doubles??? Oh yeah if you didn't know the MOW is LBH v. OC. I will try and be there.

Flight C
Last week for this flight and ho hum Team Eddie and Brookhaven Pearlman are clinched and hmmm, who cares anymore, 1st is up for grabs but seeding shouldn't be that big of a deal especially not knowing where we will all land quite yet. BH/Pearlman with a win would secure the #1 seed but if Team Eddie is in their flight that might be the worst seed to have.

Flight D
Ok last week here as well and 4 teams fighting for 2 spots. Technically Bartlett is still in it but it would take some flight B craziness for that to happen. TBar is also a longshot but you never know what can happen.

Greenhill v. HP Loyd
Lakes v. Eldorado
TBar v. BH Bartlett

I like the Lakes and Greenhill to take these spots but I do think there is an outside chance that TBar sneaks in there if one of them wins 3-2.

4.5 Week 7

Flight A
So Rusty is keeping us waiting but in the meantime Corey Noel kept true to his promise and won 4-1 and Brookhaven also scored a big win to stay in 2nd place. Looks like these two are the favorites and we will see if Branch can climb back into it.

Interesting match is Branch v. Branch Lite (Diet Branch, Old Branch, Ex-Branches, Twigs, Broken Limbs) I see a 5-0 win for the big boys here but wouldn't be shocked with a closer score.

Hackberry has a stay alive match v. OC/Bovermann and they could use a convincing win if they want to stay in the discussion.

Flight B
Royal Oaks and OC Feldman posted strong results this weekend to all but end the playoff hopes of the TBars and the upstart Lakes crew. High Point also had a strong 5-0 sweep of Eldorado but this week will have to show up big in our 4.5 MOW v. Royal Oaks. OC/Feldman has a chance to post a big number over that same Eldorado team before they face off with RO and High Point in the next couple of weeks.

3.5 Week 7

Flight A
This flight is pretty interesting this week and has our MOW with Lifetime Fitness taking on Brookhaven. Both are notched at the top with High Point and CC/Jolly. The loser of this match is dangerously close to being eliminated from playoff contention due to these other three teams lingering at the top. High Point and CC look to have easier matches this week and could put some distance between both these teams if they win big. Looking forward to the CC v. HP match on 11/8. CC has a very solid roster, if only McHugh played on this CC team I would say they could grab this flight outright.

Flight B
This flight might as well be over as Westlake is adding insurance and Greenhill has a big lead in individual wins over 3rd place OC so even a late season falter wouldn't hurt them. Pretty sure we can call this flight the only interesting thing might be any last minute adds. I have seen some 3.5s playing up who could help out these teams. Let's see if these guys can be had.

Flight C
There is one good match here with GEagles v LBH, loser should be all but done with two many teams lurking for that 2nd spot behind Samuell Grand. I was just looking at SG and they have dropped one line all season. Yikes, can you say dominating. Are you sure GH and Westlake are the favs. Don't be so sure.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Weekend League Results

Well one MOW is in the books and "injured" Greg Wiley was so good he helped High Point take down undefeated Brookhaven. Tom Lafferty and Raghu look like they are unstoppable. Tom has been playing good during the week so I am not surprised. He started wearing glasses while playing so I am headed to Lenscrafters tonight.

Greenhill rolled in their Stonebridge "test." Samuel Grand moved to 5-0 and are making it look easy.

***********Breaking news****************

John Sisk joined Westlake today and so they are officially DURDY. Now you 3.5ers can start talking bad about Westlake. Any other last minute adds to that already strong team coming soon????

Not anything posted at 4.5 quite yet. Interested to know about CoreDawg's match and did my beloved Lakes score a win today??


Combo Sectionals are going on here in Dallas this weekend as well and FW and Lubbock jumped out with 1st match wins over Dallas and Waco in flight I. In Flight II the other FW team and Freeman's Houston team won their opening round matches.

WTF?! Freeman is in town, everyone send your ringers and top players on vacation, I have heard he will wine and dine players and buy them an apartment 50 miles within the Houston city limits for the upcoming Spring season. :)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Fall v. Spring

So I see a few postings about the Fall v. Spring so I thought I would post it up as a topic until we get some weekend results and since their isn't any great MOWs this week anyway.

My two cents is in Dallas it is obviously different than other places because their is a tie-in to the Spring season. In my experience if you have a team you like it is a great oppurtunity to prepare your team for the Spring season and know what you have going into that season and if you get an auto-bid even better.

I think for teams that aren't in the running it is easy to say it doesn't matter but I like having the Fall like it is because most all the teams are into it and care about their results. We have not had that many defaults save for a couple of teams and ours was on accident and last minute.

When I first put a team together I really wanted to win the fall before we made a run at Spring 2007 but as we got near the end of our season I knew my roster was not strong enough so I was rather happy to shed some players and reload for the next season and not have to think about retaining 70% of my players. Now this year I feel the exact opposite, save for one player I want to keep all my players and add Eddie Hill as a lefty sub at singles for 2009.

Thoughts?

4.5 Nats

So 4.5 Nats is underway as of this morning. Noho has a strong team that has two big guns at the top, how good are their chances?

I would have to think pretty good. They have Midwest, Pac. NW and the Caribbean in their flight so I see them playing some Sunday tennis but predicting two wins on Sunday is a toss up. Do they have a doubles team that can get an automatic point?

I wish them the best.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

4.0 Week 7

Flight A just got really intriguing. Springpark loses, Brookhaven loses to LBH. OMG! The Village is looking like they might be a playoff contender. Did I say OMG! I knew they would be solid but they have barely used Kyle Rhodes and if they can get him out for the final matches they should be the fav to finish in one of the top spots. With that said I am intently watching these teams knock each other off. I would think if we go 7-0 this weekend we are clinched but with so many one loss teams we will need to make sure and finish strong, we will do our best v. a good Fretz team this weekend.

With all that said our 4.0 MOW is in this flight with Brookhaven v. Village. Brookhaven did drop a match this weekend but their playoff life is on the line and they are slim at singles but very good at doubles. This is a tough pick to make but I like the Village in this one since the Village has found some good doubles pairings that can match up with BH and they are good at singles even without Kyle although if he shows this is a slam dunk.

Flight B
This flight seems all but decided now as long as OC or High Point/Somabut don't fall asleep. HP plays an upstart LTF B team who might give them a scare for about 10 minutes but it should be 5-0 when all is said and done.

Flight C
Not much interesting here either as Brookhaven/Pearlman can all but seal a playoff spot with a win this weekend. Eagles Landing keeps squeaking by and remains in 3rd but according to Eddie they will struggle this weekend v. Hackberry. I see Eagles Landing getting it done 3-2 and keeping the Eagles Landing v. LTF match something worth watching.

Flight D
This packed flight is starting to take shape as the Lakes and Greenhill seem to be the class of the group with TBar close behind. Brookhaven who looked like a contender has to get past Stonebridge to keep thier hopes alive and I think they should get a win since Stonebridge seems to be falling apart. The top two teams play the bottom two teams so there is a chance for huge upsets but don't see it happening this week. (just kidding go High Point/Loyd, take out the Lakes Baby, we will be adding 8 new players to John's roster in the morning)

4.5 Week 6

Flight A
OC Branch looks to be back on track but they will need to beat Greenhill this week to keep climbing back up, I see a big win here for them. In one of biggest matches of the week at 4.5 HP/Loose has a must win v. 1st Place Northwood/Noel. I think this one should be a good match and Corey's crew better not sleep on this team who badly needs this win to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Flight B
The other top 4.5 match of the weekend pits Royal Oaks (1st place and undefeated) against TBar who very similarly to HP/Loose needs to beat a juggernaut to keep their postseason hopes alive. I think Royal Oaks will roll out their new guys to send TBar packing till next April. Have a good XMAS TBar. (Corey told me to be mean to TBar) :)

Another interesting matchup in this flight has my LAKES v. OC/Feldman. I see the Lakes picking up another win and then I expect my free t-shirt in the mail by Tuesday.

3.5 Week 6

So 3.5 had a little life this past weekend but it looks like back to snoozeville for this weekend except for the 3.5 MOW between Brookhaven and High Point.

Flight A:
As mentioned there is our MOW between undefeated 1st place Brookhaven and newly defeated High Point. LTF and CC also are at the top with 1 loss with these two teams so some spots might start to solidify after Saturday. It should be interesting but I am still trying to figure out High Point and I think they might be trying to figure themselves out as well. I will have to go with Brookhaven in a close one.

Fight B:
Nothing really that interesting here. Westlake and Greenhill seem to in a different league at the top but Greenhill has a test this week against an always solid Stonebridge team. I would like to take SB for the upset but I see a close loss for them come Saturday. The Lakes are still hanging around as well but they play a solid yet underachieving team in High Point/Entrenkin. Lakes need to keep winning if they have an outside shot of climbing up the ladder.

Flight C:
I would be hard pressed to call this flight exciting but LBH did falter with a close loss to Stonebriar so Samuell Grand remains the only unbeaten leaving the rest of the teams in this flight to fight it out for 2nd place. Gleneagles, CC and Oakridge along with LBH will have to play out the season well and hope things work out.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Weekend League Results

So results are starting to roll in. In our MOW at 3.5 Rob Mchugh and CC beat Oakridge to send them to 2-2 and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. Westlake also scored a strong win over OC which has them in a similar spot of missing the playoffs this season. I know it is possible to get in with two losses but things have to roll your way.

In 4.5 Corey's team stayed undefeated but it looked like a close one. Greenhill also has a huge hill if they want to stay with the leaders. Unfortunately for them they seem to start the season well and fade off as the season progresses. High Point/Pham fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in our 4.5 MOW as ....................the LAKES won 3-2. Who hatin' on the Lakes now?? Corey don't talk about them too muh you might just see them come November.

I am ready for tomorrow. I might actually have to play so....Right now mexican food and cabernet is calling my name.

Friday, October 10, 2008

USTA Tourney Sectionals

So I will be honest I haven't combed these draws all that well. I just looked at them now when Noaman told me he beat John Blackwell 6-3, 6-1 to move onto the 2nd round.

4.0 is a monster draw in doubles and singles with all the big names making their way down.

Any thoughts on favs and post some results that you all know when they start rolling in.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

4.0 Week 6

Flight A
Not too much going on here. Springpark seems to have played no matches so maybe they will be playing three this week who knows. Or if they want to just give 1st place to us, I am totally fine with that.


Flight B
This flight is getting real interesting and this weekend it should get amped up even more. Garland takes on unbeaten OC in our 4.0 MOW. With a win they would take over first place since they have been winning by wide margins. HP/Somabut takes on the Springpark B team who has been hit or miss this year but could cause them some trouble.

Flight C
This flight is also getting very spicy with Eddie calling out Hackberry as his new favorite team and their new big fan to take out BH Pearlman for him. Before that happens in the final week team Eddie runs into another tough match with Garland who narrowly missed beating unbeaten Brookhaven. It should get interesting but Team Eddie should squeak by in this one. I like them by a 3-2 margin. Sorry Eddie no big result this weekend unless they can't bring out their best 8.


Flight D
This flight is shaping up as really solid. Yeah yeah I know I love flight D but these teams are really good and would all contend in other flights for sure. After two upsets last week their is a logjam at the top and it should get shaken up a little as these two matches happen.



T Bar v. Stonebridge and Brookhaven v. Greenhill.



Greenhill has made a believer out of me and I feel they will takeover this flight with this match. Stonebridge has a shot to take this one. TBar showed that without Shannon Grant and 1 or 2 others they are not that deep. Stonebridge has some talent in doubles and will need to grab one singles match and could make this match interesting. OK I have talked them up enough, I will take SB to get the upset 3-2 and send TBar stumbling.

4.5 Week 5

So Flight A seems to have a lot of solid teams which lends this flight to some great matchups each week and this week is no different.

Brookhaven v. Hackberry should be a solid matchup of two 3-1 teams with playoff hopes now that Team Branch has dropped back a little bit.

Greenhill v. Northwood should be a good one as well and let's see if Corey can keep his team focused after their huge win last weekend. Greenhill is 3-1 and with a win here could really throw a wrench in the mix.

Also the OC/Bovermann v. HP/Loose match is pretty much an elimination match since 3 losses in this flight is a kiss of death.

Flight B
Corey said everyone in this flight sucks and he could beat you all left handed. Oh I am sorry he told me not to post that.

There are still three unbeatens in this flight which should start to change soon but so far it is hard to pick a strong winner out of those three High Point, Royal Oaks and OC/Feldman. All have good things about their teams but out of the three OC/Feldman might be the best equipped.

This week has our MOW as High Point/Pham takes on previously unbeaten Lakes. For those of you who jumped off the Lakes bandwagon after their close loss to Royal Oaks you can get back on after they score the upset this weekend over High Point. Yep Lakes takes this one 3-2. If the Lakes loses though I think it will be too hard to recover for them.

3.5 Week 5

So after a somewhat interesting weekend in 3.5 it looks like not much is going on this weekend but you never know.

Flight A
ZZZZZZZZZZzz. Nothing here, maybe HP v. LTF/Kaiser.

Flight B
Aha! Here is a good one. Oak Creek takes on Westlake. Westlake will get a chance to take on another perennial playoff team and show us just how good they are. I like OC to push them here but eventually lose in a close one.

Flight C
The MOW is in this flight as Robert McHugh and Canyon Creek take on the Oakridge Boys. McHugh has joined the fray in here and these two teams really need a win in order to remain relevant in playoff talk. I am not sure who I got here but I am leaning towards CC although I will be honest I don't know their roster as well.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Weekend results

So I thought we might as well have a place to discuss the Northwood big win as well as the Oakridge 0-5 debacle v. Samuel Grand. They lost 4 tiebreakers, ouch! Westlake also had a convincing win. Don Harvey got pushed a little bit from John. I thought John had a chance against him since he crushed me the other day in practice.

Also Mixed Doubles sectionals is going on and looks like the Dallas teams are doing well so far.

Brookhaven tourney is winding down with finals in the early AM. Jonathan Marcus is in the semis at 4.0 in the morning. Scott Miller plays Sean Bay who had some good wins on his way to the 4.5 final.

I am looking forward to the 4.0 matches tomorrow as well.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Events in late October

This year's "Serving Up Possibilities" Tennis Classic benefiting My Possibilities on Oct 24th & 25th is being hosted by Canyon Creek Country Club and Collin College Tennis Team!

Mixed Doubles
Friday, October 24th
Place-Canyon Creek CC
6pm-10pm

Men’s Doubles & Women’s Doubles
Saturday, Oct 25th
Collin College (Spring Creek Campus)
8:30am – 2:00pm


For more registration information please go to http://www.mypossibilities.org/
or call Pam Ferrell at 972.743.1113


My Possibilities is a non-profit day program for adults with disabilities. The goal of My Possibilities is to provide a day program that encourages lifelong learning, independence and pre-vocational skills in a safe and nurturing environment for adults with disabilities post high school. My Possibilities is the first of a kind for adults with cognitive disabilities once these adults have completed high-school in Collin County.

Thank you for participating - all proceeds from this tournament will be used to keep this program affordable for families in our community.


****************************************************************************************
The Stanford Championships are coming back to Dallas October 22-26, 2008. This year the event has been moved from Frisco to the new Turpin Tennis Center on the SMU campus.

All the players have been announced: Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis, Todd Martin, Wayne Ferreira, Aaron Krickstein, Jimmy Arias and Mikael Pernfors.

Also, Anna Kournikova will be playing a set of mixed at each of the Saturday sessions. (Hmmm, you might see me at these matches)

I hope you will be able to join us for this great tennis event. Here is the link to order tickets online: http://championsseriestennis.com/dallas2008/tickets.php. Please pass this along to the rest of your team, family and friends. Let’s support professional tennis in Dallas !