Flight A
Favorite since 2002:
OC/Branch and no reason to bet against them now. Their hurdle will be at sectionals to see if they can compete with the likes of Austin and Houston but they shouldn’t look ahead too far since there are a couple of Dallas teams that will give them problems.
Contenders:
Greenhill-I like this group with Berg, Romerhous, Griggs but they finished middle of the road in the fall will have to wait and see if some of these new names will push them up towards the top.
OC/Feldman-very close to getting to the fall playoffs and they should get there this time if things fall right for them.
Need some help
Springpark-not a bad collection of players but not sure if they are top flight material at this level.
Royal Oaks-had a good run in the fall but most thought it was a fluke, so far only have 8 players listed, so maybe they have some surprises or they are just shorthanded. I am free some Saturdays if you need someone to take a dive at line 1 singles.
Flight B
Favorites:
Noel’s Village team had a good showing and didn’t lose any weapons so they should be expected to do well.
T Bar: Also had a good fall season and returns some good players to make a solid run at winning this flight and possibly the whole league.
Contenders
Brookhaven: good collection of talent with Yuri and Malcom always tough to beat.
High Point: Martin has a good collection of players and will be tough but don’t see any top line players to guarantee wins but they will be a lot more competitive this season.
Need some help
Both Oak Creek teams are borderline I believe although I like Bovermann’s team better than Juhn. It is tough when the top OC players are with Branch but usually one of these teams finishes towards to the top just not sure which one.
Top 10
ReplyDelete1)OC Branch
2)TBarM
3)OC Feldman
4)Village Noel
5)Brookhaven
6)Greenhill
7)DFW Hilton
8)Royal Oaks
9)OC Boverman
10) Hackberry
DFW Hilton on the playoff borderline. Hmmmm. Not sure unless Walker can make that much of difference on a team that was near the bottom last season. Huffman is solid though.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with your predictions here Cary. I will say that our flight has no super strong teams, but I don't really see any weak teams either. I expect this flight to be competitive again. Also, I'm not sure if Branch's team will try to win in the regular season or not. They have nothing to gain by doing that so why risk losing the players.
ReplyDeleteThat is true Branch's group may opt to protect some players especially any new additions. I think your flight will be very fun to play in since like you said there is no weak matches.
ReplyDeleteDo you all start this weekend or is there a scrimmage like the 4.0 teams?
I noticed that the 3.5 guys have 51 comments on this site.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that the worst players have the most to say?
I wondered the same thing, maybe that is why I already miss 3.5 tennis, the guys are so wild.
ReplyDeletei hope to infuse my brand of craziness into the 4.0 league this year and watch out for Fall 2009 because Bazan craziness will arrive at 4.5.
I do find it wierd nobody has anything to say about the Branch team, their only detractor moved to Arkansas or was he banished?
Maybe some of it has to do with a smaller participation level at the top here in Dallas. Why is that? Seems like almost all the 4.5 teams have a few 4.0s, is there is really that few 4.5s out there?
I have heard that Branch and his team were going to start defending themselves on the site but I haven't seen it. I played one of his guys on Saturday and he was very friendly and a great player. We do have a scrimmage this Saturday also. I'm sorry you won't be at my first mixed practice tonight Cary.
ReplyDeleteI know I wish I could make it but my wife's team is practicing 8:15p so it is my night to watch the baby. I had to get Erika back into league because it is easier to justify playing more tennis when she is playing as well.
ReplyDeleteJust so John knows he is not the only one with temptation I was trying to find a singles player for my wife's 3.0 team and I told her about a girl who plays with us on Thursdays and she said invite her on and I explained she was too good for that level and she looked at my blankly like "so what." Then I told her the girl had played in college and she looked at me with that same look for a bit and then said, OK I guess we can't make that work.
It is truly a sickness, I probably infected her. That sounds kind of gross but you know what I mean.
Nope not banished, just know first hand that Branch and Conway had no problems tossing matches to keep players safe. All you have to look for proof is Branches own record when he tanked at 5.0 last year. You do not beat 5.5 players in Tournament play and then go out and lose 2,2 every match in 5.0 league.
ReplyDeleteBranch is no different than the players from the 2006 San antonio team who purposely tanked matches to try and get back to 4.5, but got busted for the most part by TTA.
Which SanAntonio 5.0 team are you talking about? Was it the Robert Wood team in 2006? I cannot really tell much from looking at scores on TennisLink. What really happened? How were they "busted"?
ReplyDeleteLook at the 2007 SA Antonio 5.0 League and the Team "Danny Four Five" all the guys were on the 2006 4.5 National Champs. Particularly look at the scores of the matches for certain players and the tanking by Reid Strand (IU Player and Top 5 in Texas Juniors) and Chance Morgan.
ReplyDeleteNew Rankings: Week 1 (w/ previous weeks ranking and season record)
ReplyDelete1) OC Branch (1) (1-0)
2) TBarM (2) (0-0)
3) OC Feldman (3) (0-0)
4) Village Noel (4) (0-0)
5) Brookhaven (5) (0-0)
6) Royal Oaks (8) (1-0)
7) Greenhill (6) (1-0)
8) DFW Hilton (7) (0-0)
9) OC Boverman (9) (0-0)
10) Spring Park (NR) (1-0)
Dropped Out: Hackberry
Beat Down of the Week: Joey Molina slaps J.D. Miles 6-0 6-1 (ouch)
Team of the Week: Royal Oaks 5-0 over a decent Canyon Creek team
Funny Score of the week: Oak Branch's 4 wins were:
4&4, 2&2, 2&2, 3&3- pretty consistent from 1st set to 2nd set
Upset of the week:
None
Match of the week for week 2:
4.5(a) OC Feldman v. Royal Oaks*
*provided Royal Oaks gets
their A players out
4.5(b) OC Boverman v. TBarM
thanks for the update anonymous. I am leaving you in the charge of the 4.5s because I am such an idiot and I didn't even realize one flight was playing real matches this weekend. Looks like i didn't miss much though.
ReplyDeleteSeriously I can give you a login to post since my 4.5 knowledge is lacking and maybe AR Hacker could help but he might devote posts to crushing Rusty's group but then again that might be funny.
Joey Molina is a surprise to remain at 4.5 and he will beat 95% of the 4.5s in Dallas. He put the beatdown on JD and last fall he tore up Phillip Griggs.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Oaks is dangerous but they seem to never have their top guns from week to week.
As for Branch well I'll let the results speak for themselves.
sorry to add to Royal Oaks, they also have 2 other players who are on level with Branch, James, and K. Loose in Joe Rauschuber, and Phat Bui. If the three play each week fro Royal Oak and have 2 of 3 play singles then they should have almost 2 guaranteed wins most week.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad Cary. I'm a 4.5 captain and I didn't realize the other flight was playing real matches. J.D. hasn't been playing well lately but he shouldn't be losing like that. Joey should have been moved up long ago. I predict he will have some questionable loss in doubles near the end of the season like last season.
ReplyDeleteIn re: Week 1 Rankings. TBar is too high. They don't have the same players as the Fall. Brookhaven might be too low. They picked up some people. Royal Oaks v. Oak Creek Feldman this week will go a long ways in deciding which team gets into city playoffs and which team has to play the qualifying tournament. I also agree that DFW is too high. They have a couple of nice players but lack depth.
ReplyDeleteI agree about T bar and Brookhaven. Without Joey Royal Oaks is an average team, and he will not play every week since he has tournaments he goes to with his kids.
ReplyDeleteCorey I agree with Joey not being available, but again Phat Bui and Joe Rauschuber are at similar level with joey, but after that the team does become very average. Will be curious to watch though.
ReplyDelete