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
Lakes too high. They may have to sweep doubles every match to win.
ReplyDeletePretty good/realistic Power Rankings. I'd flip Feldman with Lakes.
ReplyDelete1) OC Feldman
ReplyDelete2) TBar
3) Northwood
4) The Lakes
5) Royal Oaks
6) High Point
The Lakes have the talent to sweep doubles in every match. The Addition of Marty Feldman at line 3 doubles is huge. Jeff Jannash and Wagner winning at the 5.0 level. I like the Lakes to beat Northwood and OC Feldman even though Andy Xu and Victorian are automatic at singles. HP and RO are pretenders.
ReplyDeleteAs Marty just said, the addition of Marty Feldman at line 3 doubles is huge.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:02: Very impressive wins by Wagner at 5.0. Teams should be shaking.
ReplyDeleteWagner just started playing again in 08. He is a legit player now.
ReplyDeleteWagner does seem to have default's number in 5.0. Default can't win a game off of him.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a fun playoff. I don't see 1 team that completely stands above everyone else. Almost every team has a legitimate shot depending on how the lineups shake out. This will come down to alot of 3-2 matches in 3rd set tiebreaks.
ReplyDeleteNancy's Northwood team is getting better and has a legit chance to win this thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's the fall, who cares!!
ReplyDeletesays the guy whose team isn't in contention. Of course we would all like to win the fall. We just won't kill ourselves doing it because if it doesn't work out save your time and energy for April. But who doesn't want to put together a team and win. If you put together a team to lose or manage, etc, then you have other issues.
ReplyDeleteHey, what about LB Houston/Ratana?
ReplyDeleteOh, yea......once again their 0 - 5!
Ratana sucks!
not sure why you are calling out Lb Houston. That team used to be a playoff team every season until like their top 10 guys spilt up a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteKen and Jason are good guys and have tried their best to rebuild, but it is too tough when you lose a whole core of playoff caliber guys all at once. I expect they will start to rebound at somepoint.
That's true. Ken is doing the best with what he has and I expect he will gradually get better. It's hard to keep players when your team is in last place though.
ReplyDeleteThe previous comment about all of the teams being relatively equal is accurate. I would say High Point and T Bar have the most 5.0 players, but will they be available and where will they put them?
1)Favorite: Feldman (roster very similar to last years Feldmans Fall Champs team, perhaps better with Zappia & Mir ?!?!?!) Too much depth , despite the small roster, for other teams to handle at singles and dubs. Vik takes names in singles during the playoff weekend (again), and the spread of Wooten, Durten, and Zappia in dubs - ouch! Bank on a Fall repeat crown.
ReplyDelete2)Challengers: TBar and Northwood. Would love to see these teams face each other in round robin or the final, should Feldman stumble. I would say both squads are pretty even. 2 Easy wins for Northwood, Xu - singles & Wells/Young (if grouped together) - dubs. But Tbar's superior depth could wrangle many close 3-2 wins during the weekend, including a potential Northwood "W". Lots of talent on both teams.
3)Pretenders: Lakes and Highpoint. Not enough "umph" in any of their lines (except perhaps Lakes #1 dubs). Did Highpoint get a 2nd match in for Clint? (they are toast without him) Too many close 3-2 wins for both clubs during the short season that do not give them enough authority, despite their overall winning Fall records.
Props for the good showing during the season, but both teams get spanked when it counts. Better luck in the spring - "when it counts".
4) Who the hell knows: RO. A safe bet to put them out of top 5? probably so. But there is some "dark horse" potential. Rauchuber about the only solid consistent player in their line up, based on his Fall record, that is unbeaten in 4.5 so far. Their new additions (Saldana, Bell, and Bohrnstedt) seem OK but far from Molina/Andrus replacements. (Well maybe Zachary) Flores (if healthy) and Walters are monster doubles players that know how to win, and could potentially guarantee wins at any line, with just about any partner (with some exceptions). But still lots of big question marks on their results and unproven/unexposed roster. Could be the fist team out of contention, but also could be a team that makes some noise and provides some upsets during the weekend.
That is all.
Thoughts???
Does anyone else notice how quite and somewhat cival the blog is now that those blowhards from Lifetime were humbled?
ReplyDeleteThe greatest sound going is the silence from Lifetime! I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am!
Yes we are quiet now, but we will be back. 4.5 tennis is so much better than what you see at 4.0. It is real tennis and forces you to work on your game to be a real player that can hit real shots against fit players that know how to play. Can't wait for the spring season. Good luck to all in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteSo for now, I will remain real quiet.
Any team could win the fall from this 6. No dominant teams. Some have dominant doubles but weaker singles and some vice versa. And nobody has a strong enough player to have "guaranteed" lines.
ReplyDelete1) TBar - undefeated, balanced strength in singles/doubles. Can win at any line.
2)Northwood - balanced lines, small team, need their best 8 during playoffs
3) Lakes - undefeated, best doubles lines. Need to find some singles wins.
4) Royal Oaks - wildcard team, lot of teaching pros who may or may not get enough matchplay, playing it close to the vest w/ some new guys.
5) OC - hot/cold, barely made playoffs, small roster, basically same team as last year but have other teams gotten better?
6) High Point - another wildcard team, strength in doubles, need to find singles wins.
I miss Lifetime. Can we get them a wildcard entry to the Playoffs?
I was talking about this with somebody last night. When this blog first started, 3.5 was by far the most popular section with hundreds of comments. This was when Lifetime, Sisk, and HP were the top teams.
ReplyDeleteThen last year, 4.0 was the most popular thread when Sisk, Lifetime, and HP were the best teams. Sound familiar?
Now, this season, 4.5 has been the most popular thread and Lifetime and Somabut have 4.5 teams for the first time.
So that leads me to believe that a large percentage of blog activity comes from Lifetime and HP players. Now that both of them are eliminated from 4.5 playoff contention, the blog is quiet again.
Some quality analysis on this page by the way. Out of 7 matches in the playoffs, I would expect at least 5 to be 3-2.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is the holdup on the T Bar/Somabut score? That couldn't have been cancelled for weather. T Bar must be trying to find a way to qualify players. And I would be shocked if Clint doesn't qualify for playoffs for HP.
ReplyDeleteRegarding TBar vs HP, there was a miscommunication on the match start time, so not all lines have been played. T Bar locked up 3 lines though with one left to be decided.
ReplyDeleteTHIS - "T Bar must be trying to find a way to qualify players."
ReplyDeleteNOT THIS - "Regarding TBar vs HP, there was a miscommunication on the match start time, so not all lines have been played."
There is one player in particular that TBar HAS to get qualified.
Who are you talking about? Looks like only 3 players on the Tbar roster have not qualified - Warner, Davidson, and Lemke (although he has played 0 matches with only 1 match not reported so he cannot qualify).
ReplyDeletei think its stupid that you have to play two matches to qualify when there are only six matches scheduled
ReplyDeleteProbably the one who has been winning his 5.0 matches.
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of the guy who is also playing 5.0 (Warner) - looks like a relatively new add to the TBarM team. Hmmm, only played a few matches - are they hiding him? Is this a pro at the club?
ReplyDeletePlayed against the other 2 a while back (Davidson & Lemke) and we got our butt whooped.
It was your partners fault
ReplyDeleteI think Feldman wins it. They should win at least 1, if not both lines of singles and their doubles lines are as good as anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThere are no dominant teams but I think the singles advantage might be enough to scrape out a few 3-2 wins and take the playoffs.
I might have bet on Northwood until their puzzling loss last weekend. They might be one of those teams that beats who they are expected to beat but have trouble against equal competition. Guess we'll find out in a few weeks
Speaking of butt whoopins, Wells and Young deal them out on a regular basis. They have to be one of the top 5 doubles teams in the city
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would read too much into that loss to Juhn by Northwood. I am sure Corey was pissed they lost, but that wasn't Northwood's best lineup
ReplyDeleteStill, a loss is a loss. Says something about their depth.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think Corey even mentions that in his post that he will need his top 8 to have a chance.
ReplyDeleteSince the "Branch" team didn't make the fall playoffs does this mean we will get to listen to the complaints about the pools in the spring? Already getting excited about the anger!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to those in the playoffs. I'll go with a Feldman victory over CoreDawg for the championship.
Good point, Branch's team results in Falls will screw up the spring seedings again - all the more reason to win the Fall playoffs.
ReplyDeleteOn the top doubles team comment, Oberg and Pollock from the Lakes have to be in the conversation.
I'm going with TBarM - they have won several tight matches 3-2 which is what it will take in the playoffs since all of the teams are pretty darn clos.
So we are a team that beats who we are supposed to beat and falters against better competition??? Your evidence for that is that we lost to Juhn's team. Wouldn't that mean the opposite is true??
ReplyDeleteI am upset we lost last week and anytime we lose but it's true we didn't have our top lineup. Nevertheless, no way Trey and I should have lost, at least not the way we did.
Whoever said that Northwood has a "guaranteed" win at singles with Andy Xu has got to be smoking something. Xu went 5-3 in singles in spring and 4-1 this fall, but that included a loss to Phil Griggs and a 3 set win against Frank Vo. Griggs and Vo are very good 4.5 players but losing 1 of those matches and going 3 sets with the other doesn't = "guaranteed" win to me
ReplyDeleteI thought that was an odd comment, but I do think Andy will pull it together for the playoffs. There were some extenuating circumstances surrounding his last two matches, and by the end of the spring season, he proved to me that he can beat any 4.5.
ReplyDeleteWells and Young shouldn't be 4.5 players. I know they both have several losses last year, but they have power and skill far above 4.5 level.
ReplyDeleteWells and Young are not even in my top 10 in Dallas. any picks for top 5 doubles teams in the league?
ReplyDeleteand slezac/anybody, anybody/selzac, slezac/slezac can only take one slot
Slezac and Eddie would be unstoppable.
ReplyDeleteWells is a total headcase. His mental game alone takes him out of the top ten. Young however is absolutely one of the top 4.5 doubles players.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone beat Wells?
ReplyDeleteA Slezac/Slezac team?? No, no, I'll take Ditka and Red Cone against any 20 players! Or even a mini-Ditka, like 5 inches tall, against anyone doubles team.
ReplyDeleteNobody cries more than Slezak.
ReplyDeleteNo one beats T Bar M this season. Too strong. The rest are just pretenders.
ReplyDeleteWells and Young suck. I probably won't even put them in my playoff lineup. If I do, they will have to play with me since I'm our best doubles player. Anybody convinced yet?
ReplyDeleteSlezak got drummed this season in singles. Stud.
ReplyDeleteWho's Nancy?
ReplyDeleteSlezak blows. when was the last time he won a big doubles match without Walt Williams or Kern standing next to him. never. he is great at riding on the 'ole coat tails. I could win with either of those 2 as partners.
ReplyDeleteNancy Noel
ReplyDeleteHow stupid, Slezak is a good player, get a clue
ReplyDeleteSlezak is an awesome player Kern and Walt will not just play with anyone. They both want solid and mentally tough partners. Slezak is one of the best 4.5 players around.
ReplyDeleteOC player
How will the playoffs work? Round robin?
ReplyDeleteWhat about LB Houston/Ratana? Do they suck or what? I guess their working hard at trying to get bumped back down to 4.0.
ReplyDeleteRatana - If you stay at the 4.5 level and plan to have another team, please work at getting some real 4.5 players! Don’t waste our time again with another bogus 4.5 team of yours.
I thought we already covered this! Slezak sucks! And yes I will play with anyone obviously. I even carried Clark in ping pong and if you will play with Brad you'll play with anyone. Walt wouldn't even play with Slezak in ping pong when he didn't have to. Slezak played singles in the fall because no one on OC would play with him.
ReplyDeleteOk, I feel better now. Sure glad that Sleezy doesn't read the blog.
Playoffs lineup
ReplyDeleteDivsion 1:
T Bar
High Point
Northwood
Divsion 2:
Lakes
Royal Oaks
OC - Feldman
Prediction:
Division 1: T Bar rolls both matches 4-1.
Division 2: High Point pull the upset and advances.
Championship: T Bar wins 4-1.
anon - November 9, 2009 6:21 AM
ReplyDeleteBefore another anon says something really shitty, I will just say it looks like you flipped your divisions around after you made your predictions at the bottom.
Anon 6:21am - good prediction.
ReplyDeleteQuestion - How will HP win division 2 while playing division 1?
No surprises in the final week.
ReplyDeleteTBAR and HP both get a match for guys they needed to get qualified.
Snooze time until December. Anybody figure out why DTA put out such craptastic playoff dates?
OC Feldman wins the Fall AGAIN. Victorian and Feldman at singles are tough to beat. Durten will take his doubles line and the Thompson/Wright team have also been playing well.
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely happy with the results of my team. This was my first season as a team captain and second season playing at the 4.5 level.
ReplyDeleteIn gathering member for this team, I asked 16 players. 8 4.5 and 8 4.0. unfortunately a few of the 4.5 members of the club left and club rules state only members are able play on a brookhaven USTA team.
My team received a great deal of criticism from a large number of you in the beginning because my team was mostly made up of 4.0 players. The 4.0 players on my team are as good, if not better then most of the 4.5 players I played against during the spring 4.5 season.
my goal was to put together another team at brookhaven that could be competitive at the 4.5 level. I think we have proved that with our tennis play and our results.
Good luck to everyone in the playoffs. Should be some great tennis to watch.
I'm looking forward to the spring 4.5 season,
Andy
Don't worry about it Andy. You guys had a good first season and I'm sure you will show improvement next time around. Maybe you can woo some of Larry's players to your team and make a run to the playoffs next season.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!
Ludwig - congrats, your team looked very solid and absolutely fit into the 4.5 league. Your team was filled with players that had solid mechanics and good form regardless of their current USTA rating.
ReplyDeleteGood luck next season, your team should only get better because your guys have the foundation and only need some match experience at the 4.5 level to start winning matches 3-2 instead of losing.
By the way, that can't be said for most of the 4.0 guys playing up. Many 4.0 guys playing up are grinders with poor form and rely on hustle and a bit of athleticism to stay in matches. Of course, those traits are important to have but if you don't try to improve your form and mechanics, you aren't really working to get better. In the end, poor mechanics break down under pressure.
4.5 teams need to merge before the spring season starts. There were way too many teams and a significant lack of competition.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. I hope we get back to two flights in the spring.
ReplyDeleteTeams needs to merge????? Are you kidding me???? Teams need to break up still. There are way to many people riding at the bench at 4.5.
ReplyDeleteIf you have more than 13 players on your team, you have too many. You won't get to play, especially since it looks like the flights are going to end up pretty much the same way as they did in the fall as determined to be number of teams in your flight.
you will only get 6-7 matches. You can't possibly play 18,19 guys with 6-7 matches only.
Cory,
ReplyDeleteWe will be in 3 flights again. 6-7 matches again. I did the math on it awhile back, and there are too many teams to put us into 2 flights. We are 4 teams over from having 2 flights.
Best bet is to have more teams and that should give us more matches eventually. Ideally, we add 6 teams or subtract 4 teams. So, we need either 78 more players or 52 less players. Tough numbers to hit either direction.
its going to be a limited amount of matches again in the spring...
Well we certainly DO NOT need 78 more players at 4.5 - good god, talk about a waste of time. We should go to a solution where 70%-80% of the players on a 4.5 team must be rated 4.5. That might cause 52 players to play down at 4.0.
ReplyDeletelol.
ReplyDeleteActually, I have heard that the rule already exists, "we" just choose to not enforce it. The rule I believe is exceptions for Country Clubs (Brookhaven, Stonebridge) where they might not have enough members to field a 4.5 team for the 4.5 players, so they are allowed to carry more then the 75%? rule.
HP, LBH, LTF, OC proly some others would be eligble to have the rule forced upon. I have a feeling that it won't go enforced though, cause that is lost money, players for DTA. Dint 4.5 have a good Texas showing at nationals? I really don't know.
It's possible Brian. We would only need two less teams. We had 20 teams last season and we had two flights. Maybe 19 teams but they would do two flights with 20. Somabut may not have a team so then we only need one more to drop out.
ReplyDeletei believe the rule is 50%, when we started a team, Jane did enforce it, she asked for names of the 4.5 players I had and how many 4.0s etc.
ReplyDeleteHere's a simple way to lose 3 teams:
ReplyDeleteDFW Hilton disband - they forfeit half their lines anway.
HP Bazan/HP Somabut 4.5 players merge, lose the 4.0s
LB Houston Baird/Ratana - 4.5 players merge
Just a very simple way to trim the fat and make a better league. We'll see what YE ratings does to teams. Hopefully and equal number of people are pushed down to 4.0 as are pushed up to 4.5.
Here is a better solution, kick LTF out altogether! The play would be better and there would be less boasting on the blog!
ReplyDeleteWow, could you all put any more emphasis on the rating of a player instead of on the ability of a player?
ReplyDeleteI played on Brookhaven/Ludwig this season. The first comment made about our team was from Mr. Noel when he stated, "Brookhaven/Ludwig - Only 3 or 4 legitimate 4.5 players will make this team an easy out for opponents."
From that point on it was all about how boring matches were with a bunch of 4.0 players. I played in the 4.0 and 4.5 leagues this fall. While the level of play is better in the 4.5 league, it is not like the play is head and shoulders above the 4.0 league.
Collin County/Aud was made up of 8 4.5 players and 5 4.0 players. They finished the season 2 - 5.
Springpark/Abbruzzese was made up of 12 4.5 players and 3 4.0 players. They finished 1 - 6.
Our team was made up of 4 4.5 players and 10 4.0 players. We finished 4 - 3.
In our three losses, we lost to the two playoff teams 3 - 2.
In the TBAR match, there were 3 3rd set tie breaks that we were only able to pull 1 out. There was also one 2nd set tie break that we were unable to pull out.
In the Oak Creek/Fedman match, there were 2 3rd set tie breaks that we were able to pull out, but were unable to pull out the third match.
I just think the ranking of a player, or the number of players with a certain ranking on a team is not indicative of the quality of tennis that a team is able to play.
So, IMHO everyone should quit worrying about the ranking of members of a team, and concentrate on the ability of the team and individuals on it. However, I am just a 4.0, so I probably don't really know what I am talking about.
However, I think we proved that we were far from an easy out for opponents despite our NTRP rating.
This season was quite a bit of fun and a good learning experience for my team. I look forward to the spring season, and having as much fun as possible.
Bobby Smith
The primary reason 4.0 players had some success in the fall is due to the fact that there were way too many teams strectched thin with weak lineups. I have never played such easy matches than in the fall. If there are that many teams and lack of competition this spring, you will see many of the better players voluntarily move to 5.0 or just not play.
ReplyDeleteI saw some lineups with 3.5 players and some with mediocre 4.0 players. Here is a message for you: Go back to your own level. Losing 1 and 1 is not fun for any team and certainly not for the winning team. We enjoy competition just like you do. This can't continue. It is a waste of time for the quality 4.5 players. And to the teams that default a line or two every single match, just merge and quit wasting everyone's time.
Since you referenced me in your post, I will respond Bobby.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you guys definitely did better than everybody expected this season. You were probably underestimated by your opponents in the beginning, and you guys made them pay for it.
I examined your 20 wins and 8 of them were from 3 or your 4.5 players Mark, Mel, and David. 3 of them were defaults or retirements. So that leaves 9 wins from your 4.0s. From there, 3 of those were against 4.0s and 1 was against a 4.0/4.5 team. So that leaves 5 wins all season against 4.5 players by 4.0s. Three of those matches I would classify as players rated 4.5 that are not. So the only quality wins I would give you were both doubles wins against Feldman's team.
From an overall team perspective, the four teams you beat were: Somabut 13/18 players 4.0.
Bazan 6/13 players 4.0.
Collin County 5/13 4.0.
Springpark--4.5 players but they did give you a default.
The three teams you lost to were solid 4.5 teams. I don't necessarily think that 4.5 is head and shoulders above 4.0 but the top 4.5 teams are head and shoulders above the top 4.0s. Plus, this was the weakest fall league I have ever seen at the 4.5 level. There were at least 6 teams who I would classify as noncompetitive and only 8 that had a legitimate shot to make the playoffs.
I'm not trying to run you down Bobby and it sounds like my preseason comment was wrong but it also may have motivated your team the slightest bit.
Good luck next season.
damn Brookhaven Bobby, you got a lot to say.
ReplyDeleteBH Bobby -
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong w/ Corey's preseason comment? It was a fact that you only had 3 4.5 rated players. Most anyone would conclude that team to be an easy out. Your team played MUCH HARDER than other 4.0/4.5 mixed squads.
Congrats on your success at 4.5. You played 2 legit 4.5 doubles teams and got handled in each. You played (and beat in TBs) 3-4 other 4.0 doubles teams (playing up) at 4.5. Yippee!
You wouldn't fully know the difference between 4.0 & 4.5 b/c you played a bunch of 4.0s in 4.5 league this fall.
Congrats to your team on a good fall. That's why I didn't list your team as one that should merge/disband even though you are mostly 4.0s.
Between USTA moving up so many 4.0s and so many 4.0s playing up in the fall, 4.5 league was completely watered down.
ReplyDeleteNot really the 4.0s fault. USTA needs to move more people up to 5.0 and make 5.0 league the same format as 4.5.
Is slezak a true 4.5 or really a 4.0?
ReplyDeleteHe's an upper level 4.5 in spring, and 4.0 in the fall.
ReplyDeleteBasically a 5.0 if you win 90% of matches at 4.5 Sectionals. Slezak plays like a 5.0 in Spring and a 4.5 in the Fall. 4.5 Fall tennis in Dallas is boring until the playoffs. OC Feldman or Northwood will win the Fall playoff.
ReplyDeleteDon't get on Brookhaven Bobby too much. Its not his fault that the 4.5 play was weak. He can't control who his team plays. Period.
ReplyDeleteTo answer some questions IMO
1. THAT SAID, You HAVE to use level of play, because there has to be some sort of measurement tool, right or wrong to qualify the quality of the league. Why we have rankings in the first place.
2. 4.5 is finally seeing the push of players into the next level that the rest of the league has been experiencing for over a year to 2 years now. Read the USTA chart on what defines a 4.5 or 5.0 player and compare your play. "Playoffs teams of other cities...", blah, blah, blah, blah...its time to move up.
3. As far as the historical 4.5ers: Hate to break this to you, but maybe your play has gotten better? If you are making the playoffs every year, you probably are no longer a 4.5, except in current rating only. Many 4.5s are going to be moved into 5.0 this spring, so you will get your wish. I believe this is USTAs attempt to spread the players amongst the levels more evenly that the rest of the league has been seeing already. Your complaint is about 2 years old, but new to you.
Flights are out.
ReplyDeleteT Bar
High Point
Northwood
Oak Creek
Lakes
Royal Oaks
Finals: Oak Creek vs HP
ReplyDeleteOak Creek CHAMPS!
Major League Flight
ReplyDeleteMinor League Flight
Stupid DTA! Putting all the best teams in one flight! What are they thinking! Why can't they be more transparent!?!?! This is ridiculous!
There. I saved someone the trouble ;)
Not sure anyone would say that. All the teams are even which should make for a fun weekend of tennis... assuming the weather is better than today or we play indoors.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, not one team is way better than the rest. It may come down to which team can ensure that all their top players are available for the weekend.
ReplyDeletewinner of the Northwood v. TBar match will play winner of the OC/Feldman Lakes match. HP and RO's have little chance to advance. I'm going the TBar v. OC/Feldman with OC/Feldman pulling the fall trophy for the second year in a row. Of course, this is all contingent on who is hungover and/or sober after holiday parties that weekend.
ReplyDelete