4.0 Week 5

So we are approaching that halfway point of the season when things should start to get interesting and the flights should start to make sense very soon.

Flight A:
Hackberry plays Brookhaven with the loser all but done for the season. I would put my money on Hackberry in a close one. Canyon Creek sports a 3-1 record but they are playing HP/Bob so that should become 3-2 pretty soon. It really looks like this flight is all about TBar and HP and a bunch of teams that will have a hard time grabbing a wildcard.

Flight B:
Top teams face off as Garland travels to the Lakes on Saturday. I see Garland winning this one but it will be close. Winning team should have a good track for the top spot although both still face Brookhaven who faces last place Eldorado this week. Village should remain a one loss team as they face another weak team in LBH.

Flight C:
Great match and our MOW is Greenhill v. Brookhaven both these teams have one loss already so the loser will be in a tough spot although I do see a scenario in which they finish in 1st and 2nd since the top team right now (LBH) has beaten the bottom tier teams. But the winner of this match puts themselves in a very good position to grab first place and hold onto it till the end. I see this one going to Brookhaven and possibly a big 4-1 result.

Flight D:
Ho hum nothing interesting here except maybe Thorntree v. Springpark. I think we are more interested to know how the makeup match goes between OC and Springpark in this flight.

4.5 Week Four

A few surprises in the young 4.5 season but most of the matches are going according to plan. Huffhines and Branch both beat playoff teams last week to put themselves as the favorites of their flights. High Point and Royal Oaks remain undefeated and are poised to capitalize on every opportunity to claim the top position. Less exciting matchups this week but there are a few worth watching.

Flight A

Match of the Week: None really but I will say Oak Creek/Branch v. High Point/Bazan for comic purposes

Shouldn't be any surprises this week as the top four teams all play lower teams. Only potential upset I see is Village v. T Bar since Village has such strong doubles teams. T Bar has been rolling in singles though and I see nobody on Jason's roster who can beat their singles players. In the "feature match", I am putting the over-under at 20 games for Bazan's team. I am confident enough to say that there is no lineup I could create where Bazan's team wins this match. His top 8 vs. Rusty's bottom 8 would still be an Oak Creek victory in my opinion.

Predictions:

Branch d. Bazan 5-0
Bovermann d. Stonebridge 4-1
Feldman d. Hackberry 4-1
Royal Oaks d. Collin County 4-1
T Bar d. Village 4-1

Royal Oaks looks to be the only team that can challenge Branch at this point but inconsistent lineups in the past have hurt them.

Flight B

Match of the Week: High Point v. Brookhaven

This is a week full of competitive matches but the feature match is by far the most exciting. This is a must-win for Brookhaven after their loss to Huffhines. I will have to root for Brookhaven since my team beat them but if they have the same lineup they had against us, I don't like their chances. Only other drama will be to watch to see if any of the other frontrunners take their opponents too lightly and lose valuable position.

Predictions:

HP d. Brookhaven 3-2 (Home-court advantage is always big for HP but if David and Carl play singles, I would have to give Brookhaven the edge)
Greenhill d. DFW 4-1
Lakes d. Springpark 3-2
LB Houston d. T Bar 3-2
Huffhines d. Juhn 4-1

It should be fairly obvious after this week who the top two teams in this flight are. If HP wins, I would have to say it will be a two-team race between them in Huffhines. If Brookhaven wins, it is a little grayer but Huffhines will be a solid #1 with Brookhaven a close second.

Don't forget to voice your opinion for the over/under on Cary's team match.

4.0 Week 4

So there was a bye this weekend but some make up matches did get played and one very big upset as TBar M took out HP/Somabut and started to dash the hopes of a DCC round robin in July. This match was supposed to take place in June but was played in advance (mixed sectionals possibly, who knows?). Bottom line is TBar M came up big and won 3-2 led by Shannon Grant and Sam Stollenwerck, does this team need to be included among the favorites for this Spring, looks like it.

Flight A
So TBar M now sits alone at the top with only Brookhaven/Helterbrann in their final match as a team that could knock them from the ranks of the unbeaten. Although this week they do play a solid Hackberry team and I wonder if Russow is freaking out since he thought Bob's team was the second coming. Here comes TBar...

Flight B
Garland sits at the top with 5 teams at 2-1 right behind. The SWAT team snuck by the Lakes this Thursday night by a very close margin. The Lakes is a solid team and will be a factor the rest of the way and we were unbelievably fortunate to win that match. This week we don't get a break as we play Brookhaven/Bartlett. Garland takes on Village (2-1) which could be interesting depending on the lineups but I don 't think John will take them lightly.

Flight C
Confused would be mild word for what I thnk when I look at this flight. I am now feeling good about HP hanging in there when I look at the other teams. Greenhill seems to have taken a step back unless something changes soon. BH/Pearlman will climb back to the top but with the one loss already they must be perfect if they want to vault to the top spot. LBH and Garland are undefeated but I don't see that lasting long. In fact they both might lose this week. The match of the week in this flight is HP/Harrigan v. Greenhill. I like HP to take this one and solidify their top spot. LBH will have a tough test against JCC who knocked off GH last week, I am not so sure JCC lead by Elovitz and Lieberman cannot win that match and shove Greenhill towards the bottom of the flight.

Flight D
Two good matches here as things might shake out a little more after this weekend. LTF takes on a solid Garland team but they should pull thru OK but it will be a test for them. The MOW is Springpark v. OC. Oak Creek had a great fall playoff and Springpark was a sectional finalist not much longer than one year ago and this roster is not that different, OK no Gene Davis but their doubles teams are mostly intact. I don't know who to take in this one but I have to go with OC in a tight one.

3.5 Week Three - Results!

Mother's Day Bye Week WTF?!?!?!
What is this, TCD?

3.5 A
"The Huff-Whines' Boys" won again this week 3-2.
The match was not as close as the score appears.

And in the Match of the Week.
Lifetime Man-Handled Brookhaven 4-1.
It will take a Miracle for Brookhaven to get back into the play-off picture.
To have any hope of seeing the post season they will have to beat HuffWhines next month, and I just don't see that happening.

I don't see anything else in this flight worth mentioning.

3.5A Team Standings

3.5 B
We had a couple cadiates this week for the Epic Fail of the Week but I am going to go with:

High Point/Jameson
Sorry you couldn't keep up the pace.

HP went down tamely to Westlake only winning 2 sets and a total of 33 games.
There is no shame in losing, but they went down without a fight.
With Garland and the Surprising Sam Grand in the hunt I'm calling HP DOA for the spring season.

Garland beat LB 4 -1,
and
Sam Grand Swept Oak Creek and finds themselves in first place after 3 weeks!!!
Who are these Guys????

3.5B Team Standings

3.5 C
SpringPark announced themselves as a contender this week taking down Canyon Creek 4 -1.
Is Springpark for real or is Canyon Creek Fail?
We should know for sure when Springpark and Greenhill go at it on 5/17/09.

Greenhill squeaked passed the Lakes 3-2 to stay undefeated.

Oak Creek bounced back with a sweep over the Village.

And Fretz Sweepted LB to find them selves in the #1 spot this week.

3.5C Team Standings

Match of the Week 05/17/2009 :
Greenhill/Kayser @ Springpark/Abbruzzese