First let me start with a little rant! It is absurd that Dallas, with 28 4.5 teams do not get a wildcard! San Antonio, Austin & Houston apparently get them. San Antonio only has 8 teams that I can find! Austin not many more and Houston I believe has 19. What gives Texas? (I also think there should have been more teams included in QT - What gives DTA?)
Having said that I still believe that there is only 1 team in it this weekend and that is Oak Creek/ Branch. They are prohibitive favorites with great depth at singles and very strong doubles (Kiron/ Huffman; Slezak/ Williams are virtual locks and then on singles Kelly and Davis are backed up by a string of talented singles players like Underwood. The big mystery is their 3rd dubs line….Durten & Ledezma perhaps?). This team is built to win and I don't see anyone stopping them.
Now Brookhaven, High Point & Corey's team many give them some tough lines but I just can't find 3 lines than can beat them on the same match.
First up it's Brookhaven & Garland. Brookhaven has some very capable and play-off tough guys. My good friends Jeff Laselle & Ricky Ramos are always tough. With Schlager, Yuri & Sechen also all very capable players. Adcock & Conway had a very impressive win together over a tough Lakes pairing so they will be tough to beat. Their weakness may be their singles depth. Garland's ace is unquestionably Ben Hawkins. He has been playing incredibly well this spring in tournaments and league and mixed. If I was Corey I'd play him at singles. He's as tough as anyone playing this weekend. However, I am still picking Brookhaven 3-2 in this one as I'm not sure that Corey has 2 more lines that can beat BHaven...... (to quote Corey: "prove me wrong - how's that for motivation?"
Then it's HP vs Branch! The big match of Friday should probably be the final! High Pt have been sandbagging all season thanks to their wildcard and have a very deep squad. The quality on the Branch roster though will be too much though. Branch can field 7 or 8 lines that will give HP best 2 lines fits! 4-1 to Branch
Saturday we see BHaven & HP play and this should again be tough. This was Bhavens only loss in the regular season and they will be looking for revenge. Again I am picking BHaven 3-2.
Then Royal Oaks vs Garland: Royal Oaks fresh off a tough QT play Garland. Interesting matchup but I think Royal Oaks will squeak out another 3-2 win. The Bell's and Ponder are really good. Webb & Flores are solid. They have a tough team.
This will leave the standings as follows going into Sat afternoon:
Brookhaven 2-0
Branch 1-0
Royal Oaks 1-0
Garland 0-2
HP 0-2
With only 1 spot for Sectionals expect to see HP to protect the ratings of their better players and play some of the other guys on their massive roster for the rest of the weekend......
Sat pm:
Branch vs Brookhaven! Bring your popcorn. This will be a great match and again could be the final. Again I am picking Branch 4-1 but the matches will be closer than the final result.
Royal Oaks vs HP: Royal Oaks may take down HP if HP are 0 & 2. However, if HP continue to bring it I think they may be able to scrap this out 3-2. Yoshida, Ribman, Tikashi, Brownlee, Marasigan & Blumberg are all very capable and with the right matchups could pull it off. Watch out for Tada. He doesn't look like much and is rated 4.0 but he is a ringer......
Sunday:
HP vs Garland – I suspect Garland will continue to play for honor while HP at this point may be spreading the love amongst the other 33 players on the roster. Garland 4-1
Branch vs Royal Oaks – More good news for Branch, One match Friday and one on Sat means rested singles players for Sunday and this neutralizes the young Bell. Branch 4-1
Branch vs Garland – Branch 4-1. Branch are just too strong.
Brookhaven vs Royal Oaks – Brookhaven will be hoping for Garland to spring an upset and bring it all against Royal Oaks who at this point are out of it. Brookhaven 3-2 bu that won't be enough
Final Standings:
Branch 4 & 0
Brookhaven 3 & 1
Garland 1 & 3
Royal Oaks 1 & 3
HP 1 & 3
I could add more detail but this would get too long.........
The toughest part of the weekend for Branch may be picking lineups.
ReplyDeleteSucks that Dallas doesn't have a wildcard. Again.
Maybe this is Dallas' punishment for all of their shenanigans and being singled out in Tennis magazine for being ground zero for league sandbagging.
ReplyDeleteYeah right. Like it isn't the same in every city. Same captains go to sectionals every year.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally unfair that Dallas didn't get a wild card in 4.5's this year.
ReplyDeleteTo really piss off you guys, has anyone read the crap that Torres pulled in the SA Fall v. Spring Championship match? Knowing he has a WC he defaults 2 lines, then plays one pt and retires on a third court, thus staying out of the NOHO Group.
ReplyDeletePathetic to bad TTA and USTA only care about the $$$
With over 28 teams in Dallas and no wild card in 4.5?What's the DTA doing?
ReplyDeleteYes, Torres pulls crap all the time. However, maybe he avoids NOHO but possible land in the Dallas group- Branch (assumption they win Dallas)take care of him. What TX Section needs to do is let all know which cities get Wild Cards but keep the Sectionals Flights/Teams out of view until Monday week of event. This way positioning like this is mute. Just start all matches same time and post early so all teams know when they have to be in Dallas. Better yet do a draw the Thursday night prior to start to determine teams in each flight. Number 1 to20- first team drawn Flight 1, second team drawn Flight 2, third team Flight 3 etc etc. Make an event where Captains attend by gender ie 6pm Women, 6:30pm Men. Would be fun and some excitment- plus transparent where no one can complain or manipulate process.
ReplyDeleteAs for Wildcard- just bad luck for Dallas (like the Clippers) lots of balls in the hopper to draw but come up empty.
I don't really care about tennis, but I guarantee jean nguyen can out-poop any team here. Just give the man some crawfish or texas de brasil and he single-handedly beats any of these teams 5-0
ReplyDeleteWhat did you expect? The USTA screws things up again. Dallas has only 1 team. Makes no sense but since when has that mattered to the USTA. They are a bunch of F-ups.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Branch losing a line at Cities unless they want to lose one. Their singles and doubles are heads above anyone else in Dallas. Not sure how that will translate at Sectionals but hopefully they can break through and win it all.
Branch 4.5, Somabut 4.0, Sisk 3.5, Bender 3.0. The USTA tried to monkey things up. But whadya know. Same teams going to win at all levels. Screw you USTA! Suck on it.
Ok Carey, for the future, just remember it needs to add up to 1.00approximately (give our take the house money). so right now you are at .55, so the house is paying out a LOT of money. If you did Garland 1 to 4 instead of 4 - 1 that puts you just over. I think you could just do it this way.
ReplyDelete40% chance of Garland to win
30% chance of GH to win
25% chance of The Lakes to win
03% chance of Revelations happening
02% chance of BH to win
So, 2 out of 5, 1 out of 3, 1 out of 4, and 1 out of 5 (grouping the last 2 together) should also add up to 100%.
Someone get a propeller for my head... I feel really smarrrrttt right now.
well, back to the dunce cap. I just posted in the wrong thread!!!
ReplyDeleteNo respect to the HP team Rossouw!
ReplyDeletejust saw that mean jean nguyen is on a 4.5 waco roster.
ReplyDeleteYou guys got hosed, no doubt about it. I'd much rather see a Dallas wildcard than a San Antonio WC.
ReplyDelete-Austin Dude
LOL sorry HP. If your schedule was reversed the outcome may be different but starting with Branch is tough and not having a wild card to play for I suspect the guys are savvy enough to play for the future as oppossed to pride??? I may be wrong on that though, I hope! Good luck. (believe me I'd rather be playing than talking. I'm jealous of all you guys that get to play this weekend. Have fun.)
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see that Dallas didn't receive a wild card. It's a shame b/c they have the most teams around the state participating. Even though I'm from Houston I didn't feel we deserved the wild card. San antonio definitely didn't deserve to get the wild card. Hopefully, a team drops out and Dallas gets in. DTA has made yet another BIG mistake!
ReplyDeleteDTA doesn't have any control over wildcards.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely the chance that a city drops out so hopefully everyone plays all out all weekend.
Neither Houston nor Dallas have two teams deserving of a wild card. Houston doesn't even have one team deserving a Sectionals berth, frankly.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I couldn't disagree more with these assessments Marc. I still love you though. You say that HP v. Branch is the final and then you pick us to beat HP 4-1 after going 0-2. I also like the fact that singles is our weak point when I have an undefeated line 1 singles player and the #2 4.5 singles player in the state.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the motivation though.
Sorry but to say the DTA has no say in the wild card is horse hockey! Dallas just chooses to not flex its muscles. Come on someone come up with a logical reason why a city with 28 teams cannot get one of two wild cards? DTA has the backbone of a jelly fish that is why.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all of you busting your backsides this weekend as it is all about Branch winning Dallas and some rinky dink city(s) getting two wild cards. Gotta love the politics in tennis. Now if we (dallas) could just get a good association that actually cares about it players and not sucking up to the USTA to win some useless award!
Why would the DTA get any say in who goes to the USTA Sectional Championships? Now I'm sure they could have tried some strong-arm tactics but outside of that, people in Austin make the final decision I'm sure.
ReplyDelete4.5 rankings have absolutely nothing to do with top league players. We've had this discussion. None of the top 20 "ranked" 4.5 players are sectional-level singles players.
ReplyDeleteWho's the #2 player in the state?
ReplyDeletewhen was dallas singled out for being ground zero for league sandbagging in tennis magazine. i can't find that article.
ReplyDeleteThe head of the Texas Section league committee is someboby from Dallas. So you would think we could be treated fairly.
ReplyDeleteSA has 8 teams. Dallas has 28. How is it fair for SA to get a w/c and not Dallas?
In fact Dallas had THREE flights all bigger than SA. Flight A 10 team, Flight B 9 teams & Flight C 9 teams.
Have they told us how wildcards are determined or is this another secret process run by morans?
Wildcards are determined by a random drawing. While I think that's fair I also think a little common sense needs to be used.
ReplyDeleteI would think that process was thought up with the idea that all of the city's would have a near even number of teams.
Obviously that's not the case and an exception should have been made well ahead of time.
If fairness is what they are after they failed miserably.
But hey, when have we ever looked at Tosha and Jane Gilpin and thought, Wow what a great job they do!!
The determination of the Wildcard is as fair as it could possibly get. The TX Section recognizes and rewards the size of the league by giving 1 "ball" in the drawing per 6 Teams in your league. The lottery drawing style then means that Dallas, with 28 teams, had 4 balls in the drawing vs let's say SA that with 8 teams only gets 1 ball. So Dallas did have the advantage due to league size. The draw just did not go your way- not unlike the NBA lottery where worst team has best % chance to get the #1 pick but does not always get it.
ReplyDeleteSo, quit the whining, get over it and better luck next year.
Corey, Sorry, my bad, I forgot to mention that Andy Xu is also a very capable singles player. However, my “bobble-head Sisk loving butt buddy” I think you may be a little biased in your outlook.
ReplyDeleteYou have yet to play Ben at singles and if you do and he and Andy somehow continue their unbeaten run all weekend (which I doubt, they are more likely to go 2&2 if they play every match at singles) then where will your third win come from? Jim Young & Colby Wegman are strong players but are they a guaranteed win against the caliber of dubs teams that you are going to see this weekend? Doubtful! If singles is your strength and dubs is your weakness you are in serious trouble this weekend. With all due respect to the other teams in flight C, going unbeaten while impressive, was somewhat fortuitous. Lifetime’s record was bolstered by the illegal fall self-rate Nicklaus Clifford – clearly a 5.0 player and lucky to slip under the radar in the fall to get a 4.5 computer rating in the spring (and before anyone starts bashing me for that statement take a look at his fall record carefully and look at his playoff 0&0 “loss”). If not for him I’m not sure where they would have finished. Royal Oaks bolstered their lineup after they played you with the addition of some key ringers (like Chris Bell who I still believe should be ineligible). Flight B was clearly the toughest flight and Brookhaven won 5 matches very easily while you guys had to scrape through 3-2 quite often. Thank goodness Xu and Hawkins were unbeaten or you would be sitting on the sidelines watching with me! Oh, and in the watered down 4.5 league, going unbeaten is no longer as impressive as it used to be. Hell, I only lost 1 match and we all know that I suck!
As for you beating HP I explained that by the time you play them you neither team will be in it and HP will probably be playing their roster fillers while I am confident that you will continue to try to win every match.
I do hope you do better than my predictions but I’m afraid you have a better chance of going 0 & 5 than 2 & 3.
Next I would like to take issue with the comment: “4.5 ‘tournament’ rankings have absolutely nothing to do with top league players…... None of the top 20 "ranked" 4.5 players are sectional-level singles players.”
ReplyDeleteWhile there is definitely not a perfect correlation because not all league players play in tournaments some of the top 20 singles players in TX are accomplished players on the H & SA teams that will be headed to Sectionals (see also last year) eg singles rankings (12 month rolling as of 7/8/2010): #3 Del Campo, #5 Adam Ewing & Alejandro Sanchez, #9 Emmett McCool, #10 John Arringdale, #14 David Guy.
All of these guys will see Sectionals action and some did well last year.
As for Doubles you have #1 Odion Dibua, #4 Arringdale, # 5 Miller & Torres tied, #8 Del Campo again, #16 David Guy, #18 Red Benzon, # 21 Bradford Anderson.
I’m not sure if Muniz & Poole played in Sectionals previously but I guarantee that their record at Sectionals this year will be solid.
Next up: "Houston doesn't even have one team deserving a Sectionals berth, frankly."
ReplyDeleteYou must be kidding? I suspect this is a Houston person trying to take the focus off their team or are you excluding NoHo from Houston? See my previous comment - numerous players on that list are on the NoHo team that will go to Sectional Semi-finals along with Branch and San Antonio.
Roussow:
ReplyDeleteNOHO and SA #1 are in the same pool, so unless you expect SA (WC)- ?Torres to either take out Dallas or Austin that SF can not happen.
So you think Torres is a tougher team than Miller & NoHo? I think San Antonio Miller makes it to the Semis. Not sure Torres can get past NoHo but I could be wrong
ReplyDeleteSA Miller will be in the same flight as NOHO. That's what AR is trying to tell you.
ReplyDeleteok got it -sorry, where's my dunce cap
ReplyDeleteCorey's team doesn't have 5 solid lines that's why Roussow doesn't pick them higher. But they will be a tough out for anyone and they'll win more than 1 match this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why all the love for Brookhaven going 3-1. I would flip BH and Garland's records if you really think HP goes in the tank.
As for Hawkins being #2 in the state - He had a good Tyler MZ. The rest of the results in tourneys are pretty meh.
You proved anon's point by listing all those top 20 singles players contributing at sectionals.
ReplyDeleteAll of those guys will be playing doubles at sectionals. Not singles.
Marc, I will be sitting on the sideline with you but Andy Xu is capable of winning every match he plays this weekend. Noel is not a deep team but they are very capable. I cannot see him ever doing worse than a split in singles and he has the players to sweep singles quite a bit. With a little luck, Noel can beat Branch. A possible singles sweep and finding one doubles line could do it.
ReplyDeleteHP has so many players on their roster and they get their top 8, they are capable of beating Branch too. Thompson, Ribman, Laukhuf are all capable of competing with anyone on Branch's roster.
I still think Branch probably wins but it will not be a walk in the park.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMy guess for the over/under on the lines Branch loses this weekend is 2.5. At 2.5, I would put money on the under unless things are locked up early and they can manage the line-ups a little bit. I'll go a bit further, the bottom 8 for Branch would win Dallas.
ReplyDeleteBetween all the blogs I do not think anyone toots their own horn more than the Branch players. All we here is how great the Branch team is and the bottom 8 can win and they will not lose a line, etc. The only one who post that would be a Branch player because no one else cares. Any 4.5ers eliminated do not care and other DCC teams certainly are not going to brag about Branch. Everyone knows Branch has a great team, but let your results speak for them selves. You are worse than anyone on this blog about bragging.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. They'll get spanked at Sectionals.
ReplyDeleteI heard a player from Team Miller got D'Qed. I guess it was just an accident that he was on the roster. He should'nt be ashamed for signing up. He just wanted to play some tennis. We can accept that. Why did he gqt D'qed to 5.5?
ReplyDeleteSan Antonio's roster is so deep with 7 teaching pros like vogl,arringdale,baumgartner,barton,ewing,white,hildebrand,. How many teaching pros does it take to win a 4.5 league? What they can't hang in 5.0 league so they play 4.5 league to beat on everyone. Where does it end??
Why is everyone so enamored with Teaching Pros? Being a pro means s**t as long as you are a 4.0 player you can get USPTA Certified.
ReplyDeleteI would be more worried about the new rule allowing HS players to come in play slipping under the rules.
Roussow you complain about Clifford but he was not an illegal self-rate, he played in AR last year and to my knowledge only played at CCCC hardly a D1 school, in fact I will probably see him in 2 weeks in Birmingham as he plays on his AR team in 4.5 Southern Sectionals.
What about your self-rate who got bumped to 5.0 mid-year?
As for Miller-SA I assume L. Trautmann is playing D1 somewhere so he got nailed for playing 4.5, even though he was lowered ranked in Texas than Brandon Underwood or Robin Chou, who had signed-up on a team in Austin, so is this Torres being fickle.
The USTA self-rate system is FUBAR to the max, my issues are a player to self-rate, played 6 matches as scrub at UA over 3 years got Self-rated as 6.0 and managed to appeal 5.5, yet in same league played a player who was an All-American D1 and self-rated as a 5.0, in Birmingham in 2 weeks at 5.0 I'll have to play a player on the TN team who played at TN and was Top 100 in Nation D1 men, yet self-rated 5.0!!!
So the system needs to be blown-up but USTA makes to much money in league play to truly police it correctly and unfortunate their are way to many liars playing league tennis with no penalty.
To the 1249 poster, none of my teammates post on this blog. I do from time to time, but its certainly not to toot our own horn as you put it. Yes we read it and are aware of what's written, but as for posting and actually caring what you, Roussow, Corey, or anyone else thinks of us, your nuts. We worry about ourselves playing good tennis, and hopefully playing well enough to win city's.
ReplyDeleteIf you think that it is us posting about ourselves you obviously don't know a single person on my team.
Branch Team Member
As a non-Branch player, let me say that they are pretty dang good and if anyone takes 2 lines of them this weekend unless it is a meaningless final match I'll be extremely impressed.
ReplyDeleteCoreDawg you can talk all you want about how good your team is but until you prove it in the spring playoffs, I'll side with Rossouw. Ben is a very solid player and a great guy but I don't see him going undefeated this weekend.
Good luck to everyone this weekend but I totally agree with Roussows opinion on the HP - Branch match. If someone is going to take them down it will be HP and if they can't don't expect their top players to rack up a bunch of meaningless wins.
I think SA Miller and Branch have to be considered the favorites.
Branch team is too savvy at singles and those guys somehow know how to play just good enough to win and should have enough to win one or two of the doubles lines.
ReplyDeleteWhat Branch guys, do you have an inside track to their lineup? A few of those guys can also play pretty good dubs. It is anyone's guess who plays the other singles but rest assured Kelly will be in the mix somehow. He is capable of beating anyone (in 4.5 or 5.0) but will play to the opponents ability and keep it close as always. James or Davis or Huffman may be the other singles w/ Davis and Huff getting bumped mid season. You then have to deal with the doubles lines...since most of those guys are older heat may be an issue...we will see.
ReplyDeleteTeaching pros are underpaid and over worked! And under appreciated!
ReplyDeleteGiven that they can roll out multiple singles & doubles lines that are all fairly close in skill, I don't think heat will be an issue. Heat is usually an issue when playing more than one match a day.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the only heat that beats them is the Miami Heat....
ReplyDeleteAt what age would one be considered an older player?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember saying we were going to win this weekend. We will finish second like we always do. We certainly didn't roll through the regular season but none of the teams did except Branch. Royal Oaks added Bell, but who knows if Deaver will even play in DCC. He is already on a team that is in Sectionals so why would he jeopardize that?
ReplyDeleteI agree that I'm biased which is why I don't post these threads anymore but I know my team better than anyone, and we have beaten all four of these other teams before and they have all beaten us before, so let's not pretend that anybody is drastically better than the other four.
As far as the regular season, Branch's flight was clearly the worst flight, evidenced by the second place team's performance in the QT. High Point had the toughest flight and they obviously weren't trying to do well, but I'm not ready to crown a team that lost 3 matches. Branch is clearly the heavy favorite, but as one of their guys told me last weekend, matches have to be won on the court, not on the blog and anything can happen there.
ReplyDeleteAs Vikings coach Dennis Green once said.."they were as good as we thought they were, Go ahead and crown their ars!"...
ReplyDeleteHe was the coach of the Cardinals when he made that statement not the Vikings.
ReplyDeleteCory, how can you say that: "Branch's flight was clearly the worst flight, evidenced by the second place team's performance in the QT."? Cause T Bar M finished last? All the matches were 3-2 seems like all the second place teams were pretty even. Also, if recalled correctly Branch beat T Bar M 5-0 and probably with a B line-up.
ReplyDeleteYes, T Bar finished last. The fact that that team won five matches 4-1 and two matches 5-0 tells me how bad that flight was. The teams in that flight were not competitive, a stark contrast to the other two flights where the top teams had to fight to win nearly every week.
ReplyDeleteOf course I meant they were in the worst flight, excluding Branch's team. I don't believe T Bar finishes top 3 in any other flight.
"we have beaten all four of these other teams before and they have all beaten us before, so let's not pretend that anybody is drastically better than the other four."
ReplyDeleteORLY?
This is one of the dumbest statements you've ever made on this blog. And you've made some dumb ones before.
You have beaten a team captained by Branch before....In the fall... With entirely different rosters.
Can't we all just get along!....
ReplyDeleteHawkins is solid, but he will lose handily to Davis or Kelly. I have never seen Xu play, so I won't comment on that. I don't really think Branch's team has broken much of a sweat yet, and I think they are going to really turn it on for playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI think we are kidding ourselves if we think Branch's team loses two lines to anyone in cities. I have to wholeheartedly agree with Kern on this.
With Deaver AND Bell playing for RO, their matchup with Branch might have been interesting. Without one or both, I would agree.
ReplyDeleteI think Brookhaven will surprise some people and come in second and hope for a wild card....thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWho is winning singles for BHaven?
ReplyDeleteAnybody know anything about this Mostoles guy? He's a total wildcard.
Maybe Brookhave will save him for the last match on Sunday like they did last year with Dutta.
Agree about RO. At full strength, they could easily be 2-0 with their young singles ringers against any team. Flores, older Bell and Walters are top doubles specialists that can put that 3rd W. Their biggest concern besides missing Deaver is their lack of depth with the heat. No luxury of rotating players if they want to stay competitive. Not playing tonight is gonna add to that issue.
ReplyDeleteI take offense! Yes I play for TBM and I personally do not want to be critisized for these comments. Lets see weakest division because they lose to Branch 5-0. Lets see this weekend who wins a line WITH OUT Branch tanking! Lets see who beats CC with the line up they put out against us (that would be Branch and probably no one else, CC had a GREAT TEAM).. First round scores in: BH loses (oh forgot THEY WON THEIR DIVISION) 5-0, lets say based on this then than BH division is the worst because they cannot even win a line against another division winner not named Branch. That is my point. BH was also a GREAT team so to make the comment TBM played in the worst division is absolutely the DUMBEST thing that has been said on this blog in last couple of days. Get your head out of your back end and face the facts....... Dallas is with out a doubt the best CITY in state when it comes to 4.5. Any one of the second or yes third place finishers in all the divisions would have won or been runner up in ANY OTHER CITY!!!! Lets have CC play the other 3rd place finishers and see how badly they kick their butts and then tell me how weak our division was. Get real, on your comments and use your brain and not the other end that you were given to get rid of your crap!
ReplyDeleteall good points. still flight A was easily the weakest 4.5 flight exc for branch
ReplyDeletetaking offense to tone that the bracket was REALLY weak. Depth I agree with on weakness, but take top 3 teams (ok minus Branch) and they finish in top 3 in all the other brackets.
ReplyDeleteWhat now Marc?
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I thought HP would throw a stronger lineup out tonight, although the fact that both Oak Creek singles players were penalized for being late could be huge.
How? Does the penalty somehow carry over into their next match?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of lineup was that HP thru out there? Weird to say the least. Nice prediction about BH Rossouw, Garland wins 5-0. WOW!
ReplyDeleteNo, that was before I looked up the result. Penalty obviously didn't affect Kelly who apparently has been sandbagging all season as speculated. I'm not sure how Gene lost a set to Komson. Jean and Clint were playing great when I left but I'm surprised it was that routine.
ReplyDeleteWeird rumors about some HP players that weren't in the lineup tonight. I'll wait until after the weekend to try to figure out the details.
ReplyDeleteAll season? Try the last 2 years. That explains how Brownlee got those 2 games though, thanks.
ReplyDeleteWho was penalized for Oak Creek and why? Does it affect the later matches?....this could change the whole scenario...
ReplyDeleteGood win for team Garland. Hopefully, they can keep it up.
ReplyDeleteGood win for Garland and routine win for Branch. I think
ReplyDeleteHP pulls the upset with Mims and Ribman. I know both had work related issues that kept them out of the match. I'm sure that explains HP lineup.
Dencil would have really helped HP but I heard he is injured. Does anyone think Garland has a chance at beating Branch after playing HP on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWell clearly I completely got it wrong re Brookhaven and Garland! What surprised me more than being wrong (because that happens often!) was how only 2 matches were close. Adcock and Conway got smoked. I guess it's Brookhaven that are missing singles players. Awesome match on line 1 dubs!
ReplyDeleteI agree with a previous poster re flipping Bhaven & Garland in my final standings now. Sorry for my errors on the write-up guys.
My apologies to Corey & his team! Keep it up to you and all your guys. A very impressive win over a solid team.
I was surprised to see Slezak & Walt lose..... Were Philips and Gorecki in the stands? But more surprised at the HP lineup.
Work-related issues is not what I heard, like the cover-up though. No penalties for Oak Creek carrying over. Of the 10 matches, I know at least 3 players were penalized for being late for the court. For my player it was legitimate but for the two Oak Creek guys it was totally bogus. They were there well before start time and their courts had people on them. Not often I can defend Branch players but I'm doing it.
ReplyDeleteAt least now we know the rules will be strictly enforced so there are no more excuses.
It's OK Marc, I still love you, in a non-Nancy way.
HP will take down Garland with their A lineup. Hai and his partner lost their first playoff match at 4.5 and Komson lost to Gene in a superbreaker 10-8. All players from Branch, HP, Garland and Brookhaven played clean matches. Only negative I heard was David Hall from Brookhaven walking off the court with an injury.
ReplyDeleteAgree as those penalties were ridiculous...disagree that Ribman and Mims make a difference. I watched most of the singles and when a point was really needed Kelly would hit another gear. They have no player that beats him when he is actually trying. As far as the other, Davis wins his matches almost every time too and the dubs is solid. The heat can be an equalizer as the weekend moves on, those are not young guys they have playing singles...
ReplyDeleteDoes HP throw in the towel though? We will see.
ReplyDeleteHall did not retire with injury, he quit. Total asshole throughout the match I heard from different people on both sides. Totally unacceptable for team tennis.
ReplyDeleteWas there a confrontation on Hall's court? Some said he retired due to the line calls?....
ReplyDeleteAppears Deaver and young Bell are in play for RO...that could make things interesting if their veterans can handle the heat.
ReplyDeleteCorey - did you feel that Deaver had another gear? Or were you guys as evenly matched as the score indicates?
ReplyDeleteHe never played Deaver
ReplyDeleteDeaver in da house! Things could get really interesting with RO.
ReplyDeleteIf Rothwell plays things right, RO has a slight chance to shock everyone and come out ahead. Surprised he put himself in lineup against Garland (where is Flores?), unless they are really short on players this weekend.
ReplyDeletenice win for RO without Smithson and Flores in the line-up.
ReplyDeleteCould be interesting if they win their current match.
RO beats HP 3-2. Deaver quits against Laukhauf at 1-1 in the TB after RO gets the third line.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it will come down to Branch vs RO tomorrow. Anyone want to guess lineups?
Deaver quit. That's really risky with the lines being so close. I guess they are going for undefeated this weekend. Matt and I were close. I choked serving 4-5 in both sets. Not out of level. As far as #1 singles, ????? If Christopher makes it to Sectionals, I would be shocked.
ReplyDeleteCorey where was Xu?
ReplyDeleteToo bad with that lineup you had to go w/ against RO.
Andy works on Saturday, he has all season long. I skipped work to play but obviously that didn't help. We had a chance to win all 3 dubs but it didn't happen.
ReplyDelete4-1 Royal Oaks over Noel? What the heck happened? Totally did not see that one coming!
ReplyDeleteMissing a couple of players. Those that played didn't perform up to capabilities (myself included). Not that hard to figure out.
ReplyDeleteIf Deaver is only as good as his results today, RO is a big underdog against OC. OC probably would like to avoid a Kelly-Bell matchup to get a split of singles and have their superior doubles depth get them a 3-2 win comfortably.
ReplyDeleteOC has probably a better than even chance of sweeping doubles ... the best chance I see for RO is getting both singles lines and hoping their experienced doubles players can pull one out somewhere.
A Kelly-Bell matchup would be an interesting one. Likely coming down to how well the kid handles the inevitable gamesmanship that Kelly is infamous for.
I agree. Only way RO wins is to sweep singles.
ReplyDeleteBranch has so many weapons he can throw out that could make a sweep easy. Kelly, Viktorin, Huffman, Underwood, or James could all play and more than likely beat Bell.
ReplyDeleteBranch should win 4-1 or 5-0. Scary they have not even used Durten, Pollard, and Feldman yet this weekend and they are no slouches.
I don't know Kelly but none of those you listed are beating Bell. Bell is the best I've seen in 4.5 league ever.
ReplyDeleteRO really has surprised everyone thus far. Although, you are talking about a Branch deep that has so much depth it's scary. I agree with Corey that Bell will most likely win. It's just gonna be hard for RO to match up with this line up:
ReplyDelete1S.Kelly
2S.Davis or Viktorin
1D.Slezak/Williams
2D.Kiron/Huffman
3D.Frink/Unerwood or Ledezma or Durten or Pollard or Feldman. The list could go on and on.
If I wasn't from Houston I'd carry their water. It's gonna be a good match. Wish I could be there.
The best 4.5 ever goes 3 sets w/ Frank Vo and James Warner???
ReplyDeleteWe'll see tomorrow. Maybe he tanked a set here and there to avoid the DQ - Although I don't think he tanked a set in QT when his team had to win to advance.
I'll say 4-1 Branch.
Where does the 1 come from? Singles or Doubles?
ReplyDeleteTanking?? I'm sure nobody in the Dallas league would ever do that. I'm sure he's just "streaky."
ReplyDeleteyes Branch has unmatched depth. but as someone else in this blog noted earlier, there are only 8 players that go play at a time, not their whole badass roster. RO doubles players are pretty darn good too. for a trully competitive match, hopefully they will be full stength without unavailable top players (like Ponder not there for HP match and Flores not there at all) the good news for RO is that they face branch with a good night sleep, not the second match of the day. and we all know that anything can happen in doubles, especially with that stupid 3rd set breaker. So while Branch is still the clear favorite no doubt, with a little luck (ok lots of luck) RO does not necessarily have to sweep singles. good luck to RO, great bunch of guys.
ReplyDeleteGood Points 9:15. RO can and could just catch Team Branch on an off day. If Branch loses all that depth was for nothing.
ReplyDeleteI like that Team Garland plays Branch last. Branch's depth will surely be tested tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBranch goes 8-2 tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBranch's depth tested? OC will cruise through today just like yesterday. I also have a feeling that Bell will notch his first loss today. I could be wrong...but.....
ReplyDeleteBranch screwed ROCC of any chance of getting a WC by playing weaker players. Smart move I guess on their part for injuries.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should wait to hear what happens to Torres for his Default/Retirement fiasco in the SA Finals.
RO did get screwed if a 4.5 team drops out. Although who knows, with our luck that WC goes to the Valley or Ft Worth before Dallas.
ReplyDeleteAnyone see any DQ's coming tomorrow morning? I assume Chris Bell is gone after his wins this weekend.
ReplyDeleteDid RO even win the Brookhaven match? I don't think any Branch guys left wanted to play. Gene and Mike didn't even want to be out there. If Royal Oaks beats Brookhaven more soundly they would have been ahead of us. Bell will likely get DQ'ed anyway.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Todd and his team for a great season. Our team had a lot of great matches this weekend against them and the other teams and we look forward to the possibility of going to Sectionals or next season.
By Ryan Peterson
ReplyDeleteTYLER, TX (KLTV) - Chris Bell was a four time state tennis champion at Plano West. He'd never played competitive football in his life. So it makes perfect sense that he's a quarterback at T.J.C.
"I can throw the ball about 70 yards," said Bell.
One of the top ranked tennis players in the state, Bell signed with Texas Tech. But after years of playing tennis, he decided to pursue a different dream. Leaving a scholarship at Tech, Bell waked on at T.J.C.
"You know I just got tired of it. I was playing pick up games with buddies," said Bell. "They were like why don't you just play football? I didn't do it. Finally I decided I didn't want to look back in 20 years and be like what if I would have played football."
Bell has taken some serious hits in his introduction to the quarterback position. He finds the hits enjoyable.
"I'm not regretting it at all," said Bell. "I'm happy with what I did in tennis, but right now I'm just focusing on football."
ROCC did not get screwed at all. They won 2 matches 3-2 with Bell's win being the key for the victory. If Bell gets DQ'd tomorrow then Royal Oaks is no longer 3-1, they are 1-3. So even if Branch played their top lineup against Garland and won, Garland would have finished 2-2 instead of 3-1 and still finished 2nd. Garland took 2nd no matter how you want to look at it and ROCC gets their Karma for bringing in self-rate ringer.
ReplyDeleteSo exactly how is Bell a ringer? Seeing as how he was the same star rating as Underwood and he did not play college tennis, yes he did sign, but TTA already set precedent on that issue back in 2008. So again how is Bell a ringer other than he won every match. He is not playing college, do not believe he was higher than 20 in Texas, of course Texas for some reason does not have past rankings available. So sounds like Rothwell just played by the rules and learned to bend them pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI actually found Chris Bell's ranking somehow and he was 34 in doubles, even though he won a Super Champ major zone, so that makes him legal. But I can't imagine that he didn't get three strikes this weekend, or is he now computer rated based on the regular season??
ReplyDeleteIf anyone got screwed this weekend in 4.5 it was because of the schedule. Matches should not have been scheduled four hours apart, for the safety and well-being of the players. I am sure there were retirements, defaults, and maybe some hospital visits across the board this weekend. Easily could have scheduled morning and afternoon matches on Saturday and Sunday.
ReplyDeleteBell is gone for sure with the way he beat everyone this weekend, but the comment about being a ringer. He is no David Wanja, played 4.5 while playing at D1 school, not Trent Broach, played at High Ranked D2, nor Chance Morgan, #1 ranked TX Junior and SWT Player.
ReplyDeleteBesides the point he is DQ'ed, but how does Dallas go with the DQ's are they retro active or would he just not go to the next level of championships if the team had advanced, since numbers were not run during the championships.
I don't think it's retroactive, but it doesn't change anything anyway. First and second stay the same. Just because he isn't as big a ringer as those guys, doesn't mean he isn't a ringer. To me, a ringer is somebody who shouldn't be playing in the league. Somebody who wins every set in the playoffs with ease is a ringer.
ReplyDeleteif you watched Bell play, you would understand. he would beat alot of 5.0 guys
ReplyDeleteC. Bell only lost 17 games the whole weekend..... just looked at match history and why in the world did he avoid line 1 against Oak Creek singles player (who also only lost 17 games in 4 matches and two of those games were penalty games for being late)....25 years younger and much quicker than Kelley and they put him at line 2? Seems like they had strong doubles so straight up line up could have been a different story for RO....RO may have out thought themselves and cost themselves the crown.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to HP?
ReplyDeleteI originally thought that that was a mistake by Royal Oaks but if Deaver wasn't going to play singles, that was a smart move. Smithson isn't beating either Oak Creek player so you have to secure the line 2 singles. They could have lost 5-0 straight up, although I have to say Bell would have beaten Kelly. Smithson could have given doubles a chance though.
ReplyDeleteNot so sure Bell would have beaten Kelly. Apparently RO wasn't so sure or they would have played it straight up.
ReplyDeleteOnce there was a split at singles it was over for RO against OC. There was no way they were going to win 2 of the 3 doubles lines. RO only chance was sweeping the singles and hoping for one win at doubles, which they didn't even get that. So even if they had switched the singles line up and had Bell play Kelly and Smithson play James, it could have just as easily been 5-0 as it could have been 3-2. Either way OC wins the 2010 USTA local championship HAT (which is badass by the way) and you don't. Good luck next year!
ReplyDeleteCraig Bell should be ashamed of himself. A life-long pro in Dallas and he has the nerve to put his kid out there to destroy true 4.5 players. Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteNot sure who would have won the Kelly/Bell match up on the court but one can say Kelly won the mental battle over the RO captain, or somebody on that team. RO plays their best singles guy at line 2 and then puts a very good doubles player at line 1 singles, thus weakening two or possibly 3 lines? Makes no sense. For someone "who would beat most 5'0's" and a "sure ringer" and they weren't sure about a win at line 1? It is very simple, RO did NOT think Bell would beat Kelly in singles or they would have played straight up..end of story. It is crazy to give up a singles line against OC and expect to win two of the doubles.
ReplyDeleteRossouw,
ReplyDeleteWho are you? I noticed you had some nice predictions knocking Garland. Hope that made you feel better for that one hour it took to write this crap.
Let me recap your blog:
"I do hope you do better than my predictions but I’m afraid you have a better chance of going 0 & 5than 2 & 3."
Try 4-1. Again, nice predictions and language throughout, you jackass.
Well, I guess there was one 4.5 player Craig did not want his kid to destroy. So much so he didn't even want his kid to play him. Say what you want about Kelly but come crunch time he was more than willing to play the kid in a winner take all scenario and not drop down to line 2 singles....
ReplyDeleteBottom line the older Bell knows Kelly has some game when he needs to show it and felt it might be a tough match for the kid, for sure mentally. Evidently most of RO brain trust agreed. We will never know the outcome of the kid/mid 40ish match up but would have paid good money to see it. He can at least throw a football farther than any OC 4.5. Maybe next year there will be a Punt, Pass and Kick competition, bet he plays line 1 then.
ReplyDeleteWhere are all the Brookhaven bloggers?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think HP should have at least finished second? On paper they looked tough.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna stick up for Rothwell a little bit. I didn't necessarily agree with his lineup but he had some issues with his ability to throw out what he wanted to. Not gonna go into detail but before we start a Rothwell bashfest lets just say he was attempting to do the best he could with what he had.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think it would have made a difference with what he did with his lineup.
The only thing that would have been affected might have been Branch having to play their full roster against Garland.
But as far as the outcome against Branch, that was decided before anyone walked on the court.
Hey, no bashing of Rothwell going on here, just a very strange line up. Thought it was a great weekend of tennis and the better team won, even if their players can't get to the court on time (lol), although I felt that was unjust to penalize games when people still on the court watching other match finish. That could have been a different singles outcome if Kelly loses his temper over that and gets beat Friday night. Never seen such a picky group of umpires that I can remember (changeovers, foot faults, time warnings, towel offs).
ReplyDeleteFor all those bitching about Bell being such a ringer, then where were the protests? Lets whine about it after the fact. Do some research and please tell us where he could be DQ'ed on the self-rate guidelines?
ReplyDeleteDoes Royal Oaks shock the world today?--GZ
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2010 7:24 AM
YES!...with their lineup
We were all talking about Bell long before the playoffs. Check the archives. And as I said, it's not about whether he should be DQ'ed or not, it's about whether he should play 4.5, and it's obvious he shouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteI will repeat this too. If Deaver wasn't going to play singles, it would have been completely stupid to put Bell at line 1. Smithson is not going to win either line so you want to be absolutely sure you win 1. I'm not sure why they put Smithson instead of somebody else in singles but they did. Smithson and Joe at line 3 could have made that last doubles match more interesting.
I'm not sure how you can say Rothwell didn't think Bell would beat Kelly, he just made the percentage play.
I did hear that Royal Oaks was talking trash about Bell beating Kelly, so if that was true, then it may have been a pussy move but still a smart one.
Frankly, I don't think Rothwell had a clue who would win that match up between Kelly/Bell. Completely understand the percentage play theory in singles by trying to get a sure win, but did RO think they would really win two of the doubles lines? Ultimately by not putting their best player at line one RO is wasting a line. Is it really smart as the underdog to give up 20% of the match from the start? You know HAVE to win 3 of the 4 remaining matches. Again, the percentage play makes sense but was not necessarily worth the risk.
ReplyDeleteCore is absolutely correct in all of this that Smithson could have made the difference in a doubles match. If your gonna throw away line one why do it with a great doubles player?
ReplyDeleteThat tactic alone should be more disturbing than Bell playing line 2.
I think Royal Oaks could have had a chance at winning two doubles lines with Smithson and Rauschuber at 3. A whole different scenario for both teams if the last doubles match is 2-2 instead of 3-1.
ReplyDeleteCorey, quit second guessing other people. Rothwell did what he could with what he had against Branch. Your team was very fortunate to have played High Point on Sunday when they were already out of it and then a Branch team that only needed one line to advance. If either High Point or Branch played their lineups from the previous two days there's a pretty good chance they would have gotten at least one more line between the two of them and you would have finished third to Royal Oaks. That's amazing considering Royal Oaks had the worst draw having to play two matches Saturday and Sunday and with very little depth. Royal Oaks beat your team 4-1 so if you're going to second guess lineup decisions that would be the match. Take Bell out and you still lost that match. Feel good about the fact that you had a great draw and your guys did what they had to do to get your team in a position to potentially get a Wild Card. We can all be arm chair quarterbacks at this point but it just makes you look bad. I would have thought you would have learned that by now.
ReplyDeleteClearly you can't read since I'm the one saying John did the right thing. Did you read any of the above posts?
ReplyDelete9:40 yesterday
"That was a smart move."
8:28 today
"He made the percentage play."
So your post makes no sense whatsoever.
And you say I got lucky by playing HP when they were out of it but Royal Oaks played HP after they were out of it and they played Brookhaven in their least important match.
I thought John could have put somebody else in Smithson's place but I thought he played it right with Deaver out of singles. Trust me, I have many lineup regrets after the weekend, including one match where I wrote two teams in the wrong line.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe RO thought Kelly would be at #2 to improve OC's changes for a split of singles.
ReplyDeleteConsistent and prolonged tanking to get down to 4.5 so you can dominate is not a characteristic of someone looking for a challenge.
Slezak is the coolest guy in this league.
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this straight Corey, Smithson and Rauschuber at 3 dubs and bring in another singles guy to give away line 1 and RO may win the thing 3-2. I guess Rothwell should have talked with you before the match. How about giving the Branch captain some credit for his win rather than say what Rothwell may have done to win 3-2. I cannot understand the obsession you have with RO and what should have been done to beat Branch. We all know you wanted to see them lose in the worst way but please give it a rest!
ReplyDeleteSlezak is the coolest guy in this league.
ReplyDeleteLet's ask Roussow his opinion of the whole weekend......
ReplyDeleteCongrats to everyone who competed in the playoffs! TC
ReplyDeleteCore, copy and paste this in your next post:
ReplyDelete"Thanks Branch and HP teams for taking it easy on us in the last rounds and giving us the possibility of a wild card. Oh, congratulations Branch and Capt. Feldman for winning the cities this year. You played great."
Post that and it may indeed be the karma you need to get a lucky loser entry into sectionals.
OK, Bell is solid, but Kelly beats him, Davis beats him, and Underwood always beat him in juniors. You have to have solid 5.0 players to win 4.5 at sectionals and nationals. When will people understand this. The reason Dallas never wins sectionals is easy. To much ego and complaining. There needs to be one team with everyones line 1 singles players and line 1 doubles teams. To much talent is spread out all over the city in different clubs. Branch puts together the best team because of his depth and everyone on his team knows how to win when it counts. Imagine if for one season all of the top talent in Dallas would play on one team. Thats the only way Dallas wins the whole thing. Don't get me wrong Branch has a great chance this year. His team has added some great players, but it will come down to a line 3 doubles match. Kelly is a bad ass, when he wants to be and Davis, when he's playing, may be even better. Its going to be hard to beat them in singles. Davis showed that last year. And this year he has Kelly and Underwood to help him rest, if he wants it.
ReplyDeleteEveryone works the system to put together the best team they can, including me. I just do it in mixed. So wish Branch's team good luck and try to work the system for your team next season. Start looking at the high schools and the super major zones now.
Don't know who posted previous rant but Kelly is freakin' 45 years old, only plays hard when he wants, takes too many points off cuz he is disinterested and the heat will kill him in sectionals. Underwood too young and not ready for prime time and Davis a better doubles player.
ReplyDeleteWith a little luck and better lineup managements from a few captains we are not even talking about Branch headed to sectionals.
Get real, their "stars" will fall to people half their age!
Davis went 3-1 last year in sectionals in singles and the 1 was because the team has already lost. Kelly will bring it in sectionals. And Underwood has played top junior tennis for that last 9 years. Time will prove me right. Just wait and see.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the 3:17 anon poster wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteKelly beats Bell....Davis too. I have only seen Underwood play once, and it was a doubles match. But he looked pretty evenly matched to Bell just from what I saw.
In any case, Kelly can beat most 5.0 players....with relative ease. Doesn't matter that he's 45. He's in good shape, and plays smart...conserves energy well, and anticipates EXTREMELY well.
Davis is just a beast in singles. Whomever said he was a better doubles player is mistaken.
Yeah Kelly looked so exhausted at city's that he went 4-0 and 2 singles wins. And he was so disinterested he didn't lose a set. What a stupid post. Have you actually watched tennis before or just catching what they say about Kelly on TMZ? Dumbass!!!
ReplyDeleteNo most are correct on Kelly, he plays smart and paces himself well. He can kick it into another gear when needed and should do fine at Sectionals. This Branch team assembled is probably the best Dallas Team since the 2003 Team that went to Nationals.
ReplyDeleteKelly would not have been able to play a 5th match and the recoup time between cities and sectionals not enough. He would be unbeatable in one match against anyone at any time in sectionals, not in the summer though. He will try to manage the score to keep it close and end up getting beat at some point. He would be a liability at doubles because he stays back and doesn't come to the net. Those sectional boys will pick up on that and pin him against the baseline. Keep dreamin', he will be gassed. Davis and Underwood solid players but Underwood not proven. "Time will prove me right. Just wait and see". Branch loses in the semis.
ReplyDeleteTo 8:21, you're right I should have congratulated Feldman's team. I should have said something like this:
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Todd and his team for a great season. Our team had a lot of great matches this weekend against them and the other teams and we look forward to the possibility of going to Sectionals or next season.
Oh wait, I already posted that 48 hours ago. I'm not going to thank anybody for handing us anything because we weren't handed anything. We earned every match we won and we deserved to finish second.
Very hard for me to judge Kelly's fitness level. He seemed very tired in the last doubles match but that's why Feldman has so many players. They don't need Kelly to play every match to win, which is going to help their chances tremendously.
Also, I have accepted the fact that my team isn't going to Sectionals this year, but if we somehow make it, great!!
Good luck to all teams that advanced to sectionals and I hope to be able to watch some this year!!
Kelly's fitness level is better than most, but he does have back issues occasionally, but usually after matches (tightens up). That's usually why you see him laying down after he plays. But you didn't hear that from me.
ReplyDeleteIt is not the fitness level as much as the interest level. I have personally never seen Kelly play a full match going after every point. Seems to think he can "coast" and dig himself out of any hole. The ego and will catch up with him.
ReplyDelete^^Only problem with that theory is that he never gets into "holes" he needs to dig out of.
ReplyDeleteAt least, I haven't heard of him falling behind, or seen it myself....not in men's. Maybe in mixed, which is a completely different animal.
But then again, I haven't seen Kelly play more than 5-6 times. But the results look pretty convincing.
5-6 times? I have been watching him play 3-4 years and not once have I seen him interested in every point, or game for that matter. He was down 2-0 thirty-love in his first match Friday and should have lost that first set. Just saying the age, heat and interest level will cost him a match or two this weekend. You cannot continue winning when only 50-60 percent of the points are important. You heard it here first.
ReplyDeleteThose of you that want to see him lose give it a rest! He can come play on my 5.0 team anytime. Why keep bashing every aspect of his game and fitness and interest? As far as I know he has been talking highly of his opponents and fairly complimentary so not sure what has spurred this criticism. If he loses all you people will rejoice and then you will light up this blog like a Christmas tree! Kudos to the Branch team and good luck in sectionals.
ReplyDelete8:53 - You are using his Friday match to support your argument?
ReplyDeleteYou do realize he started off down 0-2 b/c of 2 game penalties for not being on the court on time. He then proceeded to win 12 straight games.
But yeah, he was clearly "coasting" in the match. Genius!
Before you take Kelly on your 5.0 team you had better make sure you are putting together a team to tank back down to 4.5.
ReplyDeleteIn the Spring 2009 5.0 season Kelly was 0-7 and didn't win more than 2 games in a set and only once won 4 games in a match.
Scores:
0-6,1-6
2-6,2-6
2-6,1-6
0-6,1-6
1-6,2-6
1-6,1-6
1-6,1-6
If you throw in 9.0 Mixed - record 0-4, Kelly lost 11 straight matches as a 5.0.
Don't think Kelly tanked his way down to 4.5 to be disinterested at 4.5 Sectionals.
Maybe he was in a slump? or ran into a bunch of players who were on fire? Guess he was out of shape, back hurt, disinterested, took points off, can't play doubles, too old, does not come to net, plays half the time and does not have the mental toughness to win. Funny, bash the player win he wins and bash the player when he loses........
ReplyDeleteI'll go with he took points off. Most of them.
ReplyDeletePoints are overrated in tennis. I'll go with disinterested.
ReplyDeleteTotal
points off 1
disinterested 1
Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Dallas never advances. We have all sorts of bashing of our own players instead of wishing them luck and hoping they advance. Not sure any of this negativity helps. Don't know what some of these Branch players have done to deserve to be critiqued to the max but I am hoping for a Dallas win. Seems as if the league would want one of its own to do well. Guess not.
ReplyDeleteQuit bashing Kelly. Yes he is a jerk but a heck of a player! He does what he does and will win, end of story! In regards to Branch Team, they deserve all the bashing they get!!!!!! They flat out TANK to keep their ratings and that is totally disrespectful to those of us that actually look forward to an afternoon of tennis and a few beers after (gosh forbid we mention fun and social and looking forward to competing)
ReplyDeleteLook at the team towards end of season/playoffs, once they feel they have it clinched loses magically appear out of no where, wow wonder what is going on as we are just too dumb to figure that one out. That is why they deserve bashing!!!!!!
To 8:20 - did you say Kelly a liability in doubles??? Have you been on the court with him in doubles?? As for Kelly being disinterested, should have put the kid against him - you would have seen some interest.
ReplyDeleteIt's simply. Mike lost at 5.0 so he would not become a 5.5 and not be able to play his true favorite form of tennis, mixed. That is my theory and I'm sticking to it. My guess is he will win every match at sections in 4.5 and 8.0 mixed, if he gets there, and then go 1-4 in the fall in 4.5 and 0-5 in 5.0. This way everyone can bitch and complain again next year. I say thanks Mike for some great reading. There hasn't been this much bashing since Gene Davis was a 4.0.
ReplyDeleteThe difference is that Gene Davis didn't tank his way down to 4.0.
ReplyDeleteDavis just figured out a more efficient way - he just did not play men's '06 & '07 to get moved down.
ReplyDeleteCome sectionals ya'll will see Davis & Kelly will be comparable to other players that come to sectionals. Ya'll should be cheering for them at sectionals representing dallas instead of whining...
Whoever is whining would have gotten smoked at sectionals and embarrassed dallas.
What is interesting to me is he has NEVER been a 4.5 until he was asked to play for Branch. How he gets these players is beyond me. I am in the 5.0 league and can assure you in 06 and 07 had he tried he would have easily been moved to 5.5. That was 3 years ago and he is a little older but still has the ability to do some damage at any level. There will be many disagree but if he would have played the young Bell, Kelly would have won that match. The only criticism is the heat, one tough singles match early and his goose is cooked.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about Kelly/Bell? There was no match and never will be. What if Lebron went to the mavericks? Why don't we beat that into the ground too....get back to reality people.
ReplyDeleteKelly bashing tally (unofficial):
ReplyDeleteTotal
points off 1
disinterested 1
who cares? 1
dubs liab. 1
fades in heat 3
tanker lots
Slezak cool 2
age references 6
btw..I will come to his defense on the liability in doubles comment at 8:20. No slight to anyone on the team but he can he may be the best they have. Does not play the serve and volley tennis but capable of hitting a winner anywhere on the court. Very hard to read his next shot.
Btw, hear what happen when BP put a ring on the leaking well?.....It stopped putting out!.....just some light humor..back to bashing Kelly.
ReplyDeleteI agree w most of these posts as far as Kelly playing as well as he needs to for a win, or as bad as he needs for a loss. I have been on some teams that he has knocked us out of playoffs and I am not his biggest fan. I will say, however, for a guy who plays hurt w/ elbow pain, chronic ankle soreness and a stiff back at times he is a warrior. Good luck to Branch team this weekend and make Dallas proud (sorry LB Houston is one of the sites).
ReplyDeleteI am now ready to see a Kelly/Bell match up in the heat this afternoon at 3pm, Kelly was toast after the sectional finals yesterday and couldn't have played another match!......if Royal Oaks had played straight up in cities they may have been the team going to nationals...
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