Cotton Bowl Rap Up

The Cotton Bowl is over, people won and people lost.
Feel free to discuss the results here.

But the news everyone wants to know!!!

Who made the best picks.

3.5 Draw
We have a two way tie, both winners having a 79% pick percentage
James Kinson
and
Greg Wiley
4.0 Draw
This proved to be the toughest draw to predict. Our winner had a lowly 63% correct
Robert F
4.5 Draw
In this draw our winner had an incredible 83% correct, Picking both semi-finalists and the champion, and he is not even in Texas.
Jason Lyons

Next up the tri-level

COTTON BOWL CLASSIC - Official Thread

COTTON BOWL CLASSIC OPEN

In very Un-DTA like manor the draws have been posted early.

Notable early round matches
In 3.5 -Pedro Montalvo v Sam Bert
In 4.0 -Trae Bowman v ScottRussell.com
4.5 - Jonathan Marcus makes it into the 2nd round!

And in keeping up with our blog being the most Active, Vulgar, and technically advanced of all of the Texas tennis blogs we have a new Feature.

Interactive Tournament Draws

You need to have an account and be logged in to place your picks.
Special Prizes for the winners

3.5 Men's Singles Draw

4.0 Men's Singles Draw

4.5 Men's Singles Draw

COTTON BOWL CLASSIC Registration Deadline is Sunday the 14th

Just a friendly reminder that the registration deadline for the Cotton Bowl is Sunday.
If you want to play tennis in 2008 this is pretty much your last chance.

Registration

Also keep an eye out for a little interactive treat after the draws are posted.

End of Season Awards

OK, so the fall season is still somewhat fresh in everybody's mind, but enough time has passed (hopefully) for the wounds to have healed. Let's look at the season objectively and try to determine who is worthy of post-season awards.

Feel free to put your nominations for any level, with compelling reasons. You can also make your own awards. This should hopefully give us something to talk about before tri-level and the Cotton Bowl.

MVP (Singles and Doubles)--This person(s) should have been the one(s) who had the most impact on his team's success this season. Without this player or team, the overall team could not have done nearly as well.

Rookie of the Year (Singles and Doubles)--This person immediately made an impact in the first season of playing Dallas league tennis.

Most Improved (Player or Team)--This award goes to the player or team who surprised everybody by completely turning around his/their results from spring to fall.

Captain of the Year--This captain was able to achieve the most success, motivate his players, maneuver lineups, and/or win the respect of his peers in the process.

Biggest Sandbagger--This player had no business playing the level he did, but he did so anyway and dominated lesser players all season.

Most Overrated--This player was expected to make a big positive impact for his team this season but actually ended up contributing very little.

Upset of the Year (Individual or Overall)--This matchup appeared to be all but decided before the players stepped on the court but it ended up shocking everybody.

All-Star Team--This would be the ideal lineup for any captain to put out there to be able to succeed at the next level.

Remember only players who were on a roster this fall are eligible for these awards.

Have fun with this and let the debate begin!!!

Tri-Level on the Horizon

Since somebody mentioned the tri-level competition in the now gargantuan topic about the ratings, I thought I would start my first topic for anybody who wants to talk about the upcoming tri-level events next month.

The deadline is coming up soon for teams to have their rosters full.
Many of the usual suspects have teams: myself, Somabut, Pickett. Who are the favorites? What would the dream tri-level team be? (Hint: Just look at my roster.)

Too early for predictions but it should be a lot of fun. Also, a lot of players could be competing at their new levels for the first time since year-end ratings will be used for this.

Thoughts?

2008 Year end ratings about to Drop

Since Cary appears to be suffering from a post-season tennis nervous break down after his crippling play-off loss, I thought I would pick up the rock and start the year end ratings ying-yang.

Who will be bumped up?
Who will appeal down?
And how many Anon's will judge you for it?

3.5 Ratings

4.0 Ratings

4.5 Ratings


Here is some info for the little ladies who want to appeal their rating.
go to the USTA ratings website.
Search for yourself by USTA number. (Only the USTA number, not Name)
The put on your dress, and appeal away.

Fall DCC is done!

So it is finally come and gone. I have to say I had a great time running around this weekend, after a crazy week in my personal life this was a needed getaway from "real" life.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to John Kraemer for sending me the photos. I wish I could have watched more of the other levels but I was obviously working with my own team as we made a run to the finals.

3.5
Whoah so I guess Westlake wasn't a lock after all but after looking at that final scorecard it doesn't seem all that shocking. I guess Dec. 1st is a big day for this team to see if Cline and Mitterer will still be 3.5's.

4.5
I didn't get to see but a few points of 4.5 this weekend but it was a closely contested weekend by looking over the results but OC just seemed more consistent from beginning to end. Nice job! For some reason that trophy doesn't like to leave Marsh Ln.

4.0
I have nothing but respect for Bob and his team since some of those guys I know personally and know them to be great people on and off the court. Our team is proud of our season and beating Lifetime (oops did I say that aloud) to make it to Sunday and my guys played well but Bob's team was just a bit better all around.

Other than my own fabulous players I wanted to point out the great play of BMO this weekend and Bin Nguyen, Chad Carlquist and Jarad Kemp, these guys stepped it up when it counted this weekend.

I saw someone posted a question to me that was interesting about the round robin tiebreakers. I actually do agree that head to head should be a tiebreaker although I do think the current system rewards having a deep and well rounded team. There is definite arguments for both sides but that is a national rule and would take something major to have it changed. I think it evens out because my first Dallas team I ever played on played competed in the Spring DCC 2005 and that was the year before they started the wild card to sectional and we finished in a dead tie with Bob Bender's 3.5 team that went onto nationals that year, they were far ahead in ind. match wins but we gave them their one loss, so maybe this weekend made up for that a little bit.

So next up on our plate is Dec 1st. End of year ratings, should be interesting. After that I plan on taking a 2-3 month hiatus from the blog and I hope you will join me. I need a break, I am open for contributors during that time.

DCC underway

So I am on a break so I thought I would post one last thing since I had to stop and get some directions off of a library computer.

3.5 looks to be almost set as Westlake and Brookhaven are both doing well in their respective flight.

4.0 Blue Flight comes down to the 2p match between BH/Burt and HP/Bob. High Point has been dominate and look really good from top to bottom. They will be tough to beat this afternoon and on Sunday but Burt's crew has been playing well too and Mark and Jon Renwick could give them a chance.

Ahh and then in the Red Flight Team Eddie was beaten by the SWAT team and the Lakes beat OC so there is a 4 way tie. Anything can happen this afternoon so we will see.

I saw Nwood and Royal Oaks start as I left, Coredawg looked ready to get a win, but we will see.

Time to Shut up and Bring it

One of my favorites cheesy movies is bring it on and I thought this excerpt sums up the weekend best. I am booked up until then so see you all on the courts.

Isis: You wanna make it right? Then when you go to Nationals... bring it. Don't slack off because you feel sorry for us. That way, when we beat you, we'll know it's because we're better.

Torrance Shipman: Oh, I'll bring it. Don't worry.

Isis: I never do.

*****************
Not related but just as awesome

Whitney: She puts the "itch" in "bitch".
Courtney: She puts the "whore" in "horrible".


Later bitches


Cary

4.0 Fall Playoffs

So it seems like weeks since our 4.0 season ended but one more week to go until we get our party started. I am looking forward to getting on the court as I am sure the other 7 teams are, see you there. I mentioned earlier that I think the flights are pretty solid and even but the tougher flight I believe is the Blue Flight so let's look at that one:

Blue Flight: HP/Bob, Greenhill, BH-Cliff and BH-Burt

Longshot: BH-Cliff (Odds 25 to 1)
In order for this team to make it I believe they will have to sweep doubles each time out. The thing is they have strong enough players to make that happen with Helterbrann, Mattes, Moore, Renzewiki, Barr, Smith and Olivier. I don't know if they will trust in that strategy but in my mind it is their only hope because they have struggled at singles but they are dangerous team who won 13 out of their 15 last matches, so we will see if their fire has died after a 3 week layoff.

In the mix: BH-Burt (Odds 12 to 1)
I know they went undefeated but as I mentioned they are in a tough flight against some deep teams. They do have a luxury of some great singles talent in Powell, Jenkins, Parekh and Renwick. They will need Brooks/Renwick or whatever Burt deems his top doubles duo to show up big and then their odds become very strong to win this flight.

Very close but I just don't know: Greenhill (Odds 7 to 1)
I will be honest I wasn't upset when they missed our flight. With singles talent like Contreras, Windham and Durand they will be a threat in every match and that is why I like them more than Burt's team because Fernando is along with Jean Nguyen the best singles player in this flight. Their achilles heel might be doubles although mid season add Lance Lockhart will help as well as John Hagen who has converted from singles to be a very solid doubles player. They play HP at 6p on Friday so this flight might be decided early if my hunches are correct.

Favorite: High Point/Bob: (Odds 2 to 1)
Hard to bet against Bob's crew even if their makeup is much different than previous seasons. Also there is most likely no chance even if they win that they can retain 70% of their players because these players will move to 4.5 (Newman, Voss, Nguyen, Kemp x 2) although they will be on the border at 68% if that prediction is correct and Doug Smith is borderline as well which would put them way out of reach of retaining the required amount of players. But because of that reason they have a set of previous mentioned players that should carry them to Sunday morning. They have had issues at singles though and not sure Dreskin and Taillat can carry them in this tourney, Nguyen will have to hop in there but that does take away a strong doubles player. Not sure if Terrell (the Springpark transfer) can help but he is solid.


Red Flight: HP/SWAT, Lifetime, OC and Lakes

Longshot: Lakes (Odds 25 to 1)
Sorry Rockettman, I like your team but was hoping you all would be in the blue flight for matchup reasons for you all. It is tough to judge since the Lakes has 80 players on their roster but that seems to be part of the issue like in the Spring it came to playoffs and their doubles teams seemed to not step up against the teams that had played more together. With that said this is still a good team with Tran, Holt, Jobe, Richardson and late add Fix they will be dangerous.

Upset special: OC/Smith (Odds 15 to 1)
I know better to sleep on this team since they beat Bob's team but the reason they can't be a favorite is depth which got exposed against the Village B team and almost cost them a playoff spot. The seem to just be using Kelley and Ahner and hoping to get a split each week and that will probably work for them next weekend again and they have some solid doubles play from Hughes, Barnhard, Webb and late add Garcia (hate those late adds, mystery players). I do like they way the bounced back after a bad loss and beat a good LBH team and then swept the Springpark B team, that shows they have some fight.

Co-favorite: Lifetime (Odds EVEN)
Ok why not since the LTF'ers are the most ardent posters and more importantly because Eddie and his team have moxy I have to consider them up at the top of this flight. Feuille has been on a roll but did lose to Tikashi and then Osorio took him out in the Masters final last weekend but he is still one of the top singles players that will be playing next weekend. Enough about Forrest though, Lifetime's strength is in doubles with Kennedy, Harris, Myers, Morrison and Asako. I am looking forward to our Saturday morning matchup. Good luck team Eddie, I will make sure and play that match against you all.

C0-favorite: HP SWAT (Odds EVEN)
I am not going to lie I love my team and win or lose next weekend I will still love my team. The reason I like my team is much like Eddie's team we have some guys who are scrappy and in the end playoffs usually come down to the points where one guy is just willing to come up with one more shot.

Finals Prediction: HP SWAT v. HP Bob

I would love to see this happen and I am sure my guys would as well.

Prediction: PAIN. SWAT wins 4-1

4.5 Fall Playoffs

So I had a lot better feel in the Spring about 4.5 but without Branch in the mix everything seems up for grabs. It seemed before it was Branch's tourney and the rest of the teams were happy to be there and afterwards talked about how they lost 2-3 Branch and were soooo close. Now one of these four teams has to step up and actually win. With that said here are my thoughts.

Favorite: Royal Oaks (Odds 3 to 1)
With Smithson, Molina, Brownlee and Kaforin they should win this tournament but for them it comes down to getting out those players each time and only two of them can play singles the others have to go get a doubles line but I think they will make this work and end up winning this tourney.

2nd place: OC Feldman (Odds 7 to 1)
This team has a lot of depth and I almost had them as my favorite but their loss to Royal Oaks and close win over High Point didn't excite me enough to vault them to the top but I would not be surprised if they kept the OC torch going under a different name come Sunday afternoon.

Upset minded: Northwood (Odds 18 to 1)
Sorry Coredawg, I do like your team and I think McCord and Fair/Young will get their lines almost every time but finding that 3rd win may cause you an ulcer next weekend. If you all can find the right mix to get one more win next weekend could get really crazy. I do like having a doubles team like Fair/Young who are good for a point, many teams have a singles player they depend on but I think in the playoffs having the strong point in doubles helps.

Longshot: Brookhaven (Odds 30 to 1)
Hmm. I don't think this is a bad team by any stretch but even they know they have Corey to thank for even getting to play next weekend. But if they can take the gift and just play out anything can happen. They do have Hall who has performed well and Ramos/Lasalle is a good combo but not sure that will get it done against these other three teams.

3.5 Fall Playoffs

So looks like the drama is done and the 3.5 playoffs are set.

Blue Flight: Greenhill, Brookhaven and Samuell Grand

Longshot: Samuell Grand (Odds: 30 t o 1)
The mystery team. I would like the join the SG bandwagon but I can’t do it quite yet. Maybe once I watch them play if I get a chance they will change my mind but as of now I just don’t see them making it out of this flight. They will be a team like Oakridge that will use this season as a stepping stone to a strong Spring because I don’t think they will lose any players.

Could win, but probably won't: Greenhill (Odds 10 to 1)
This team did not add anything to cover their losses to Super senior sectionals and it will hurt them more than Westlake. Jensen may be a darkhorse that can help Sims at singles. John is solid but is not automatic point in singles at this playoff level. I bet against them last fall and they proved me wrong but they rely on doubles and they will be missing Newman, Leopard and Ridgley which are guys that got them wins last Fall in the playoffs.

Favorite to win this flight: Brookhaven (Odds 4 to 1)
Cline is back, back again, tell a friend. Sorry I digressed into Eminem lyrics, I should remember by target audience at 3.5 has an average age of 65. I think John’s team has a good shot with Cline in the mix because they have solid doubles teams that can find some more wins after Cline gets his point. I would love to see them match up with Westlake on Sunday. This core group of guys has had success but never put it together and I hope Kraemer can make it happen for them and get them all bumped to 4.0 so we can get some more cannon fodder for the Spring. :)

Red Flight: Westlake, CC/Lenehan and CC/Jolly

Longshot: CC/Lenehan (Odds 50 to 1)
I don’t see them finishing anything but last in this flight. I love McHugh’s record and he could even beat Harvey but I don’t see two other wins they could come up with. Although with a player like Robert at the top it can start an upset bid but at best they finish 1-1 and wouldn't do well in a tie situation since they most likely will win 3-2 at best.

Could win but probably won't: CC/Jolly (Odds 15 to 1)
I have tried jumping on their bandwagon before because these are some good guys and I like their talent level because they are a very solid team with good doubles players that compete well even at the 4.0 level. Their struggle will be at singles but I would advise sticking with Brownlee and Retizer and maybe Jolly in singles and going after the doubles with big performers like Parten, Stone x 2, Plummer and Frame.

Strong favorite: Westlake (Odds: EVEN)
This team is pretty solid and added some insurance with Sisk and Vandifer to boost their odds in this flight and also in the final. I do not think they are unbeatable by any means but they have enough strong players to be the favorite. Their match with team Jolly will be tough especially without Norm, Lanny and Robert Haney. John and Danny jumped on late but they will need to step up along with Eddie Johnson because Harvey can only get one win per match.

Final: Brookhaven v. Westlake

Prediction: 3-2 win for Westlake
If this is the final I think it will come down to Cline v. Harvey.
Winner gets the prize no pressure guys but that is why these teams wanted you in the first place.

Cline not DQ'ed WTF????

Ok I was hoping to stay off this blog all week but then 3.5 decides to get screwy and go alter a DQ. I think we all talked about 3.5 being boring but OMG it is getting exciting once again.

I wish I had details but I don't know a thing but I do know LTF is now OUT of the playoffs and Brookhaven is IN with Canyon Creek.

Lifetime has to feel like the stepchild, first Flora is DQ'ed AFTER Garland beats LTF and advances to Nats now a DQ is REVERSED and Lifetime is left out of the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if Lifetime Fitness was struck by lightning last night in the storm as well with their luck.

Any details from anyone?? Mr. Kraemer???? Mr. Kaiser???

Masters Tourney results

In 3.5 David and Enrique just missed out making it to Sunday and no 3.5 doubles from Dallas either.

4.0 has Forrest matching up with Osorio who beat Ismael in a 3rd set TB to secure a finals spot. In Doubles Newman/Voss are in the final, good luck tomorrow guys.

4.5 zzzzzzzzzzzz. Alfonso takes on Sevin. In doubles Kern/Lejia are in the final and we will claim them as Dallasites since they pretty play in every city in TX. Good luck Jason and Ed.

Weekend League Results

So this playoffs is shaping up to be a strange one.



Let's start with the shake up in 3.5. Flight A changed a lot over the week but just two weeks ago it seemed it would be HP and Brookhaven and then the DQ happened and the win by CC/Jolly today and now LTF and CC will be advancing out of flight A.



Flight B ended up as expected with Greenhill and Westlake finishing out strong, Flight C will be a second CC team along with undefeated Samuel Grand.



If I am not mistaken Greenhill is the only team in that bunch to make it to a Spring or Fall playoff championship (not counting QT) in recent 3.5 memory.



4.5

Northwood didn't do Branch any favors as they lost 0-5 today and Rusty's crew will be staying home this time around. I have a feeling they will be just fine come April but now for the first time in a while they do not have a spot already sewn up.



In the other flight HP fought close but lost out to OC/Feldman and OC will join the playoffs with Nwood, BH and Royal Oaks.



I think that will be a tough round robin, it would have been great if OC/Branch had been there instead of BH but Harilee's team will be the underdog that the other three might be careful about counting as an easy win.

4.0 Playoff Flights

So although I haven't received a confirmed schedule from the DTA our flights are posted for the 4.0 playoffs on tennislink.

Red Flight
1. HP/Bazan
2. Lakes
3. Lifetime
4. Oak Creek

Blue Flight
1. BH/Pearlman (BHP)
2. HP/Somabut
3. Greenhill
4. BH/Helterbrann(BHH)

I like how this flights look for all involved, it was looking like if Bob's team would have won bigger last weekend the RED flight would have been overstacked but now they seem more even. I actually think the Blue flight overall is stronger. It will be tough for one of them to go 3-0. In our flight it will be tough as well but more possible.

I am looking forward to that weekend but more excited about a Sunday off this weekend. I will put up some odds as we get closer otherwise the next two weeks will seem longer than usual.

Mark Gordon Cline DQed at 3.5

So 3.5 tennis just got even more interesting in 3.5 as Mark Gordon Cline was DQed today. I will preface this with saying I love USTA Leagues but this is total bullsh*t. Pull up his record, I don't see the strikes. What happened to you can beat up a player bad if he is at the low end of the scale Olivares played him close and Jairo is average at best. The final strike is against Kaiser and Ferrell, 6-2, 7-5??????????????????

Someone please explain this one to me. I hate to bring up past issues but look at the link below and tell me something isn't wrong with the system:

http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/reports/TennisLinkReports.asp?Level=I&MemberID=DB00EB8DAEE0209EB5847B2A09686F3E2D7C&CYear=2008

Yep Mr. Oberto had dominating wins at 3.5 and solid wins at 4.0 and was allowed to continue playing through the playoffs.

I like that the league is trying to police and not necessarily announce it to us but so often players like Mark fall victim to these changes.

Thoughts????????

Masters Tourney this weekend

So tourneys aren't my expertise but it does look like there should be some good matchups this weekend.

First in 3.5 singles:
Prather looks to have the easier road the final as Molina, Kinson and Ballesteros are in one flight together. Maybe an all Oakridge final between Molina and Prather?

Doubles:
Prather/Blackburn is a tough combo but Max Thompson is a solid player as well although I don't know his partner that well. If I had to pick I guess I would go with LeClair/Kinson to make it to the final and get by Prather/Blackburn.

4.0 singles
Forrest, Tuyen and Ontiveros will battle it out in one flight which I think Fernando should get out of and into the final. Dutchover looms in the other flight and I don't see him losing although Murray is solid. Dutchover v. Ontiveros final looks imminent with Ontiveros coming out on top.

Doubles
So the former teammates are in the same flight (Newman/Voss and Brouer/Robinson) Dutchover/Nguyen are also here along with Bell/Tierney. This is very tough but I will go with Steven and Keith to get out of this one but barely. I don't know the other players in the the opposing flight as well but Iting/Le faired well at the last tourney so they look to be tough as well as Wood/Zepeda but I see Keith and Steven winning it all.

4.5 Singles
Alfonso Rodriguez is playing and unleash he spots a set and a few games I don't see him losing this tourney. Maybe Zheng could push him in the final but that may be a reach.

Doubles
Uhhh. I am going to plead ignorance here. I see Alfonso in this draw as well so he will be a factor but that is a lot of matches for him. Kern/Leijia should be solid as well as Patton/Goldberg. Maybe Leach/partner could make noise.

Any other thoughts????

Good luck to all of you especially if you are from D/FW.

4.5 Final weekend

Flight A
Not sure if it is the MOW but the Nwood v. BH match will be very interesting. Will Corey send out the scrubs? Does he have enough scrubs to lose this match? Team Branch will be laying in wait and ready to grab that 2nd spot as they take on Hackberry this week and most likely will sweep and then just wait and see.

Corey, time? place?

Flight B
This just comes down to one match, our MOW in which HP takes on OC Feldman for the 2nd playoff spot. I thought this was a gimme for OC but I have this feeling HP could score the upset here but I don't feel strong enough to go with that hunch and I will take OC Feldman 4-1.

3.5 Final Weekend

Flight A has our MOW as CC/Jolly takes on High Point which should be a good match. I like High Point to win this one but not sure they can sweep it and I think they must because Lifetime has an easier opponent and could win 5-0.

I think someone mentioned BH is not safe and they were right if they are beaten 4-1 or better by LBH they could lose their spot but I don't see that happening.

Flight B
The only thing to watch is if HP/Entrenkin can score an upset on GH and help Oak Creek to get in the playoffs. I am not sure it can happen but it should be a close match. Sorry Oak Creek I just don't see it happening.

Flight C
Canyon Creek should sew up the 2nd spot in this flight as they take on LBH. Oakridge was the early season fav for the whole league and now much like the Dallas Cowboys their season looks like it might just be over. Same goes for Gleneagles who takes on Samuel Grand this Saturday. I will be curious to see how this SG team stacks up come playoff time. I am not sure I see them as a fav quite yet but who knows.

Weekend results

3.5
Flight A looks to be very tight and it will come to the final day. Brookhaven is a lock but the other spot is still up for grabs between CC, HP and LTF. CC controls their own destiny. If they beat HP they are in no matter what. If they lose they are out. If HP wins and LTF wins it comes down to who does it most impressively as they are in a virtual tie.

Flight B......................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Yep unless Greenhill falls asleep at the wheel they are in even with a close loss in their final match.

Flight C
CC and Sam Grand look to be locks but it is not quite for sure yet.

4.5
Well Royal Oaks didn't bring out Ivan Drago and still won, but bringing out Joey Molina isn't a bad 2nd option. Feldman now has a showdown with HP/Pham for the 2nd playoff spot. Winner goes and loser stays home.

Flight A will come down to how Corey decides to play his lineup v. BH in the final match and if BH can beat a lesser lineup that Corey has advertised. I have a feeling it will be close.

I would have to consult AR Hacker to find out when Rusty last missed any type of playoff round, 2001???? It looks like it might happen though.

4.0
I am headed off for our match, Jim has already spotted us line 2 singles so we will see how the rest goes. Garland told me they have rescheduled their LBH/Hicks match for 11/8 so they will have to check and see upon returing from AZ if OC/Smith or HP/Somabut faltered and gave them a shot at the final spot.

3.5 Nationals underway

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

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

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

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

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

4.5 Week 8

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

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

Durdy Garland goes to Nats

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

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

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

3.5 Week 8

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

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

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

4.0 final regular season matches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend League Results

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

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

Flight B, ho hum. GH and Westlake.

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

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

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

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

4.0

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

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

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

Any other new results???

4.0 Week 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

4.5 Week 7

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

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

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

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

3.5 Week 7

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

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

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

Weekend League Results

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Fall v. Spring

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

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

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

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

Thoughts?

4.5 Nats

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

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

I wish them the best.

4.0 Week 7

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

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

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

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

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

4.5 Week 6

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

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

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

3.5 Week 6

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

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

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

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

Weekend League Results

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

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

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

USTA Tourney Sectionals

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

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

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

4.0 Week 6

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


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

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


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



T Bar v. Stonebridge and Brookhaven v. Greenhill.



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

4.5 Week 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3.5 Week 5

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

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

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

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

Weekend results

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

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

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

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

Events in late October

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

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

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


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


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

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


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

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

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

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

4.0 Week 5

4.0 even after 4 weeks has a lot of question marks but I think in a few weeks things will flesh out and start to get more interesting. It is just tough right now to know how good teams are since there does seem to be a downgrade in competition (damn 3.5 studs having brought their A game, yet?) I do think the playoff teams will be solid come November.

Flight A
I would love to guarantee a 5-0 victory to make our 15th fan happy but we are just worried about wins until they hand out awards for stats. We were a little lucky on the Village lineup, they told me they didn't have their best players available so the match wasn't quite as close as it would have been. Springpark plays that same Village team this week so come on Kyle Rhodes come out and play now that we are gone. I have to say Fretz maybe the best 0-4 team ever they keep losing close ones every week.

Flight B
This flight is about to get more interested thanks to HP/Somabut who takes on unbeaten LBH/Hicks this weekend. I expect them to bring their best but LBH is tough and I expect this MOW to be close. OC has off this week so they remain undefeated for another week.

Flight C
I see a couple of good matchups this week as BH puts their undefeated record up against a solid Garland team whose playoff life is pretty much on the line this. Sorry dirty Garland it is put up or shut up time with a loss you will not be playing in late November. With that said I thnk Garland has the weapons to win this match and I am going with the upset, why not... Also LTF takes on Hackberry who is quietly 2-1 but if they pull off an upset it will be a loud one. They have some solid players so depending on wh0 comes out this could get good. I like Team Eddie 3-2.

Flight D
This flight is good as much as you all hate to admit it. There are five solid teams in this flight so I think it will be hard to go undefeated in this flight but TBar and BH/Bartlett are sure trying their best. This flight should have a MOW every week in fact I see two Greenhill v. TBar and Lakes v. BH/Bartlett. I actually think I like the upset in both and we will not have a undefeated team left in this flight come Sunday night. Come on GH and Lakes don't let me down.

4.5 Week 4

A few results came in over the weekend but nothing mindboggling although preseason contender HP/Loose doesn't look that great and is probably out of the running in a tough flight.

4.5 MOW has to be OC/Branch v. Northwood/Noel. Time/place? Should be a good match. I have a feeling Corey's crew can't match up in singles but they have solid doubles players to hang with Branch's crew. I like Team Rusty to jump up in the standings after this one. OC/Bovermann v. Greenhill should also have some playoff implications with the loser all but done in a flight where one of these would have to overtake Branch and Noel's teams along with Brookhaven. Speaking of BH, they have CC this week and need to step it up and get another win or be left out this fall.

in Flight B
I would call it a match of the week but the Lakes is still unproven in my book but they have a chance to show they are for real v. Royal Oaks this weekend. Springpark v. OC/Feldman could be a good match as well. High Point plays a bottom dweller in LBH but they haven't been overpowering anyone so each week is a test for them.

3.5 Week 4

So after a bye week for all 3.5 is back in action. Thanks for joining in the discussion Mr. McHugh don't let the old farts over at Oakridge deter you they are kind of fun to mess with kind of like poking a old dog with a stick. :)

Flight A
Canyon Creek has a chance to get back on track this week v. the Village after their loss to BH. The match of the week in this flight is Brookhaven v. Oak Creek. Brookhaven has been rolling along and I think they will continue to do the same this week. I like Brookhaven to have a big year. No pressure John. I am looking forward to the HP v. BH match in this flight.

Flight B
Not much going on this flight, just waiting on the GH v. WL final result but I do see one match this weekend of interest as Westlake takes on High Point/Etrenkin. I think Stan's team is solid although they had one stumble. They have the team to score an upset here, we will see if that happens. It will be tough to beat Harvey, but I know one guy on the team who could do it.

Flight C
Oakridge notched a victory over Gleneagles which originally looked to be the match of the season in this flight but Gleneagles is on the verge of being eliminated early this season. So much for my pick for them. They are playing JCC this week so we will see if they can get their first win. Oakridge is playing undefeated Samuell Grand who an anon poster said aren't even in Oakridge's league, hmmmm we will see. I think this will be a close one.

Weekend results

So I think most of the 3.5 and 4.5 reschedules that happened got posted up. HP/Loose seems to be out of it and Noel's team is rolling along but that train my stop as they play OC/Branch this week. Both 4.5 flights seem to be up for grabs and I don't think it will be decided anytime soon. I will take a look at the upcoming weekend matches tomorrow.

3.5 had couple of matches but Oakridge and Brookhaven posted the best results and someone just noted that Westlake and GH are in a 2-2 make up tie with one match to be played this week.

4.0 had some interesting results. In the 1st MOW we beat the Village 3-2, we couldn't have done it without all the anonymous posters and poll voters who picked us. Thanks

In the 2nd MOW BH/Pearlman laid a beatdown on Eagles Landing in shocking fashion winning 5-0. I don't know what to say but WOW! In that same flight Hackberry knocked off dirty Garland B Team (oops were you all the A team?) Team Eddie improved to 2-1 with a sweep and now three teams are tied behind BH at 2-1. Hackberry plays LTF this weekend so that should be good.

In the 3rd MOW TBar M beat the Lakes, I was a little surprised but Shannon Grant seems to be for real, he might even be on DQ watch with the smackdowns he is giving. GH match has yet to be posted but Bartletts team improved to 3-0 as well.

4.0/5.0 and Open Nats this weekend

So the first weekend of Nationals occurs today. It will be interesting to see how Lubbock does as the 4.0 rep of Texas. The Dallas ladies of Oak Creek are also playing this weekend. Hopefully they both do well.

I don't know much about 5.0 and Open, anyone?

No men's results posted so far, but it is a nice 97 degrees in Tucson today, with a threat of rain tomorrow.

4.0 Week 4

Since we are the only group playing, we deserved 4 matches of the week.

Flight A:
Village and High Point both improved to 3-0 to jump to the top. I am guessing Jim rescheduled his match since they had a few out at Sr. Sectionals but I hope they play Brookhaven soon since that should be a good match. Not any great matches this week unless the aforementioned match is rescheduled. Oh wait I guess our 4.0 match of the week v. the Village is a battle of unbeatens, "someone's O has got to go!!" 1 PM at the Village is showdown time, we look forward to it.

Flight B:
Not anything near as interesting as the Garland v. HP showdown of yesterday but both teams need to keep winning so they can try and catch OC who shouldn't have any problems with Stonebriar. LBH Hicks just keeps on silently winning each week as well. These four teams I think are all about even and it will come down to the final weeks to see what happens. I think Garland probably has the toughest match going up against Canyon Creek's best team.

Flight C:
Most of the matches are ho-hum except for the 2nd 4.0 MOW: Eagles Landing v. Brookhaven/Pearlman. I am sure Team Eddie have printed up Eagles Landing t-shirts because a win by EL would benefit them greatly. I like Eagles Landing in this match but it should be close. I think it might depend on BH's big recruit (Mark Jenkins) if he matches up against a strong EL player he could lose and turn this match.

Flight D:
Ah my favorite old flight is going strong as TBar moved to 2-0 as did the Lakes and guess they make up our 3rd 4.0 MOW. I like the Lakes to take this one, did you expect any other pick from me. The other interesting 4.0 MOW has playoff implications (I know its early but I don't see 2 losses this early as something you can come back from in this flight) Greenhill 1-1 v. Stonebridge 1-1. The winner will be in a position to jump up and try and pass the loser from the first match but the loser will be in a very tough spot. I like Greenhill in this matchup I just don't see them losing either singles match and they just need one more after that and I think they have enough talent left to make that happen.

3.5 and 4.5 have the week off

So it looks like 3.5 and 4.5 have the week off due to the Dallas Tennis Cup event (Anon #24's favorite event since it benefits the DTA and their programs) I have never played in it but everyone who has says it is a fun event.

I assume a lot of the 3.5 and 4.5 teams will choose to make up their Ike rainouts this week as well as Sr. Sectional conflict matches from last weekend. So I guess we will just keep an eye out for what comes up on tennis link over the weekend. Feel free to post any times of reschedules that you know about.

Results, results, results!

Well Corey's big win started off the weekend then followed by a two OC/Smith wins at 3.5 to get them to 2-1 after an opening weekend loss. They may have lost in the polls but beat out High Point on the strength three wins by 3rd set TB'ers. Nice job!

4.5 had the big upset as the battle of the OC went to one of the ugly stepsisters (Team Bovermann) who took out Team Branch, so this flight should get real interesting now I believe because I don't think there will be an undefeated team now that Branch has lost so each match result should get more interesting.

The Lakes took out Eldorado and improved to 3-0 on the season. I know they haven't beaten a contender yet but they are gaining confidence week by week and in this flight they have to be in the top tier of favs to win this flight. Over the next three weeks they play Royal Oaks, High Point and then OC/Feldman. We will know soon if they are pretenders or contenders.

4.0 starts in a few hours. I will get to see Team Eddie at LBH and hopefully get you all back on track because we want team Eddie in the postseason for mere motivation.

Post what you know!

Cory Noel 1st Annual Blog Champion

Cory Noel 1st Annual Blog Champion
Cory Noel Def Brandon Myers 6-1, 6-4

Match Point

Once again I would like to thank everyone who has signed up for the challenge ladder and everyone who participated in the Blog Tournament.
The goal of the tournament was to try to get some players together who would not normally play and develop some friendships and camaraderie plus get practice in.
We were successful at that.
Special thanks to anyone who played a match in the tournament, A super special double strong thanks to Corey and Brandon for seeing this through all the way until the end.

Special for all of you haters out there.

Here is what Nancy treated us to in the first Set.

Blog Tournament Final!!!!!!!

Mark The Date!!!!

Saturday September 20th 1:30pm

Fair Oaks Tennis Center 7501 Merriman Pkwy, Dallas, TX

The Blog Tournament Finals
Corey "Nancy Boy" Noel vs Brandon "Oscar" Myers

Winner to take hove the much coveted Blog Tournament trophy.

Please feel free to attend and root on your favorite player.

If you want to play send me an email and I will arrange doubles or singles exhibition matches.

See you there.

Thanks

Marc "OC BL" Klamecki
marc@courtcheck.com

4.0 Week 3

Well last weekend proved to have some good matches and show who might rise to the top. Team Eddie suffered a tough loss as did BH/Helterbran by our team. Greenhill and Eldorado also took losses in Flight D. Bartlett's team looked very strong in that match and the Lakes looked good although not as strong as the Spring, but it is early. And oh my the big upset of HP/Somabut by perennial also ran Oak Creek.

Flight A has some good matchups. HP v. LBH, Village v. Fretz and BH v. Springpark. I think our flight will almost be decided in the next two weeks.

Flight B OC Smith gets a chance to show they aren't a fluke as they take on Stonebriar and LBH/Hicks has a little test v. Springpark but our match of the week pits Garland v. HP/Somabut. Could HP drop to 1-2. I know just about all the players on each roster and I think this should be good but I like dirty Garland to grab the win and I am not sure I would call it an upset.

Flight C. Team Eddie should get back on track v. LBH. Eagles Landing v. Garland should be a good one as well but I like Bill's team to take out this version of Dirty Garland.

Flight D. Lakes v. Stonebridge and Greenhill v. Eldorado. Two big matches and the winner of the first one will be sitting pretty and the loser of the second one might as well start XMAS shopping.

4.5 Week 3

So only two matches got played but they were big results as Brookhaven got back on track but has another tough one against the Branch 2nd team. Also in Flight A there is a battle of the OC team as Branch takes on Bovermann but I don't think this one will be that close.

In Flight B TBar should be able to get a win but who knows it hasn't gone well so far for them. Springpark takes on HP/Pham which should be a little test for the HP team but they should get through OK.

3.5 Week 3

So no matches were played at this level last weekend. The only match that popped out to me was in flight B between High Point and OC especially since OC could drop to 0-2 with a loss. Should be a good match up.

Oakridge is scheduled to play GE but I believe someone mentioned that was rescheduled to the Senior Sectionals.

Any other good matchups?

Ike v. Sectionals and League Tennis

So attention weather.com and amateur weather forecasters let us know what you think about the prospects of tennis in San Antonio this weekend. Doesn't look good and supposedly the tourney directors will let players know by 10 AM today which sounds like a good idea.

Seems like the Saturday leagues have a chance of getting matches in but Sunday looks to be a question mark.

We will just have to wait and see.

4.0 Week 2

Since Eddie is about to pee his pants along with the rest of the LTF’ers I guess I will post something for them here.

In flight A the some of the top performers of week 1 play each other HP v. BH and LBH v. Fretz. I have never played Cliff’s team or met him for that matter so it will be a mystery to me until we play them on Sunday. I look forward to a good match. LBH and Fretz should be interesting. If Fretz can come up with another strong doubles team they should be a force. If they can keep putting out two strong singles players though I see them doing well. I like HP and Fretz to win these matches.

In Flight B there isn’t anything that interesting going on. HP should beat OC although it won’t be as easy as the Stonebriar match. Garland v. LTF should be fun, almost a rematch of the 3.5 finals and will Vahdat be back or is he out for a while?

In flight C we have the 4.0 match of the week between Team Eddie (LTF) and BH/Pearlman. Based on last season these two teams have a chance to get to the postseason so this match should be important because starting the season with a loss puts you in a bad spot with only two spots per flight available. I can’t pick against Eddie so I will go 3-2 LTF.

In Flight D there are a few good week one match ups. TBar takes on OC/Smith 2 who has a solid roster. TBar lost Wallace who really set them up well so I think they are vulnerable this season. One of my favorites was BH in this flight but they are playing Eldorado who I also think is due for improvement. They combined their two teams and I think that will bring some marked improvement for them but Bartlett will be tough to beat. The big matchup in this flight is the Lakes v. GHill. Two playoff teams from the Spring. I really don’t know what to think about them but I will be more than anxious to see their result.

4.5 Week 2

With only two playoff spots per flight, which seems a bit low, these matches this weekend will start to let us know who is rising to the top and some teams that drop to 0-2 might just be out of the mix already.

Brookhaven v. Greenhill should be a good match. Brookhaven has been a contender lately but if they lose to a good Greenhill team it could be all but over in this flight for them.

Boverman v. Northwood has the same type feel to me with the winner getting in that upper echelon mix in this flight to try and contend with the Branch split squads.

I like Northwood and Greenhill to make it out of these matches.

In flight B there are some similar matches:

RO v. Springpark is interesting since without Gonzales and Bui Royal Oaks has dropped down a bit and Springpark looks to be improving but we will see if they have improved enough.

Lakes v. TBar, after a playoff showing this year TBar lost their opener while the Lakes team got out to a good start. Lakes has a lot of 4.0 bump ups but they are good players and this should be a good match.

I like Royal Oaks and the Lakes.

3.5 Week 2

Flight A has one good matchup between Brookhaven and CC/Jolly. I think this should show who can hang up at the top of this flight with High Point. I know HP looked just OK but don’t doubt this team will be there in the end. I like Brookhaven in this one but very close.

The 3.5 match of the week happens in Flight B against last Fall’s runner-up and the new anointed favorite in this year’s fall season Westlake. These teams are actually a little similar except the addition of Harvey along with Eddie Johnson coming back down from 4.0 helps out Westlake immensely in a light 3.5 Fall season. I like Westlake to win this one 3-2.

In Flight C Oakridge v. LBH is the good matchup. LBH won big in week 1 but they will have to step up big against Oakridge to stay undefeated. I just don’t see it happening but LBH will put up a fight. I see a 4-1 Oakridge win.

Any other good 3.5 matches out there?

4.0 Weekend #1

Flight A Winners:
High Point 5-0
3-2 good match winners: Village, LBH and Brookhaven.

Those are our next three opponents so I look forward to playing them. Looks like some good teams. Fretz put up a good fight in the match of the week but just missed out on the upset.

Flight B Winners
5-0 winners: Garland/Sisk and HP/Somabut (with newly appealed Newman..)
LBH/Hicks and OC/Smith also posted wins with a wierd default at line 1 singles in the LTF v. OC match. Any news there?

C and D played scrimmages, sorry now Team Eddie news this week.

3.5 weekend #1

Flight A:
Not anything that interesting but HP does have a close one although they retired at line 3 while leading. Kraemer posted his thoughts on the Village, looks like they are good but lack some singles. CC v. LTF was a good match. I knew this LTF team would be tough and will still make trouble for the top teams.

Flight B:
Westlake's big addition led them to a very strong win over a good Stonebridge team. They put themselves out as favs in this flight now. Greenhill won the match of the week by losing singles and taking all the doubles. HP looked solid as well, congrats John and winning at line 1 singles!

Flight C:
I don't even know what to say about Gleneagles except, WTF!!!???? I guess this gives a team like LBH a chance to get in the mix with Oakridge.

4.5 Weekend #1

Flight A winners:
OC/Branch (4-1 according to anon poster w/ a touch a drama)
Northwood
OC Bovermann
Greenhill
HP/Loose

No real shockers but the GH win was solid over a good Hackberry team. HP win was close but I like the JD pickup for them.

Flight B Winners:
Lakes
High Point/Pham
Royal Oaks
OC/Feldman
Springpark

OC win was very nice over a good TBar team. I know RO got back Molina but squeaking by OC/Juhn doesn't look all that impressive. Other results were expected.

4.0 Week 1 preview

Flight A:
We hit dirty Garland team 3 and I am looking forward to playing a Garland team anytime. Springpark has a bye and not too much although I think the Village v. JCC could be close depending on who comes out for that match. JCC had good early season run in the Spring and I expect them to put up a fight against an improved Village team. The real match up is Brookhaven v. Fretz. Fretz hasn't put a team together in about a year but I met Cloninger at the Denise T. Tourney and he said they were focused on putting a good team together. I like their roster but they are a little thin at the bottom but I think they will start the season out strong and like them in a close upset v. Brookhaven.

Flight B:
Other than LBH v. Village I think the other 3 matches should all be close and start to show who will show up in this flight. DCC runner up HP/Somabut will get a test from Stonebriar, they have some quality players and added college recruit Moomjian who is good. Springpark v. Garland I think will set up who will be fighting for one of the top three spots with HP and LBH. The OC v. LTF/Barron match should also be good and show me if LTF 2nd team can make some noise.

3.5 Week 1 Preview

Flight A:
Brookhaven gets to play the mystery self rated Village team so there should be no more mystery after Saturday. I like the CC v. LTF match to be competitive but Jolly's team is still solid since they didn't really lose anyone off their DCC team of the Spring.

Flight B:
Two good matchups here. Greenhill/Kayser v. OC and Stonebridge v. Westlake. Both of these matches will set up the frontrunners for this flight. I like Greenhill and Stonebridge to get by on depth of talent.

Flight C:
zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Wake me up when this flight ends or gets to 9/20 GE v. Oakridge.

4.5 Week one preview

A great match up in the first weekend in Flight A as OC/Branch takes on Brookhaven who just missed out on the DCC in the Spring. Branch is the favorite but I don't think it will be easy.

In Flight B the TBar v. OC/Feldman is another matchup of DCC team of the Spring v. team who just missed out. I think it hard to pick a favorite here but probably have to go with OC in close one.

Any other good matchups? I think the rest might decide who goes to the bottom quickly but nothing all that exciting.

Happy 1st Birthday Blog!!!

I wanted to wish the blog a Happy Birthday! One year ago today I got really bored at work and was reading about Houston tennis as I was closet drinking to forget about Houston derailing our Las Vegas plans in 2007 and thought I could take my mind off that my creating this blog.

I truly thought it would be me and Marc trashing each other forever but it has really caught hold here in our tennis circle. I hope it can continue to grow with the help of great contributors like Marc, Racer X and New AR Hacker and of course Corey Nancy Noel for his tirelessly posting efforts in every single thread I post.

I hope I can keep you entertained but of course I know I will never make all of you happy, (whiny bi**hes, I am talking to you).

I think the Fall season will bring some great competition and lead into a very hotly contested Spring season in 2009.

And I have to thank Dirty Garland as well for providing all types of drama for us to get riled up about. Don't ever change Sisk and Snotjock, we hate you just the way you are.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!! I am off to play tennis and then hit the pool with a frosty cerveza.

I will put up some week one stuff late Monday or on Tuesday.

4.0 Fall Preview

I may have to rewrite this if some rosters change this week but I will go off what I see so far. I hope the Lifetimers are happy with my thoughts and now you can post about how your close losses show how fabulous you are. Post to your hearts content LTF.



Flight A

Well Springpark still has their doubles teams intact minus Rasor who did come up very big at sectionals. The loss of Davis and Mcgowan is more than huge, although Mitch didn't live up to ringer status at Sectionals he was still a force in the regular season and DCC. I think they are used to winning and will be the team to beat and I will be curious to see who lands on that roster, your move Walters.... After that we have the Garland "C" team who was added once their 3.5 team was forced to move up/split up and the Canyon Creek "B" team, I have to think both these teams will have a rough go here. The LBH team has a few good players but don't see enough depth to make noise, JCC and Fretz have solid players but yet again depth will be an issue for both of them unless they have some roster bolstering soon. That leaves Brookhaven and the Village. BH made the playoffs although they underwhelmed upon arrival and not sure they will make it out of this group. The Village made a huge grab in Kyle Rhodes but I am not sure he can carry a team that has hovered at 0.500 lately, although Kyle can turn a 2-3 loss around. I believe there is another team in there but I don't know much about their roster so I won't guess.



Pick to win: ????

Runner up: Springpark

Surprise team: Village





Flight B:

Much like Springpark, High Point/Somabut is used to winning but lost lots of players and really the only "A" team members left are Voss, Nguyen and Smith and the legendary forehand of Carlquist. There are some other good players on their roster but I would not be surprised to see some additions to make them stronger very soon. LBH/Hicks played well in the Spring but much like Brookhaven underwhelmed big time in the QT so it all depends on which version of these players show up to play, I am surprised Kyle Rhodes didn't opt to play with this group, I think he would have made them a favorite in this flight. I think this 2nd Village team will struggle but other than that I think the rest of these teams could make noise and cause problems for HP and LBH. The 2nd Lifetime has some solid players, Stonebriar has talent, althought Moomjian might be gone by season start. I heard Sisk's team is being called the "B" team but looking at that roster, hmmm, don't think so.



Pick to win: LBH/Hicks

Runner up: High Point

Surprise team: Garland



Flight C

Oh boy do I really have to talk about them. Ok I guess along with Brookhaven, Lifetime/Eddie is the favorite here. I like Burt's group but I am still shocked they couldn't get 1 line v. Springpark to get to the QT in the Spring but alas that is the past. I am sure they are hungry again. After that Garland will be OK although I am struggling to see line 1 singles in that roster or depth at doubles past Odulio/Gervelis. Singh will need to step up and looks like he will have plenty of playing time if he wants it. Eagles Landing looks solid but they will need to get out those top guys each week to be in the mix.



Pick to win: Lifetime

Runner up: Brookhaven

Surprise team: Hackberry



Flight D

Good ole Flight D. I know I should jump back to the Lakes and Greenhill who seem like they should keep up their winning ways but I don't have good feelings about their rosters. Stonebridge and TBar also seem like question marks to me due to some losses and lack of strong singles play. Eldorado and OC also have good teams but lack that certain something to get to the top so guess who that leaves. Brookhaven Bartlett crashed hard in the Spring but I know Brad likes to win and I can't see this team having two bad seasons in a row.

Pick to win: BH/Bartlett
Runner up: Lakes
Surprise team: Not sure I see one so I will nominate High Point, these guys are looking good at practice lately. So what the heck.

Mixed DCC

So in 9.0 the favorite team from Greenhill beat the Village to take the sectional spot. Two close matches and one blowout by Pham/Gonzalez at line 2.

In 8.0 High Point/Lazarine in convincing fashion swept all three of their matches. They didn't even a drop a set. I would think this team will be a favorite at sectionals.

In 7.0 a pretty big upset occured as High Point was beaten by Greenhill. It came down to a 3rd set tiebreaker and Greenhill won, the other two matches were somewhat lopsided. A very curious result, after looking at again I still don't get what happened. But congrats to Greenhill on your victory.

Mixed Doubles sectionals is in Corpus Christi, October 3-5.

4.5 Fall Preview

Well 4.5 to me looks more wide open than in the past. Mainly because some teams have decided to branch out and create more teams. There are many teams with as few as 10 rostered players, that could change but it seems like teams are shooting for more playing time which I think is always a good idea. There are some exceptions like the 18 man team at High Point and the 17 man roster out of Hackberry.

I really think this will tighten up most of these races and who knows maybe Branch will take a break from winning the fall or someone might just beat them.

Flight A:
Team Loose and Branch decided to split up and I would not be surprised if they both finish at the top and it will be curious to see their results when they play one another to see if they will have a chance to help one another move on to the playoffs. The two other contenders would be Northwood and Brookhaven to stop the OC party at the top.

Pick to win: OC/Branch
Runner up: Northwood
No surprises but it should be a photo finish between Brookhaven and HP/Loose for 3rd place. Not sure if three will advance but that might be the format.

Flight B:
I guess since TBar retained a lot of players they have to be a favorite but not sure any new names look impressive, heck this whole flight isn't that impressive. No offense but Flight A looks a little stronger. Still someone will come out of this flight and will be used to winning some matches and could be a factor in late November. I guess I have to look to High Point to make some noise not because they got a bunch of bump ups but because they have a lot of guys from their Spring team that did well. I would love to see Royal Oaks keep going strong but without the big three it seems unlikely.

Pick to win: High Point/Pham
Runner up: TBar
Surprise team: Springpark if they get Gene on the team, if not hmm I guess OC Feldman will finish in a close 3rd.

I could be way off but on these but I am going stick with these picks, I will be interested to see if any new names pop up over the next couple of weeks on some of the regular contenders.

3.5 Fall Preview

So I know you 3.5ers are tired of picking on Ed and David and remembering the good old days when we could all just hate Durdy Garland but alas those days are over. Onto the future.

Flight A:
This is stacking up to be a good flight and I hope some of the better teams play each other early so we can see how this one will shake out. There are definitely some solid players in this flight and some mystery teams like Fretz and the Village who could muck it up and hopefully they do. I will be curious to see how Brookhaven will do without Evan who won some good matches for them in the Spring. I see them in contention like last time but not quite making it.

Pick to win: High Point
Runner up: Canyon Creek
Surprise team: Lifetime/Kaiser

Flight B:
I know many disagree when I announce a flight to be tough but this has got to be the best flight from top to bottom. Greenhill, High Point, Oak Creek, Stonebridge and Westlake. None of these teams were big time depleted from the Spring but OC probably lost the most. Picking this group is tough and I am not saying the Shores will finish at the top but they will not be an easy out at all.

Pick to win: Stonebridge
Runner up: High Point
Surprise team: Shores

Flight C:
This flight is a little light on talent compared to the other flights but there are still some good players mixed throughout the teams. I just don't see anyone beating Oakridge and Gleneagles other than each other but LB Houston could get in there just on pure experience. Canyon Creek has McHugh which should be good for one win but not sure where they can find two more wins against the top three teams.

Pick to win: Oakridge
Runner up: Gleneagles
Surprise team: ummm. I don't see one here so but as I said I think LBH will hang tough with these two teams.