Tri-Level Around The Corner

Tri-level is just over 2 weeks away and the teams are in place. Who will dominate and who is just showing up to play?? It is hard to make a true analysis with all the recent bump ups and bump downs. I will give my 2 cents worth and then I am sure we will hear plenty from the anons.....

Smith - has fielded 4.5s and 4.0s with solid records, but seems to be week with his 3.5s. Also only 2 players at each level so no depth and evidently not planning to go past the weekend.

BMO - seems to have a solid 4.5 team with Hawkins & Evans playing alot together. Toth has a good 4.0 record and paired with BMO should do fine, although their 3rd player Dietrich has a mixed history (based on Fall record). Their 3.5s are coming from the Fort Worth league over from Flower Mound. Kotlarek used to be an old Oak Creek boy but with a pretty mixed record. Seems their weekness could be in their 3.5s.

Bazan - seems to be a recreational team with average players across the board and no depth to take them past the weekend. Carry himself is not even on the roster.

Bender - as usual, has cherry picked top players from across the city. Has solid 4.5s and has Varner and Palacio who should do well together at 4.0. The only wild card here is his 3.5s which are coming from his 3.0 national team. Knowing Bob, they are probably 4.0 talent.

Feldman - evidently building a team to go for the gold. Has solid players across the board and depth at all levels except 4.5. They have a slew of good 4.0s...Wiley, Clark, Jones, Corcoran, and Zachary. They evidently plan to pull one of those to help out at 4.5. The 3.5s are the remains of Garland's 3.5 team. They add one more 4.5 player and this will be the team to beat.

Arcaria - appears their strenght is at 4.5 and then falls off from there. Arcaria Bennett are a good team but have stumbled in the past with Wiley/Clark and will have their hands full with Varner/Palacio. They have 4 3.5s on the roster but not sure why unless than plan to win it through them, but looking at their records they are best to avoid 3rd set tie breaks as both Toney and Kaiser have had problems converting.

Nishizaki - probably the most least talked about or recognizable names on the blog but solid player records across 4.5 and 4.0. Has picked up Bender's 3.0 crew for his 3.5 and that may be their only weakness. Sleeper team that could surprise.

Kraemer - another team with players having solid records at their level, but just lacking 4.5 depth. Appears to be another team to be their for fun given the lack of depth on their roster (as of current) however has talent that should do well. We can see how serious Kraemer is if he adds to the roster in the coming weeks. However, there are probably little players left to pull from.

My best guess depending on the draw..... Feldmans and Benders team make the finals.

http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/reports/TennisLinkReports.asp?Level=F&FlightID=113610&CYear=2010

Cotton Bowl draws out soon

So one of our biggest local tourneys is coming up soon.

Here is the link where you can see who has signed up in each event:
http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=71913

I know some of joked about playing down but I do wonder why anyone would really want to "play down" I rarely play tourneys but when I do I am usually looking to play a variety of players that are on par with my ability and get progressively better as the weekend goes on. But I guess this is the last hurrah weekend to show off your old ranking so enjoy it while it lasts (Brian, Marc and Matt) I actually think these guys would have been competitive in the 4.5 draw although Miles, Kiron, Kern and others make that a pretty good local draw.

4.0 Draw: 52 players
4.5 Draw: 30
3.5 Draw: 27

I am guessing this trend will continue and 4.5 might actually get larger as the season wears on and people want some good competition. I also wonder if the 5.0 and Open draws will start to fill up as well. Open singles has 92 players in it (WOW!).

Doubles draws are very good at 4.0 and 4.5 with 16 teams involved but 3.5 is a little small and I think that will also be true for the rest of the season.

Early predictions:

3.5: Ronald Jones, Berco Neiman could win this
4.0: Fankhauser, Studey, Lucky Thunder???
4.5: Kern, Wescoup and Miles are favs

I am just ready to play and hoping for some good weather.

3.5 A Desert Wasteland

Now with the Fall playoffs behind us and Oak Creek securing a win, who is left to carry the torch for them? Oak Creek had their entire roster bumped to 4.0 except for one player, Thomas Mus. Will there be a 3.5 Oak Creek team to take the free-ride to the City Playoffs ? Based on the revised rules, a team must have 50% of their prior season roster sign up to guarantee them the City spot. If there is not enough eligible players available to field the 50%, then 70% of ELIGIBLE players need to sign up which will guarantee them a spot in the QT (not City). Based on this, Thomas Mus must be a coveted man as he is the only player that needs to be on the roster of a team, and that team will be guaranteed a spot in the Spring QT.

So who will Thomas Mus play for in the Spring, given that whatever team he plays on is guaranteed to play in the QT ?

Does anyone give a crap about 3.5 anymore given that there are few players left and most of the teams consistently making the playoffs are left with few if any players?

Will Oak Creek have a 3.5 team?

Will Fretz have a 3.5 team ?

Will Huffhines, Lifetime or Garland have a 3.5 team ?

The only team that is fully formed and has players to play would be Bender's 3.0 National team. Can he make another run at Nationals?? Does he try to recruit Mus ?? How much is he willing to pay ???

Discuss what's next for the 3.5 level (if there is any 3.5s left out there)................

DCC Underway

So much for bad weather, it is actually great tennis weekend for playoff tennis. The guy in the sky must be a fan of the USTA.

So rather than reposting any thoughts I thought I would let all three levels just post up any interesting results or thoughts on this weekend.

I wish I could make it by but I am booked up with shopping, work and watching my wife running downtown in a half marathon.

Best of luck to you all but especially those teams that can't earn the wildcard, we stay at homers are rooting for you all the most.

4.5 Playoffs

Here are the flights and match times for the 4.5 playoffs this weekend. I will leave you guys to make the predictions.

Blue Flight

T Bar--What I believe to be the strongest roster of any of the playoff teams. I have information that says that some of their players will play 5.0 in the playoffs instead though. This makes sense because the 5.0 team only has 4 players rated 5.0 so they will have to have at least one more to even field a lineup.

High Point--Hard to imagine this team overpowering anybody, but they have solid doubles players that can compete with anybody. They will need to pull out some tiebreaks to advance. Clint is a sure win at any line I would think, so it will be interesting to see where he plays.

Northwood--This team clearly has the best captain of any teams in the playoffs. Many of the same doubles players that have anchored the team for a while now. Those players plus Andy Xu will have to carry the team for them to have a chance.

Saturday at 8 a.m.

Northwood v. High Point

Saturday at 2 p.m.

High Point v. T Bar

Sunday at 10 a.m.

T Bar v. Northwood


Red Flight

Oak Creek--Essentially the identical team that won last fall. Mark Teat and Kamran Mir are new additions that will contribute. Viktorin will have to go undefeated for them to advance, but he has carried them before and I could easily see him doing that again.

Royal Oaks--Drastically different team from last season with the losses of Joey and Andrus. I'm not sure they have found replacements good enough to advance. Spotty results this season make it difficult to tell if they were saving up for the playoffs or just weaker than expected. Rauschuber is always good for a win though.

The Lakes--Surprise team of the regular season. They were the most dominant team in the regular season but I'm not sure they have the firepower to win it. A couple of very solid doubles players but singles could be an uphill battle for them. If their opponents can strategically avoid their best doubles team, they are in trouble. Oberg and Pollock have proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

Saturday at 10 a.m.

Royal Oaks v. Oak Creek

Saturday at 4 p.m.

Oak Creek v. The Lakes

Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Lakes v. Royal Oaks


Finals are on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Good luck to all.

4.0 Playoffs One Week Away (Cotton Bowl deadline Dec. 14th)

If we had TV Ratings for league tennis the news this week would have further diminished the buzz for this weekend with no Bob and no Eddie already.

I will attempt to create some excitement on what might go down this weekend. The bottom line is 3 of the 8 teams have no chance of retaining 70% of their players and earning a wild card including the two big favorites (OC and Garland).

Red Flight Breakdown:

Lakes (25 to 1)
This is a good team but they are in a flight with two great teams. Fankhauser is undefeated this season and gone to 4.5 but not sure he will remain undefeated and that will be the difference in some close losses for this team. Now if Fankhauser turns it up and wins then their fortunes may change. Fix, Richardson, Balan and Sinclair can scratch out some wins as well so this team is a dangerous underdog.

Brookhaven/Burt (20 to 1)
I think Burt put it best when he told me about this team, they would do well in the regular season but when they played the 4.5'ers in the playoffs they would struggle. Luckily he has a couple of his own in Ludwig, Rivera and Stein. These three are very tough but they will need to go undefeated against some stiff competition this weekend because there is a drop off in talent level after that although Burt and John played pretty well last time I saw them (and lost to them). I think I would have liked this team in the other flight to contend but they just don't quite stack up against OC and Garland.

OC (Pick'em) and Garland (Pick'em)
I have stared at these names for a while now and I don't see any huge difference and really it will depend on John and Don to set the lineups right to earn a close win and they play each other on opening night (BRRRRR) so this flight may be decided early. I like OC doubles a little more but I have not seen Tran or Guzman play so not sure they can overtake any of the Garland singles players. If I was forced to pick, I would go for OC 10-8 in the 3rd set TB.

Blue Flight Breakdown
Three of the four teams here actually have a shot at the wild card as they return the bulk of their players although that kind of speaks to why Greenhill has to be the favorite here.

Village (30 to 1)
With only Fred Givhan as a big gun here and bump to 4.5 I think it will be hard for them to scratch out wins here, although I did learn the hard way you have to bring your best against this team but I just don't like their doubles matchups in this flight.

JCC (10 to 1)
I like this team but not enough to put them at the top. I think Lieberman, Drazner and Elovitz will have to play every match and win all their matches to get them in the mix and that is tough to ask for anyone. I think their lack of depth will hurt them since their doubles drops off after line 1 and in the playoffs you need to have a chance to win all 5 lines.

Brookhaven/Brad (5 to 1)
I am not sure what to think about this team but Chris Ellis has changed their chances for fair to strong. If he and Don Buford can play strong along with Helterbrann/Mattes this team will be tough to beat all weekend long. Moore/Smith had a strong run this season and with depth like that I think this team might just be the favorite in this flight.

Greenhill (2 to 1)
So close to being eligible to return as a wild card but not quite but on paper they should be a favorite in this flight. They have not been dominate but vets like Russouw, Odell, Wildberger, Sweeney, Carlquist and Nguyen they might just be too tough at doubles. The trick for this team is singles. Oleg and Chris Bergeron will need to step up and win some matches or they may not make it out of flight play.

Finals: OC wins 4-1 over Greenhill

******************************************
Tourney note: The registration deadline for the 200 pt. Cotton Bowl is coming up on December 14th. I have cleared my schedule and I will see you all there.

End of Year Ratings

OK. No more posts in the 4.0 playoff thread about End-of-Year Ratings or my Captaining Philosophies.

The USTA dramatically changed the landscape of USTA leagues going into the spring season by moving up a large percentage of 3.5 and 4.0 players. Who does this help? Who does it hurt?

Who are the top 10 4.0s that didn't get moved up? Top ten 3.5s? What players got moved up that shouldn't have (seems like a long list)?

Also, how do players get moved down a level without playing a single match (i.e. Matt McCord)?

Start the discussion. BTW, I fully expect the first post to be about 4.0 playoffs.

4.0 Fall Playoffs getting closer

So still two more weeks to go until the playoff weekend but I thought I would throw out some names so you all can decide who might be the best players that will be playing that weekend.

The Red flight looks pretty tough since I think the two best teams are OC and Garland and there is some good talent in there.

Top Red Flight Singles:
Garland has four guys who might just be at the top of the heap in Defeo, McFarlane, O'Bannon and Montagard. Obannon most likely will stay at doubles but if needed could beat anyone in this playoff tourney. Montagard and McFarlane should shoulder most of the weight since Defeo and O'Bannon can help at doubles just as much.

Lakes also has some firepower at singles with Fankhauser, Richardson and Sinclair who can hang with just about any of those guys listed above. Richardson has had trouble matching up in past playoffs but he seems to be playing rather well lately.

BH/Pearlman only has one standout but he is a good one in Todd Stein, he is undefeated at 4.0 and 4.5 this season and has a straight set win over Givhan which is impressive.

OC/Smith has struggled with singles in the past but adding Vinh Tran and Pablo Guzman has changed that for them. These two are good and Charles Kelley is no slouch either and Vanoverschede (sp?) can help out if needed but those first two names will spell trouble and might just make them the favs in this flight.

Blue Flight Singles

JCC might just be the favs here due to their big 3 at singles (Elovitz, Drazner and Lieberman) all of these guys have to be favorites in their matches on Friday and Saturday.

BH/Bartlett improved a lot with Chris Ellis and he will be a almost a sure win in singles for doubles. Don Buford is a question mark but in this flight I think he will be formidable.

Village lost Vacalis but picked up a strong player in Givhan and he is their best hope although Ken Miller showed up big in the spring playoffs and will need to again if they will be a factor.

Greenhill had a great season but primarily at doubles and the only bright spot I see here is Bergergon, I think this team would struggle mightily in the other flight but Bergeron may be enough to get them to Sunday.

Doubles:
Obviously I have no idea what guys will be playing together so it seems a tad pointless to say this doubles team, etc will make an impact but here are some guys who had a great regular season and should make a difference in their team's success:

Brouer, Rajani, O'Bannon, Flora, Terrell, Fix, Balan, Ludwig, Rivera, Bayley, Myrick, Spinks, Hill, Fossler, Shaw, B. Smith, Moore, Helterbrann, Mattes, Russouw, Carlquist, Bin Nguyen, Wildberger, Sweeney and Odell.

Stay tuned for picks and odds the week of playoffs.

Noel/Sisk Holiday Tournament Results

Hey everybody,

Thanks again to all of you for playing in the tournament this weekend. It was near perfect weather and there were a lot of great matches. Special thanks to John Sisk and Garland Tennis Center for helping to make this a special event. Here are some notable results:

Singles Semifinals

John Luxton d. Corey Noel 5-7, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (8). Uggghhhh!!!!
Andy Xu d. Todd Feldman 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (3).

Singles Championship

Andy d. John 6-4, 6-0. You're welcome Andy for me wearing John down for you.

Consolation Finals

Chad Moomjian d. Leonard Hutchison 6-2, 6-2.

Andy collected 107.
John collected 64.20
Chad collected 42.80

Doubles Semifinals

Hai Nguyen/Long Pham d. Christopher McDonald/Michael Taylor 5-7, 5-5 retired.

Atul Rajani/Mike Sullivan d. Chad Moomjian/Evan Mashigian 7-6 (5), 1-6, 1-0 (7).

Doubles Final

Hai/Long d. Atul/Mike 6-4, 6-4

Consolation Final

Jerry Defeo/Brent O'Bannon d. Conan Heath/Patrick Wire 6-3, 6-3.

Hai and Long collected 135.
Atul and Mike collected 81.
Jerry and Brent collected 54.


For those of us who didn't win anything, we will try harder next time. John and I plan to do this tournament again sometime at the end of February, possibly Feb. 27-28. I hope you all will sign up again.

Thanks
Corey

4.0 Final Weekend/Masters Weekend

So things are just about done and then it is blog vacation time. Ahhh. I wish I had enough time and info to post up a 4.0 Masters thread but I don't but ANON you are always free to send me one if you want to and I will post it. Feel free to post any thoughts about Eddie and Brandon's progress throughout the weekend.

Now back to league.

Flight A:
This flight is all but sewn up, Greenhill is the #1 seed even with a loss this weekend. Lakes will be in as the #2 seed unless a small miracle happens and they lose to the Oakland Raiders led by Jamarcus Russell (aka Lucky Thunder). Too many IFs in this scenario to make it relevant.

Flight B:
This flight is easy. Garland in as the #1 seed no matter what. The second team in will be a winner go home match between JCC and Fretz. This one is tough to call, I think it will be a first for both of these teams at least in recent memories to make the playoffs so either way it should be good for the league to see some new names in the playoffs. If both send their best 8 players my money is on JCC.

Flight C:
Brookhaven has nailed down a spot as the #1 but another battle for #2 seed happens here between Village and Canyon Creek. The only catch is CC must win 4-1 or better. That seems like a tall task when you are talking about good teams so I will have to go with the Village on this one.

Flight D:
All kinds of scenarios here but essentially OC and BH have their destiny on their racquets, if they lose they better make it 2-3 and then hope Huffhines (oh wait) this just in Team Bob already won 5-0 so the loser of the OC/BH match will have a tough road although with a quick glance at tiebreakers OC would probably still make it in. Could Team BOB miss the playoffs? No way around it; a good team will be staying at home in this flight.

3.5 Season Ends - Playoffs Not For Another Month

With the 3.5 season finishing off as expected, teams are now having to wait a full month before the playoffs which is scheduled for December 11-13. What will teams be doing to stay fresh? Are any teams looking for scrimmages to keep sharp?

Also, end of year rankings should be out prior to the playoffs. We will know which teams will be losing players in the Spring.

Flight A - 1st Garland & 2nd Westlake
Flight B - 1st Fretz & 2nd Huffhines
Flight C - 1st Oak Creek & 2nd Samuel Grand

Congrats to the above teams, and good luck in the playoffs ! Hopefully we can have some posts discussing these teams and avoid the trash talking about the teams who aren't going.

FT Worth Fall Leauge Report

Time For Anon's favorite column,
FT Worth USTA League Report!!!!!

In the 3.5 Div we 3 more matches to go. The play off hunt is pretty thick in the Red Div. we have 4 teams with one loss each.

3.5 red
Pecan Plantation
River Crest
Ridglea Siegel
TCU Toads

In the Blue Div The RacketQueers have the lead with one loss, but they still have to play the other Southlake team who only has 2 losses.
Flower Mound must beat Southlake Smashers this week if they want to have a chance.

3.5 Blue
Southlake Racqueteers
Flower Mound
Southlake Smashers

4.5 has 2 to go and both the first and second place teams have 2 make up matches to finish,
So they have to get 4 matches out of the way in 2 weeks.
They have to play each other for the final match of the season, Mcleand won their first meeting 3-1.

4.5
TCU Luningham
McLeland

4.0 Play offs Week #2

Match #1
Southlake
vs
Hurst Stars 4.0

SouthLake should win this 3-1

Match #2
Denton Country Club (Argyle)
vs
Flower Mound

Team FM should win 3-1

Match #3
TCU Cowtowners
vs
The Old Gang (ATC)

Last time these two teams met it was a close 2-2 loss for OG ATC
OG gets revenge 2-2 in a nail bitter

Match #4
RTC Wylie
vs
TCU Armadillos

TCU 3-1 in this match up.

Tournament DRAW
Let the hate begin!

4.5 Playoff Teams

OK,

The field for the fall playoffs is set. We don't know the flights or the schedule and we probably won't for a while, but we can at least examine the teams and their chances to win the title.

Flight A

T Bar (7-0 presumably)--Their last match is still unreported but I would assume they won. They are one of only two undefeated teams this season but they have been far from dominant in their victories. Four 3-2 wins in 6 matches is cutting it close which means two things: 1. They have the ability to win the close matches (i.e. Colby is clutch) and 2. They do not have a dominant line. Teams that win 3-2 often have to rely on different players to win because they don't have a guaranteed win on their roster. Although they have some undefeated players, I don't put them in the unbeatable category.

OC Feldman (6-1, only loss to T Bar)--This team is small as usual, but they have very little weaknesses. McGuiness was added late but I don't think he will be in the playoff lineup. They do have a sure win in Viktorin, although he has been less dominant than he was last fall. This makes it much easier to manipulate lineups in your favor. I would expect their doubles to be competitive with anybody.

Flight B

Northwood (4-1)--Very similar team from previous seasons minus 5.0 bumpups Fair and McCord. Defection of Ryan Snell helped depth of doubles. Team has consistently relied on line 1 doubles to win matches, but depth is lacking from previous seasons. Andy Xu, in my opinion, has the ability to beat any singles player on any playoff roster. They will have to have all of their top players to compete.

Royal Oaks (4-1)--Severely depleted team from last season without Molina, Andrus, and Greg Zachary. Those three players accounted for five playoff wins last season. Very tough to replace that and they haven't in my opinion. New recruits have not had the same dominance. The team has a solid versatile player in Rauschuber but players around him will have to step up for them to have a chance.

Flight C

The Lakes (6-0)--This team has been the biggest surprise team but they have gradually improved over the last two seasons. They have a solid line 1 team that is unbeaten in Oberg and Pollock but the rest of the lineup seems shaky. A lot of depth but not to the level of the other teams, especially in singles. Five of their wins were 3-2, including two wins over below-average Brookhaven and High Point lineups.

High Point (4-1)--This team shocked me by starting very slowly but I still think they have the talent to win. Clint is a sure win at any position and Hai and Jimme have proven themselves in playoff competition. Depth at doubles is an issue but if those three players play, they will be in good shape.

Power Rankings:

1. T Bar
2. The Lakes
3. OC Feldman
4. Northwood
5. High Point

4.0 Week 8

So things are winding down now but things are still up in the air in most of the flights.

Flight A:
Greenhill has clinched a spot and has been in cruise control for a while now in this flight. Lakes had a good run going but a default hurt them this week as they fell to Eldorado. This one surprised me especially after I saw Enrique lost his match. This week they have DCC who is no pushover although their lineups have been much better when they play at home and this match is at the Lakes. TBar M looks to be cruising along and improving and will just have to wait and see if they can catch the Lakes on tiebreaks and become fans of DCC this weekend.

Flight B:
Big match isn't until 11/14 between JCC and Fretz for 2nd place but JCC still has a makeup match to play as well as Eldorado this weekend so they still need to take care of biz or Fretz can punch their ticket.

Flight C:
Same story here just waiting on 11/14 for the 2nd place matchup between Canyon Creek and the Village. But yet again Canyon Creek has to win this weekend or that matchup will mean nothing.

Flight D:
Thank god for this flight otherwise we could just shut the 4.0 talk down completely. Ok I have to admit I posted LTF v. HP as an MOW and now I see the score from LTF that they lost to the Village, OMG. Not sure how that happened but I will leave it up just to see the landslide voting. II guess if Bob sits the big guns this match could be interesting. The more interesting matchup will be Garland v. OC. OC is coming off a great win so hopefully there is no letdown or they will fall right back into the pack again. Next week looks great as OC takes on Brookhaven.

3.5 Time Has Run Out As Season Nears An End

Flight A - In the match of the week, Westlake takes down High Point 4-1 with HP forfeiting a line of singles. (WTF ??) I feel sorry for Jameson as he evidently has the talent and a sizeable roster of 18 players, yet still has to default a line in their most crucial match of the season. That has to be frustrating. That pretty much wraps up this flight with Garland and Westlake going to the prom.

Flight B - Fretz shows dominance with a 5-0 win this weekend, nudging Huffhines into 2nd place with lines won. High Point Entrekin has no shot at going, unless they get a 5-0 win and Huffhines has a 0-5 loss. Sorry, but don't see that happening. Fretz and Huffhines will be joining Garland and Westlake to the dance.

Flight C - Sam Grand secures 2nd place by beating Brookhaven 4-1 in their make up match. Even if the Village and Brookhaven get a win this week, they mathematically cannot catch up as Sam Grand has a 7 lines won advantage. It is Oak Creek and Samuel Grand joining the others to the playoffs.

Not an "Epic Fail" but by all means a jaw dropper is the lack of commitment from the HP squad. This is the THIRD TIME that HP has to default a line. What gives over there at High Point???

Samuel Grand is the Cinderalla making the prom, coming from nowhere in flight C to make the dance.

As the season is now set, there is little that can be done with this weekend ahead. Perhaps some players managing some scores??? Nah.......that doesn't happen here!!

FT Worth Fall 4.0 Play-Offs

The 3.5 Div is top heavy with 5-1 teams,
The 4.5 needs to make up their rain out matches.
However, the 4.0 Div is all done and the 14 team single elimination tournament begins this week end.

Draw can be found HERE

Quick Preview.
Southlake at 6-0 gets a bye and well as the TCU Cowtowners

First round matches
Ridglea Roughnecks(3-3)

vs
Hurst Stars 4.0(2-3)
I have to give the nod to the roughnecks here

ATC Hammers(4-2)

vs
Denton Country Club (Argyle)(0-6)
Denton CC can barely get out of their own way,ATC all the way

Flower Mound(3-3)

vs
Walnut Creek(2-4)
Both these teams have been soft in singles this year, Team FM gets the win, Home court may figure in here.

RTC Coyotes 4.0(3-3)

vs
The Old Gang (ATC)(2-4)
The old gang had a tuff team in the spring, not sure what happened in the fall, they dad several 2-2 losses, I pick them for the upset.

RTC Wylie 4-2

vs
River Crest 1-4
Wylie has a good team and should roll here

TCU Armadillos 4-1

vs
RTC Tims 2-3
TCU could have finished first in their Div if they would have made up the rain out, Tims has a good team if he can get the right players to show up, Tims pulls the upset.

4.0 Week 7 Via Marc Russouw

All complaints can be sent to

Marc Russouw
c/o Greenhill Tennis Center
Good Part of Town, TX 12345

Flight A - not much going on. HP/Bazan are creeping back up the standings to where they belong (ahh thanks Marc but we have packed it in) and will probably take down TBar who still need to get in their make-up match with the tough Stonebriar team. Assuming that Lakes and GHill manage to hold off Eldorado and LBH, Lakes & GHill will probably clinch play-off berths this weekend.

Flight B - nothing interesting happening here until the last week when JCC take on Fretz for the 2nd place. Highly unlikely that JCC lose their other 2 matches before then so it comes down to these 2 (Eldorado already has 2 losses and still needs to play Garland who will give them their 3rd loss)

Flight C - same song different tune.... The final week match-up between Canyon Creek & Village will decide who makes the play-offs with BHavenBP - who have a soft schedule remaining.

Flight D - Now this is where the action is! BhavenBB really needs to win against Garland because after their 0-5 drubbing last week to Somabut tie-breakers are not their friend. This match will be tough if both teams are able to field their top 8 players. Since that is unlikely I'm going to give the edge to BHaven as I think they have better depth at dubs but this is a toss-up. Don't be fooled by the Garland loss to Village, that was the week Newman and Kingsley were with Bob at Nationals, but does indicate their lack of depth.

MOW however has to be Somabut vs Oak Creek. I'm going to stop betting against Bob's "rebuilding" team and pick them to win this one. Somehow he has assembled a quality roster around Weymer, Kemp & Fenn. It will be interesting to see how they fare though when those 3 get bumped up at year-end.

2nd Annual Noel/Sisk Holiday Tournament

When: Nov. 20-22, 2009

Where: Sites: Garland Tennis Center. Another nearby location will be chosen if necessary.

EVENTS: Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles

FORMAT: This is an old-school format. There are no divisions by level. Everybody signs up for singles, doubles, and/or mixed doubles in a maximum of two events. Seeding will be determined by Corey Noel, John Sisk, and an objective third party and will be based primarily on NTRP ratings, USTA results, and previous Noel/Sisk tournament results. Maximum draw size will be 32 players/teams for all draws. If there are more than 32 players/teams, the players will be divided into multiple draws (max size=16). Example: 45 players sign up= a draw of 22 and a draw of 23. Seeds will be placed using the wave method if multiple draws occur. There will be a consolation draw for each event.

NOTE: Many of you are already thinking, how can there be no levels? What makes our tournaments special and different is the handicapping system. We have used a handicap scoring system in our last tournaments, making virtually every match competitive, when it may or may not have been under normal scoring rules. The way it works is, players receive one handicap game at the start of each set per 0.5 difference in level, based on the players’ NTRP ratings, including the option to start serving or receiving. For example, if a 4.0 plays a 4.5, the 4.0 would begin each set with the option to serve or receive, and a 1-0 lead. Same applies in doubles. If two 4.0s play two 4.5s, the 4.0 team would begin each set with the option to serve or receive, and a 2-0 lead (8.0 v. 9.0). We had a lot of positive feedback for this format and we look forward to using it again. We will only accept players in the 3.0-5.0 range, and a maximum of 4 games will be given in any set. If players do not have a USTA rating, the tournament committee will assign one based on available information. We will use the current mid-season USTA ratings (sorry John :(.

SCORING: Regular Season—Two out of three sets, regular scoring, with a 3rd-set super-tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. Finals can be played under full two out of three set format if time allows.

ENTRY FEE: $28 per event or $48 for two events. Maximum two events. Preferred method of payment is electronic via PayPal. All players will be invoiced by PayPal on Monday, November 9 and payment is due by Saturday, November 14.

PRIZE MONEY : This is a prize money event. No trophies, no t-shirts; we’re playing for cash, and for fun of course.

PAYOUT: 1st place: 25% of all entry fees for that draw (12.5% per doubles team member).
2nd place: 15% of all entry fees for that draw (7.5% per doubles team member).
Consolation winner: 10% of all entry fees for that draw (5% per doubles team member).
Example: if 20 people sign up for singles only for a total prize pool of $500, winner would receive $125, 2nd place would receive $75, consolation winner would receive $50. Split those prizes in half to determine doubles prize money.

SCHEDULE of Play: Singles will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. Sunday. Doubles will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday, and noon Sunday. Mixed will begin Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. All times are dependent upon draw sizes.

SIGN-UP: Sign up by e-mailing noelcarter91199@yahoo.com. List the events you would like to sign up for and you will be invoiced accordingly through PayPal.

DEADLINE: Players must be paid by Saturday November 14.

Feel free to use this forum for feedback or questions.

4.5 Headlines

Flight A

TBAR CONTINUES TO CRUISE, LUDWIG'S TEAM FALLS AGAIN--TBar gets its fourth 3-2 win of the season by beating Brookhaven Ludwig. The second straight loss by Ludwig's team leaves them on the outside looking in unless they can get a 5-0 win next week over Feldman. Not going to happen. Four of the five matches came down to tiebreaks but T Bar was able to win four out of five of them. Nice win!! They officially clinch a playoff spot with the win.

FELDMAN ELIMINATES GREENHILL--Greenhill once again comes up just short of making the playoffs, barring a miracle. Would be very interesting if their makeup match with Somabut ends up meaning something. Regardless, Greenhill would have to win each of its last two matches 4-1, and have Oak Creek lose to Ludwig to have any shot.

Flight B

NORTHWOOD CONTINUES TO DOMINATE--Northwood continues to roll, extending its undefeated record. A little closer than the score indicates but a win nevertheless over an improved DFW team today.

LIFETIME WINS AGAIN, SETS UP SHOWDOWN WITH ROYAL OAKS NEXT WEEK FOR PLAYOFF SPOT--Lifetime ekes out another win against another Oak Creek team to set up the most meaningful match left in the flight this season. Eddie, let us know the time and place so the fans can come out.

Flight C

LAKES' CINDERELLA STORY CONTINUES, CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH--The Lakes will be in the 4.5 playoffs for the first time (that I know of). They clinched by beating a depleted Brookhaven lineup. Some of the Brookhaven lineups have been suspect and this one was no different. Although, they were a third-set tiebreak away from winning. The Lakes have beaten all contenders in its flight, and will have all the momentum going into the postseason.

BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE STILL WIDE OPEN--Really hard to say with so many unplayed matches who the second playoff team will be, but I would give the edge to High Point. They only have one loss but still have 3 matches left to play, two of them against playoff teams from last season. Assuming they beat Oak Creek today, they will be in a commanding position.

Power Rankings

1. The Lakes (5-0, 16-9). Hard to argue with based on who they've beaten.
2. T Bar (6-0, 21-9). A lot of close wins builds character right?
3. Northwood (4-0, 17-3). Most consistent team but weakest opposition.
4. Feldman (5-1, 22-8). Defending fall champs know what it takes to win.
5. High Point (2-1, 9-6). Not much to go on but they have the personnel to win.

Thoughts?

3.5 Coming into Focus

Anon 2 gets majority of predictions, but misses on some big upsets.

Flight A - Westlake stumbles losing to Stonebridge 3-2, leaving the door open for Stonebridge and High Point, each with 2 losses. Westlake has to take on undefeated Garland this weekend which will not be an easy task. Should they lose, they too will have 2 losses. Stonebridge and HP meet up as well and the winner will be in the running and the loser will be done. This flight has the most excitement coming up this weekend.

Flight B - Anon 2 gets this flight right (still waiting on results from Lakes/Stonbriar match..... C'mon captains, get your scores recorded in a timely manner!) Huffhines is now in the #1 slot and should stay there after this weekend going up against a winless Stonebridge. Fretz is right there as well and it looks like it will be these two teams finishing on top of this flight.

Flight C - Brookhaven gets bent over by Oak Creek in a 5-0 dessimation, with not even one line being close. Brookhaven will now have to win the rest of their matches to stay in there and fend off the Village. Does Lifetime have what it takes to give an upset this week against Brookhaven? The current top 2 teams in this flight (Oak Creek and Village) don't match up until the final week.

Match ups of the week: Westlake at Garland, Stonebridge at High Point, Lifetime at Brookhaven.

4.5 Week Headlines

Not too many surprises this week in the 4.5 division. Here are the top stories from Sunday.

Flight A

LUDWIG BACK DOWN TO EARTH--Brookhaven finally plays a worthy opponent and prove the critics right. BH actually had a chance to win the match with a couple of meaningful tiebreaks going Greenhill's way, so maybe they are better than we thought.

BAZAN BEATS SOMABUT--Probably the first and only time I will say that. Not too many actual 4.5s in this match but Bazan came out with the win (first of the season).

TBAR and OAK CREEK CONTINUE TO CRUISE--These two teams have solidified themselves as the top of the flight and, since they have already played each other, I find it unlikely that either will falter. Greenhill will have to go undefeated to make it, but calculating matches and sets is not their friend at this point.

Flight B

BOVERMANN AND ROTHWELL--Anybody know the results? Winner should be in good position for playoffs.

LIFETIME IN SECOND PLACE??--Lifetime gets their third win of the season. Except for the lapse against Northwood, they are undefeated. Hard to picture a team that is 9-11 in individual matches making the playoffs though.

Flight C

MIGHTY OAK CREEK LOSES....AGAIN--The Lakes have a commanding 4-0 lead in the division. It seems unfathomable that they will miss the playoffs now. Oak Creek is on life support. Even though this team is a shell of its former self, I expected better with James, Pollard, Slezak, and Braswell still on the roster. But, as I'm sure they will say, it's only the fall.

HIGH POINT V. BAIRD HAS HUGE PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS--Loser of this match is all but eliminated with two losses whereas the winner will move into second place. This really looks like it will be the most competitive battle for second place of all the flights.

NEXT WEEK: BROOKHAVEN V. LAKES--I look for the Lakes to come back to reality a little bit with a loss here. Brookhaven's top lineup can beat anybody in the flight but we have rarely seen that all season.

Thoughts??

4.0 Week 6

So pretty good weekend of matches last weekend as two of the 4 flights are looking like they will be interesting up until the final weekend.

Flight A:
Not that much going on as the top two teams have played and now they just need to hold on and not slip up for the final few weeks. Lakes plays LB Houston. LBH doesn't look great on paper but they have enough strength to take out some good teams, just ask both of my crews who lost in 3rd set TBs to them. They are a scrappy bunch.

Flight B:
Garland has pretty much punched their ticket but 2nd place is still up for grabs but might start to take better shape this weekend as Eldorado and Fretz face off this weekend. This one is a tough call but I think Eldorado might just pull it off in a close one. JCC takes on Greenhill as well and has a chance to become relevant but if they lose both them and Greenhill will have a tough time climbing to the top. Greenhill has a tough road either way but one more loss and they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Flight C:
Brookhaven is cruising but they face High Point who has been up and down so far but they need this win to stay in the race so I think they might field a strong lineup. The most interesting match should be Gleneagles v. Village which should show which of those two teams will be in the running for a playoff spot in this flight. I don't have a good vibe on this match but I am leaning towards Gleneagles for some reason.

Flight D:
4.0 MOW is here as undefeated new powerhouse Brookhaven takes on HP/Bob who needs a win to keep their string of 200 straight playoff appearances. I can never bet against Bob especially because BH might struggle in singles and that is usually where Bob donates a win to the other team anyway. Also interested to see how LTF does against struggling Stonebridge who even though winless are still dangerous.

4.5 Feature Matchups this Week

Instead of going through every match, I will highlight the important matchups of the flight. With all of the rain, very little has been established in any flight since all the teams have played a different amount of matches. The forecast this week should be a little better and we should learn more about the teams.

Flight A

Nothing exciting this week. Weak v. strong unless a team can pull an upset. Really will be amazed if Ludwig's team is 4-0 but I will still predict them to miss the playoffs. Their last 3 weeks are against Greenhill, T Bar, and Feldman. They will most likely have to win two of those three to advance and I don't see how that happens.

Flight B

Feature match is between Royal Oaks and Juhn this week. Both teams are coming off losses but Royal Oaks is still expected to make the playoffs. A win by Juhn would make this flight much more interesting though. DFW and Lifetime could also be an interesting match. I would say loser drops out of contention officially.

Flight C

LB Houston v. Lakes has to be the most intriguing matchup. Both teams are certainly a surprise thus far and I think we will see who the true contender is this week between the two. The Lakes team has gotten progressively stronger each year and I look for them to move to 3-0. For now, I'm counting LB Houston's opening week win as a fluke. Hackberry and Oak Creek is also intriguing. This flight really seems to be very evenly balanced, much more than I thought originally.

Any thoughts?

4.0 Week 5

At least I think it is week 5, not for sure but that is what we are going for.

So as mentioned I haven't had a chance to follow too much due to work and family but glad to be back for a few minutes here to see what is going on.

Flight A:
Greenhill and Lakes are playing this weekend and "should" decide who will finish in the top spot in this flight. I do think both these teams will finish 1-2 and place really doesn't matter in the fall. If I had to pick I would go with the Lakes but this one is a toss up, it will come down to a singles match if I had to guess and that is why I have to go with the Lakes. I think another interesting match will be SWAT v. DCC. The DCC has a chance to jump up into the discussion with a win of possibly overtaken the loser of the 4.0 MOW if they can get on a winning streak.

Flight B:
Garland has already posed for their playoff picture as of last week and really this flight is all about who will get 2nd place. Eldorado is off this week and is actually still undefeated which is impressive. Fretz and Greenhill are in the mix as well but Greenhill is one more loss away from a quick end to their season. JCC also has a shot here but tough to know with only 2 matches played so far.

Flight C:
This flight is much like B where Brookhaven can start planning for December right now as a slew of other teams are tied at 1-1 and I honestly have no idea which one could jump up and get 2nd place. Although my two favorites to grab that spot are playing each other on Saturday (HP v. Village) I think the winner will keep going and take 2nd place.

Flight D:
HP/Bob v. Garland/Brueckner is a battle of unbeatens and most likely will decide who joins Brookhaven in the playoffs. It is hard to think OC will not make the playoffs but they have a tough road to climb and that begins with a match v. Stonebridge who although they are 0-3 they are not a weak team at all but I wonder if they are packing it in for next season already.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This is the time of year it pays to be a member at Brookhaven or other clubs with indoor courts. Question is, are those teams taking advantage of practice time in the indoor courts while the rest of us twiddle our thumbs waiting for a break of sunshine.

3.5 Flight A - Battle of the Barn Boys; 3-1 Brookhaven Alzuro takes on 4-0 Westlake at Brookhaven. Both clubs have barns to practice in. Does Alzuro have the barn booked for the weekend and can their home barn advantage give them the edge to get a win ??

3.5 Flight B - HP Entrekin hosts Huffhines. HP's first true test ??

3.5 Flight C - May as well keep raining. Sleeper flight with the top 3 teams (3-0 Oak Creek, 3-0 Brookhaven & 2-1 Sam Grand) taking on the bottom 3 winless teams (Eldorado, Lifetime, LB Houston).

Sunshine is in the forcast for Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully some matches will be played. With time off of the courts, it should be interesting to see if any impact is made to the results of this weekend.

Hey Cary, is this where you went fishing ???

High Point headed to Vegas (Go TEXAS!)

So this is the first weekend of Nationals and High Point will attempt to bring home the crown and then Eddie can claim he beat them on one hot sunny afternoon.

I will not pretend to breakdown the teams in their flight but it will be interesting to see how they stack up.

Caribbean:
Some of these guys have been to Nats before but doesn't look like this core group has broken out of flight play in a little while but the crafy Puerto Ricans are always something to watch. I see them finishing middle of the pack but they do seem to have better doubles players so it might be a mirror image match when they see HP although I like Dencil and Craig to come out with singles going HP's way.

PNW:
This section won 4.0 mens last year and it looks like it came from the same tennis club. That starting 8 who won are all at 4.5 now but it can't hurt to play national champs every so often to get ready to win it yourself. It looks as if they have been very careful with their singles guys and have not lost anyone to DQ, etc. I expect this to be a very tough team.

New England:
Also looks pretty solid. To get to Vegas they dominated pool play at the sectional championships and look to have a very tough customer playing line 1 singles.

Southwest:
This team should have some trouble but I hope Bob is not tempting to pull and Eddie and have the starting group watch from the sidelines and put in Brouer. Just kidding Steven. :) But seriously this team is their last match and if they are still in the mix it might come down to style points.

I think it will come down to the Seattle team v. High Point. If they can get out of this pool who knows because Sunday you never know what can happen. I have a feeling the winner of this flight might come out with one loss.

Best of luck guys!

4.5 Week in Review/Sunday Preview

A lot of meaningful matches occurred this week. The two teams I predicted to play for the fall championship lost their first matches and Northwood pulled the upset over Royal Oaks.

Flight A

Brookhaven quietly moved to 2-0 with a second win over a High Point team but the top teams of the flight are clearly Feldman and T Bar. Greenhill will have a tough time rebounding from the loss to T Bar. If they could somehow beat Feldman later this season, they could force a 3-way tie.

Oak Creek and T Bar play this Sunday for first place in the flight. Winner should be a lock to make the playoffs and most likely win their division.

Flight B

Northwood beat Royal Oaks in what should be the battle of the top two teams. I would say neither team probably had its best lineups but I expect both to make the playoffs. Bovermann and Lifetime squeaked by in their opening matches but both will have tougher tests in Week Two.

NANCY v. EDDIE has to be the feature match in terms of the blog. An improved Juhn team takes on Bovermann in what should separate the contender from pretender.

Flight C

High Point lost (I think) as did Brookhaven in huge upsets this week. The Lakes was expected to be a solid team but not quite to the level of the other two teams. I would like to give LB credit for winning but several of Brookhaven's top players were MIA.

A severely depleted Oak Creek team makes its season debut this week against Brookhaven. Lakes should stay undefeated and it will be interesting to see how LB does against Hackberry.

Predictions:

Feldman d. T Bar 3-2
Northwood over Lifetime 5-0 (You know I had to say it.)
Brookhaven rebounds to beat Oak Creek 4-1
Juhn over Bovermann 3-2

Thoughts?

3.5 Week 3 in Review

Fretz redeems themselves leaving a bitter taste for the Boys of Huffhines.

With most of the rained out matches being made up, clarity begins to take form in some of the flights.


Flight A


No surprises here with Westlake and Garland still at the top of their flight undefeated. (I've seen this movie before.....wasn't it these two against each other last Fall??) Garland gets their win against High Point with a 3-2 victory, losing both singles and winning all 3 dubs. C'mon Big John. Not one singles win?? We know your hiding a ringer in that roster of yours somewhere. Also, Wiley plays against his old captain Patrick Jameson in line 1 dubs. I wonder what exchange of words were said during change overs ?!!

Westlake also gets their win with all 3 dubs and losing both singles. A potential weakness for Westlake?? .....we shall see.

Upcoming week: No exciting match ups this week in this flight.

Flight B

In the big match up of the week, Fretz redeems themselves and knocks off Huffhines in their first match. The loss comes with Huffhines losing all 3 of their dubs, a kink in their armour from last Spring. Fretz now stays in the hunt of this flight with a 2-1 record. High Point Entrekin leads the flight 3-0, (??? wow!!) followed closely by Gleneagles who now is looking pretty strong with wins over Fretz and Greenhill.

Upcoming week: Big match ups in this flight with undefeated Gleneagles playing HP and Huffhines playing Greenhill. More clarity will definitely be seen a week from now.

Flight C

Canyon Creek quickly falls from glory losing 0-5 in their make-up match against Oak Creek, and then falling 3-2 against Brookhaven, losing 2 3rd set tie-breaks. Oak Creek and Brookhaven are now 3-0 and pretty much seem to dominate this flight. Lifetime remains "Lifeless" with another loss and a 0-3 record.

Upcoming Week: Not as exciting as flight B with Oak Creek having a Bye, but perhaps the Brookhaven/Sam Grand match. Brookhaven should get this in dubs but may struggle with Sam Grand's singles lines.

There you have it guys. Blog away...........

4.0 Week 2

So technically it is week 3 but I am going with 2 since the first one was a washout. Sorry for the late write up but this week has been hectic for me, I actually have to work at "work", what is this world coming to.

Flight A:
SWAT team has a doubleheader that might just decide whether we are going into a full on rebuilding session as we take on the LB Houston and then the Lakes on Sunday. But a great match between TBar v. Greenhill should be great. TBar is another team like SWAT who lost a good chunk of their core and are feeling the pain but they will be tough to beat.

Flight B:
I think we can give 1st place to Garland and now we can figure out who is fighting for 2nd that starts with Eldorado v. Greenhill. Greenhill started out strong but will need to avoid slip ups and same goes for Fretz.

Flight C:
Great MOW here as Village takes on BH/Pearlman. Their Spring season finale ended with the Village making it to the playoffs by beating them and I wonder if the same result won't occur this time around. I am going to have to go with Village since I think they will take both singles and scratch out a doubles match.

Flight D:
Not anything spine tingling here but Springpark v. Brookhaven will be interesting for a little while until BH rolls on. Garland v. Stonebridge will most likely define one of these teams as a contender or a pretender.

Good luck this weekend!

Wanted: 3.5 Blogger

Wanted: 3.5 Blogger
Pay: Non Existent
Work Conditions: Terrible
Perks: None
If you want to be in the eye of the storm this Season,
email: marc@uswebsitedesign.com

4.0 Week 2

I say this week we play rain or shine. I think I might have forgotten how to keep score it has been so long.

Flight A looks pretty run of the mill this week. I was hoping to see how week 1 shook out to see how this week's matches would look but no luck there. If I had to pick an interesting match to watch it would be TBar v. Lakes. This will tell us if TBar is taking a step back or not. My guess is the Lakes will take this one but not by much.

Flight B
Yet again too early to tell what will happen here but OC v. Greenhill should show us if Greenhill will be in the playoff hunt or staying at home again.

Flight C
Nothing to get exicted about here, will be interesting to see how Burt's BH team starts out the season. Garland/2 had some good upsets last season not sure they can pull one here.

Flight D
I had to give this flight two MOWs and I think they might have one every week. I like the LTF v. OC match up. Can LTF be out of it by week 2, hard to imagine but it might be the case. HP/Bob will be tested in their first match as a retooled Stonebridge team looks to make it back to the postseason after a little drought. I like HP in this one but it will not be easy.

4.5 Preseason Outlook

Hey everybody,

The 4.5 division is a little slow going so I thought I would open up the discussion with some predictions. We still have one more week of scrimmages before the actual season starts and I have to say, three flights makes this league much less exciting. It really does make the fall seem like an inferior league with only 6 official matches in two of the three flights.

4.5 A

By far the toughest flight in my opinion. This is the only flight that I actually see coming down to the last week to determine playoff teams.

Collin County--A few new faces but I would assume they will still be anchored by Henson and Hixson at line 1. Sean Bay's tournament experience should start to pay off and I expect this team to be slightly improved over last season.

High Point/Bazan--The blogmaster has not really improved his team over last season but I think his main focus is helping his players get as much match experience as possible to succeed at the 4.0 level. A couple of strong singles players but not in the same league as the other top teams.

Oak Creek/Feldman--The defending champions of last fall will look to repeat. I think the only team with a smaller roster than mine. Zero new players but should have the same strength with Durten, Viktorin, Stein, Feldman, and Thompson all contributing. Where's the Buffalo?

T Bar M--Very similar to the roster that ended up in the Flight of Death last season. This flight is a little easier. Will be interesting to see if T Bar will continue to use JD in big matches despite his poor record. Russ is back from 5.0 with Colby, Jehan, and Doug all looking to play key roles.

Greenhill--No additions from last season but no defectors either. Only key missing from this team is that lock at line 1 doubles. Griggs and Howard are very solid at singles but doubles let them down most of the season. If dubs can improve, this team will be very hard to beat.

Springpark--This team has lost two of its best players from last season in my opinion and didn't bring in anybody to replace them. I look for a drop in performance with everybody else trying to pick up the slack.

Brookhaven/Ludwig--Only 3 or 4 legitimate 4.5 players will make this team an easy out for opponents. Unless they have somebody I don't know about, singles will be a real struggle for them every week. Mark can play everybody close but besides that, I don't know who the singles players are?

High Point/Somabut--I actually think this team will surprise some people and finish in the top half of its flight. I don't see them competing with the top teams in singles but I expect competitive matches all season in dubs. However, there's also always the possibility of score management???

Order of Finish:

1. T Bar M
2. Oak Creek
3. Greenhill
4. Somabut
5. Collin County
6. Bazan
7. Springpark
8. Brookhaven

4.5 B

This flight seems pretty set but surprises can happen. Not sure from whom though.

Oak Creek/Bovermann--Solid players all around the roster but no real impact players except for maybe Thadius. I expect them to be tough in every match but inconsistent lineups have hurt them in the past.

Royal Oaks/Rothwell--Another roster smaller than mine. The loss of Molina and Andrus will really hurt this team's chances to advance through the playoffs but John always seems to find somebody to fill in the gaps. Greg Zachary is also MIA. Always interesting to see how the roster fills out with them.

DFW Hilton--Doubles has steadily improved on this team over the last few seasons. The return of Huffman also gives them an almost guaranteed win every week. If Hamish returns from last season, they could have a very strong 1-2 punch at singles.

Northwood--This captain doesn't know what he's doing but I suspect a couple of more roster additions before the season begins. Loss of McCord and Fair to 5.0 will really hurt but Hawkins, Young, Xu, Wells, Mason, and, dare I say Noel, are all coming off solid seasons and will look to continue that trend.

LB Houston/Ratana--A couple of new players this season (Tom how could you?) should help this team but the departure of Forrest and Mark can't help their cause. I really like Ken and he deserves to have a successful team and if he plays like he did against me in the Brookhaven dubs final, he should win every week. Still too many 4.0s to make a serious run though it seems.

Oak Creek/Juhn--A couple of new players but mostly the same roster from seasons past. Frank is always good for several wins and this team has shown the ability to beat other strong teams in the past (i.e. High Point last season). Look for them to be in contention.

Lifetime--Another team of 4.0 bumpups. I don't think they will do quite as well as Bob's 4.5 team (let the hate mail begin). I see a former Branch player on the roster though with a very limited match history and Dante, Forrest, and Johan have all shown they can do well at the 4.5 level.

Order of Finish:

1. Northwood (I wasn't going to do it but I have to)
2. Royal Oaks
3. Bovermann
4. Juhn
5. Lifetime
6. DFW
7. LB Houston

4.5 C

Another flight that is strong at the top but not quite as much depth as Flight A. Familiar teams will vie for the top position.

Hackberry--Strong doubles players highlight this team and the addition of Andrew Pretty (presumably in singles) will help them. Although I have to say, if his results are as I think they will be, expect a protest from somebody.

Oak Creek/Herget(Branch)--A new captain but roster is roughly the same minus the 5.0s. Outside of Slezak and Braswell though, the absence of Kiron, Branch, Kern, and Wesley James (who could still join right?) will make this team far less of a threat than last season. But it's just the fall right?

Brookhaven--Very strong team that retained Carl, David Hall, Ramos and Laselle who anchored their team last season. Hard to imagine them not returning to the playoffs.

High Point--So much for the loss of Phy hurting them? No Dustin yet either (is he 5.0?) but Rudy Peters joining the roster of other strong players from last season should make this team a force in the fall. Lineup decisions will be key for this team with so many players who can play singles or doubles.

The Lakes--Oberg and Pollock are the strengths of this team again but I'm not sure where the other wins will come from against the top teams. Singles players seem to be missing from the roster too unless more additions are to come.

T Bar/Snow--23 players on this roster for only 6 matches. That averages to about 2 matches per player. Not worth it for me. A lot of solid players but a lot of weak ones too. Best lineup can be competitive with most teams in doubles but singles will be a struggle.

LB Houston/Baird--A few people have laughed at me when I said to watch out for this team but I feel like a few ringers will emerge off of this roster. Still need a couple of more role players to fill a lineup but I expect strength at the top of this lineup.

Order of Finish:

1. Brookhaven
2. High Point
3. Oak Creek
4. Lakes
5. Hackberry
6. LB Houston
7. T Bar

Playoff Teams:

T Bar, Northwood, Brookhaven, High Point, Royal Oaks, Feldman

High Point over Brookhaven in the finals.

4.0 Week 1 (Rain?)

So I am calling on your weather geeks, I know you people are out there that check the radar on your phone every few minutes. We are calling on your predictions to see who will get to play this weekend.

I have a back up plan of visiting Elmo at the My Gym in Frisco (Lebanon/Legacy) 10a-2p on Saturday.

If the matches do happen here are some good ones.

Flight A:
Lakes v. SWAT 3pm @ Lakes
A rematch of a very tough Spring match that almost knocked us out of the post season. I expect another tough match. Last year we played on a Thursday night due to a rain out hopefully that doesn't not happen again. Will the Mighty Greenhill/Russouw team drop a set against the new Stars team, I heard they are going for all bagels, how cruel are they????

Flight B
Don't expect too much action here other than to possibly see who will be a bottom dweller here. I will be interested to see if Garland will be tested at all v. Fretz who isn't a bad team.

Flight C
Canyon Creek v. BH/Pearlman is a little spicy but BH should pull out a close win to get going on what should be a good season for them. The Village is a popular pick to finish near the top but they lost to Garland/2 last season and I am not so sure it might not happen again. Upset alert!

Flight D
BH v. Lifetime could be interesting. I know LTF lost a lot of players but Brinkman, McAfee, Gonzalez Moore, and Shahab are still on this team oh yeah and Bennett too. Oops I forgot Yoshi and the Hulkamaniac Gerber as well. This team will be a threat and I am picking them to win this match.

So here is hoping we get to play this weekend. If not feel free to come visit a fabulous Blockbuster store at Preston/Lebanon. (Yep BMO and Brandon, I moved come drive 5 minutes East and see us) USTA discount? Maybe?

Ft Worth Fall League

Ft Worth Fall Leagues are starting this week-end with the highly unstable 1 Singles 3 Doubles format.
So here is the Fall Pre-season Preview.

3.5
3.5 is split into a Red and Blue Divisions.
Total of ten scheduled matches, first match Sept 19.
In the Blue Div the favorite should be the RTC Coyotes, Followed by the Southlake Racketqueers,
(really, you have to expect that if you name your team the Racqueteers, what were you thinking?)
Watch out for new comers Robson Ranch, which is apparently a retirement community in Denton, I will leave the jokes up to you.

In the Red Div nobody really stands out, ATC choked in the spring and had several of their players bumped but still has fielded a decent team, TCU seems to have a deep team as well. These two maybe as good a pick as any.

4.0
4.0 is Split into two divisions Red and Blue
Total of 6 matches with a Flighted 16 team draw post season tournament.
First Match Sept 12th
Blue Div (Suburban Div)
This flight is all the teams east of I-35W.
Of the 3 RTC teams, RTC Wylie look the toughest.
Southlake has managed to put together a large team, but with only 6 matches and 4 lines I expect there will be some unhappy players on this team.
The dark horse favorite - Team Flower Mound, Keep your eyes on these boys in both the fall and the spring.

Red Div
Both McLeland teams have fled that hole and are at the Arlington TC now, Look for the Old Gang to put together a Salty crew for the Fall.
Look for one of the TCU teams to compete with them.

4.5
6 Teams 10 matches
First match Sept 12
I fully expect TCU to dominate this Division.
There are almost as many 4.0's in this division as there are on a Garland/Sisk 3.5 team.
if any of you bumped down 4.5's need a 4.0 team give me a holla!
Note: Good to see the LTF West in Collyville finally get a men's team.

Fall 4.0 Preview

Wow doesn't it seem like we just finished a season? Oh well might as well get out there while the weather is freaking amazing and before it turns freaking cold (i.e. DCC Fall Playoffs December 11-13, can you say parkas and hot chocolate). Of course it is North Texas so it could be 90 degrees that weekend.

Oh not enjoying me rambling about nothing, sometimes I do that. OK. OK. I will talk about tennis now. If anyone is up for taking over 3.5 threads, email us your resume and salary requirements. No offer is too low. Now...onto the show.

4.0 Fall Season
(37 teams with almost 400 players, that is awesome, thanks to all of you for putting together teams and having a monster big season)

Flight A
This flight is pretty wide open. The SWAT team was decimated by appeals so they are in a rebuilding season so who knows what they will look like but will be in the top tier of favorites along with the Lakes, TBar (also decimated by bump ups) and new team Greenhill/Russouw should do well here. The rest of the flight will not be laydowns as Thorntree showed some fight in the Spring. Stonebriar is also a question mark it usually just depends on who comes out each week. Dallas CC also looks to be recruited well with some 4.5 bump downs and other strong players. Lucky Thunder has taken on a 2nd team called the EL Stars and hopes to make some noise in this flight but it will be a tough climb.

Flight B
This flight seems like it should be decided early with Garland coming out on top. They had a good run in the Spring and miraculously did not lose anyone to their roster. I think they will end up losing most of this roster to 4.5 but in the meantime they will do some damage. I think the big three of Obannon, Defeo and McFarlane will be too much for this flight. Fighting for 2nd place will be Fretz, OC2 and Greenhill. I think the other teams can pull some upsets as well. The Royal Oaks team and Canyon Creek teams are good but not deep enough to make it into the top tier much like JCC. I do expect Fretz to challenge for 2nd place. They had some good bump ups and Dan Robison's old team has joined forces with Cloninger and Smeithesler (sp?) playing singles they will be tough.

Flight C
I will have to pick Brookhaven to do well in this flight but they did lose some vital singles players so this will not be easy for them at all, they will have to play well each week. I believe the Village was in Burt's flight last season too (hmmm....) and I have a feeling they will be close behind again this season. Other teams that will make life difficult for these two teams are Lakes/Rockettman and HP/Bearden. The rest of the teams lack some firepower to do any real damage although I would keep an eye on Gleneagles as upset special.

Flight D
You know before solitaire was played on a computer and you realized you forgot to shuffle the deck well take a look at this flight (OC, LTF and Springpark) deja vu, these are the same very good teams that played each other in the Spring in....you guessed it: Flight D. Because of that I thinking this flight will be strong again. Oh yeah and then throw in the combo Brookhaven team (Bartlett/Helterbrann) and oh I almost forgot that nationals bound captain Bob Somabut has a team in this flight. The early polling has HP/Bob and OC making it out of this flight but I think with all these teams there is bound to be some upsets and down to the wire playoff races. Oh and I almost forgot Stonebridge is in here too returning Shaun Nix from 4.5, with he and Cocoran they will be tough to beat in singles and they already have good doubles teams but might need some more players.

Upcoming Leagues, Flex Leagues and Ladder

Hello guys,

Kind of quiet, although not on the recruitment front I am sure but in the meantime I wanted to let you all know of the many tennis playing opportunities that are not USTA League.

Starting soon are the following flexible tennis leagues:

flextennis.com (registration ends September 12th)
leaguetennis.com (registration ends September 21st) Lucky Thunder registered here, come and get me
ultimatetennis.com (registration ends September 2nd)
NEW! usta flex league (registration ends??, I think it is two weeks from today though)

Also Oleg has started a Challenge Ladder through GTN so feel free to meet up and play some guys who may have heard of or just want a rematch with:

http://www.globaltennisnetwork.com/index2.php?option=com_tennisladders&task=ladder&ladderID=885&task2=remote

Happy Tennis!


Cary

Combo Tourney this weekend

It always seems very quick for me since Sectionals just ended but this weekend is the Combo tourney and there is a full slate of teams that are signed up to play.

We will start with a look at the 7.5 draw, which is broken into two flights.

Flight A

Brad Bartlett, Ruben Muniz and Scott Russell.

Thoughts:
These tourneys usually hinge on your lower rated player and they have Mitterer and Strohl in their farewell to 3.5 tennis so they will be very tough to beat. Their 4.0s are not stellar although Rivera is very tough along with Ludwig and even Brad gets lucky here and there.

The Muniz team looks to be a Lifetime/Stonebridge combo team and the LTF 3.5ers are good and will help them compete but not sure their 4.0 players are quite at the level of some others in the this tourney. Papanek and Henk will be tough but will struggle against a few in this draw.

The durty Garland team is stacked and even brought in Chris Jones for good measure at 3.5. I don't see how this team loses with O'Bannon and Defeo at 4.0 and Clark, Wiley and Jones playing 3.5, they have to be the fav to win this flight and the whole thing.

Flight B

Terry Foy, Dietrick and Walters

The Lakes (Foy) team has some good players but only one standout from the last league in Fries, Foy is capable himself but their is no big firepower here.

Dietrick's crew is stacked with himself, Vacalis and more importantly the 3.5s of Mays, Stein and Palacoiz will be very hard to beat.

Walter's team seems like they are in it for the exercise but will not be an easy out in fact they could finish 2nd with this roster but should not match up well against the Village based team captained by Deitrick.

I see a very close Russell 2-1 victory over Deitrick in the finals.

Now onto 8.5, wait this one has already been decided. Joel Pickett's roster scared the rest of the teams off and they will just show up for the formality. This roster is sooooo stacked they are looking to not just win this tourney but the Sectional tourney.

Good luck guys!

Fall Player Exchange

Have you been bumped up and looking for a new team?
Are you a Captain looking for more players?
Are you a complete jackass and got kicked off your team because nobody likes you?

You have come to the right place
Post your Name , Email address, playing level, where your are looking to play.

We are here to make sure every player has a home :)

Good Luck in the Fall
Dallas and Ft Worth leagues starts Sept 12


* Posts that do not contain a Name and contact information will be deleted.
This is a useful service for players and captains, don't ruin it by being a jackass.

Sectionals Wrap Up

Congrats to all who competed this weekend. I didn't get to watch too much since I was over at Brookhaven but everyone kept giving me updates as they saw me so I felt like I was there. Thanks to Yuan Chen for knocking me out of the consolation semis so I could go see Team Bob secure a berth at Nationals.

It was a great match yesterday, there was nothing but solid tennis from all 16 players.

I would have loved to see some of Rusty's team play but it looks like they fell a little short against some very steep competition from San Antonio and Houston.

No luck for the ladies this weekend as none of them made it to Sunday, but as we know the march for 2010 has already begun as our Fall minimum rosters are due today so many are planning to be sweating out this time next year.

Hats off to all the teams that came to Dallas for the weekend and as one of our very vocal Dallas captains learned nothing is guaranteed at sectionals, I learned that lesson that hard way as well. For the one or two of you who love to second guess and have revisionist lineups and strategies I say to you, call Jane get a team number and 8 guys and get out there and play or you can hang out on the computer and keeping whining.

Next up Combo Tennis Tourney this weekend, and then Fall league, mixed championships. Yikes, we get less of a break than the pros do.

Denise Terrill Tourney Draws out

So while Lifetime and High Point sweat it out at the glorious venue of Huffhines we will be hanging out at Brookhaven watching you all on ESPN during our breaks.

So the draws are out for this weekend and I am looking forward to this weekend.

Here is a link to the tourney page with the draws

http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=74004

Picks to win:
3.5 Singles: Hard to pick against Anderson to win this one, although Newman should be there in the final with him.

3.5 Dubs: Stein/Strohl (that isn't a bad 4.0 doubles teams, you all should have played up)

4.0 Singles: Noaman Azhar v. McFarlane final with Noaman inching out a win. Although I do think Trae could take out Andy in the 2nd round if he plays well.

4.0 Doubles: Harrigan/Stevens.....although the team of Bazan/Azhar will be hard to beat. Fitch/Colao will be a tough one as well in the top half oh yeah and Bowman/Hutchison are the #1 seed but tough draw for them in the first round.

4.5 Singles: COREDAWG all the way. Come on big guy this is your tourney to lose. Griggs could be a tough match up though.

4.5 Doubles: COREDAWG sweep along with Trey Mckinney.

4.0 Sectionals Preview

So I want Eddie to have a good weekend and talk about himself some more so I decided I would put this out. Thanks to some of you including the Houstonians who offered insights into the teams but as most of you know there is always going to be some mystery at sectionals. I know nobody except the guys from Lubbock in 2008 thought they had a snowballs chance in hell of winning last year.



So it begins with FLIGHT I. It has been nicknamed the FLIGHT OF DEATH and I know some of questions whether team Wild Dallas chose this spot or was put there by Lifetime but in the end it doesn't matter.



Corpus Christi (30 to 1)

I don't know much about them but just have to go off history. I don't think they won't be competitive I just don't see them finishing at the top of this very tough heap of teams.



Noho (15 to 1)

The Houston Blog had some good insights on these guys since they are neighbors so you might want to check that out for exact names, etc. Much like CC I can see how this team could pull off an upset but not 2-3 upset wins to be in contention. They did have a DQ player so you know they aren't just coming for the socks, they will be in the mix and causing trouble for the top three teams.



Fort Worth (8 to 1)

I know this team is very good which shows you just how good this flight is since I am picking them to finish 3rd. Munz seems like a lock to win and strong players like Spector, Bell, Reid, Wynn, Lopez and Stetzer will make them very tough to beat. I think it will be depend on just what doubles teams Wynn and Lopez match up against. I think they might be beaten by Bob's top line or SA's top line so it will be important to land the right matchups and they may just come out on top.



Wild San Antonio (5 to 1)

I think it has been noted elsewhere that even though this team came in second they are probably the better SA team and may just be the top team in Texas. Everyone knows the names Wood and Zepeda but there are some solid results from other guys on this team like Mojico, Pacheco, Mugueroza and Vaca. I wish I knew more personally about this team but just on paper this team is pretty scary. Due to the depth they seem to have at doubles was the reasoning I see them just a cut above FW.



Wild Dallas (2 to 1)

Call me a homer but I have to get behind Team Bob. After last years shocking flight disaster in the final match I think this group is very focused on one goal and that is making it back to Sunday. There are no secrets this team will be carried by Johnson, Featherstone, Weymer, Fenn, Jarad and Robinson. They will only go as far as these six players can go and that is not a knock against the other guys but I don't think they are relying on wins from anyone else. With that said if Carlquist/Nguyen can reemerge as a force they could make it hard for the other top teams to take a doubles line.



Flight II

This is a rather strange flight and I have a feeling it might get decided early on Saturday morning as Austin takes on Lifetime.



Wild Waco (75 to 1)

I don't think I am the first or last to say it is shocking this team is coming to sectionals. I would be shocked if they take a match against anyone.



QT-College Station (50 to 1)

Another wierd entry, they played Abilene for a right to come to Dallas so I guess they and Wild Waco can battle it out for 4th place.



Lubbock (25 to 1)

I know nobody will overlook this team but I am not sure they are bringing any firepower this time around. I have a feeling one or two names on this roster my jump up and surprise somebody because I find it hard to believe after a taste of winning they will just come and play for fun.



Austin (8 to 1)

I know they might not to want to hear it again but most don't think they are best Austin team but they can commiserate with Eddie on how that feels as they play each other. Peterson, Barlas and Spacek anchor a pretty strong team but nothing jumps out and says Sunday contender on this team but maybe they will just gut out another big win and prove everyone wrong and maybe get a rematch with Wild Austin.



Lifetime (EVEN)

To quote Jacques (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit as I wrote that). It is hard for me to pick against them after listing the resumes of the other teams in this flight. This team is pretty good. Myers can win against just about anyone out there and in Eddie's mind he can beat anyone playing including guys in the 5.5 bracket. I hate to put the pressure on the other guys but their success will come down to guys like Kennedy, Moore, Brinkman, BMO and Shahab. This team was dangerously close to not making out of the QT with a tough win over OC and I have a feeling they will face another similar test and it will come down to the doubles guys to come up big. I see them as a slam dunk to get to Sunday (morning that is).



Flight III

This flight is all about the Hurricanes, they had their storm quashed by Springpark last year but I don't see that happened this time around. Kudos to the USTA for not putting Houston and Dallas in the same flight.



Valley (50 to 1)

I know Adrian brings this team every year and I admire that but this hill is just too steep for this team.



SETX and Midland (30 to 1)

Have finished middle of the pack in previous years and I don't see anything changing this time around. Morris and Shanks of SETX are very solid but one line v. the Canes or SA will not make it that interesting.



San Antonio (15 to 1)

This is the only team that poses any type of threat to the mighty Hurricanes. Names like Collier, Purser, Murray, Judkins (2), Garza and Del Rio look rather impressive. I actually see them matching up pretty well with the Hurricanes and by pretty well I mean just close enough to have Jason sweat for 20 to 30 minutes but as talented as this team is I just think they are notch below Houston. Bad luck for them I think they might have had enough to take out SAP or Lifetime in the other flights.



Houston-Hurricanes (5 to 2)

This team is full of talent and although they might not have top tier talent as in the last two years I think they have better depth. I mean they didn't even put Towle on the team. :) Vargas, Foster, Inting, Rice and others will make this team a force to be reckon all through the weekend. There is one name that scares me if I was a an opposing captain. Chambert, two matches, didn't play in the playoffs...hmmmmmmmmm RINGER, maybe? I could be wrong.



Flight IV

This flight might just be the most balanced but I still see if coming down to Waco v. Houston for the top spot but wouldn't be surprised if all teams end up with at least one loss.

San Angelo (20 to 1)
I am sure Team Bob would love to tell folks how not to underestimate this group and they return some of that same group that ruined a High Point return trip to Sunday a year ago. I find it hard to seem them landing at the top of the flight but would not be surprised for them to play spoiler once again.

Wild FW (15 to 1)
Not a bad team at all in fact they have some depth but Paul Trevino is one of their strongest singles players which is great if this wasn't Texas Sectionals. I see them involved in some close 2-3 losses.

NETX (10 to 1)
This team much like San Angelo could beat just about any team listed in this flight but not sure if they can win 4 matches or have a high enough win total to beat out Waco and Houston. The captain is a strong player as well Mercer and Bratcher who had good success when they ventured out of NETX. They team they beat to make it here was pretty solid so I know they are battled tested and ready to go.

Waco (7 to 1)
Freeman warned me about this group a year ago and Bill has a shot at returning to glory as he grabbed some of his old national champions and will take another run at it. Bill is strong himself and the Houston blog noted that Westbrook was the lynch pin to success so we will see if he can come out for 4 matches and help them get to Sunday. I know Hillestad/Schroeder from tri-level and I lost a close match to them with a very good partner. They are good and will be a tough out.

Houston-SAP (2 to 1)
Hard to pick against this team who made it through a very tough Houston 4.0 league. Some of these names sound painfully familiar from 3.5 sectionals a couple of years ago (Tongol, Goodwin and Johnson). In addition there are strong names like Alpard, Vu, Sontag and Grego. Then there is the big dog Chris Towle, who has been hitting with us lately during the week. He is as good as any 4.0 player here in Dallas.

Sunday: Dallas v. Wild Dallas, Houston v. Wild Houston

Sunday afternoon: SECTIONALS GONE WILD and the winner is WILD HOUSTON in a close 3-2 match that I will come watch.