Flight A
Garland took out Fretz to stay undefeated but the supposed good match between High Point and Westlake turned out to be a route at High Point swept a solid Westlake team. Canyon Creek/Carman also remained undefeated but will step up in the competition level this week against Westlake so there may just be two undefeated teams by this time next week.
Flight B
So a few good matches this weekend as Canyon Creek/Jolly took out Gleneagles in a close match to remain undefeated along with Stonebridge and Greenhill/Kayser who took out a solid LB Houston team. These three don’t play each for a little while so they will have to try and stay perfect in the meantime.
Flight C
The smack talk seemed to culminate in a rather good match between Oak Creek and Oakridge with Marc Klamecki taking out Molina at line 1 singles in what looked like a good match. Lifetime Fitness and Brookhaven also stayed undefeated in this very tough flight where there should be good matches just about every week.
I fell asleep looking for a 3.5 match this weekend that was worth generating a poll for, am I missing one??
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't expect any of the favorites to lose this week. LT/OC/Garland/OR should all do alright as well as the other players.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said LB may take one of the doubles against Greenhill over the weekend- obviously they did not know what they were talking about.
ReplyDeleteAfter 2 weeks how would you rate the 3.5 teams? Just a guess . . .
ReplyDelete1. Life Time
2. Garland
3. Oak Creek
4. Oakridge
5. High Point
6. Stonebridge
7. Greenhill
???????????
yep I did think LB would win one match and that was a good win over Mr. Burns in what looked to be the deciding match. You should thrilled I picked against you all since last time I did you all went to the fall finals.
ReplyDeleteThose would probably be the top group and throw in Canyon Creek although they get no love. I am not saying they can beat any of those teams but they have good depth at doubles and Jolly himself is a threat at singles.
Right now Oak Creek and High Point are a little above the rest of that group until one of those others teams gets a big win like they did this weekend.
After 2 weeks, I would place them the same. OC and Garland may be interchangeable. HP did beat Westlake handily but I think the others would have done the same.
ReplyDeleteLooking ahead . . .
ReplyDeleteFLIGHT A
Unless Westlake can step up, Garland and HP will not have any tough matches until they play each other 6/28. (No polls needed here!)
FLIGHT B
Probably the hardest flight to predict since Stonebridge, Canyon Creek, Greenhill, Glen Eagles & LBH are all pretty good and closely matched. Some interesting matches every week!
FLIGHT C
A tough battle with Oak Creek, Life Time & Oakridge all outstanding teams. Brookhaven is good too but not as strong as the big three. Big matches will be 5/3 Oakridge vs LT and June 7 Oak Creek vs LT. (We'll need polls and plenty of trashing talking for those matches.)
Looks like Oakridge has three guys seated in the top eight of the Brookhaven tourney.
ReplyDeleteE. Molina (1)
M. Anderson (5)
S. Bert (7)
How did these guys lose last weekend???
OC had "unseeded" Klamecki and he beat "Number 1 seeded" Molina. Take seeding with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteGood point!
ReplyDeleteNever seen any of those guys play before.
The rankings are not who is the best,
ReplyDeleteit's who can play the Most,
I need to get a new job and a new wife that will allow me to pursue my dream of being the #1 ranked 3.5 player in Texas.
And i guess a new car that would not breakdown between here and San Antonio.
It is not who can play the most but who can win the most as well. They only count the top 5 results in singles so you need also win.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going to be interesting is that Marc K. will need to beat both Mark Anderson and Enrique Molina to get to the Semis. Interesting match ups.
Marc and I had a good match on Saturday. I hope I am able to beat my guy to be able to play Marc again. Mark Anderson is no push over. He is play really good (got to the quarters in Houston). I work hard to have a seed in order to get those important byes. So have all the other seeds. Being fresh is critical in a tounament because it is not only about tennis but endurance and being in good tennis shape.
ReplyDeleteMolina
Garland/Sisk will be 19-1 after May 3rd Cary. Do you want to put some money on that?
ReplyDeletepredicting big wins over JCC and Hackberry, you've got might big cajones there big guy. did you pick fights with girls in school too?
ReplyDeleteHow is your week looking because I might need to practice my bagel dropping before we play Stonebridge this weekend.
Which 3.5 team do you think has the best singles considering BOTH lines #1 and #2?
ReplyDeleteOAK CREEK
Klamecki & Flores ??
GARLAND
Delira & Gonzales or Hardwick ??
OAKRIDGE
Molina & Prather
HIGH POINT
Jaurequi & Zaho? or Moghe?
LIFE TIME
Marcus & Mahr or Turoto ??
With respect for all these great players _ which team might have an edge?
Best Singles
ReplyDeleteGarland
Lifetime
OC
OR
HP
I think the top three are interchangeable and the fourth is pretty close. HP easily has the weakest singles. Jauregui/Zhao/Moghe are a long way from anything the other four have. HP will have to sweep doubles if they want to go very far because if they play one of the others it would be an upset if they won even one singles.
I think they are all pretty even, I think I would take Lifetime but just barely. The only problem for Oakridge is when Prather plays singles they also lose their best doubles player. David will have to figure out where he helps out best, wish I had some good advice but it is a tough choice.
ReplyDeleteDelira is good but has anyone seen the new Garland guys, their scores weren't that impressive but maybe they "kept it close."
Don't rule out CJ, Zhao and Moghe they are will be a tough group, at worst they would split with these others listed.
I guess I would have to go with OC because those two seem like singles are their speciality and they are fit enough to play an entire weekend come playoff time and not hurt their team at all down at doubles, especially Marc because he can't volley at all, no offense Marc.
I have a few guys that didn't make my 4.0 team that might be looking for a 3.5 home, hmmmm. Who should I refer them to....
I will agree with my good friend E.Molina, if you win enough you do get a good seed. This can only help when you have to play 5 or 6matches in three days.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time on this blog.... pretty good stuff!
S Bert
I would put Sam Bert as one of the better singles players. He had a great record last year. He has a tough game to match up against and has the consistency to be out there all day.
ReplyDeleteSam will make it to the Semi for sure at Brookhaven.
Molina
All the guns have not been on the same line, nor will they be until
ReplyDeleteplayoffs. Here's a preview for anybody to face us 1s Don Harvey
2s Oscar Gonzales
1d me/Dan
2d Howk/Delira
3d Key/Welch
Come get us.I may play singles so I can serve 50% of the time. There's my blueprint boys.Handle it. John Sisk
Why do I have a hard time trusting that lineup?
ReplyDeleteThat embarassing George Hardwick loss against Lifetime's team is wack.
Between you and Jeromiiiiiii,
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound like I'm nothing but a forehand and a smile.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMarc any predictions on how you will do at Brookhaven this weekend?
ReplyDeleteAre you taking home the trophy?
Haha. I never said that you had a smile. I'll give you a somewhat decent serve though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to get to cocky here,
ReplyDeleteBut the opponent I fear the most is
8:00am,
I hate playing early in the morning,
That is what I blame my only loss of last season on,
Looks like I have Anderson, Molina, Flores, and If he can make it to the final Bert, so that is a pretty tough draw,
If I win it I will have earned it,
Jeromi,
How come you are not on a team? Or playing any tournaments
Jeromi is headed to Kansas or NE, I forget which on in a few weeks. Give me the exact date and I will post a bon voyage notice.
ReplyDeleteHe is playing TCD though, is that real tennis though? Actually I looked at some of those rosters and TCD has some serious competitors, I might be up for doing that next time around.
Good luck this weekend Marc, I like your chances, I am with you not a big fan of 8a but for me that early of a start does tend to calm my nerves since they are still asleep. Coffee advice, one add shot with your SBUX should do the trick, I had 2 expresso shots down at the Tri Level and I could barely hold my racquet still during warmup.
not a bad lineup John. the thing is getting 8 guys available on the same day, etc. So is that your HP lineup. If so I like HP to win 3-2. They will split singles and take line 1 and 3 doubles.
ReplyDeleteOak Creek would be close and I like Oak Ridge's chances as well but to be honest they would all be toss ups.
Lifetime matches up well though but they are just very deep so taking line 3 doubles shouldn't be a problem for them come playoff time.
To Big John Sisk, If your big fat ass plays singles that would be a sure loss for your team.Only time will tell how good your team is.But your certainly not as good as you think you are!!. As far as the brookhaven tournament goes. Brian Morrisons game is much improved and is a threat this week, Would like to see a rematch Klamecki & Molina. Someone needs to shut his big EGO & Mouth.
ReplyDeleteI play Mark Anderson on Friday at 5pm at Brookhaven, and really need to move the match up by about 30- 45 minutes. Does anyone blogging on this site have Mark's number or a way to contact him?
ReplyDeletePlease have him contact me @ 972.712.1530 or email me:
Brian@DMillerMortgagedfw.com, or email me his email address or something.
Thank you in advance.
Brian
And move the match up, I mean like 415 - 430 pm.
ReplyDeleteBrian,
ReplyDeleteThat is a tough delema
Good Luck,
Every time I have play with a time limit on myself I have lost,
Over Aggressive, get behind, Over-Over Aggressive, Quick Loss.
Maybe a new sport,
If anybody wants to play speed tennis let me know,
Whoever can Win the most points in an hour.
I i'll have to make up the rest of the rules later.
I like that with my limited time schedule lately, I could play at lunch time.
ReplyDeleteI could Big John Singles player and win about 100 points in an hour.
:)
brian,
ReplyDeleteI sent you David's email hope that helps, I don't know Mark personsally.
The reason that I didn't sign up for any leagues this season is because I leave May 21st for boot camp, but I did plan on playing 4.0 and 4.5. The majority of my work schedule is on the weekends so that takes tournaments out of the question for the most part. I am thinking about entering the Village Classic on the 16 - 18.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone be interested in possibly playing doubles at the Village Classic?
ReplyDeleteI hate to break it to you guys but Bazan had one of the top 3.5 teams in recent history in Dallas and his stacked team still didn't make it to nationals (although they got close). I don't see any team in this years group that would come close to the talent level of last years Dallas 3.5 rep.
ReplyDeleteBazan's team last year would thump any team this year. Unless Lifetime has some serious ringers, I don't see a Dallas team getting to Nats. OC/Lifetime/Garland are probably the class of the league. I am pretty familiar with Garland/OC rosters but Lifetime ahs a lot of unknowns so they may have the team.
ReplyDeleteYes, last year’s Dallas High Point team had some really good players.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know about your comment about the currently level of 3.5 teams in the Dallas area.
Why do you feel this way?
Over the last few years I have played on several Dallas 3.5 teams, managed a couple Dallas 3.5 teams and played on the Houston 3.5 team that went to nationals last year. I have also traveled all over the state for last 1 ½ years playing in tournaments, watching tournaments and team tennis league matches. I believe there are currently some very good teams in the Dallas area. For these teams to be successful; the teams need to focus their efforts, have the right mix of players at the right time, have the desire to win and have each individual on the team try to constantly improve them selves (before, during and after a match). If this happens, I believe there are a couple teams in the Dallas area that could really give it a good run.
Mr. Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteCome forward you sound mighty
cursing, but do not post your name.
NO GONADS!There are many players better than me, but I'm just confident in this team. We'll see about singles! I have done pretty good against flat bellies in ultimate tennis. We'll see what happens in the post season.
John
Mr. Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteCome forward you sound mighty
cursing, but do not post your name.
NO GONADS!There are many players better than me, but I'm just confident in this team. We'll see about singles! I have done pretty good against flat bellies in ultimate tennis. We'll see what happens in the post season.
John
Mr. Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteCome forward you sound mighty
cursing, but do not post your name.
NO GONADS!There are many players better than me, but I'm just confident in this team. We'll see about singles! I have done pretty good against flat bellies in ultimate tennis. We'll see what happens in the post season.
John
Carey,
ReplyDeleteI will bet $100.00 against your prediction vs. Highpoint and the same offer applies to your 100 point singles match. Thanks.
John
Am I missing something? The Garland team beat Bazan's team last summer, and they have almost an identical roster, plus a few stronger players. How can their team this season be weaker than Bazan's team was then?
ReplyDeleteNot to take anything away from Garland's win over us at the DCC but I was resting players for what I thought was our big match v. HP/Myers. My A lineup was Kyle and TQ at singles, Dennis/Ed, Trae/myself and Brian and Greg. Tom Lafferty was actually supposed to play in that match as well and could not make it so I took his place and we shuffled our lineup and I played with Leonard. To be honest if we had our regular A lineup I think we would have won but it would have been rather close. As it was with our jumbled lineup we won 1 match in straight sets and lost 4 in 3rd set tiebreakers. We put our our A lineup in the afternoon and beat HP/Myers 4-1 and only dropped one set which from yours truly.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason this Garland team isn't as impressive this season is because of the loss of Singh and Corcoran. In order to be a true top team I think you need a guy like Kyle or Vijay and then you can be creative when you do a lineup.
Thanks for the props on my team last year but I agree with John Kraemer as much as I loved that team it comes down to the things John talked about because myself and other captains can amass great talent but if that group doesn't come together as a team then it really doesn't matter.
Case in point our match against Houston at sectionals, talent wise we stacked up just fine but they outplayed us, not off the court on a lineup card but between the lines. I will say that match taught me a lot and I my game has picked up considerably because I have learned how to relax on the court and still use my excess energy whereas that day I was so hyped up I found it hard to contain myself.
Well enough about last year, I don't have any 3.5's left so as I mentioned I hope all of you push each other and there is great team that comes out of Dallas to do well.
Houston is weaker this year and probably won't be a major factor at Sectionals, at least in the 3.5s. However, my friends in NOHO have quitely put together a nice team and I believe they will be a factor at sectionals.
ReplyDeleteCary, you guys had a great team last year and we were fortunate to win that match. In my opinion, your team was the best team we played at Sectionals and better than all but 2 teams (Intermountain and SoCal) we watched at Nationals. If there is a Dallas team close to that talent level this year then Dallas will do just fine.
I know I am being a "Monday morning quaterback" but Cary had a "go to nationals" 3.5 team in 2007. I think they were better than the Houston team but did not handle their line-up properly.
ReplyDeleteWith this line-up Cary's team would have beaten Houston 4-1 and made Nationals: 1s Kyle, 2s TQ, 1 db Dennis & Ed, 2db Cary & Trae, 3db Brian & Greg.
Cary is a great guy and a wonderful captain and I would play for him any day. But he screwed up his line-up last year at Sectionals against Houston and it cost his team a trip to Nationals.
On Saturday, Cary's team played NOHO in the morning. (On Friday Houston had already beaten NOHO 5-0.) Two big mistakes were made in the match vs Houston: (1) Cary played Tuan against NOHO in the morning but did not have him in the line-up against Houston. (2) Ed Henson should have played doubles against Houston not singles. Ed played in the first match and he was too tired to play singles at 1:00 pm in 100 degree temperatures.
Going into Saturday's match Houston was 2-0 _ winning both matches 5-0. NOHO was a team they had already beaten 5-0. Cary, you just HAVE TO have your best players on the court against the best opponents. You have to know which opponents are the strongest and you have to adjust your line-up so that your best play in the key match.
No disrespect intended _ just a pretty obvious commentary.
I don't care how you shake it out, Houston was not going to lose any of these 3 lines against Dallas. It simply does not matter who or where Cary put anyone on his roster:
ReplyDeleteAutomatic Wins for Houston:
Singles - Dutchover
Doubles - Freeman / Hart
Doubles - Tongol / Berilgen
Don't get me wrong, there would have been some competitive match-ups but these three lines were not going to lose that weekend.
I agree that Sisk's team might be weaker in singles, although I won't know for sure until I play Don Harvey. But I think their doubles lineup is actually better. It will be interesting to see what happens. Plus, the recruiting process isn't over yet. I'm not trying to say I know something but....
ReplyDeleteI do NOT agree at all. Houston was very beatable IF Cary had his best team on the court.
ReplyDeleteBut the point is . . . we'll never know because the best players were not in the line-up at the right spots for Dallas. A captain MUST put his strongest line-up against his toughest opponents. And it was no secret that Houston was going to be their tougtest match. Look at Cary's earlier post where he gives you his best line-up. Why did he not line up that way against Houston?
But if you want to talk specifics, I think Kyle Bowman is a 4.5 level player and would have certainly beat Dutchover at #1 singles. Dutchover barely beat Henson 7-5, 7-5 and Ed did not play his best tennis. (Also Dutchover got beat badly 6-2, 6-4 at #2 sgl at Nationals so he was no superstar.) At #2 singles TQ easily beats John Kraemer 100% of the time.
Put Henson in doubles with Trae or Cary and they beat Tongol & Berilgen. Tongol & Berilgen were very lucky to beat Davies & Ohl 7-5, 6-4. Ed & Trae would have been much tougher than Davies & Ohl. And the other 2 doubles were competitive. I think a 3-2 Dallas win would have been likely and a 4-1 win possible.
But we'll never know because Dallas did not have all their best players in the line-up.
In my view the 2007 High Point team captained by Cary is FAR, FAR superior to any of our current 2008 3.5 level teams.
ReplyDelete1 sgl Kyle
2 sgl TQ
1 dbl Dennis & Ed
2 dbl Cary & Trae
3 Dbl Brian & Greg
That teams beats ANY 2008 Dallas 3.5 team by 4-1 or 5-0.
Unless the other cities like Houston, Amarillo, NETX & Lubbock have much weaker teams, then I can't see any of the Dallas 3.5 teams winning Sectionals this year. I will be out there rooting for the Dallas teams, but it is not going to happen this year.
it feels like deja vu all of sudden I am having flashbacks of last summer all of a sudden. I guess the therapy worked in the winter because talking about that match no longer causes me to roll up on a ball and weep.
ReplyDeletefor the record Dennis was in Cancun during sectionals and Tom Lafferty was out of town as well. I rested Kyle by playing him at line 3 dubs with Ed against NOHO, I think they were on the court for 30 minutes so I don't think fitness was an issue. Ed was also out of town on Friday so we planned on playing him both matches that day. TQ had lost to John Kraemer during the regular season and actually got bageled in the 1st set. I was worried about him cramping up with his style of play and with John's confidence of beaten him before. So as much as we can say we would have taken both singles lines it was no guarantee and yes Kyle would have beaten Dutchover but to be honest I fully expect Tongol to play singles in that match.
Either way Houston's doubles teams were great. No one was going to beat Jason and Michael that day and Clay and Mark were fighting hard but not sure they could have got their match so who knows.
Bottom line as i mentioned before there was oppurtunities to win that match and it isn't because of how I filled out he lineup card but more because of my lack of volleying skills that day and overheads if you want to pick on something. Trae and I had talked about it aftewards the average age player we went up against was 45-50 yr old all weekend and then bam we played these guys, the ball was coming a lot faster and I don't know how many times I got burned on weak approach shots because I was imagining I was playing someone mediocre like John Sisk :)
But love dredging up old memories, I look forward to having some at 4.0 but i have no aspirations of AZ this year, just looking to get to the Dallas playoffs this time.
The problem with comparing the level of teams is we are always judging one team's top 8 versus another team's top 8, when a team very seldom has its top 8 players available. This upcoming Saturday might be the first time I can remember having all 8 of my best players available for a match, and we haven't gotten to Saturday yet. Any team that is relatively close to another team has a chance to beat them if they are missing their top 2 players. That is usually the #1 excuse for a captain (myself included). "I didn't have my A lineup." I like to think my A lineup can beat any other team's A lineup but I'm sure I will never find out.
ReplyDeleteGood point Corey, as a captain I try my best to keep everyone happy (Wow is that impossible!!) but I try to even out playing time as best as I can and still be competitive and that even includes the playoff competition level.
ReplyDeleteMy other sectional experience in CA we had set lineups for the entire weekend up to and including the final. But after two players got stuck in LA traffic and another got ill I ended up changing every single lineup we had prepared the week before.
"Men plan, God laughs"
I want to wish you guys much success this season and seasons to come. Enrique, Marc, and Prather are all great players and will bring much success to their teams and competition to their opponents. In my tennis world this team is most important to me...a very cohesive group.....and that means more to me than winning. WE ARE CLOSE! The 18-26 guys that come out to practice every week are great. The competition is fierce. My fall '07 team's regular season record, 35-5, may be the best ever in Dallas at the 3.5 level. (Cary, you can look that up!) I only want to build on that, and if that seems arrogant, I apologize. Post season is a different season, and I agree with John Kraemer....GOOD POINTS, JOHN!
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you guys....even Cary! Last post, John
Thanks for the comments John and I am getting to the place that you're talking about. Many years ago I played this team tennis stuff and it really got to me; I was playing on some of John Arnetts teams several different years and with all of the state playoff stuff/sectionals and trying to keep certain players on our team when we knew how good they really were, well it just made me sick. After 10 years away from tennis I came back and began to play again with friends and in tournaments and found certain players, as before, but now they were in tournaments too. Years back there weren't that many ringers in the tournaments, but now there are many more, so I decided to get some of my tournament friends to form a team. We did last fall and we are becoming pretty close-all of the hard practices and such is great. Now some of the guys enjoy our team matches more than the tournaments and I'll have to say I know why. Meeting Bob Bender, Mark Ferrell and many of the other captains and team members has been great and the closer the matches, even when we lose, are great too.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all who play honest, fair, competitive and
fight to the end, I enjoy your company.
David Prather
Is everybody in for some group hug therapy?
ReplyDeletethe fact that Bender and honest got linked in the same post just made me get light headed. Are you serious? Check out his latest personal results and somehow he has got his son (Jeffrey Bender) who went to Nationals at 3.5 and won matches downrated back to 3.0. Oh well I guess we should feel OK he donates money to the USTA by signing up ringers to tourneys and having them lose two rounds intentionally. If only we could translate his mastermind powers to fix the gas and economy problems.
ReplyDeleteQuick question to get a different dialogue.
ReplyDeleteWho would "we" rate as the top five singles players in 3.5 League this Spring?
"18-26 guys that come out to practice every week are great"
ReplyDelete26 player at practice?
God Damn!!!!
No wonder you guy are in the play-off every year,
I did not even think there were that many people in the city of Garland that played tennis,
or did not have criminal records.
John,
ReplyDeleteI think that will be the bet for our match. When I beat you, you have to stop quoting your stats from 1989 just to show how you haven't been able to climb out of 3.5 leagues in 20 years. Or choose not to.
As far as top 5 singles players I think we talked about that before but I think if you let the season play out a couple of more weeks we will see a group emerge at 3.5, at this point it is just guessing.
In regards to the above post where the following statement was made (below) -
ReplyDelete>TQ easily beats John Kraemer 100% of the time.
I also captained and played on a Brookhaven 3.5 team last year in addition to playing on the LLTC-SAP Houston 3.5 team. During the regular season, my Brookhaven team played Cary Bazan’s High Point team on 5/20/97.
During the match against High Point, I played #2 singles and my opponent was Tuan Quach (TQ). I beat TQ, 6-0, 7-5.
Thanks for noting that John, that is one thing I had to consider for that lineup that you had beaten him before and I think your style of play would beat TQ 75-80% of the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for noting that John, that is one thing I had to consider for that lineup that you had beaten him before and I think your style of play would beat TQ 75-80% of the time.
ReplyDeleteI do not know Bender. But it seems very strange for someone to define themselves as an "observer" of someone else. That's kind of weird.
ReplyDeleteI have not respect for anonymous mudslingers. That's cowardly and who could trust a coward to be truthful?
I have never seen Bender play either personally but I have to be honest some of those results are fishy but maybe he truly is a 3.0 player. They aren't Garland fishy but any team that wins a lot will always have some questionable results. I have also started to notice as has been talked about before that there are people that are playing too high above their actual playing level so knowing the DQ policies I would find it hard not to coach a player to take it easy on someone if I thought they were in a match up where they truly outclassed a player and I believed my player to be at the accurate playing level. obviously I didn't do that last week with Noaman but I think he will be OK.
ReplyDeleteObviously the "bender observer" has some kind of axe to grind. Likely he was on a team that lost to one of Bender's teams in years gone by and he has not gotten over it.
ReplyDeletestill a legit question:
ReplyDeleteHow does someone with wins at sectionals and nationals at 3.5 in October 2005 sit out and then show up as a 3.0?
I was on a 3.5 team in 2005 which lost to Bender's team in the City Playoffs. Bender definitely had some ringers on that team. But I did not see any signs of tanking or sandbagging.
ReplyDeleteChecking TennisLink: While Bender's 3.5 team made Nationals in 2005, Bender did NOT personally play at City or at Sectionals or at Nationals. I think simply because he was not competitive. No one would sit on the sideline at Nationals if they could compete. And no one would "tank" on a team going to Nationals in HOPES of POSSIBLY making Nationals next year. That just wouldn't make sense. So let's give him the benefit of doubt in that regard.
On the other hand, let's "string him up" for recruiting a bunch of ringers over the years at both level 3.5 and 3.0.
From the tennis warehouse message boards,
ReplyDelete"I played for Bender in 2007. I can't talk about 2004 or 2005. He captains out of a large public facility with a ton of players. Each year he holds team tryouts for new players. Team tryouts are held at a local college and involve a large number of interested players. Only the best are added to his roster. Players not making the cut are usually picked up by other teams.
Last year he held tough and frequent team practices sometimes with local Pro's helping with strokes & strategy. He also organized a team singles "ladder" and doubles "ladder" with intense challenge matches throughout the year. This forced everyone to compete for their spot on the team.
He always told everyone to play hard and guys never tanked matches. But nearly everyone improved and some improved dramatically. He is very organized and coordinates team activities well. Bottom line _ serious, competitive players love to play for him and want to be on his team. Social players find other teams.
I hope to play on his 3.5 team this year (if I make the cut!)"
Then you move to the compound with father Bob and the underaged sex begins!
I played against Bender in doubles at High Point in January. He is an old guy and definitely a weak player. He is extremely slow, his serve just bloops over the net, and his backhand is weak. He can hit a decent forehand if you hit the ball right to him. However, he played with an outstanding partner who covered 2/3 of the court. Near the end of the first set Bender had some trouble breathing and his partner had to take him to the emergency room. I don't know the whole story but obviously he has some health issues he is dealing with.
ReplyDeleteI don't give a dam about Bender. He is a weak player and his team doesn't look very good.
ReplyDeleteI'm concerned about the self-rated ringers playing this year for Garland, Oak Creek, High Point and Life Time!
Looks like a great day for tennis. Time to kick some butt!
ReplyDeleteIn particular, what self rated players are you concerned about?
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteMy concern is a general one. It seems like every year at level 3.5 (maybe not for 4.0 +) new, self-rated players beat up on guys that have been playing 3.5 for several years during the City Playoffs. Then those self-rated guys go on to the next level.
Take last year for example, Cary's team had Kyle Bowman, Trae Bowman, Henson, TD, etc. Kyle is probably competitive at 4.5 and the others competitive at 4.0. I'm not saying that's cheating and it's not against the rules _ that's just the way it works.
This year the top teams (Garland, Oak Creek, HP, Life Time) all have 3 or 4 new self-rated players. And I bet a few of those guys are darn good. I think all the playoff teams worry about how good will those new guys really be.
I just saw that HP/Jameson's team squeaked out a 3-2 against the weaker Lifetime. They lost both singles lines. Eventually, their very average singles is going to catch up to them. They appear to be solid in doubles but their singles is very suspect.
ReplyDeleteI think Henson could be competitive at 4.5 doubles. He would probably be more effective at 4.5 doubles than Kyle Bowman at 4.5 singles or doubles.
ReplyDeleteOak Creek really whipped up on Canyon Creek yesterday (5-0). Canyon Creek default line two singles (not good).
ReplyDeleteEldorado got ripped again! The Oakridge boys whipped up on them (5-0). Eldorado defaulted line 1 and 2 singles (not good). What’s the deal with these guys? They haven’t won a match yet.
It’s awful when a team has to default a line.
I got bored with the 4.5 and 4.0 blog pages. No one would talk to me. Since Corey is talking 3.5 maybe I can get his response here. Corey, my 4.5 team plays your 4.5 team at high point, next Sat. May 3rd, 2:30 start - please confirm.
ReplyDeleteAnd to John Kraemer, I didn't know you played on the Houston Nationals team ??? Did you live in Houston at the time? That explains why you were so chummy with those Houston boys at the Major zonal a month/two ago...next time I play you I will have visions of a big "H" on your shirt. ha! Hey, is this 50 mile rule in place yet? And what are the specifics?
Cary, sorry to inform you, you are wrong about your singles player not running out of gas in the 3.5 match last yr against Houston - I heard it straight from the horse's mouth.
To Anonymous (at least I think it was an anonymous, there are SO many), I do appreciate the commentary about good Captains, pushing their players to get better, having hard practices, and most importantly gelling as a team, and wanting to win for each other. I think that is one of if not the key element. After you become good enough to win, you have to really want to win, for the other guys, for the team.
Kirby
I'm in Kirby. Come out to Garland today at 2:30 if you are free.
ReplyDeleteI will be the first to say that I know nothing about 3.5. But there has been a lot of talk on this blog about how good David Atlas is. Based on his record, his loss on 4/12 seems very suspect taking into consideration who he played with and against that day.
ReplyDeleteCan somebody explain? Also, looks like my buddy John is in a strong flight with two other 3-0 teams. I haven't heard much about the Canyon Creek team in his flight. Any thoughts?
I've played David Atlas in a social match and he is solid but he is not great. HP has better players than Atlas. Parekh/Juaregui/Harrison/Wiley/Garudhadri are all better.
ReplyDeleteI saw about 10 minutes of the HP vs Lakes match on 4/12. During the time I watched, Atlas played pretty good tennis. His partner, Myers, was complaining about an injured wrist. Myers looked bad and missed a ton of shots. One of his HP teammates told me that he just moved into a new house and hurt his wrist lifting boxes.
ReplyDeleteI don't know these guys well and can't say whether everything was legit. But the wrist injury probably played a role. I also notice that Myers has not played any matches since 4/12 _ maybe due to that injury.
On a side note, I think it was pretty dumb for their captain to play an injured player. They have a large team and plenty of good players on their team. Why put an injured player out there and take a chance? Decisions like that could cost them big time during the playoffs.
This is in response to the question John Kraemer had about the concern someone had for self rated players. The self rated players should not be allowed in league, major zone tournaments or the Sectionals, they've already been banned from the final " 8 " tournament. Other tournaments, which would include all of the 100 point ones, would give guys a place to play, perhaps 3 of them, to size up a player to see where he really belongs and then they would be in the system with a computer rating. I know that guys could still throw matches, but when a self rated player enters, then they can be looked at in a certain light which is better than what we have now. I believe that this would help
ReplyDeletegreatly because there are way too many guys coming in with just a self rated tag on themselves and really the only ones who would object to this would be the ones who want to cheat!
David Prather
Re: El Dorado & Canyon Creek
ReplyDeleteThey really Suck,
Oak Creek and oak Ridge's best players were at the brookhaven tourny this weekend and nether team could get a point.
What's up with Oak Creek/Nehlsen not reporting their scores?
ReplyDeleteP.s. Bruce Nehlsen has a child molester mustache
Not all self-rated players under-rate themselves. Actually, I've found it to be the opposite but there always seem to be some that get the headlines and most good teams do tend to have a couple.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that the Austin top "8" tournament won't allow self-rated players?
I agree that most self-rates do not underrate themselves. A few do and they stick out. I do find there are plenty that overrate; they do not get the publicity because nobody cares...
ReplyDelete