Lifetime v. High Point
Not that Somabut's team needs to win but Lifetime will be one of the only teams in this flight that could even hold their tennis bag so I expect some good matches. Lifetime obviously would like to start out with a win.
BH/Helterbrann v. Village/Johnson
I think both of these teams are a little bit of a mystery so I am curious to see how they perform against one another. With few playoffs spots to go around the winner puts themselves in a good spot to get on a roll.
Canyon Creek v. Greenhill
Arnette's group as talked about before should be in the playoffs but this Canyon Creek team has talent and has been to the post season before as well. I like Greenhill but it should be close.
Springpark v. LB/Spagnola
Obviously since this is my flight I will be very curious about this result but I am interested to see how the likes of Ratana, Griffin, Allen and Walker stack up against the Springpark super team. I don't think LB has the depth but they could win 3 lines if it falls out right.
Garland v. Lakes
This should show who will lead the way in this flight. I know Garland hangs out in the blog and talk a lot but I just don't see how they can hang with this Lakes roster. They were the runner up to Somabut's team in the Fall and didn't lose any players but added players to an already good roster.
High Point beats Lifetime 5-0
ReplyDeleteBh/Helterbrann beats Village 3-2
Greenhill beats Canyon Creek 4-1
Springpark beats LB Houston 4-1
Lakes beats Garland 3-2
High Point beats Lifetime 4-1
ReplyDeleteBH beats Village 3-2
Greenhill beats CC 3-2
Springpark beats LB Houston 3-2
Lakes beats Garland 4-1
I agree Somabut has some nice doubles lines but who do they have that can step in and play singles at a high level while keeping their top doubles teams in place?
ReplyDeleteThat is their one weakness but in the regular season I think they can use Pickett, Keller or Newman and a few others. They have the luxury of just splitting singles and knowing they are deep enough at doubles to win 2 if not 3 lines.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if they can get away without adding a ringer for sectionals. Blumberg and Sharp are solid in addition to ones listed above but not sure they can beat top five in city much less the state. In flight A just about anyone on that roster could win at singles so maybe they will decide as they go along.
I believe Ratana is injured, so that really hurts the LB team against a very good Springpark team. Springpark 4-1
ReplyDeleteWill be curious to see how HP plays this season with the roster they send out. HP should go 4-1 or 5-0 but do they risk some of their top guys in week 1?
Garland will need both singles most of the season, and not sure they pull it off against the Lakes. Lakes 4-1
Greenhill/Canyon creek should be the best match up of the week listed...picking a 3-2 finish, coin toss to see who gets 3.
Don't know anything about BH or Village...so good luck to each.
Somabut's doubles should be good enough to carry him deep into sectionals again. Singles by committee might be his best approach.
ReplyDeleteLifetime will win 3-2. Singles are too strong and they have enough talent in doubles group to move lineups and fine at 3rd win.
ReplyDeleteok lifetimer, post up your name with that prediction. Please don't fire up Somabut's group, we would like to keep them nice and sleepy so we can take them out this summer. :)
ReplyDeleteLifetime 3-2? Your team will be lucky to lose 4-1 instead of 5-0.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't see how Somabut's team is so weak at singles. I guess it is relative to his doubles team but they are very capable at singles.
ReplyDeletePickett is the reigning 4.0 Plano open singles champ. Blumberg is getting better and better. By sectionals, I suspect he will be very strong. Sharp (admittedly, I have never seen) is suppose to be very strong. If necessary, Somabut can also play. At singles,they have options; it is not as if they are going into any matches needing to sweep doubles (and they have the doubles to do that).
I think they have enough to get at least 1 singles point and it will be tough for anybody to get 2 points against them in doubles.
The true beauty of sport is that this will all be decided between the lines in 4 days.
ReplyDeleteLIFETIME WINS!!! Did someone say 5-0??? Crazy!!! 4 days.....
I'm not playing this weekend, but I'll have to come watch Lifetime get crushed. The only Lifetime could get 2 lines is by default.
ReplyDeleteLifetime Lover: I see Lifetime getting A point because the season is early and somone is bound to choke. But win? no way, bring your money, I'll be there - candy from a baby! Interesting comments, nothing about the top or 2nd seeded Springpark though... Don Allen - good luck this weekend! Will be tough to win without Ratana, stack your doubles, who knows? Springpark only started practicing a couple of weeks ago. Maybe some folks will be out of town and you will play against a partnership that has NEVER played together.
ReplyDeleteKirby
Looks like a big crowd for the Lifetime v. Highpoint match. Bring your popcorn. Should be some surprises!!!
ReplyDeleteyeah Donald good luck. sounds like they like beer. I think Mcgowan and Davis should be required to have a entire beer on changeovers to make it more even.
ReplyDeleteShould be fun.
So no offense to Vinnie and Ryan but Randy Valtierra just got moved to the holding team??????? What is going on with that? That really changes the makeup of flight B and perhaps the DCC if he is not on that team. Don't get me wrong the Lakes will still be good but if he is going to another team that would be bad and also their depth at singles would suffer.
ReplyDeleteRandy if you're membership isn't current I gladly take on former CC players, call me. :) Please....
Rumor has it he wanted to add some life to the Lifetime/HP rivalry - maybe some surprises afterall showing up there that day.
ReplyDeleteWhat rivalry? Lifetime would have to be good before I would consider it a rivalry.
ReplyDeleteLOL - well lets just say they may have gotten better.
ReplyDeleteIf they got Valtierra they are better but still the 2nd best team in this flight which isn't that good anyway. They were going to finish 1st in this flight no matter unless they just all forgot where to show up each week but they will be the weakest team at the DCC even with Randy if that is true.
ReplyDeleteHP shouldn't be so uppity since Lockhart, Pickett and Smith came over from Lifetime to turn them into a rather good team.
ReplyDeleteif those 3 were on LF I think this Sunday' match might be a lot more competitive.
Lockhart, Pickett, and Smith never played for LF @ 4.0. They always played for HP(Endress and Somabut)
ReplyDeleteYou are right about most of that but Smith actually started down at 3.5 with LF and played a season with them at 4.0, the other two came from HP.
ReplyDeleteBlog is killing me today, I am actually busy at work for the first time in a while. Hmmm. Tennis or work??? I am going to get a burger and think it over.
ReplyDeleteSo much drama before opening weekend. love it!!!
I think Somabut's teams were winning way before those players joined his team.
ReplyDeleteCary you left one off the poll.
ReplyDelete5. HP tanks the match
The funny thing about blogs is that those who can, do their talking on the court, while those who can't....Blog. :-)
ReplyDeletealright Jonathan, we need to see some results from you big guy. We talked you up enough so go dominate.
ReplyDeleteAnd WTF? Valtierra is going to play 5.0 with the Lakes. How anti-climatic was that. I feel like I went to one of those Asian massage and didn't get my happy ending. Not that I have ever been there but Marc (OC BL) told me about those places down in Garland.
Nothing worse than a 3.5 player talking smack. you'll get your welcome into the 4.0 ranks this weekend.
ReplyDeleteGarland is too nice for me,
ReplyDeleteI do my Rub and Tug on Harry Hines
Hey Fellas,
ReplyDeleteI don't know why people post anonymously, but let me say Somabut's teams have and will continue to win with or without the likes of myself and Doug. Trust me, we are just fortunate and privileged to still be on his team. Good luck to everyone this year!!!!
Pickett
Oh and my top 5 singles players
ReplyDelete1. Gene Davis--easy pick
2. Jim Walters- deceivingly dominant
3. Randy Valtierra- if he plays
4. Kevin Windham- great singles or doubles player
5. Don Buford- he is fit and going to have a big year
ok guys-- Don't make me look bad because I'm posting my name with this prediction. HA
Hey Ice Pick I am good with most of your top 5 except Kevin Windham for singles?
ReplyDeleteHey Icepick.. How about the top 5 4.0 singles players in the Dallas area? I know you seen most of them
ReplyDeleteI think if you scroll up about two inches he listed them. Don't think Windham is top 5 he was dominated by Pearson who maybe should make this list with teammate Terrell. Both of these guys are smart and can handle pace. I don't know how they stack up against teammates Walters and Davis but I am thinking they could hang ok. Buford has some wierd results and with that backhand it is hard to say top 5. His fitness and movement do make up for that one glaring weakness though. Still I would take the 4 Spk guys over him.
ReplyDeleteAt least one of those guys is rated 4.5.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the doubles players?
ReplyDeleteWho are the top 5 players you would choose to play doubles with?
Who are the quickest players?
ReplyDelete3.5
4.0
4.5
Senior?
quick senior? Nice, you got jokes today.
ReplyDeleteI liked my one outing with icepick. I always play well with a big forehand/serve since those are my weaknesses. The good thing about Joel's game is unlike some other guys he can make errors but rarely goes for too much and i don't know if he is the quickest but at his height he covers a lot of court. Ed Henson is great to play dubs with as well. Very solid hands and place to ball about anywhere he wants to. Honorable mention goes to Steve Griffin, Chad Carlquist and Jeromiiiiiiiii.
ReplyDeleteHow about the fattest players with skills at the 4.0 level. The 5 guys that look like they belong in a bowling alley until they step on the court and show their game.
ReplyDeleteI wake up every morning just blessed to be on Somabut's team. The teammates are great, we get to know each other and are a team of friends that help each other out on the court and away from the courts. I'm not getting any younger and at my age I love the friendships I get out of Somabut's team. I'm just lucky I'm not riding the pine this year or last. Playing with Joel makes it look easy for me but we fight for each and every match and every win is tough and every loss hangs on me like a bad hangover. Doug. aka Snoop
ReplyDeleteI was the fattest player in the Fall but happy to report I am 18 lbs lighter (Thanks to Ian Smith-Smash Diet) and coming to kick all of your a**es this season.
ReplyDeletetop singles players:
ReplyDeleteWhat about these guys?
Nix
Ruiz
Rhodes-unless he joins Valtierra at 5.0
Ratana
Runda
new player on fall 2008 team for Arnette only lost to Runda last season:
ReplyDeleteFernando Contreras
He is very good.
Top Dubs Players in Dallas -
ReplyDelete1. J. Pickett
2. C. Carlquist
3. S. Brouer
4. K. Robinson
5. D. Smith
Who's the most annoying singles player to play against because they just get everything back?
ReplyDeleteTrey Mckinney needs to be on this top 5 list. He lost only to Rhodes last year and Don Allen in a tourney.
ReplyDeleteTop 5 singles players:
ReplyDeleteWalters
McKinney
Nix
Russell
Buford
Garland closing in on the Lakes in the polls and Valtierra jumps to 5.0 overnight and those pesky Garland squirrels will be out as well as the locals making out in the parking lot while performing drive-bys. WTF is going on????!!!!!!!!! If Garland wins I won't hear the end of it, come on Lakes!!!!
ReplyDeleteToo many good players in the Dallas area to narrow down a top 5. Lets just say that there is a good 15 to 20 players that on any given day can hold their own at #1 Singles against any other 4.0 player. I have never played any of the guys icepick through out there, but there is no doubt their records speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI will agree with the few Doubles list that have been posted, but I have to add Vijay Singh to the list on doubles. He is in that 10 to 15 list in singles, but he and another 4.0 guy who's name I just cant remember did beat Pickett and Smith so I will throw him in to the mix. I also really like Will Mattes of Brookhaven and Takashi Nishizaki of Lifetime Fitness.
Good lord lets get Sunday here and play some tennis boys.
Good point Trey. Good luck in your match on Sunday. It is hard to narrow down when we have so many players in the league. There are hundreds that compete on the ATP level and there is no guarantee when #5 plays #125 and it definitely depends on style even more so at our level.
ReplyDeleteI am ready for Sunday as well!!!
WTF - "I wake up every morning" feeling "blessed" to be on Somabut's team.
ReplyDeleteI think that is the funniest thing I've ever read on any blog, including the crappy, but sometimes funny, Houston Tournament blog.
What is Bob putting in the cool aid?
Yeah, no kidding, thought I had accidentally tuned in to Lifetime TV.
ReplyDeleteIt's a cult. Once you join the team you can never leave.
ReplyDeleteWhen the local congressman came to watch the match and several told him in confidence that they wanted to join other teams... didn't Somabut send them some farewell Kool Aid?
ReplyDelete"The Father" I mean Bob is a great guy to play for, and he pays his team well.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Funny but true. Can't blog against you anonymous people anymore. Let the scores speak for themselves, win or lose, I'm leaving it on the court and ready to serve it up. Snoop
ReplyDeletedoes seem kind of Lifetime TV-esque (good call anonymous) but Bob and the crew are good guys. I will do my best with my team to bring back some masculinity to High Point.
ReplyDeleteI would leave my group to become a player with that group though. (just kidding team :)
But seriously, you know how to reach me.....
Who put me as the top doubles player?? Let me give you the name of my psych doctor so he can prescribe you some different meds. ha Just kidding but I am far from the top doubles player. Was that Eddie Hill trying to put a target on my back?? This is going to be a fun year and yes Mckinney, there is alot of talent at 4.0. Also, you are correct in saying Vijay Singh is a really good player. Is it Sunday yet?? Let's start playing!!!
ReplyDeleteRecipe for Somabut Team Kool Aid-
ReplyDelete-500 mg of HGH
-Holy water (blessed by Roger Federer and Bryan Brothers)
- 2 tsp of Splenda
- Crushed ice from Sonic
Mix it all up and let sit for 2 hours. Drink 16 ounces before a match and 32 ounces after sexual intercourse.
Wait, everyone else is spending hours blogging and not doing the intercourse.
Victory TEAM Somabut!!!!
bin
Lakes over Garland 3-2. When I saw the lineup I thought Garland was going to win for sure. Trey was having a knee problem from his doubles match yesterday, otherwise it might have been a different story.
ReplyDeleteouch! A retirement at line 3 was the only thing that made that match close. Some interesting new players on that Lakes team. No Runda, Tran, Balan or Do and they still won without too much difficulty, they look stronger than I thought at first glance. They are scary deep like Somabut's crew. Glad I am not in that flight, although I am not uber-excited about our flight either. We were able to handle bizness today but our road gets tougher next week.
ReplyDeleteBig John,
line 1 dubs, hmmm. Did you make Steve mad or something? or do really want to stay at 3.5 that bad?
oh yeah can I have TQ back? Nope just kidding you can keep him. :)
Cary,
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice 4.5 ringer you have there,
Sunny's brother?
one strike, two more to go.
don't think he will get any more strikes in this flight. Warner is a good player but not sure if he will generate a strike since he was a 3.5 not that long ago but if so no biggie he will be up against the likes of Ratana, Walters, etc so he probably won't have a chance to drop anymore bagels.
ReplyDeleteSpringpark looks really strong. National Bound!!!!
ReplyDeleteSpringpark is not even the best team in Dallas much less Texas. Sorry guys, no trip to Nationals this year.
ReplyDeleteOC BL - You are right, I am Sunny's brother. However I would hardly consider myself a ringer. My score with Warner today was not indicative of how competative the match really was. I got very lucky against Warner. I won all the big points and made an effort to take extra long during change-overs because i'm really out of shape.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I took an injury timeout after Warner won the first game of the second set to quell the momentum he had built.
-Noaman
Noaman,
ReplyDeleteI saw you had some decent results in some 4.5 tournaments,
So you must be a pretty bad MoFo
Who is better you or Sunny,
Because I have played Sunny.
Lifetime v. Highpoint was a very close match 3-2 and came down to final singles match which had a tiebreaker in 1st set. Lifetime was missing 4 of top 6 doubles players as well. hmmm??? Highpoint does have a very good team. Watch out for Lifetime.
ReplyDeleteCary,
ReplyDeleteBalan and Richardson played line 1 doubles against Garland and won easily. Possibly some stacking by Garland with Singh/Odulio playing in line 3?
Lakes won 3-2, but the three lines they won, don't even appear to be close, plus they didn't play half of their top players...
you are right I did miss Balan in that lineup. Garland did a lot of stacking in the fall as well and I thought they might have stopped doing it this Spring since it hurt them a little. I think Singh, Odulio and Gervelis are good enough to play the line 1 spot but maybe that is just my opinion. I think if you are going to stack why not put your best team at line 2. Oberto and Cocoroan are good players but not tough enough to take on the Lakes line 2. I wonder if they had swapped with Odulio/Singh what would have happened, but everything is easy to rethink on Monday, huh?
ReplyDeleteI don't like to stack because it leaves you open to the 2nd guessing by yourself and by all your players, I have definitely done it before and probably will in the future. I think it only makes sense when you are missing players otherwise if you are manufacturing wins each week it will eventually catch up to you at some point when someone has a deep roster.
Lifetime was missing 4 of their top 6 doubles guys, interesting. I didn't see Newman/Voss, or Robinson/Brouer for HP. I'm pretty sure those 4 are better than Lifetime's missing 4.
ReplyDeleteLifetime versus Highpoint Line Final singles match 7-6 in first set....True! what was the second set score. 6-0.
ReplyDeleteI think that was a legit score. I have seen Eddie and Adam play and I can see how Adam figured out how to handle Eddie's serve and come in and attack him instead of trying to rally with him.
ReplyDeleteEddie won Line 1 singles vs Adam. Eddie lost the first set and won the next 2.
ReplyDelete