Wednesday, August 18, 2010

4.0 Fall Preview - Flights are out

The 4.0 season currently consists of 522 registered players spread amongst 45 different teams.  Needless to say, I can't drill down on each player and each team to give a perfect assessment of what's  in store for the Fall.  I will make my general and limited observations for everyone else to fill in the blanks.

The first question to address is which teams will be truly vying to win in the Fall to take the City title, and which teams will be using the season to protect their ratings and get their self rates with computer ratings.  With the Fall Season City winner now only securing a Spring QT spot, will teams really fight and risk losing players to bump ups to go and obtain it?   With so many teams and players, I would have to think we would see another migration upward made by the USTA to get more players up to the 4.5 level, and more 4.5s up to the 5.0 level.  

The 522 registered players are broken out into 5 flights:

Flight A - Lifetime Arcaria seems to get off easy being placed in this flight and should finish #1 or 2.  This team comes off from going to Sectionals in the Spring and only losing a handful of players to mid-season bumps.  As of now, only one of his "ringers" has re-signed but it is still early.  He still has a core of solid players but are they enough to go to the finals back to back without re-stocking additional ringers?  In this flight, my guess is he should make it just fine.

Runner ups - Springpark has a decent team and faired with a winning record in the Spring.  My guess is they fair well and finish in the top 3 or 4.  Stonebriar had a 50/50 record in the Spring and perhaps should do better in this flight.  Huffhines Ratcliffe could also make a showing but he lacks the fire power in singles which carried him over a year ago to make the DCC.

New Comers - HP Kaiser appears to be the Bender 3.5 team going to Nationals minus a few players and adding to HP Jameson's remaining squad from the Spring.  They could be the flight spoilers depending on how quickly they adjust to 4.0.   Brookhaven Alzuro also has a team but not sure why he does as he struggled with most of these players in the watered down 3.5 Spring league.

Flight B - At first look you see Garland Sisk 1 and you begin to tremble.  But taking a closer look at the Garland's 4 teams, I am abit miffed and confused.  Each team just meets the 8 player minimum and he has some of his stronger players spread on the different teams and not lumped together.  I guess when the Death Star imploded, it shot fragments of his squadron abroad and this is what is left over.  The only way I see the Garland teams finishing in the top in any of the fligths is if there is some re-shuffling of players made to put the stronger ones together on one roster.  Sisk must be in tight with Jane Gilpen to make something happen quickly.

Stonebridge Muniz should have a good team and with this flight the way it is, should have a shot at finishing in the top 3.  Same with Canyon Creek.

New Comers- It appears fragments of the Death Star made it all the way to Fretz with Clark, Wiley & Co. having departed Garland with a few other players and formed their own team.  They could definitely be the flight spoilers if they wanted to with a little more recruiting.

Flight C - O.K.  We see HP Somabut.  Same thing, start to shiver.  Right?  Wrong.  What?  There are two 3.0 self rates and a 3.5 self rate??  C'mon Bob, who are you kidding??  At least self rate them at the level they are playing in.  Having guys who are truly 4.5s self rate at 3.0 just doesn't make sense and you are going to have Tosha calling you up one Monday to let you know she re-rated them to 4.0.  It still doesn't protect them and you know it !!    This is like laying all your cards on the table and tells me the Fall for this team will be getting proper computer ratings and building for the Spring.  I don't see them taking any risks to make a run for the QT spot.

Greenhill has an impressive roster and they should finish in the top 3 if  not taking the flight.  Village Gordon should also do very well and could make a run at it.   We see yet another Sisk team but this one is mainly his 3.5 bump ups with the exception of Tyler Price.  My guess is that Tyler gets moved to another team, or the Fall and the spreading out of his key players on all these different rosters is to protect them from year end ratings and save them for the Spring.

Flight D - (I am starting to get tired here so forgive me if these start to get brief.)  Brookhaven Strohl has a great squad and they finish within the top 3.  High Point Bazan also has his core group of guys and were just shy of making the DCC in the Spring.  They definitely make a running.  While the Lakes had an impressive run this past Spring, it was mainly due to his 2 singles players which are no longer 4.0.  While he has some good dubs players, they are not as strong as Strohl's or Bazan's and I see those 2 edging them out of any post-season hopes.

Garland Sisk 2 ??.......ZZZZZZ.....this is getting old. Not sure why Corcoran, Wickman, and Stein, aren't on team 1 with Price.  Now Big John, don't go making changes based on my assessment.  I'm sure you have something up your sleeve.   I guess we will see how accomodating Jane is and what your rosters look like after the first match in September.   We will be watching you!!!

Flight E - Brookhaven Pearlman has most of his team from the Spring in tact and should do well.  Oak Creek should also be a finisher in the top 3.  Another Garlad.  JCC loses Lutes and Reiman which weaken their ability to compete agains Brookhaven or Oak Creek.  Not much else of noting in this flight.

So there you have it.  The low down on 45 teams and 522 players.  Give us your insights and let the smack talking begin........

25 comments:

  1. Everybody on Arcarias team will be tanking this fall season because we are of the mentallity that if we can't beat them, join them. We also have two new ringers that will be self rating and losing each match rather obviously. The only time we will be playing all out is when we run into Kaiser's team, just for the fun of it.

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  2. Somabut doesn't usually make mental mistakes, but it looks like his desperation to return to the upper echelon has caused his brain to lock down. He should have retired after going to the Nationals. Arcaria is the new sheriff in town with Bazan also nipping at his heels.

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  3. Sisk is one up on everyone. No need for a strong team in the fall. scatter them out, everybody plays, everybody beats everybody, and go for the superteam in the spring.

    Guys that would be winning easily at line 3, might struggle a little bit at line 1, enough to keep them down. I like the logic.

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  4. It is so obvious what Sisk and Somabut are trying to do this fall, and as always they will be successful at it.

    Many of the out of control egos on the lifetime, Brookhaven, Bazan type of teams wont let them manage scores and maybe lose, they care more about there own records, they should learn from the masters if they were smart.

    Dont count out the boys from the Village this season they are team to beat!

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  5. It's the USTA's fault. Lubbock went to nationals in 2008 and have 7 players back to nationals in 2010. Screw it, I'm tanking all my matches this fall.

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  6. Lifetime can tank this Fall and still win flight A. They have no competition at all, what a horrible flight and great draw for Lifetime. if we could all be so lucky.

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  7. I wouldn't call a wasted/boring fall flight "lucky"

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  9. Re: the 3.0 self rates...is appears all self-rates in 4.0 are tagged as 3.0's in the team roster page. But if you click on them individually, they will show 4.0. I am not sure why they are flagging them.....wait, yes I am.

    I am sure this is the DTA's way of putting the scarlet letter on all self-rates to monitor them more easily.

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  10. highly disappoininting that the dallas area is filled with cheaters and tankers instead of honest competitors. why not just have a huge entry fee to regionals and nationals since the current system lets teams buy their way in anyway. take the money blown by garland, high point, bent tree, brookhaven for buying up usta league players, send it to haiti, and that garbage pit could have been rebuilt overnight.

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  11. Roussow, What's the deal? Where is the fall 4.5 breakdown? Are you the 4.5 moderator or not? Get it together man!!!

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  12. Actually I think Flight C looks pretty deep with Somabut, Greenhill, and Village...combined with another Springpark team that fared pretty well in the Spring, and a Garland team that could add a few players and surprise the flight. But who will tank in the flight and who won't? That's the real wild card.

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  13. Advice to the anonymous Arcaria team member that posted 8/18 at 3:02 PM: If you really want to have some fun when your team plays the Kaiser bunch, you should save your best tank jobs for that match. The Kaiser roster has been put together for the specific purpose of getting the maximum number of players back to the 3.5 level. It would be a riot, to have every player from both teams in that match trying to tank.

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  14. DFW Blog poll question of the day. Which 4.5 team from the Lakes, is better. The Weatherby team or the Way team?

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  15. Dumb Question. Weatherby's team is 4.0 bump ups and Way's team is all the 4.5 that were on there before. You obviously didn't study the players.

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  16. hmmmmmmm: http://www.obubison.com/roster/6/11/182.php

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  17. Does anyone know where Mike Kelly played his college tennis?

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  18. Who is Lance Ruder and why did you put his college link up?

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  19. El Centro Cosmetology School

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  20. NAIA player who should have rated at 4.5. Oh Mr. Sisk, seems like we just went down this road a few months ago.

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  21. NAIA player who should have rated at 4.5. Oh Mr. Sisk, seems like we just went down this road a few months ago.

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  22. Nice catch!

    So Mr. Sisk, you going to do the right thing or do we need to call in the sheriff and get Tosha involved?

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  23. It appears Ruder has a 2008 tournament rating and he is legitimate... at least from a rules standpoint.

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  24. I'm puzzled as to why and how a freshman from Denison, TX, who is enrolled at OBU in Shawnee, OK, roughly 200 miles to the north, is going to play in a Sunday Fall tennis league in the metroplex. Seems odd to say the least.

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  25. tournament rate is the same as self rate, he can be dq'd. Sisk tries to get players thru in the Fall so they will have a computer rate in the Spring. This guy will be dq'd before that happens. Nice try Sisk!

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