OMG!
So I guess Houston isn’t the only one with drama going on near the playoffs.
Bob Somabut’s team just lost a player to DQ: Adam Blumberg. I am not sure who filed but they looked up the info that was readily available on the web to pursue this grievance. I actually saw this info as the season started along with Jonathan Renwick’s college experience but I didn’t feel either worth pursuing. Now if either started crushing people I might have felt otherwise about this issue.
I know we should all follow these guidelines but I have met guys who told me they have “college” experience but can barely keep the ball in play for a 5 ball rally so I will be advise them which level they will be competitive at.
Maybe this brings ups bigger questions like the chart we are using, is this thing really an accurate measure of our leagues and the level of play out there.
Somabut lost Phy Pham at this same time last year and they still had a successful run to the sectional finals and I wish them the best.
The Zack Courtney 3.5 grievance did fail and I have never seen him play so I don’t really have an opinion but I have seen Adam play and he has a great game but I don’t agree with this rating bump at all. As good a player has Adam is I am not sure he would have won a singles match at sectionals. And now he is rated 5.0, seriously USTA?!
Nobody filed a greivence. Bob discovered Adam played college tennis, and reported it to Tasha. Bumping him to 5.0 was a little extreme. He is clearly a good 4.0 and nothing more.
ReplyDeleteWhat was Blumberg's background, he had to be currently playing or just got out of college at a D2 school. A double-bump is harsh, he should have been just bumped to 4.5
ReplyDeleteAlso pretty sleazy that they waited until the City Playoffs to file. I am not against filing, but if you know the person has some flags do the grievance ASAP. It is not like you're seeing a team for the first time, such as at Sectionals.
in light of now seeing first post my opinion changes. Where did he play? Also I would assume Adam lied on his self-rate then to get the 4.0 rating.
ReplyDeleteDo you really have to pay $50 to file a grievance?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collegetennisonline.com/view/player.asp?plId=3026
ReplyDeleteI am actually now wondering how
ReplyDeleteAdam survived at 3.5 in 2004, considering he was playing a D1 college in the Spring of 2001. I can not remember when the Self-rates came into existence but they must have been around that time.
This is no different than Trent Broach sneaking onto a 4.5 Houston and then ultimately SA National Bound team after just graduating from ACU, while 2 of his teammates got popped and bumped to 5.5.
Somabut self reported? I'm going to call BULLSHIT on that one. Somabut has a history of doing this crap, this is nothing new.
ReplyDeleteyep who ever had him at 3.5 should be ashamed, not because they signed him up but because they didn't go to nats.
ReplyDeleteSo Bob grieved against himself, did they charge him for that? Just seems wierd was he trying to see if they could keep him at 4.0, with those college stats there is no way. When you self rate the minute you select college play it bounces you up to at least 4.5 and then asks you further questions.
ReplyDeleteTeam sport. He could go 10-0 on the year at 3.5 and not go to Nats. Been there and done that my self.
ReplyDeleteThis will probably affect the DCC seedings. As a self rater I think HP loses all of his matches.
ReplyDeleteWhat would the new seedings look like with Somabut losing 2 of his wins and having the "*" of cheating on their resume?
ReplyDeleteSounds like Blumberg and High Point are a bunch of cheaters. Their whole team should be disqualified. He should have been bumped up to 4.5 and not 5.0. This should make the QT and DCC much more interesting. I think this make Somabut's team much more vulnerable and brings teams like Lifetime much more into play. This also shed's light and why he beat the likes of Forrest and others recently. Food for thought??
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely harsh. Based on his scores alone it is obvious he is no 5.0 player. 4.5 would have been the right move.
ReplyDeleteI find it humorous that HP is now the Garland of the board.
What I find really odd is they did not DQ him or forfeit any of his scores from the Mens 4.0 spring league, but they did DQ him and record a loss for his Mixed Doubles league. Did Bob call in a favor??
ReplyDeleteSomebody PLEASE file a grievance on this Eddie Hill character. He posted a victory over a 5.0 player - this guy has got to go.
ReplyDeleteWell Quinnipiac U. is D1. He should self-rate as 5.5 per the guidelines. Why didn't he get bumped to 5.5?
ReplyDeleteThe guidelines are a joke when it comes to crappy D1 schools like this. Does this mean he would have been DQ'd at 4.5 or 5.0?
Based on his results, it looks like he's a 4.0-4.5. Bumping to 5.0 is just trying to force a guy away from tennis.
Blumberg only lost 1 4.0 team match this year. I want to see the guy that beat him.
ReplyDeleteNice post Eddie.
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see how people who played him close are adjusted at year end in the ratings. I don't think we will see anything on Tuesday but for guys like Ismael Dutchover who beat Blumberg pretty bad and has had a solid year, he would be a borderline bump to 4.5, that just seems crazy. Somehow ismaeal would find a way to win a major zone at this level though.
ReplyDeleteThe reason High Point did not lose any matches is it is more than 24 hours after the conclusion fo the final match. In that event, the season stands. The same thing would happen if someone gets DQ'd more thn 24 hours after DCC, then their team gets to advance to Sectionals.
ReplyDeleteSomabut is lucky that this did not come out right after the final match at DCC.
Who does HP now play in singles??
ReplyDeleteHP will probably play Keller and then roll out players. They have a lot of people on their team and will find someone.
ReplyDeleteHP still has a number of options in singles. Bob Somabut has had some good singles results this year, Joel Dreskin can play singles and a number of his doubles players are good singles players. Might see Joel Pickett also. Brouer, Robinson, Voss, Newman and H. Ngyuen are all good singles players, but I don't think he will break up those doubles teams.
ReplyDeleteto Poser: July 11, 2008 12:57 PM
ReplyDeleteI love it. So we should reward HP cause he was only a 4.5 player in 4.0?? He didn't deserve his 5.0 rating? Cause he can't answer questions correctly?
Losing Blumberg really doesn't change anything for High Point. Their singles players won't beat the better players anyway. They rely on doubles which is typically good enough to carry the team.
ReplyDeleteKeller is going to beat most team's #1 singles player and all #2s. If you think otherwise you are sadly mistaken.
ReplyDeletehe might have trouble with Feuille or Hill. If they make it in.
ReplyDeleteAll this negative about the captains having incorrectly rated players on their team. Each team is representing a tennis center, ever thought about requiring the tennis center to be responsible for confirming the rating of all the players on the rated team. We talk about USTA & DTA taking our money & doing nothing, how about the tennis centers? Aren't they a USTA approved location?
ReplyDeleteThat is stupid.
ReplyDeleteThe tennis centers could give a shit about how people are rated. It is clearly the captains and players responsibility and no one else's.
Maybe the tennis centers should stop letting these shady captains play out of their facility.
I know most of the guys on High Point's team and I just played Adam for the first time last weekend in a scrimmage match. I do think he is a mid-4.5 player who would dominate 4.0 and lose at 5.0. This didn't really bother me until one of my players made me realize that we lost to Adam's 4.5 team 3-2, and he won line 1 doubles. Had we won that line, we would have won that match and finished first in our flight and skipped the QT.
ReplyDeleteIf we win tomorrow it is a moot point but if we lose, it certainly seems like my team would have grounds for an appeal.
Corey,
ReplyDeleteHere is the explanation of why Blumberg's previous matches are not counted as defaults:
"The reason High Point did not lose any matches is it is more than 24 hours after the conclusion of the final match. In that event, the season stands. The same thing would happen if someone gets DQ'd more thn 24 hours after DCC, then their team gets to advance to Sectionals."
This was from a previous poster and I beleive they are correct. I don't think you would win an appeal.
Corey,
ReplyDeleteIf you can't win the QT, you would lose in city playoffs anyway. So it really doesn't matter.
Does this bump to 5.0 for Blumberg set a precedent that any college experience warrants a bump from 4.5 to 5.0? If so, then there may be some self-rated 4.5 players protested against at City championships and Sectionals this year that have college experience. Or are 4.5 captains better than that...Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of factors that determine at what level a player with college experience can self-rate:
ReplyDelete1. Level of College
Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, Junior Collge
2. Ranking of that college or player
Example top 75 team or individual or unranked
3. Age of the player, the older the player the lower the level they are allowed to self-rate.
Looks like Adam Blumberg got a break. If you played at a Division I College that was unranked and you are not at least 31 years old you are supposed to self-rate at the 5.5 level. Adam is not a 5.5, but would be a solid 4.5, but those are the guidelines.
Corey, what's with all the whining? It really is bad form you know. You don't want to be known as a whiner.
ReplyDeleteFrom TTA Site, sounds like all matches should have been defaulted, judging by letter of Rule #5.
ReplyDeleteCorey actually has a point in being upset that this cost his team a direct slot in DCC, guess to little to late.
VERIFICATION
1. If a player was a Super Champ in the past five years, he/she must self rate at or above a 4.5 NTRP level; former High School players can not play below the 3.0 level.
2. The years of valid rating starting with the 2007 championship year will be reduced from five (5) years to three (3) years for those individuals 59 and under and from three (3) years to two (2) years for those individuals 60 years and over. If intervening circumstances (such a as disabling injury or illness) indicate that such a rating may be too high, the player may request a reconsideration of such rating in accordance with procedures established by the Section.
3. Players new to the league may self rate on Tennis Link. Self-rate Grievances must go to the Section League Grievance Comm. Reg. 2.02C(4) and 2.02D(4).
4. If, during the league season, a player is moved to a higher level of play, he/she must meet the two match eligibility requirement prior to the local playoffs at the higher level to advance to Sectionals with that higher level team
5. If a player is moved up by the Sectional Grievance Committee for unfair practices in self rating, all matches are taken away from that player.