Operation: Dallas Super Team

Target: The Nationals

I though this would be a good time to approach this subject since there is nothing to talk about right now and nobody has signed up for any teams yet.

Is this Possible?
Is it Prudent?

What computer Rated players should be on the 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 teams?
I would assume anyone who has successfully appealed down should be at the top of the list.

Who should the Captains be?
3.5 - Dirty John Sisk or Father Bob Bender? (Both have national Experience)

4.0 - Bob SomeButt or maybe Lucky Thunder Himself?

4.5 - Has anyone had more success than Rusty Branch?

Do you support this idea or does it defeat the purpose of USTA League Tennis.
Discuss...

Corey and Cary will have to fight it out over who gets to be Wonder Woman and Hawk-Girl.

Australian Open Winner?

To bide the time between the Tri-level and the Abilene tourney, I was curious on folks thoughts on what is going on Down-Under. A few rounds are already under the belt, but it is still not clear who will win the first major.

Is it going to be:

1) Nadal - new number one and the current Grand Slam King

2) Federer - Is the great one back on form and is the motivation of hating being referred to #2 going to be the difference?

3) Djokovic - can he repeat?

4) Murray - the hot guy on tour and the Bookie favourite

5) Tsonga - is this tourney special for him again and is he finally healthy?

6) Simon - moving up the ladder quickly

7) Roddick - can he get back to winning form?

8) Del Potro - another high flyer since the summer

9) Blake - can Obama inspire him to break through?

Or will someone else come out of the woodwork again like a Baghdatis, Fish, Ferrer Ljubicic?

It will be an interesting next ten days as there are some great matchups in the near term such as Roddick - Santoro; Fish - Baghdatis; Federer - Safin; Ferrer - Del Potro in 4th rd. and any of the matchups likely in the Nadal part of the draw.

I am not a Nadal fan per se, but he is my bet on winning this based on what I saw yesterday. His athleticism and skill are a lethal combination in this tourney. His toughest matches will likely be in the middle rounds so if he is gets through them it may make the big name matchups a little easier to handle.

Should be some good tennis, it's nice to have more than just 1-2 players capable of winning.

The Real Tri-Level

In Cary's honor, I've decided to put odds for each team. Feel free to post predictions/results as soon as they are available.

Blue Flight

Brian Morrison 8 to 1

This team doesn't really have a weak line but I would have to put them at the low end based on what I've read or what I know, which is very little. 4.5 team is made up of some 4.0 bumpups so I'm not sure how well they will do. Also, Forrest is a singles player I believe so I would think he will have his hands full. 3.5 is not my forte but not much respect for them in the previous thread.

Strongest leg: 4.0

Terry Foy 4 to 1

This team looks to have more depth but no real dominant line I would guess. I know nothing about their 3.5 players but their 4.0 and 4.5 players are not pushovers. Hans was undefeated during the season and will look to continue that streak. Not enough star power to compete with the top teams though.

Strongest leg: 4.5

Corey Noel 2 to 1

OK, OK, yes this team has an amazing captain that always puts a strong team on the court but they are definitely the underdogs. Solid players at all 3 lines but I'm not sure I would classify anybody on this team as a ringer. The key will be trying to find a spot where Corey can lose a doubles line and the team can still win. Have you seen that guy? Man, he's terrible.

Strongest leg: 3.5

Collin Thompson Even

This team undoubtedly has the most depth of any in the flight. Although I think depth is not that important in this format, they have strength as well. Any combination of their 4.5 players will be tough to beat, and their 4.0 and 3.5 teams all have solid track records. Some combinations will be weaker than others though so it will be interesting to see how the lineups shake out.

Strongest leg: 4.5

Red Flight

Bob Somabut 10 to 1

It's rare that I have an opportunity to rate a team of Bob's in last place but I really think he just formed a team to have fun this weekend. He has only one 4.5 player signed up on the team and he played 4.0 all last year. His 4.0 players are all strong but I would suspect Newman and Voss will play 4.5, seriously weakening his 4.0 teams. 3.5 team did well at tri-level last year but injuries and lack of practice could worsen their results.

Strongest leg: 4.0

Marc Rossouw 8 to 1

I know the least about this team of all the teams but the players I do know are strong. Laselle and Ramos have a chance to go undefeated in the flight but I'm not sure where the other wins will come from. Somebody will correct me I'm sure. I know Rossouw put a strong combo team out there so he probably did the same for this.

Strongest leg: 4.5

John Kraemer 6 to 1

This team gets its position simply based on strength in numbers. However, it's hard to know who will play with such a big roster. I'm not that familiar with too many of his players but I know Malcolm is solid at 4.5 and Gene is a strong 4.0. I would expect them to be competitive at all lines but I don't see any guaranteed wins on the roster. I believe they have enough talent to overwhelm the other two teams but not Pickett.

Strongest leg: 4.0

Joel Pickett 1 to 2

Another team that is already counting on making it to Sectionals based on their roster size. I really wouldn't be surprised if they finish the round robin matches at 9-0 or 8-1. Three 4.5 players that are practically undefeated, 4.0 players that have dominated for years, and a hodgepodge of 3.5 superstars. It's really hard to see this team not advancing to the final.

Strongest leg: All of them but I would have to say 4.5.

Finals Pickett v. Thompson

3.5 Again not my area of expertise but I would think Watanabe/Atlas would take on Palacios/Dennis. I would have to give the slight edge to Watanabe/Atlas based on playing experience but I'm too lazy to really put any research behind this pick.

4.0 Keith and Steven should represent Pickett against Kemp and Carlquist. A lot of history among these four players but I would expect the longstanding team of Keith and Steven to pull out the close win.

4.5 So it will all come down to the 4.5 clash of the titans. I am almost sure Kevin Durten will represent Thompson. I don't know who his partner will be but the other three are relatively even. I've heard great things about Leija but I think Phy and Slezak are better. Either way expect the team will be Phy and one of those two.
And the winner is: I look for Durten and his partner to continue their streak from the fall and pull out a tight one.

Thompson wins 2-1. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this match ended up 3-0 either way, or if all three matches went to third-set tiebreaks. The teams are just that close.


This should be enough to sustain a debate until Friday.
Good luck everybody and play well.

Happy Monday

Sorry for those 32 uninformed voters who chose my team in the poll for this weekend. I enjoyed the weekend regardless of the outcome. Dwight's team was very strong, when I saw him and Pete were signed up I knew they would be tough. In our match with them I actually played with Danny Man v. Korbin and Bernard due to a schedule mix up and they beat us in a 3rd set tiebreaker so they are solid from top to bottom. Best of luck to them and overall a great weekend for all involved. I know a few captains sent a note to Jane Gilpin afterwards imploring the DTA to keep this at 6 teams for next year so we could keep this round robin format. Not sure what you all think as a whole but I do like that format especially in the Spring when 2nd place matters as well.

Also I wanted to thank Granger Huntress for the mention in Tennis Life magazine. I had a very good conversation with him a month ago about our site and I know I have been taking a break lately but I still enjoy the blog and can't wait for April.

In the meantime the Senior season is underway, maybe we need a Senior reporter to break that group down?????? Hint Hint

Tournaments:
The first big major is coming up soon on the first weekend of February. 400 points to be had and only about a 2 hour drive out to Abilene. How many of you Dallasites are planning on signing up? I believe registration ends Jan. 26th.

Next up, the Big boys Tri Level.

JV and Varsity Coaching Opportunity

My apologies for hijacking the blog temporarily but wanted to pass along an opportunity to the larger group if anyone has interest.

Trinity Christian Academy (TCA-Addison) is looking for coaches for their JV and Varsity Tennis teams. They are looking for individuals that have tennis teaching experience and/or college playing experience. In addition, the school requires its employees to have a strong christian commitment.

The season goes from February through April.

If you have interest, please contact TCA AD, Barry Morgan, directly at bmorgan@trinitychristian.org. You can reference this blog and my name (Doug Jobe) in regards to the position.


Anons need not apply as you must give your name and tangible records to apply.

USTA Dallas 4.0, 3.5, 3.0 Tri Level

AKA - The Fake Tri-Level
AKA - Tri-Level Jr.
3.0 and 3.5 - How many will be induced into instant narcolepsy?

The first Tri Level is this weekend at Brookhaven County Club.
The teams don't look to be quite as High Powered as the 3.5,4.0,4.5 Tri-level.

Lucky Thunder is scheduled to emerge from his self imposed tennis exile.
I would put his team as the odds on favorite.
Bowman & Hutchison will be tough to beat at 4.0
But Lucky Thunder is not signed to the active roster?

Team Bill Kaiser has good depth (like most Lifetime Teams)
With the recent sandbagging allegations and 5 matches in 3 days his team might fair well.

Past that there are not any real standouts on anybody's team.
It should be up for grabs.

4.0, 3.5, 3.0 Tri Level