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!!