Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Combo Tourney this weekend

It always seems very quick for me since Sectionals just ended but this weekend is the Combo tourney and there is a full slate of teams that are signed up to play.

We will start with a look at the 7.5 draw, which is broken into two flights.

Flight A

Brad Bartlett, Ruben Muniz and Scott Russell.

Thoughts:
These tourneys usually hinge on your lower rated player and they have Mitterer and Strohl in their farewell to 3.5 tennis so they will be very tough to beat. Their 4.0s are not stellar although Rivera is very tough along with Ludwig and even Brad gets lucky here and there.

The Muniz team looks to be a Lifetime/Stonebridge combo team and the LTF 3.5ers are good and will help them compete but not sure their 4.0 players are quite at the level of some others in the this tourney. Papanek and Henk will be tough but will struggle against a few in this draw.

The durty Garland team is stacked and even brought in Chris Jones for good measure at 3.5. I don't see how this team loses with O'Bannon and Defeo at 4.0 and Clark, Wiley and Jones playing 3.5, they have to be the fav to win this flight and the whole thing.

Flight B

Terry Foy, Dietrick and Walters

The Lakes (Foy) team has some good players but only one standout from the last league in Fries, Foy is capable himself but their is no big firepower here.

Dietrick's crew is stacked with himself, Vacalis and more importantly the 3.5s of Mays, Stein and Palacoiz will be very hard to beat.

Walter's team seems like they are in it for the exercise but will not be an easy out in fact they could finish 2nd with this roster but should not match up well against the Village based team captained by Deitrick.

I see a very close Russell 2-1 victory over Deitrick in the finals.

Now onto 8.5, wait this one has already been decided. Joel Pickett's roster scared the rest of the teams off and they will just show up for the formality. This roster is sooooo stacked they are looking to not just win this tourney but the Sectional tourney.

Good luck guys!

109 comments:

  1. Where can you find these teams? Tennis link? I looked but didnt see them...

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  2. http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/reports/TennisLinkReports.asp?Level=L&LeagueID=18413&CYear=2009

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  3. If they had Nationals for Combo a lot more players would play.

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  4. ok I don't post much and am not a trash-talker but dismissing the other teams at 8.5 as also rans? We have Pickett in our sights! Yes, I agree they are the favorites and have a strong team but it's only 3 lines and upsets happen...... remember tri-level? oh and Slez jumping ship on me doesn't help, WTF dude?

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  5. Pickett at 8.5 and Russell at 7.5 look to be the favorites on paper, but anything can happen!

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  6. I think Deitrick is the favorite on paper in 7.5. They ahve better 4.0s and equal 3.5s.

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  7. Vacalis is the only premier 4.0 on his team.

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  8. Carey, Carey, CAREY,

    In 7.5, who has won this event the LAST FIVE YEARS IN A ROW.

    Watch out for Bartlett. It's the best team he has ever had and he is a savy Captain.

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  9. I think Rossouw has the best team. Ellis is the best 4.0 in Dallas and icepick won the last two Sectionals because he had himself and Hai Nguyen as 4.0.

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  10. Sorry Brad and Marc but I have to be honest and I am not saying you all should stay home, of course anything can happen but I will be shocked if Russell's team doesn't get out of that flight. Vacalis is good but he is more of force in singles, he has losses at dubs I believe. as far as 8.5, there is just too much firepower unless some more signups happen. Joel likes this event and has won in the past so the best flock to his team.

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  11. Who keeps bringing up Glen Strohl on these blogs? Have you ever laid eyes on this invalid play? It reminds me of a drunk swatting at flies. Stop talking about this hack as a legimate player at the 4.0 or 3.5 level. PLEASE

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  12. Come on Cary, you should know that you are not allowed to have an opinion. After all, it was you who started the blog.

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  13. Truth is I wrote the first part and then my daughter asked to go to pool so I went swimming instead of looking over the other rosters.

    Sorry guys.

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  14. Bartlett obviously has fallen off his rocker. He has drank the Strohl koolaide and has put the clown on his combo and usta team. Far from savvy more like stupid. Come on Bartlett, your legit players on your usta team deserve more.

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  15. Better check your facts there on Bartlett in the Fall. Larry Harley's team no longer exists at Brookhaven at 4.0 and Bartlett picked up some real studs off Larry's team. . Plus the guy you all claim as THE 4.0 Chris Ellis is on Bartlett's team. Bartlett will let Glenn Strohl carry the beer cooler.

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  16. Chris Ellis is a good player, but I think someone is overrating him a bit.

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  17. Facts.. The fact is Strohl is about as smooth as two week old buttermilk. If he gets to see the court in one match in the fall, all the legit players on that team should walk..

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  18. Rossouw,
    We have a lot of respect for you guys even if Bazan doesn't (he doesn't know anything anyways does he? :)). Should be fun tennis on Sunday.

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  19. Meouch! Whomever thought Ellis was the best 4.0 didn't watch the sectional final. Dencil is 10x a better player and Jarad is stronger as well. No pressure team Pickett, if you all lose I will have Marc put an epic fail picture up for you all.

    Good luck to all of you tomorrow. Marc what you might need to get over the top is a little lucky thunder, just a thought.

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  20. Kermit and the Frogs will dominate the 6.5 !!!

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  21. Kern,
    Thanks. Yes I think the weekend will be fun. All 4 teams have solid rosters so we'll enjoy good tennis and, most importantly, a beer or 2 afterwards win or lose!
    Good luck & Have fun!

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  22. (-Y-), my bad but I was led to believe that all the best players flock to Joel's team.....

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  23. Garland will dominate the 7.5 based on the strength of there superior 3.5s. Wont even be close!

    What, no Eddie on any of the rosters?

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  24. What? You miss the trash talking?

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  25. Just my opinion but I think the 7.5 will come down to the final of Garland vs Dietrick. That should be a pretty good match of 3.5s that should be 4.0s.

    Who would you rather have Clark/Wiley, C. Jones/Sisk, or Z. Stien/Palacoiz? These are clearly the best 3.5 players in the DFW region! Well, except maybe for Sisk...

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  26. The Mighty Strohl is a very complete contraption that leads a very simple life. All the Mighty Strohl wants to do is get his fair share and put a nickel in his pocket. The Mighty Strohl isn’t always getting some, but when he does …it’s polished. The world is expecting some big things from the Mighty Strohl this evening! Good luck to the ones that have to face the Mighty Strohl!

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  27. First of all, we are not in it for exercise. Someone told us there was free beer. Our goal in setting up this team
    1. Oldest - ave age is 64
    1a) Oldest youngest player - 59
    2. Smallest player - 5'4" 120lbs
    3. Largest player - 6'4" 250 lbs
    4. Most players from Nebraska

    I challenge anyone to beat us on these stats.

    Jim

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  28. Looks like Bennett signed up with the Muniz team, that definitely puts their 3.5's at the top with the Russell and Dietrick teams. Not sure about their 4.0's but their 3.5's will definitely benefit them and give them a chance.

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  29. Not much of a difference with Bennett on Muniz team, the other 3.5ers are still way behind the Garland, and Dietrick teams. Nothing against Bennett as he is the cream of the crop in this area, you still need one other line and that will be tough to get.

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  30. Bennett is definitely the best 3.5 in Dallas and may be the best player on the Muniz roster.

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  31. Hey Einstein, if Bennett is the best 3.5 player in Dallas, he's probably the best player on Muniz roster! Ya think?

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  32. Whoever said Bennett is the best 3.5 in Dallas is the dipshit

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  33. curious about results myself

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  34. The mighty Strohl and BH team lose to the Muniz team. Looks like they are done barring a miracle.

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  35. 8.5 men results
    Rossouw over Somabut. 3-0
    Pickett over Hicks. 3-0.

    7.5 men
    Muniz over Bartlett. 2-1

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  36. Must be a misprint, Strohl does not lose.

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  37. lifetime will win the finals tommorrow. LIfetime will always win. wait nevermind. mostly all somabuts 4.0s out there this weekend.

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  38. Any comments on the matches?

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  39. In 8.5, it will be Team Rossouw against Team Pickett. I like Rossouw to pull the upset. I don't think either has dropped a line.

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  40. Yes, rossouw dropped a line but it will not matter if they win tomorrow.

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  41. Pickett will win tomorrow easily.

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  42. only if eddie was playing for one of these teams. it would be a given.

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  43. Eddie is the best 4.0/4.5 player in Dallas. If you don't believe me, just ask him. I don't understand why Pickett didn't pick him up for combo.

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  44. I agree! If Pickett loses tomorrow it will be because there was no Eddie! I tried but no avail. Oh well it Pickett's head not mine.

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  45. Passage tracks the lineage of Eddie Hills heritage to the individual that single handedly destroyed the Spartans of 300. Playing tennis is merely child's play to Eddie.

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  46. it would unbelievable to have present day 4.5 Eddie with last years 4.0 Eddie. Only if we could be so lucky. Pickett, you really screwed up

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  47. Eddie HIll is the real father of the Williams sisters.

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  48. At 7.5, Team Russell/Garland came back to win 2-1, with the deciding match going to 10-8 in the third. They just need to win against Brookhaven Bartlett to make the final against Deitrick's team.

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  49. There are still matches to play but this how I see the standings finishing.

    1. Dietrick
    2. Russell
    3. Muniz
    4. Foy
    5. Bartlett
    6. Walters

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  50. I'd agree except I see Russell winning the whole thing.

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  51. scottrussell.com > brazzers.com

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  52. Deitrick and Pickett won. Deitrick won 2-1 and Pickett won 3-0 in their final matches. COngratulations to both teams.

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  53. My prediction was right. Dietrick 1st, Russell 2nd, Muniz 3rd and so on.

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  54. Pickett ran away with this.

    Dietrick and Russell were close as Dietrick won 2 3rd set tiebreaks.

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  55. Congrats Team pickett. The final was a little closer than the score, but the team pulled it out in the right times.

    Pickett did a good job crafting the team and it didnt hurt to have some 5.0s.

    not taking anything away. Well done.

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  56. The USTA should make combo a national event. Then more guys would take it seriously.

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  57. I actually thought this was a well run event. The level of competition was high and participation has increased every year. I think this event was taken seriously by many.

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  58. I know alot of people did not know about it. It would be nice on the blog if a mod could post upcoming Dallas tournaments.

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  59. From what I could see this last weekend, it was taken very serious by all participants. I really only paid attention to the 8.5 & 7.5 mens but both levels really looked like top of their levels. It looked like the many of the best 4.5/4.0/3,5 players in the city were playing.

    I really do not want it to get much bigger because it would dilute the play. A lot of the lesser players would get involved. Roght now, you have some of the best playing each other at almost every line.

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  60. Combo is a great event and having a 4 team round robin was perfect as it makes for enough tennis but not too much. It's a good change of pace after Sectionals as everyone takes it seriously but it's a lower key event. The Sunday match came down to a couple tiebreakers and some competitive tennis.

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  61. Congrats to Team Pickett & Deitrick!

    I personally really enjoy this event and even though we lost to a better team our guys had fun and played great tennis.

    That final 8.5 match was closer to 9.0 or even 9.5 as Kern & Keith played on a different level. Both very impressive. I also thought that Jarad and Paul Kiron played amazing to take down Bin & Kevin in that breaker.

    After tennis, our team and Pickett's met up at Blue Goose for drinks. This tells you about the great spirit the event was played in and I think some of the negative & hating Anons that post on this blog could learn something from that (or have the balls to sign your name to your post).

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  62. I agree with Marc. The final matches all looked above level.

    The 8.5 looked closer to 9.5 and the 7.5 looked more like 8.5.

    From what I saw, Kern was the top 4.5 in the 8.5. Vacalis (sp?) looked like the best of the 4.0s even though he played in the 7.5. I don't know very many 3.5s but most looked much better than 3.5.

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  63. Kern, Vacilis, Jones were the best players in their levels from what I saw

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  64. I agree with the previous post but would add Bennett to the list of best 3.5 players in the tournament along with C. Jones. These two were clearly head and shoulders above the other 3.5ers playing this weekend.

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  65. It does not look like Sisk played this weekend. Why signup if you are not going to be in the lineup at least once? He was the only player on the roster not to play.

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  66. It looks like the same guy who is in love with Strohl is now all over Bennett. Unless it is Bennett posting about himself.

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  67. I met Glen Strohl for the first time this weekend and he was a good guy. I told him I was disappointed that he did not bring the keg and the chicks. He also takes his celebrity blog status well.

    As for the event, I thought it was fun and all players took it very seriously.

    Since I played Vacalis, I can agree that in my opinion he is at/near the top of the 4.0s. He hits the ball with some serious authority.

    Congratulations to Pete Deitrick and their team; they were very strong and hopefully you do well at the sectionals.

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  68. I only signed up to play if one of the other 3 couldn't go, that's it. All 3 other players are better than me and I'd much rather win than play, my history illustrates what I preach.

    I want to congratulate Deitrick for his win and success at sectionals. Good talking with Jerry and Zack!! In fact, it was good talking to everyone this weekend, especially the great STROHL and his haram- lol- truely a great sport- Mitterer(sp) comical guy, always in a happy mood-

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  69. Don't think Pickett played either. Captaining and not playing at least one match, what I joke. Don't you idiots have anything better to do than go cheer on other guys, get a life.

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  70. Pickett did play one match I think. But I did hear that Pickett asked his players to wear 70's tennis shorts (the shorter the better)to entertain him while he watched his guys play!

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  71. Rossouw, you had a great team and win or lose, it was a fun weekend. The 8.5, or as some say the 9.5, was much closer than what the score indicated. I knew Kern and Keith had to be on fire to beat Ellis/Lasalle. They're tough and thankfully our line 1 played like a 9.5 team. At line 2, I had never seen Rodney play but I was very impressed with how him and Ramos played Sleezy and Myers. And at line 3, Durtman and Bin, who are always good, took Ironman and PK to a 3rd set. Pretty close if you ask me. Thanks to team Rossouw for inviting and entertaining us at Blue Goose. That is a classy bunch of guys and friends and I look forward to future matchups. Rossouw took tri level so we needed the combo. Haha Thanks to all of our guys for playing and putting up with me. I know I scared you when I put myself in the lineup. And for the anonymous haters, you guys crack me up.
    Pickett aka Idiot with no life

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  72. FOR BEAUMONT LABOR DAY 200 PT. TOURNEY
    50% Discount for returning players from 2008!
    50% Hurricane's Gustov/Ike Discount for 2008 tournament entrants playing the same events in 2009. Discount checks will be waiting for you at check-in.

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  73. Beaumont SUCKS! Crummy tournament and way too far to go.

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  74. I dont know who Vacilis is, but im sure hes a good player. I highly doubt he was better than all the 4.0's playing this weekend. especially the 4.0's in the Roussouw/pickett match up.

    Robinson, Kemp, Myer,Nguyen, Ellis, rocket?

    doubt it.

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  75. He was as good than all of those guys. Looked a bit out of shape and tended to go for too much at times, but that is all I saw wrong, great shots across the board.

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  76. team pickett got lucky.

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  77. who'd pickett get lucky with now?

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  78. I wish I had known about it as well. It looked fun, and looked like we could have had a few more teams and flights as well. Some good players in there.

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  79. Let's see, Chris Jones has one of the better 4.0's in the 7.5 combo and barely beat (close 3rd set tie breaks)the Muniz and Bartlett teams with sub par 4.0's and he was head and shoulders the best 3.5 player?? Chris Jones is the best 3.5 singles player, but definitely not at doubles.

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  80. The guys Jones played were not sub par 4.0 players. I agree he is stronger at singles but he won all of his matches. Based on results, I would say Bennett, Jones, and Palacioz were the strongest 3.5's this weekend. Nothing against Mays but he was playing with Vacalis all weekend.

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  81. The combo event was a lot of fun! I would love to see the event increase in participate (more teams, maybe do it over two weekends and have a national level tournament).

    I was introduced to the Mighty Strohl and the Happy German this weekend! Nice guys! My partner and I were walking off the court after just beating our opponent ……and these two guys are smiling ear to ear with two blonds by their sides. Their say great match, …Dude great match! They were just going on an on about our match. I was like wow! Ok! The Mighty Strohl and the Happy German gave may partner & I a beer and went to the next match with two little blonds in tow. Great guys that really love tennis!

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  82. i saw some of those HP guys play.. they kinda suck. how did they make it to nationals?

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  83. I guess everyone else sucks more.

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  84. the "Happy German and the Mighty Strohl" with 2 blonds in tow. I need to meet these guys....and they provide the beer. the Mighty Strohl is out of level and needs to appeal NOW

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  85. i think the term is "blow" more. HP guys kinda suck. everyone else blows

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  86. HP spring season is still in progress. Vegas anyone?? Suck or Blow, whatever it takes. Representing High Point, Dallas and now Texas.

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  87. To: Anon August 18, 2009 4:07 PM

    Are you serious??? I really doubt it, but I guess trying to stir the pot, again.
    Since this is a combo thread...not sure if you were referring to HP guys in combo tourney or from sectionals. Either way...ridiculous.

    Great comeback Keith.

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  88. Brandon, you played like top 4.5 in combo. It was fun watching you play. Joel picked the right guys for his team.

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  89. Yes, I don't see anyone beating Brandon and Chris Slezak or Jason Kern and Keith. Team is rediculous on paper and they backed it up. Pickett would be crazy to play himself at Sectionals.

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  90. He just plays with himself while watching his dream team.

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  91. To Aug. 18th 7:27, Why are you so jelous of C. Jones? I dont think the poster who was singing his praises was talking about about you...

    Because of your hate you not only talk down about his doubles skills but you then throw your own 4.0 partner's under the bus to make yourself feel better? Come on man, just give props where props are due and stop hating!

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  92. Chris Jones can strum one hell of a banjo.

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  93. Chris who? Chris Jones! Let's all sing along...

    [Chorus]

    [Chris Jones]
    Befo' my paper came, befo' I got my fame
    These hoes that's poppin on this blog didn't even know my name
    They said my flow was lame, they said I had no game
    I told 'em all I was fin' to blow they thought I was insane
    But then my name started blowin up quick, now they jumpin on my racquet stick
    Cause they see me on the rise and know now my paper thick
    But then my name started blowin up quick, now they jumpin on my racquet stick
    Because they see me on the rise and know now my blog rep is thick!

    {AYP - Another Yoda Production}

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  94. 11:27, what is that suppose to mean? I dont get it?

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  95. boredom has reached new lows it looks like.

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  96. I was going to say the same thing.

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  97. I thnk he is trying to state that he is from the backwoods.

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  98. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  99. Not sure if he's from the backwoods, but he certainly was bred there.

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  100. there's a lot of inbreeding in Beaumont, tx

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  101. A lot of guys marrying their sister down there

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  102. Since... This blog is getting boring....

    If you had a couple of extra tennis peeps, and you wanted a place to go on vacation and play some tennis, what would be the tennis destinations that would allow you to find a lot of people to play against, and be good general "tennis towns"? Within reason, preferably the US and neighboring Mexico as destinations.

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  103. Not much to talk about right now. The DCC and Sectionals are over. The best teams won and the sore losers have completed their whining. So not much is going on until the fall season begins. Then we'll have the same teams win (that have won in the past) and we'll have the same anon bitches complaining about score management, tanking,etc.

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  104. All of you "anon bashers" hurt my feelings and now I am done with this blog! I will never look at this again!

    Hurt Anon.

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  105. it does seem to be a repeating ritual. top captains buld top teams and have success. then the anon whining begins. the more a team or captains wins, the more the losers cry. i guess it is just all part of the process.

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  106. No shit! You must be a really smart guy to have figured that out all by yourself! That same comment has appeared on this blog at least 3000 times in the last 6 months! Thanks for paying attention.

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