So 3.5 as expected is coming down to HP v. GH. I have a feeling the 2nd verse will be the same as the first with HP winning 2-1, they are just a little too deep for GH, but Kayser must love me picking against him because usually that is good for his guys. Sorry HP. :(
4.0
This division looks intriguing as it all comes down to the final matches as undefeated TBAR takes on Stonebridge who needs a sweep or a dominating 2-1 win to jump to the top. HP takes on 0-2 BH and can finish at the top with a win and TBar loss. Could be a 3 way tie, oh my?! I have to say GO HP! Not just because I like those guys but I see them finishing at the top when the dust settles.
4.5
Action starts tomorrow and I am putting my money on OC to win the 2 v. 3 match but then come up short v. the Village. by a very close margin.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
4.5 Flights
As the guys have said it is really too early to tell who the top teams are but we all know the teams that are good based on history. History repeats itself at the 4.5 level and I expect this season will be no different.
Flight 4.5 A--AKA--"The Flight of Death". I really am not so sure this is the stronger flight in terms of depth but this flight certainly has more of the tier 1 teams.
Frontrunners
Oak Creek/Branch
Oak Creek/Feldman
Royal Oaks/Rothwell
T Bar M/Schnittker
I really think any combination of these four teams could win the flight. Feldman has the free pass to the DCC so they don't have much to play four. Branch's team looks strong as ever so I can't see them not making it to the playoffs. Royal Oaks and T Bar are more of a mystery but based on recent history I would expect them to be solid. Both will probably rely on self-rated ringers for their success, but will they have the same depth as the Oak Creek teams?
Contenders
Hackberry/Borre
Village/Warren
Hackberry has been historically right on the cusp of the playoffs. They have strong players but not really any standouts to compete with the big guns. The Village is drastically improved from last season but I'm not sure where the singles wins will come from, especially against the better teams. A lot of senior players, not usually a good sign when the playoffs are in July.
Social Teams
Collin County/Phillips
Oak Creek/Bovermann
Stonebridge/Teat
High Point/Bazan
No offense Cary but I put you in this category with the other teams that struggle. I would put CC atop this list because they have almost a guaranteed win at 1 doubles every week and some solid singles players. Bovermann has declined as of late and Stonebridge will be lucky to have 8 4.5s on the roster. HP is a mixture of 4.0s and 4.5s but the roster is going to need some improving to compete with the big guns. I will say that based on Cary's experience as a captain that his team has the best chance to jump out of the bottom and make the QT.
Flight 4.5 B--AKA--"Wonderland". Actually their is greater depth in this flight but less superstar teams. A lot more teams that can make playoffs.
Frontrunners
Brookhaven/Harllee
Huffhines/Noel
High Point/Nguyen
I really don't see any other way the flight can end with these teams as the top three. Brookhaven is looking really strong with the return of Sechen. High Point is still solid although lacking depth at this point. My team has retained 90% of its roster including a couple of key additions to my top 8. The key will be which team can maintain consistency throughout the regular season against the other contending teams. The last three seasons have come down to a late-season matchup between my team and Brookhaven and I expect the same to happen again.
Contenders
Greenhill/Stoner
Lakes Tennis/Dunford
Springpark/Abbruzzese
T Bar M/Snow
Greenhill always has talented players but inconsistent lineups lead to inconsistent results. The Lakes has steadily improved over the last few seasons so I would expect them to have the best chance of cracking the top 3. Springpark is always a contender but not sure if they have enough top players to beat the top teams. T Bar has some solid veterans but most of the strong T Bar players are on the other roster. Their split could result in neither team making the playoffs.
Social Teams
LB Houston/Ratana
Oak Creek/Juhn
DFW Hilton/Wallace
Juhn is usually the worst of the four Oak Creek teams but they have the ability to pull an upset. DFW is historically the worst team of the league and they lost their best player so that can't be good. I think Ken is a great guy and will be a great captain but the talent just isn't there yet for his group. Would not surprise me that he, Corry, and Forrest can be successful in singles but doubles looks shaky thus far.
Overall I will put my preseason top 5 as this:
1. Oak Creek/Branch
2. Huffhines/Noel
3. Oak Creek/Feldman
4. Brookhaven/Harllee
5. T Bar M/Schnittker
Anybody have any thoughts or inside information to influence these predictions?
Flight 4.5 A--AKA--"The Flight of Death". I really am not so sure this is the stronger flight in terms of depth but this flight certainly has more of the tier 1 teams.
Frontrunners
Oak Creek/Branch
Oak Creek/Feldman
Royal Oaks/Rothwell
T Bar M/Schnittker
I really think any combination of these four teams could win the flight. Feldman has the free pass to the DCC so they don't have much to play four. Branch's team looks strong as ever so I can't see them not making it to the playoffs. Royal Oaks and T Bar are more of a mystery but based on recent history I would expect them to be solid. Both will probably rely on self-rated ringers for their success, but will they have the same depth as the Oak Creek teams?
Contenders
Hackberry/Borre
Village/Warren
Hackberry has been historically right on the cusp of the playoffs. They have strong players but not really any standouts to compete with the big guns. The Village is drastically improved from last season but I'm not sure where the singles wins will come from, especially against the better teams. A lot of senior players, not usually a good sign when the playoffs are in July.
Social Teams
Collin County/Phillips
Oak Creek/Bovermann
Stonebridge/Teat
High Point/Bazan
No offense Cary but I put you in this category with the other teams that struggle. I would put CC atop this list because they have almost a guaranteed win at 1 doubles every week and some solid singles players. Bovermann has declined as of late and Stonebridge will be lucky to have 8 4.5s on the roster. HP is a mixture of 4.0s and 4.5s but the roster is going to need some improving to compete with the big guns. I will say that based on Cary's experience as a captain that his team has the best chance to jump out of the bottom and make the QT.
Flight 4.5 B--AKA--"Wonderland". Actually their is greater depth in this flight but less superstar teams. A lot more teams that can make playoffs.
Frontrunners
Brookhaven/Harllee
Huffhines/Noel
High Point/Nguyen
I really don't see any other way the flight can end with these teams as the top three. Brookhaven is looking really strong with the return of Sechen. High Point is still solid although lacking depth at this point. My team has retained 90% of its roster including a couple of key additions to my top 8. The key will be which team can maintain consistency throughout the regular season against the other contending teams. The last three seasons have come down to a late-season matchup between my team and Brookhaven and I expect the same to happen again.
Contenders
Greenhill/Stoner
Lakes Tennis/Dunford
Springpark/Abbruzzese
T Bar M/Snow
Greenhill always has talented players but inconsistent lineups lead to inconsistent results. The Lakes has steadily improved over the last few seasons so I would expect them to have the best chance of cracking the top 3. Springpark is always a contender but not sure if they have enough top players to beat the top teams. T Bar has some solid veterans but most of the strong T Bar players are on the other roster. Their split could result in neither team making the playoffs.
Social Teams
LB Houston/Ratana
Oak Creek/Juhn
DFW Hilton/Wallace
Juhn is usually the worst of the four Oak Creek teams but they have the ability to pull an upset. DFW is historically the worst team of the league and they lost their best player so that can't be good. I think Ken is a great guy and will be a great captain but the talent just isn't there yet for his group. Would not surprise me that he, Corry, and Forrest can be successful in singles but doubles looks shaky thus far.
Overall I will put my preseason top 5 as this:
1. Oak Creek/Branch
2. Huffhines/Noel
3. Oak Creek/Feldman
4. Brookhaven/Harllee
5. T Bar M/Schnittker
Anybody have any thoughts or inside information to influence these predictions?
4.0 Flights Announced
So much like Marc I will preface this by saying it is very EARLY but then again we are 4 weeks from playing match #1 and a couple of weeks from knowing some match dates, etc. For the most part the flights seem pretty evenly matched.
Flight A:
BH/Helterbrann (Fall DCC)
CC/Heflin
HP/Somabut (Fall Champ)
Springpark/Doyle
Hackberry
Eldorado/Hampton
TBar (Spring DCC)
Huffhines
LBH/Jones (Spring QT)
OC/Smith 3 (Fall DCC, some of them...)
This flight is somewhat wide open since HP is already qualified. Brookhaven has to be an early favorite but they look to be light on singles although they have two unknowns on the roster so that might help them. Brighton isn't a bad addition and might be able to keep Cliff and William in doubles where they are much more dangerous. I find it hard to get excited about the other two country club teams (CC and Eldorado) LBH Jones coming back to 4.0 should be interesting and I think they will do well. The mystery will be how the splitting of the OC teams will work out. They all seem to be evenly balanced and all pretty good but are any of them deep enough to make it through a regular season at the top. TBar is so deep they have to be dangerous each week and I think they and BH will finish behind HP in this flight
Flight B
HP/Bazan (SWAT) (Fall runner-up)
CC/Aarts
Garland/Sisk (Only lost to HP/Bob and OC last season)
Village/Gordon
LBH/Parsons
BH/Bartlett
Lakes (Spring and Fall DCC)
Stonebridge
Eldorado/Browning
Oakridge
I guess the SWAT team and Durdy Garland would have to be the favs here. I am rooting for John so it will be tough to be in the same flight but luckily there is more than one spot to take. Brookhaven has missed out on the playoffs the last two go arounds but is still strong. The Lakes has lost a lot of players and I am not sure how they will recover but they still have some good options. Stonebridge has been on a little decline mainly due to singles play but there doubles teams much like BH will make them a threat to the top two. I think this is the stronger Eldorado team but the roster seems a little small to make a serious run week in and week out. The rest of this flight seems a little inexperienced at this level but I will not underestimate any of them. Good luck to flight B.
Flight C
Garland/Sisk 2
JCC
Village/Johnson
LBH/Hicks (Spring QT)
BH/Pearlman (Fall DCC)
HP/Harrigan
GH/Arnette (Spring and Fall DCC)
OC/Smith 2
CC/Charb..
Royal Oaks
This one is hard to call. I guess BH has to be the favorite although Renwick is not on the roster quite yet and that would make them a solid fav in this flight but even without them they are pretty solid. GH will always be in the mix and LBH might not be the same without Ratana and Walker. I like the Village who narrowly missed making it to the Fall DCC. They have some good doubles but will need to improve in singles this season to make a run at the top. Royal Oaks is the wildcard team here. They have a great 4.5 team but how will this venture to 4.0 go, I have a feeling they will do well but it will also come down to singles if they wish to have a great first season. The rest of this crew doesn't get me all that excited although since there is no dominant team here past BH, 2nd and 3rd place could be taken by just about any of these teams if things fall right for them.
Flight D
LBH/Au
Springpark/Walters (Spring DCC winner, sectional finalist)
OC/Smith (Fall DCC, most of them...)
Stonebriar
Garland/Brueckner
LTF (Spring and Fall DCC)
Stonebridge
ELTC/Loyd
GEagles
Thorntree
Team Eddie should bounce back strong although no Tikashi or Forrest from the last two season and those two were big components of their team but hopefully Eddie will be back on the court. OC should be good but some of their big guns are on the other team so who knows. Garland has some solid talent that didn't end up with Big John so I think they will be tough. Springpark has the usual suspects back and I am guessing Mitch will be joining the crew very soon since he was downrated. The rest of the teams are somewhat new but I am not quite sure I see anything on their rosters...yet...that could trouble the top teams in this flight.
I am looking forward to some real tennis very soon. I will update again once we know some more on the 4.0 league.
Flight A:
BH/Helterbrann (Fall DCC)
CC/Heflin
HP/Somabut (Fall Champ)
Springpark/Doyle
Hackberry
Eldorado/Hampton
TBar (Spring DCC)
Huffhines
LBH/Jones (Spring QT)
OC/Smith 3 (Fall DCC, some of them...)
This flight is somewhat wide open since HP is already qualified. Brookhaven has to be an early favorite but they look to be light on singles although they have two unknowns on the roster so that might help them. Brighton isn't a bad addition and might be able to keep Cliff and William in doubles where they are much more dangerous. I find it hard to get excited about the other two country club teams (CC and Eldorado) LBH Jones coming back to 4.0 should be interesting and I think they will do well. The mystery will be how the splitting of the OC teams will work out. They all seem to be evenly balanced and all pretty good but are any of them deep enough to make it through a regular season at the top. TBar is so deep they have to be dangerous each week and I think they and BH will finish behind HP in this flight
Flight B
HP/Bazan (SWAT) (Fall runner-up)
CC/Aarts
Garland/Sisk (Only lost to HP/Bob and OC last season)
Village/Gordon
LBH/Parsons
BH/Bartlett
Lakes (Spring and Fall DCC)
Stonebridge
Eldorado/Browning
Oakridge
I guess the SWAT team and Durdy Garland would have to be the favs here. I am rooting for John so it will be tough to be in the same flight but luckily there is more than one spot to take. Brookhaven has missed out on the playoffs the last two go arounds but is still strong. The Lakes has lost a lot of players and I am not sure how they will recover but they still have some good options. Stonebridge has been on a little decline mainly due to singles play but there doubles teams much like BH will make them a threat to the top two. I think this is the stronger Eldorado team but the roster seems a little small to make a serious run week in and week out. The rest of this flight seems a little inexperienced at this level but I will not underestimate any of them. Good luck to flight B.
Flight C
Garland/Sisk 2
JCC
Village/Johnson
LBH/Hicks (Spring QT)
BH/Pearlman (Fall DCC)
HP/Harrigan
GH/Arnette (Spring and Fall DCC)
OC/Smith 2
CC/Charb..
Royal Oaks
This one is hard to call. I guess BH has to be the favorite although Renwick is not on the roster quite yet and that would make them a solid fav in this flight but even without them they are pretty solid. GH will always be in the mix and LBH might not be the same without Ratana and Walker. I like the Village who narrowly missed making it to the Fall DCC. They have some good doubles but will need to improve in singles this season to make a run at the top. Royal Oaks is the wildcard team here. They have a great 4.5 team but how will this venture to 4.0 go, I have a feeling they will do well but it will also come down to singles if they wish to have a great first season. The rest of this crew doesn't get me all that excited although since there is no dominant team here past BH, 2nd and 3rd place could be taken by just about any of these teams if things fall right for them.
Flight D
LBH/Au
Springpark/Walters (Spring DCC winner, sectional finalist)
OC/Smith (Fall DCC, most of them...)
Stonebriar
Garland/Brueckner
LTF (Spring and Fall DCC)
Stonebridge
ELTC/Loyd
GEagles
Thorntree
Team Eddie should bounce back strong although no Tikashi or Forrest from the last two season and those two were big components of their team but hopefully Eddie will be back on the court. OC should be good but some of their big guns are on the other team so who knows. Garland has some solid talent that didn't end up with Big John so I think they will be tough. Springpark has the usual suspects back and I am guessing Mitch will be joining the crew very soon since he was downrated. The rest of the teams are somewhat new but I am not quite sure I see anything on their rosters...yet...that could trouble the top teams in this flight.
I am looking forward to some real tennis very soon. I will update again once we know some more on the 4.0 league.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
BROOKHAVEN TOURNAMENT
"Adult Levels"This particular edition of the monthly Brookhaven tournament is called the :
"BROOKHAVEN COUNTRY CLUB ADULT LEVELS"
Ok, glad to see we put some marketing effort behind the name.
The tournament has a healthy size of 345 Total Players,
With 45 degree temperatures and an 8o percent chance of rain on Friday,
This looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
I, for one, do not like standing around with my hands in my pants waiting for my match.
If the weather is as bad as it looks like it might be, there may be a lot of players calling in sick for this one ,
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Favorite Tennis Event to Watch Live
Okay, so we don't have much going on for a few more weeks until signups and flights get situated before the season and the real trash talk can begin.
I know many folks do have the opportunity and some make it a regular practice to go see the pros at tournaments around the country and world. So it got me thinking about which events were the best. So which ones are:
The best overall event to see professional tennis?
Most economical?
Most fun?
Best for getting really close to the professionals?
For those that regularly go to some of the events, what things must we do and see at such event or in the city hosting the event to get the most out of the adventure?
I'm sure there is some good knowledge out there. So, let's hear it.
I know many folks do have the opportunity and some make it a regular practice to go see the pros at tournaments around the country and world. So it got me thinking about which events were the best. So which ones are:
The best overall event to see professional tennis?
Most economical?
Most fun?
Best for getting really close to the professionals?
For those that regularly go to some of the events, what things must we do and see at such event or in the city hosting the event to get the most out of the adventure?
I'm sure there is some good knowledge out there. So, let's hear it.
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