Not sure if Team Branch feels like this but it made me think of the Red Sox who had sniffed success for many years but never actually got what they were looking for. I know there is still one step to go for the big title but "getting" to Nationals is an extraordinary achievement. This team continued to amass talent over the years and this year it just seemed like it all would come together, I had doubts when Kern joined the Noho underground club but it turned out OK in the end. Congrats to all of them. The 4.5 tourney seemed stronger overall with teams like Waco making the semis and both San Antonio teams making it through and leaving the three Houston teams on the outside looking in.
But enough about those guys who know how to play tennis, 4.0 did not disappoint with a number of good surprise teams as well. In Flight 1 San Angelo not only won the flight knocking out the Houston Hurricanes and then went on to make the finals v. Lubbock. Who picked that one?
In Flight 2 Waco stormed through to take that flight undefeated getting past San Antonio and Austin. I will say Caleb told me he had confidence in this team to go far so at least one person picked that one. Their run ended in the semifinals.
In Flight 3 a flight handpicked by Greenhill/Wild Dallas, things started off well for them with two shutouts but there are no style points in tennis and a tough match v. Austin on Saturday morning took them out of contention entirely. That was a tough way to go out I am sure. NETX, Dallas and Austin finished in a 3 way tie for first but Austin had the tiebreakers mainly due to their 4-1 win over Dallas. Singles play seemed to be the difference in this flight.
In Flight 4, the 2008 Texas Champs returned many players for the 2010 version of their team and added a strong line 1 singles player in Lance Coleman and never seemed tested in this flight. Wild Houston and Lifetime had hopes of sneaking past but this Lubbock team seemed determined to go far and left these two teams searching for answers.
In the end it was Lubbock who essentially returned the same team from 2008 and will represent Texas again in 2010. I know there was a little back and forth regarding how this could possibly happen but I didn't do in depth research but just on a glance their 2009 match results seem pretty on the level, it is more curious how their 2008 sectional results and National results didn't keep them at 4.5. It was interesting to look at the Springpark v. Lubbock 2008 final. All 8 players on the Springpark team are now rated 4.5 and I think Gene might be 5.0 very soon if not already. In contrast only one player Tyler Chadwick is rated 4.5 out of that Lubbock 8 man lineup. Conspiracy?
I wish them luck on the next level, it will be curious to see if Lance Coleman survives the dreaded Monday computer run because they will need him to be competitive at Nationals.
I have to give it up for the smaller cities this weekend who showed up Big D and Houston. San Antonio probably had the best showing from all the big cities that came to Dallas this weekend.
Now all in Dallas start all over again to work towards August of 2011.
WAHOO. CONGRATS TEAM BRANCH!!! AND 4.0 LADIES!!!
ReplyDeleteTeam Branch- deserved the crown this year. Lots of good work by Feldman and Kiron in the offseason last year to make it all happen. Beating 2 San Antonio teams on Sunday was a tough task but they showed they were hungry for Nationals. Great Job Guys!!! Represent Texas and get r done at Nationals!!!
ReplyDeleteBMO, Brian Morrison, please do not ever captain a team in your life again. PLEASE!!!! Not only you are a mediocre 4.0 player in doubles and 3.5 in singles but the most importantly you are the worst captain ever.
ReplyDeleteDidn't make it over to see the semi or finals this morning but I want to congratulate the Branch/Feldman Dallas team on winning Sectionals. I think Conways team was the last one from Dallas to win. From all accounts, Dallas has the best team this year and will be our best hope to bring home a National Championship. Congratulations again Dallas, and take it to em in Tucson! Texas tennis is pulling for you.
ReplyDeleteLance was aware of the DQ, and managed his scores. He will not get DQ. He did play division 2 college tennis for ACU.
ReplyDeleteYeah, great job Branch. Good work in the off season on the previous post? You are kidding right. Basically have two 5.0's playing singles...Gene a 5.0 now and Kelly so far out of level a joke. Hope he feels like it was worth it. As someone said at cities, "he who skirts the rules the best usually wins".
ReplyDeleteColeman didn't need to manage scores. He was a C.
ReplyDeleteTo 2:12 poster: I'm sure they feel just awful. They just qualified for Nationals and your typing emails about how they should feel bad about it? LOSER!!!
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:53, not really sure what your issues are with Morrison but after looking at the two Dallas teams results in Sectionals it apprears that he did a better captaining job than his counterpart at Lifetime.
ReplyDeleteGreenhill was 3-1 at Sectionals.
Lifetime was 2-2 at Sectionals
Greenhill overall lines 23wins/9loss's
Lifetime overall lines 18wins/14 loss's
Greenhill mvp's Morrison, Wertz, Balan and Vassberg all undefeated.
O. Yarmenko was the only player on GH that lost more than one match.
Lifetime mvp's Baker went undefeated, Huynh 3-1, Smith 3-1.
Epic Fails Carey 2-2, Bennett 0-3, Ho 1-3, Gerber 2-2, Arcaria 2-2.
So again 12:53, apparently BMO is more than "a mediocore 4.0 doubles player" and a pretty good captain too!
Anon 12:35pm, right on. BMo's luck didn't carry over to the sectionals.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't pull a wertz/vassberg at singles stunt but, why would anyone play their second stringer players on doubles against Austin, including himself.
Obviously Lifetime was in a tougher flight than GH, so all the comparisons of the results are irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteBottom line is GH should have beaten Austin and played on Sunday, but for BMo's brain cramps Saturday morning.
BMo handpicked Flight C since he was scared of facing Lubbock in the same flight. That was probably a smart move, but you think he lost to Austin so he didn't have to face Lubbock in the semis ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, brain cramps do strange things to your decision making.
Nice try Anon 3:28pm (or is it you BMo).
ReplyDeleteHow does BMo and Wertz go from epic fails in DCC to MVPs in sectionals? The other two guys you mention deserve it more.
"BMO, Brian Morrison, please do not ever captain a team in your life again. PLEASE!!!! ...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a personal grudge to me. Tough Luck.
I think my team did a great job. 20/20 hindsight is incredibly easy. Some things could of been done differently, maybe, but we delayed the inevitable by 1 day, IMO. So, if the stars aligned just right for us, I still don't think we get past Lubbock. Who retired after sweeping doubles against Austin.
If you will notice though, Lubbock represented flights 3 & 4 well, and beat Flight 1&2 winner easily.
BMo - That sounds like Bobby Smith to me.
ReplyDeleteBMo, a job of a captain is to figure out how to get his team to win against all odds. I'd die to lead my team and have an opportunity to face the inevitable and prove everyone wrong.
ReplyDeleteA captain coming out and saying he had no chance against Lubbock tells me you're not fit to be a captain, no? (IMO, of course).
Congrats to both waco teams for making it to the semi finals, even though no one thought we were capable of doing it but us !!! Congrats to the State Winners and good luck at nats !!!!
ReplyDelete^^^ If you'd die to play a tennis match, your priorities are out of whack. BMO is just being realistic when he says that his team had no chance to beat them. Check the scores.. no team had a chance to beat Lubbock. They won the final 5-0.
ReplyDeleteB-Mo is right, they didn't have a chance to beat Lubbock. I watched most of Lubbock's matches and although they had good competition those guys didn't get tested at all.
ReplyDeleteAfter winning the 3rd line in the finals there was hardly a clap. Why? Because, the goal is to win nationals not sectionals.
To the author of this blog: my advice, quit complaining about who played college, or who sandbags or who should get bumped. Show some respect to the teams and their players especially this going on to nationals to represent your state.
Notice how you don't read any crap messages from the upper levels? It's cause they just play, they leave the bitchin' to the old ladies.
Anon 4:26pm, I agree totally.
ReplyDeleteIf you take the "you can't avoid the inevitable" cowardly attitude that captains like BMo have, how do teams like NY Giants go from a lowly wild card team to beat the "Perfect" Patriots in 2008? BMo's excuse sounds like such a CYA (cover your ass) statement to me.
August 1, 2010 4:26 PM - So why didn't you do it then? Who stopped you?
ReplyDeleteIs it because you have no talent, or is it because of your shitty personality that you couldn't put a solid team together. I laugh at the irony, "I'd die to lead my team and have an opportunity to face the inevitable and prove everyone wrong." - Like you were physically stopped from signing a team up. LOL!!!!!!
Morrison did a great job. His team got to Sectionals and did well, so he must of done something right - in his first time as Captain to boot. He recruited well and his team practiced strong every week.
ReplyDeleteHe puts his players out there and his players need to win. His line up does not look bad. He has his 2 established singles players and Nick Toth and Bill Hopping at line 3 to secure a 2nd win in Doubles. For whatever reason, it did not happen, but ridiculous to call him a bad captain. Obviously NETX had a strong team as well, or they would not have beat Austin,
So, you can't run the horses too hard, or there is nothing left.
BMO Ignore him, he is just a loser trying to bring people down to his level. You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteAnon 4:36pm (or is it BMo), don't take it literally, it's called a figure of speech. We all discuss topics in this blog because we are all competitive and we care about tennis. Your statement is just a cop out. We're talking about captains attitude towards any match, especially going into sectionals. I wouldn't want my captain to go into sectionals thinking he didn't have a chance to win it.
ReplyDeleteBMo obviously had a good season because he took his team to the sectionals. But the topic here is pretty simple. BMo miscalculated that NETX was a stronger team than Austin and was saving his best doubles line ups for the afternoon, and he was wrong. Everything else is just an excuse.
ReplyDeleteNETX beat Austin, and his line ups were good v Austin. Everything else is just 20/20 hindsight.
ReplyDeleteToth destroyed everyone he played until that final match. Is
Toth not a good player? Hopping is very solid as well. He had 2 good singles players out there where you would think at least one of them would win.
Austin lost to NETX because they were missing key players and didn't take them seriously as it was their first match. Bmo should've known by day 2 which team was for real (austin) and which one was a joke (NETX).
ReplyDeleteMel,
ReplyDeleteAs one of the biggest sandbaggers on the 2008 Lubbock team you would probably not be the best person to tell people to quit botching. The reason a lot of the players from that 2008 team are still 4.0 is that they tanked matches. Just looking at one of their main singles players, Joe S. He weni 1-5 in the Fall after Nationals playing all doubles. Probably so you can get 2 for 1 tank jobs.
Congrats to all of the teams who represented Dallas. It takes a lot to get to sectionals out of the Dallas league, so congratulations to those who did. I think we all recognize that Branch will have the best chance of representing Texas at Nationals in 4.5, so good luck guys, make us proud.
ReplyDelete-Fenn
Agree with Fenn of course, but also add that something needs to be done about wild cards. It's outrageous that Dallas, with the biggest league in the state gets one team in 4.5s, then three (3!) of the smaller leagues get two teams.
ReplyDeleteBMO, don't listen to these idiots. You guys had a hell of a team and made a great run. Not sure why anon 3:28 pm pits Greenhill against Lifetime, both BMO and Arcaria are first time captains and made it to sectionals, more than most around here can say. We just got beat by better teams and the match-ups simply didn't work out. All I know is I had a hell of a time and now we know what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I do not blame Lubbock for being back, but there is something obviously wrong with the system when players that were at nationals 2 years ago can be playing 4.0 again in that short of time. That's the USTA's fault. The only thing is, Lubbock people shouldn't deny the facts and what they did to get back to 4.0, they are too good of players for that. They should just man up and fess up rather than get their tutus bunched up when they get called out on it.
Gerber
Great job by Dallas this weekend. They beat us in the semis in a well played match with good sportsmanship in all lines. You were the better team today. I'm glad you guys took care of business a beat torres' a&* in the finals. Since we didn't win I'm glad you guys did. You were all a class act and I'm sure you will represent Texas well. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteMiller
@ 6:41 PM,
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks for remembering me! Wish I could say I had sandbagged to move to 4.0 but I have to give credit to the USTA and their wonderful computer system. Without them I couldn't have had a perfect record in mens league.
To be honest I've never sandbagged a match in my life, some days I play like a 5.0 and some like a 4.0. Guess that's why I didn't do better in college and juniors.
What I am guilty of is defending teammates. Do they sandbag matches? That's speculation and not my call. However, when I was VP if the South Plains Tennis Association I voted to make the USTA Fall "Tank" League a non-sanctioned league to try to curtail certain players from protecting their ratings.
Do I expect you to believe me? Doubtful (hell you don't eve have the sac to put your name next to your words), but if you don't, come visit me in Lubbock and we can hash it out on the court. Like real players do.
Warmest regards,
Mel McRee
Mel Mcree, sandbagging tool who recruited all illegal players on that 2008 team. What a hero.
ReplyDeleteMel are you saying you played college tennis? If so you should not be playing 4.0s. 4,0s is for bad players not college players. Come on you should be a shame that's pathetic if you played college ball and have to bill your ego by playing 4.0s tennis.
ReplyDeleteWe got lucky to go to nationals the year before the big debacle with ratings. Generalizing our whole team based off of one player is like me saying the whole city of Dallas is full of spineless cowards cause most of their tennis players are too gutless to own up to their trash talking.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are sandbaggers everywhere, including on your team too. But until you can definitively prove that every single one of us that went to nationals in 2008 threw matches to keep a rating, your rants are laughable.
Instead of bitching about getting beat try not sucking. Then you wouldn't have to bitch and moan.
Mel McRee is the real "Lubbock Butt Pirate".
ReplyDeleteWhere do I begin, how about Mel Mcree your an idiot. I have never spoken bad about somone on this blog, but your an errogant dude that I have no respect for. I met a number of the Lubbock guys and they are all nice guys and I have nothing against any of them. They are very good tennis players and handled themselves well on the courts. They did work the system to get back, a system that is completely flawed if that happens. A number of those players did tank last year which I do not agree with at all though. Do not come on here Mel and tell us all that BS. You really think a team should come to sectionals and breeze through every team like they did and then you brag about it. How about winning with some class, oh wait your not even on the team. Lubbock should be embarrassed by your post. I am sure happy that at least Yohan beat your ass as you tossed your racket in disgust, very classy by the way. Oh and your comment about 4.5s not talking and complaining, do you read these blogs? Branch's team has been bagged on left and right for ringers as was many of the other teams. Get your facts straight before you shoot your mouth. Lubbock nice win you deserve it as you had the best team. The only problem I have is that players did tank matches to either stay at 4.0 or get back and then you and Cliff come on and do not own up to it and defend it. If that is what players want to do then fine, but they will get called out by anons or others for doing so.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason to compare LTF and GH, both did good, both were in separate flights and both lost to good teams. BMo did great, he did better than 43 other captains in Dallas by getting to sectionals. Quit the attacks and the sour grapes.
It was a fun weekend and I met alot of nice people from all the different cities. I hope to be back sometime, hopefully playing someplace other than LB Houston.
Yall keep saying we got back to 4.0. Only 1 of our players this year got bumped and moved back down.
ReplyDeleteI know Lubbock had at least two college players. Lubbock can you tell us how many of your players played college tennis?
ReplyDeleteCliff you went to Nationals 2 years ago! You just breezed through the other great teams of Texas, are you kidding me by defending this? Come one man!
ReplyDeleteNice sandals you were wearing M. Mcree, do they make them in men's!!
ReplyDeleteI gave a legitimate reason why I wasn't bumped. 2008 was the 1st year I was rated as a 4.0, I was a 3.5 before. I got bumped at mid years this year and couldn't be happier.
ReplyDeleteMel just stated that he played juniors and then college and was playing 4.0 2 years ago. Ya that is not sand bagging. College is a minimum of 4.5 depending on where you played.
ReplyDeleteThat is fine Cliff, but Schaunaman tanked as did others.
ReplyDeleteIt's not my fault USTA ratings suck. And yes I will defend it.
ReplyDeleteIt is 4.5 if you played college, unless the computer bumps you down. And I can only speak for myself. A trait the lot of you suck at.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that is a GH player as most or all were out there supporting the team.
ReplyDeleteNo, it is not your fault, but you can't deny that you are a big red snapping pussy for playing 4.0 and tanking to get back to it. Grow a pair.
ReplyDeleteAnd those sandals must be the "in" thing in Lubbock, cause I saw a few of their players wearing them. Gay boys to say the least.
Cliff,
ReplyDeleteI know everyone on your team did not tank matches to remain at 4.0, but many did.
The combined Fall records after going to Nationals in 2008 of the following players:
Trevor Edgemon
Jody Bolin
Eric McDonald
Joseph Schaunaman
was 4-17.
That is players who were on the 2008 National team and on the 2010 national team.
Edgeman, Bolin, and Schaunaman all played in both Sectional finals.
Today here were their results and scores:
#2 Singles Joseph Schaunaman won 6-0,6-0
#1 Doubles Bolin/Boydstun( also 2008 team) won
6-0,6-2.
#2 Doubles Edgemon/Stripling won 6-4,2-6, 1-0
Hardly the results of players who in 2009 went 4-17.
If you tank matches to play at a level below your true level you are a spineless puss, plain and simple.
Cliff why did you only play 1 match?
ReplyDeleteMel and Lance both played division 2 college tennis. Why play 4.0s?
ReplyDeleteMel wasn't one of the biggest sandbaggers on the 2008 Lubbock 4.0 team. He was THE biggest sandbagger, with a win over Chris Doyal, the #13 ranked player in Men's Open Singles that year.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if you keep denying it you nutless wonders.
ReplyDeleteBecause he was too busy eating ho-hos! Have you seen they guy?
ReplyDeleteLOL, Cliff didn't play because he was eating Ho-Hos! I saw him eating Ding Dongs as well.
ReplyDeleteI played 2, and was pissed that I only got to play those. If it had been up to me, I would have played in all of them. And if would seem, based on the stats just given, that people yanked. Once again, I can only speak for myself.
ReplyDeleteLance managed scores to show everyone that he belonges in 4.0s. He is trying to justify why he is playing 4.0s. For God sakes he played division 2 tennis.
ReplyDeleteCliff,
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think people are ragging on you. I looked at Justin Boydstun's record and it looks like he competes to win in every match he plays. That's why he was not on the list of alleged tankers.
The problem is saying that the system is flawed because players can tank matches to manipulate their ratings.
I don't think the system will ever be able to address players who are will to tank matches to keep a rating lower than they might otherwise deserve.
Both National teams have played out of Lubbock Country Club where Mel McRee is a teaching pro. I don't know if he encourages tanking on the team, but he knows it is happening.
Hopefully Mel is not passing on this message to the juniors he works with.
Schaunaman has some pretty bogus results too. He'll lose some matches 6-0 6-1, then go undefeated at 4.0 nationals. Going undefeated at nationals then getting rated back at 4.0 is pretty amazing. Mel and CLiff are the only ones impressed by these Lubbock feats. It says alot about the character of that team that they are too scared to actually play at the right level. What's even worse is that Mcree is a teaching pro. What kind of example are you setting?
ReplyDeleteMel,
ReplyDeleteYou can probably beat up on the 4.0s here in Dallas, but there is a long line of 4.5s that can school you on the court.
McCree, is all this true, a teaching pro, sand bagging, etc.? The facts do speak for themselves. If you tell us you are a cheat then all will be ok. Otherwise we'll have to keep assuming that you and Cliff are turd burglars.
ReplyDeletehttp://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/rankings/rankinglists.aspx?id=546422 Men's Open Singles final rankings for 2008. Notice #13 Chris Doyal. Then click on Doyal's name and notice his loss to Mel on Feb. 15th. Then tell me Mel wasn't sandbagging playing as a 4.0 that year.
ReplyDeleteTo my fellow Lubbockites on this blog:
ReplyDeleteLeave the bitching and moaning to all of the teams that competed for second place this weekend. We have nationals to prepare for!
To all of you Dallas guys, better luck next year. Maybe you guys will do better since we will not be able to keep this team together at 4.0 next season. One more note for those of you bitching about Lance Coleman. I tell you what, go ahead and take away all of his wins this weekend, then do the math. That's right, Lubbock would have STILL won the tournament.
To the majority of the guys we played this weekend, we really enjoyed the tennis. The Houston team in our flight had a lot of cool guys and great tennis players. Also good to see an all West Texas final with Lubbock and San Angelo. Maybe next year will finally be your time Dallas. Good luck in 2011. Take care.
http://melmcree.usptapro.com
ReplyDeleteI met Cliff and he was a very nice guy and I have nothing against the guy at all. Cliff a number of our players have discussed this and I do not think it is any of the guys that were with me as we all agree it is a system flaw. None of us ever blamed your players, just the system so I would be hard pressed to think it was them. For one, one of them never comes on the blog and the other is overweight so I cannot believe he would make jokes like that. Captains and players try to get a competitve edge through the system, etc. Tanking is BS though and I really did not realize the extent of it until someone posted those numbers and I looked up Schaunaman's record last year. It was one thing if these guys were losing with sub par partners, but they were losing together in league play and we all know how good each of them are. Schaunaman beat one of our so called ringers 2 and 3 and blew everyone else out. It is obvious. You will not win going back and forth with the anons though.
ReplyDeleteLUBBOCK....why would anyone show respect to people who A. Played college tennis and are out of rating beating up on 4.0s and B. tanked their matches last year to get bumped back down to beat up on these same 4.0s again. Why would anyone even clap or cheer for you at nationals? You should win easily, why bother if you are not even challenged like you said. Your team are pathetic scum and represent everything that is wrong with league tennis.
ReplyDeleteAs fun as this has been, the majority of y'all are too scared to even put your names. So I'll leave you with some words that will give you more to cry about.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what you think or cry about, at the end of the weekend we won.
When Mel played on the 2008 National team he was classified as a USPTA Professional Level 1.
ReplyDeleteHere are the requirements to be classified as a P1.
Professional 1
Must be 22 years of age or older
Must pass all portions of the Certification Exam at the Pro 1 level or higher
Must have an NTRP of 4.5 or higher
Must have three years or five seasons of full-time teaching experience.
My question would be, how could you have had a NTRP rating of 4.5 or higher and still played 4.0 USTA League Tennis?
Did you tell the USPTA that USTA "system" had made a mistake and now you were classified as a 4.0 and could no longer qualify at the P1 Level?
Thanks Arabia, and best of luck to you and your team
ReplyDeleteYou won with a bunch of sandbagging, tanking spineless players. Hopefully you can get out of your flight this time. If not I'm sure we'll see you all again in a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteArabia?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Branch 4.5 and Odell 4.0 Ladies!
ReplyDeleteGood luck at Nationals!
I'm assuming Arcaria. Probably so mad trying to defend his tankers that he is having trouble hitting the correct keys.
ReplyDeleteIs that a joke at me Cliff?
ReplyDeleteNice racial comment Cliff. You Lubbock guys keep getting classier and classier.
ReplyDeleteCliff calls everyone pussies for not posting their name and the one person that does he makes a racial blast at. Haha
ReplyDeleteLubbock players have been accused of a lot of things. Class is not one of them!
ReplyDeleteDid Arcaria not just say Cliff was a nice guy? Why the wise comment. Did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteI think Cliff just lost it trying to justify a team of tankers and sandbaggers. Cliff while you may not be a sandbagger, you're defending them makes you just as guilty.
ReplyDeleteOf course Lubbock has players that are out of level. Every team at sectionals has out of level players. If you say you did not have a single player on your team that is out of level then you are a liar. If they roll through nationals without being challenged then you can complain. Until then your just making Dallas look like a bunch of a##holes. Congrats to all the Texas teams going to nationals!
ReplyDeleteOut of level maybe. Every team at Sectionals had at least half of their core players tank matches. I choose to think that is not the case.
ReplyDeleteI would take a hot steamy one all over Cliff and Mel, meet me on the court sometime. Maybe we can see you guys in two years when you tank back down.
ReplyDeleteZach Baker
So is Lubbock going to win Nationals then? Dallas had a good team last year and went without their star player and dominated.I'm assuming Lubbock will cake walk to national title.
ReplyDeleteFor all of you internet tough guy, rec league tennis, usta ranking experts ripping on Mel McRee - let me ask you something. Are you even paying attention at all? Let me see if I can help you here. Mel McRee never asked to play 4.0 tennis. Mel never requested or even mentioned wanting a 4.0 rating. He was moved down from 4.5 to 4.0 by the COMPUTER, and it did not happen from tanking any matches. Who the hell knows how it happened. Are you with me so far? Good. So now Mel suddenly has a LEGAL 4.0 rating. A lot of his best friends happen to be 4.0 players at his club. Naturally, every one of us wanted him on the team. It was a complete shock to see his name pop up with a 4.0 rating beside it, but there it was! So, are you guys suggesting he should have just declined the opportunity to play some 4.0 tennis with his good friends? Are you telling me you guys would have done the noble and honorable thing and just passed on the chance to play on that team? Judging by the garbage many of you are spewing here, I think we all know the answer to that.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the results of Joe Schaunaman and some of the others in that infamous fall league, perhaps you guys should look at it in a different way. At least you didn't have to play against the guys that beat Joe and the others. Now those cats can ball! Goodnight and good luck next year guys.
Zach,
ReplyDeleteIf you drop steamers like you play tennis those two guys don't have much to worry about.
BMO - you always have a chance,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gerber's first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 7:24,
You don't speak for me. I am hoping you are an Anon just stirring the pot.
I think it's already been established the kind of good friends Mel has, but thanks for making it clearer.
ReplyDeleteLubbock is full of the biggest jackasses. Be happy we didn't have to play those guys, OK. Lubbock is full of players that can beat a team that just rolled through the rest of the state. Lubbock is the powerhouse of Texas. Wow. You expect us to believe that?
ReplyDeleteAs wyly as Lubbock was at bagging it back down to 4s they fd up their last trip to nationals. In 2008 they had their bracket won and thought they could play the B team in the last match, but cyphered wrong and did not make it to the final 4. The captain made a major f up. Hopefully they can play to win this time.
ReplyDeleteInternet badass
Guess who was the captain last time?
ReplyDeleteBig Mel
Baker is talking trash, even though he is a 4.5+. Something about a pot and a kettle.
ReplyDeleteWill be waiting for your bump up too.
New National Rule should be not being able to reassemble within 10 years
ReplyDeleteI can promise you that Aug. 1, 7:24 was not a Greenhill player! Probably one of the Lifetime pot stirrers that pitched a tent next to us "real" greenhill players all weekend. And from some of the conversations that I overheard from the other tent, they should have some cheese to go with all the whine!
ReplyDelete10 years seem a little extreme but I would say any player that goes to nationals should be bumped to the next level for at least 3 years. This returning to nationals every other year is BS.
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm assuming the people that are crying on their keyboards,whining, hiding behind anonymity, making personal attacks are bleeding females. I can't imagine that MEN would vomit such utter crap about a team who won, REGARDLESS of who they were. I would expect this on a Real Housewives blogsite, but not here. Your female organs are hanging out of your tennis skirts, boys. Grow a pair and congratulate those who kicked your butts, or else take some Midol and go shopping with your girlfriends.
ReplyDeleteI saw great tennis all around. Met great people from all teams. The complainers are just looking like jealous little girls. Good thing you keep it anonymous. I bet your mothers are so proud.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:52 or teammate or whomever,
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree. Now I didn't sit in the tent the whole time, but that is a good group of guys.
Anon 6:52 or teammate or whomever,
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree. Now I didn't sit in the tent the whole time, but that is a good group of guys.
There is no way it was a LTF player. We are friends with the GH guys and Morrison and I can guarantee that neither the original post or 6:52am are GH players. You obviously have no idea what you are talking about as there was zero whining. GH was gone before we even finished the final match against Lubbock, which we still had a chance to advance. Why would we whine if were 2-0 on Saturday and still had a chance on Sunday? Maybe some players whined after losing to Lubbock, which I never heard, but GH was long gone by then to even hear it. Lets get this straight, many teams whined about the Lubbock team, they were that good. As the above post stated there should be a 3-5 year rule for going back to nationals at the same level again. Quit trying to stir it up between LTF and GH, it is not going to work.
ReplyDeleteLucy tells guys to grow a pair because they hide behind anonymity and he hides who he is with a bogus name. Pussy!
ReplyDeleteAugust 2, 2010 7:16 AM "Anonymous":
ReplyDeleteBless your sad, little heart. I am a girl, little one. And I call it like I see it. Take your vapid humor and add a little spice, then try using that to win your next match. Maybe it will help you better than calling names that a 14-year-old boy would spout.
Nice language for a girl, you must be from Lubbock. Nothing but trash!
ReplyDeleteThe USTA does have its head up its butt. Players should not be able to go to Nats, tank a few matches the following year and then go back to Nats at the same level. Its stupid to allow that to happen.
ReplyDeleteAlso it is a disgrace to hold 4.5 & 4.0 Sectional matches at LBH. Thats a horrible place to play. Run down, seedy, courts ramped very close together, very poor viewing, bugs worse than on the Amazon river, GUN FIRE going off in the backgraound (no kidding), etc.
Don't hail from Lubbock, so I can't be offended by your "trashy accusation" And my language was "clinical" and completely accurate. Spot on. BACK TO THE TENNIS......it was fantastic to watch. Look forward to hearing about Nationals!!
ReplyDeletefemale organs hang out? you must speak from experience.
ReplyDeleteUSTA needs to fix the system. If you go to nationals you must be bumped to the next level for at least 2 years. This way guys and gals will have to sit out two years before they can tank to get back down to the lower rating. We should call it the Lubbock rule.
ReplyDeleteHo-hum...I get greater stimulation from speaking to a 4 year old. My guess is, you were on a losing team.....but don't let that get you down! You can rise above it. Take off the skirt, put on a pair of shorts and learn to play the game. Men are more fun to watch than women.
ReplyDeleteAny player that goes to national should be consider the better players at that level. It is insane not to bump those players to the next level for at least two years, regardles how many meaningless matches they tanked.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the Branch team..they have some warriors. Very deep in talent and pretty much guaranteed to win both singles and for sure a doubles line. Could be a force at Nationals. I was a scrub on one of the teams they played and was amazed at some of the determination and grit (and drama....lol) but the job got done. Good stuff and a very gracious, classy team after the finals win. Good luck!....
ReplyDeleteI am now ready to see a Kelly/Bell match up in the heat this afternoon at 3pm, Kelly was toast after the finals yesterday and couldn't have played another match!......if Royal Oaks had played straight up in cities they may have been the team going to nationals...
ReplyDeleteDitto on LB Houston!....a sectional finals w/ no water on the court, terrible and slanted surface to play on and absolutely no shade. That is a disgrace w/ all the facilities in Dallas. I would have payed all the guest fees for our team to play somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Oaks and nationals - That's funny.
ReplyDeleteKelly played both matches Sunday. The first was a true grind against a player who was almost his mirror image.
An hour later he went up against a 20 y/o college kid in the finals and destroyed him. He always looks gassed but the tank was plenty full.
Truthfully, the whole Branch team played way better at sectionals than cities. Some of those guys used cities to get in game shape.
The good news for the other Dallas teams is they were probably better than most of the other sectional teams. Branch's "B" team wiped out the Wild Houston squad 4-1
For those of you who continue to trash the Lubbock guys, did you actually meet any of them? Are you really in a position to say they are all a bunch of classless jerks without even having met most of them? Also, for the Dallas guys whining about Lubbock, didn't you lose to Wild Houston? So you weren't getting out of our flight anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for the last trip to nationals, only 9 guys made the trip. We were down to 8 healthy guys for the last two matches. We didn't play the "B team" because we didn't have one. It wasn't like any of the top players didn't make the trip that time either. We just simply didn't have the depth. We were really only 9 or 10 deep and only really had one singles player. This time, we have a lot more depth, and hope to get more guys down there.
For those of you wishing us good luck, thank you. We will do our best to represent the great state of Texas.
Only had 1 real singles play?
ReplyDeleteJoseph Snaunaman(tanker) 3-0 at Nationals
Mel McRee 4.5 sandbagging as a 4.0. 3-0 at Nationals.
So you had 2 good singles players, your only problem was that you sandbagging Director of Tennis at Lubbock Country Club could only play one line per match.
Same problem this year.
Just switch Lance Coleman for Mel McRee.
Hope you have the same results as last time.
I do not think people on this blog are attacking Lubbock because they thought their team should have gone thru such as Dallas. They are speaking on behalf of all Texas teams that were at sectionals that lost out on chance because Lubbock players tanked and have 7 players that were the best in Texas at 4.0 just 2 years ago. They are probably all nice guys, but some do have a character flaw to tank matches in order to stay or get back to 4.0. You want to stay at 4.0, great, partner with a horrible partner and maybe you lose some matches and it is enough to keep you at 4.0, but do not lose on purpose, which is what these guys did. Either Wild Houston, San Angelo, or Wild Austin lost out on a chance because of this. Since we are on a Dallas blog it most likely is someone from Dallas that is posting, but then again I am not from Dallas and I am posting, and Lubbock is obviously on this blog, and so is Houston. The Houston blog is not happy either. What is done is done, move on.
ReplyDeleteDallas and Houston players NEVER tank. Right. Got it.
ReplyDeleteMy point exactly! Every team at any level should feel the same way. There is no place in tennis for players tanking matches in order to play at a level lower than they would play otherwise.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion "tankers" are the scum of the tennis world. I don't care if you are a 1.0 or a 7.0. It doesn't matter where you are from.
If you tank you are a spineless coward who can not stand to compete at their true level.
I don't know of any Dallas or Houston teams where half of their core players tanked matches to try to go to Nationals.
ReplyDeleteIf you know of one, call them out. Show some statistics such as the ones that were given on a number of the Lubbock players.
I'm sure there are a small number of players from other cities who have tanked matches to compete at a lower level than they should. They are spineless cowards.
The Lubbock team just took it to a new low.
Congratulations, besides winning Sectionals you also win the title of the most spineless team in Texas.
10:03 AM post - you should look into a diuretic, I hear they help with the bloating and irritability.
ReplyDeleteAnd you should probably try to man up a grow a pair.
ReplyDeleteWow. You are taking this stuff, and yourself, a bit too serious. It's been fun guys. Not sure why I even bothered to spend any time on this blog after looking back through some of your comments. That's fifteen minutes I can never get back! Take care and good luck next season.
ReplyDelete*tear*....sniff, sniff.
ReplyDeleteHe who whines like a 9 year old girl should grow a pair first.
LUBBOCK = TANK
ReplyDeleteGood luck at Nationals - you have brought fame (shame) and success (humiliation) to the city of Lubbock.
Is there any doubt now that this blog was better when the typical anons were off of it for a few months. I saw Lubbock. They might have made the sectionals finals at 4.5, but this blog is back to being a worthless bunch of whiners.
ReplyDeleteWithout a superteam, which will never happen at Dallas 4.0(too many big egos and not enough credit to go around), this blog is as good a reason as any to show why Dallas won't win it all at sectionals.
Tanking cannot be stopped, but a simple rule could be implemented so that a player could not continue to go to nationals year after year. The complaint is if a players is good enough to go to nationals make them play at a higher level for a couple of years. I have no problem if the Lubbock team reassembles in 3-5 years, but every year or every other year is shameful and needs to be addressed.
ReplyDeleteto August 2, 2010 9:19 AM poster:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that Kelly mentally and physically whipped his opponent in the finals. He does, however, take points off, plays slow and I did see him blow 2-3 entire games to save some energy. You don't do that when your tank is full. That will ultimately come back to haunt him. He got away with it in cities and sectionals but won't the next round. I do not agree that he had plenty left in the tank. I watched the finals, he was on borrowed time. Anyway, I am simply saying Royal Oaks had a terrible line up in cities against a Branch team and MAY have cost them a shot at competing at nationals, that's all. Bell at line 2 singles and one of their best doubles players at line 1 singles?..give me a break..Branch was gift wrapped a win in that city match. Anyone who disputes that match up as the right move is clueless.
Dallas can't win sectionals. Bob went last year and the OC team just won 4.5. I think what is shows is in the smaller cities it is easier to form top teams because it is easier to divide up the talent and less to get through to get there. We are lucky to be in a city where we have two seasons a year that are for the most part competitive and each DCC is competitive in November and in July. I don't think you can say the same thing for Lubbock, San Angelo, Lubbock and Waco. It isn't their fault it is just a smaller pool of players to work with. I think we saw at 4.5 the so called NOHO super team didn't work out as planned. It is always easy to sit back after a whole long season and say you could amass the best 20 players in the whole city of Dallas and then go on and win, etc. Easier said than done, maybe the guy who said he wants to "die" for league tennis can take on that challenge since it is so important to you.
ReplyDeleteI'm out crazies!
It seems that Texas Adult Sectionals and the Masters Series are left...any predictions?
ReplyDeleteI find it funny when people come on here and either hype up or tear down the captains from various teams.
ReplyDeleteIts just my opinion but captains like coaches in college or pro sports get to much credit when teams win and to much blame when they lose.
Its easy to come here and blast lineups after teams lose a match but no one says a word about line ups when they win the match. Obviously all capts want to win but they dont all go about it the same way, some just play there top players every match, some try and get all of there players matches by pairing them up with and against different players. Some try and rest there top players against weaker teams in an effort to keep them fresh for future matches.
Regardless of which way you go lets just stop praising and blameing captains!
Just like any sport, players win games/matches not capt/coaches!
Mike Kelly of Oak Creek-Branch is the feel-good story of the 2010 Dallas Adult Spring Tennis League. After the hellish year he endured at the 5.0 level in 2009 and the inexplicable, heartbreaking doubles loss to Phillips and Gorecki earlier this year, he must feel that all the pain and suffering has paid off.
ReplyDeleteFor all the players who have considered throwing in the towel because of bad breaks we all experience in tennis, please look to Mr. Kelly as your role model.
No one is disputing the line up but you have no idea what Rothwell had to work with so your actually the clueless one.
ReplyDeleteAs for Kelly, your an idiot. Just because your taking time in between points does not mean your tired, and you've obviously never watched him play before, cause he does that in every match.
I love how people keep saying, oh he's gonna run out of gas, too old, the next level is gonna get him. The guy was nails all weekend. Give the man some credit, he was a key piece in getting this city to Nationals. Instead of beating him up how bout good job Mike.
that's the problem with the tennis in this city, everyones out to get everyone else instead of saying congrats and we're happy we don't have to play you next year cause you'll be a 5.0.
Bunch of whiny babies who will never amount to anything cause your too concerned with tearing everyone else down instead of building something up.
Funny thing is everyone commenting on Kelly obviously didn't watch any matches cause he was probably the 4th or 5th best singles player there.
You wanna bitch about players, you should have seen the NOHO vs SA match. Those two from NOHO would have had winning records at 5.5 sectionals.
So once you have learned something then you may comment, until then I think you should graciously STFU!!
There is some truth to that statement. If two teams are evenly matched, players win matches, but coaches make a difference.
ReplyDeleteIf one team is considerably stronger than their opponent they should win most of the time, regardless of coaching. Here the players win the matches.
When a team that is slightly better or worse than their opponent a coach and their decisions are a big factor in the outcome of a match.
Morrison lost his first match of the DCC with his best singles player Oleg on the sideline. His team lost 3-2. HP Somabut lost 3-2 to LFT with probably their best doubles player, Quist on the bench. They lost 2-3. Morrison was able to overcome that loss, Somabut was not. I'm sure there are other cases where lineup decisions may have changed the outcomes of matches.
The only time captains can afford to rest players is when the players they are putting in the lineup are just as good or better than the player(s) they are resting. That is not usually the case.
4.5 Branch used the same lineup for both the SEmis and the Finals yesterday and they are headed to Nationals. There are a lot of great players on Brances(Feldman's) team, but they are not all equal.
I will say that both Feldman and Kiron should pat themselves on the back for a job well done. All that hard work of mapping out the season and adding pieces to the puzzle paid off in the end.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see a big crowd out on Sunday to show their support. If you watched the semis and finals you would have seen nothing but pure determination and mental toughness from all the Oak Creek guys from start to finish. They wanted it more than anyone this weekend.
Htown Hacker reporting their could have been some dq's from the weekend and one from a team that won sectionals. Dallas 4.5 is all C rates if Im not mistaken, that leaves 4.0 Lubbock or 5.0 FW.
ReplyDeleteF-ing joke that eddins was allowed to play 5.0. What a puss. Has a world rank, and has to beat up on 5.0 players. Guess he'd get trounced by Newport and the other Houston and Austin open players.
ReplyDeleteEddins got disqualified with flags after sectionals.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one player on the Lubbock 4.0 team that could have been DQ'd would have been Stephen Stripling. Only self-rate who contributes to the team.
ReplyDeleteMost of the other are either "C" rated or Benchmarks.
When you tank enough matches like a lot of the Lubbock 4.0 team did, you receive a Computer rating.
That protects you from DQ'd all the way through Nationals.
They have cheating the system down to an art.
The only other player who could have been DQ'd from the Lubbock team was Tracy Starkey. He has a "M" mixed exclusive rating.
I would be interested to see how many and which ones of the so called out of level Lubbock players got bumped up at mid season. Does anybody know?
ReplyDeleteI dont know why all of you sore losers keep bitching on here about Lubbock. Get over it! I think its safe to say that your all a bunch of hyporcites, every team in the 4.0 sectional playoffs had "self rates" on them, and we all know that anybody who is self rating or getting selfrated by the captain they are not rating them at the "correct" level, lets not be stupid here all self rates are out of level, so get over your whining, bitching, and complaining!! Its really getting old!
ReplyDeleteCome and get your Lubbock Nationals T-shirt now, on sale for $0.99.
ReplyDeleteIt has a big "L" on the front and this on the back:
"I'm from Lubbock and tanked my way back to Nationals. Please pat me on the back so that I will feel better when beating up on these losers."
Sorry Arcaria. I'm using my phone, and it autocorrects sometimes. Meant to type your username.
ReplyDeleteAt quick glance the Lubbock 4.0 team only have three players bumped up in the early Season ratings:
ReplyDeleteDavid Simek
Tracy Starkey
Cliff Wilkes
Amazing that their two singles players through Sectionals did not get bumped:
Joseph Schaunaman
Lance Coleman
I know in Dallas every strong team had at least one of their singles players bumped and most had both of their top singles players bumped in the ESRs.
Previous poster at 1:30 pm ("Quit complaining about Kelly and pat him on the back for getting this city to nationals")...r u kidding me?..Must be a teammate of his or something to try and cover for his tanking down to 5.0 the last two years. It was a freakin' joke watching him inexplicably win points at cities and sectionals when needed as I DID watch his matches. If you think he was the 4th or 5th best singles player out there you are severely dehydrated or drunk. I saw him make some shots at key moments that were mind boggling. Kudos to the poster who did their homework and referenced Phillips and Gorecki match. No offense to them but he beats them by taking every point off up until match point. The guy doesn't even know how to play correct doubles and still beats a darn good team from Abilene over the weekend. Yeah..keep tellin' yourself Branch plays by the rules.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what Kelly has done to deserve the tanking, can't play doubles and playing points only "when he wants" insults but I can add something positive. I am not a starter on that team but rest assured he always maintained from the beginning of playoffs he felt awkward about taking playing time from any players due to him being the "new guy" to the team. Every match he stressed to our captain both cities and sectional weekend he would play and do what was necessary for them to win whether it be doubles, singles, or sit and watch. As far as I am concerned he is one heck of a team mate. Sorry you others see it so differently.
ReplyDeleteThe post on August 2, 2010 2:04 PM said it absolutely right! Dallas Branch wanted that weekend win more than anyone out there. Good luck to them at Nationals and a job well done.
ReplyDeleteBtw...Funny how is game and serve mysteriously showed up mid way thru the second set of the Sat. morning doubles match against Abilene. Ho hum, time to bring out the "big game" or something he said and promptly hit 3 aces at triple the speed he served for the first set and a half. Guess he was tired and got his second wind. Play for a half of a set and a tiebreaker at nationals and you will get spanked! What a crock!
ReplyDeleteYou people are something else. Someone posted he "doesn't even know how to play correct doubles". Wow. Just because it is not the traditional serve and volley strategy you attack that part of his game too. Why criticize and insult a player's particular style? Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteI've heard a rumor that the Texas Section bigwigs are considering requiring each person that plays in a USTA league to sign a written pledge to not knowingly tank, hook, push, cuss or fart during league matches. I think that is an idea whose time has come and will eliminate all the shenanigans that everyone is sniveling about.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with this city? Dallas has a team going to nationals and players get ripped because their style of play is not the norm? What does that even matter? Ridiculous. Is it that way on the blogs in other cities? Are they actually breaking down a players strategy bec it is different and saying it is the wrong way to play? Guess you all would have loved to see Dallas Branch and Kelly in particular lose and this blog would have imploded due to the number of posts. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteMel,
ReplyDeleteWhat was that you were saying about only 4.0s complaining and whining? Seems as though there is plenty of it at 4.5 as well as the previous posts confirm. Also check out the Houston blog, the 4.5s are worse than the 4.0s. Not to mention all the grievances filed by 4.5 captains prior to sectionals.
August 2, 2010 4:45 PM
ReplyDeleteFunny post!...but then everyone would say his/her name was forged and you would be back to square one. I say just let everyone go to nationals and play for a month and hand out first place trophies to each team, who cares what the scores were. That way no one can moan and complain because everyone wins. Oh, that won't work either. Teams would then complain their trophies were not handed out first.
Well, I've never posted on this mostly crap fest of a site. This will be the first and last time. And no, the trolls can't have my name.
ReplyDeleteAug 2 4:45 poster: I am going to enthusiastically support those new rules, with just a couple variations and clarifications. "Pushing" may not be pretty tennis, but let it go. It's clearly within USTA rules, far more than a lot of other win-at-any-cost stuff that goes on. Farting should be OK if not during the point and downwind from your opponent and partner. Sometimes you gotta let one go to be, uh, more comfortable and mobile for the next points. Tanking, playing absurdly out of level, cussing (in non-social matches), and hooking calls should all be controlled, as well as monkeying around with players and lines after a line-up is turned in. Never mind, it's a lost cause. Seems as if sportsmanship is mostly a dead idea. Play fair and play to win, shake a worthy opponent's hand win or lose, drink a cold beer or two after, and you're viewed like some fool Don Quijote by most rabid USTA competitors.
Did somebody upstream really post something about female parts "hanging out" of shorts. That says enough about the poster.
FACT all the winners that advanced have players who tanked or lied on their profiles. Do not even argue as if you do you have NEVER watched these players play a real match. What needs to be done is going back to the OLD days were we had raters at sectionals. Lets see a whomever at 3 all tank a point or a game, NO WAY. Get the raters back out there for sectionals and seriously watch how many players get DQ, personally I think it would be funny but unfortunately put an end to a bunch of these opinions on playing down and tanking in the playoffs.
ReplyDeletePLEASE those of you tanking or on a team with players tanking do not insult us by saying they did not. It is done at all levels, lets just figure out a way to eliminate/penalize those tankers/lying players and captains.
Does anyone know where I can get some of those homosexual Lubbock sandals that half the team was sporting around? I would love one of the above mentioned T-Shirts (which I'm sure is a wife beater) as well for .99 cents. Perhaps if I buy both I can get one of those fancy "CHEATING USTA TANKER" bumper stickers as well?
ReplyDeleteFreaking Lubbock white trailer trash.
The guys on Branch's team are all heroes and the guys on Lubbock's team are all cheaters ? In truth, there is no difference between these two teams.
ReplyDeleteHey genius, you spelled "hillbillies" incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteJust because everyone is bashing Lubbock please don't bring Team Branch into the mix. They are 2 totally different teams. It's not like the group from Team Branch has been to Nationals before. They did well do get to this point.
ReplyDeleteLubbock... Branch... you all are all just a bunch of sheep screwin trailer trash to us!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to say Waco did not have any "tankers" as you say, and they advanced!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you STFU you Jersey Shore wanna be! All you backeast rejects are the same. You all live with your parents until about 50 years old, eating spaghetti and meatballs every night. Rather than NYC, can we call you The Situation, DJ Pauly, Frank the Entertainer, or someother east coast retard that you all resemble?
ReplyDeletewhat comes in a pair, has been together 35 years, and smells like NYC's mothers toothpaste?
Deez Nutz!
My mother has teeth, and she is neither a goat nor is she related to you so you wouldn't enjoy it. Why don't you crawl back into your trailer home and pray the wind doesnt blow it away!
ReplyDeleteI know she has teeth, she uses them way too much if you ask me. More tongue, less teeth!
ReplyDeleteYou Lubbock and Waco people are dirty little pigs on top of being cheats. Hope you're proud.
ReplyDeletePlease how is waco a cheat please do tell ?
ReplyDeleteDallas is full a cheaters and tools. Even more so than those lubbock tankers
ReplyDeleteI'm very proud of the Waco teams. Both 4.0 and 4.5 made the semis, second straight year for the 4.0s and twice out of three years for the 4.5s. We did this with hardly any self-rates, and at no time did any of our opponents accuse us of cheating, call for an umpire, etc. We look forward to coming back next year.
ReplyDeleteB. Sanders
Big bird has a pretty good 7.5 combo team assembled.
ReplyDeleteBill Sanders Waco
ReplyDeletePlease don't act like Waco teams are all on the up and up. In 2007 on your team that won Nationals you had a player John Arvesen who self rated at a 4.0. He had just graduated from Highland Park where he had played 4 years on their State Championship teams. If they had the SuperChamp rule in place at the time he would not have been eligible.
He went 15-0 in singles that year including Nationals. He ended up playing a couple of matches for Baylor University's varsity team. There is no way he should have been playing 4.0 tennis.
This year Waco 4.0 had two players who are currently playing college tennis for Le Tournou College. There is no way any current college tennis player should be playing 4.0 tennis.
Hopefully the USTA address this issue soon.
So while most of the Waco 4.0 players are probably nice hard-working actual 4.0s, you are not above having players self-rate below their true level.
Booooohh Yahhhhhh ! Take that Koresh lovers.
ReplyDeleteBeware I played for Texas State and I am going to teach you 4.0s a lesson. By the end of the year I will have tank myself down to 4.0s. I lied on my self rate, nobody will even know. I will throw matches, sets, and games but I will win ever important match for my team. Only I will know that I am toying with you, you losers. I also been talking to some of my friends. They also have been tanking we will win sectionals and kick back and laugh at all of the whinners.
ReplyDeleteYour turn Bill Sanders,o r are you done already????
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard much from our friend Mel from Lubbock since his "quit b#tching" rant since he and his good 4.0 friends were exposed for the tankers they are.
ReplyDeleteHmm....I read the "quit bitching" post. I wouldn't call it ranting at all. But it obviously got your feathers ruffled. Take offense, did you? I bet you folded up your wee little arms on your chest, stuck your over-sized bottom lip out and pouted like a 5 year old! Poor little thing!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should make fun of his sandals, or call that Cliff guy fat - I hear that'll get you in this club without having to pay any additional dues. What a bunch of little girls in here. You guys are DEFINATELY playing the right sport.
especially the hair cut part......
ReplyDeleteWow. How low has the collective intelligence level gotten in here. People are far too serious about playing amateur tennis. Remember, these are leagues YOU PAY to play in.
ReplyDeleteLaughable.
Congrats to team Branch, and to all the other teams that competed well at Sectionals. Good work!
STOP COMPLaining .. don't act like your team doesn't have self rated players . lubbock did what they needed to, too get back to nationals congrats to them for making it there. all college players dont belong in 4.5's or much less anything if you ever went and watched college matches you would know this you dummies. i'm one of the waco ringers and you look at my scores and you should see im not a 4.5. even though i might be able to play at the level once in awhile im a 4.0. so shut your mouth and Bill Sanders is my Hero. he knows how to make little ol' WACO TEXAS competitive with the big cities that have hundreds of players !! SO Shut ur mouth
ReplyDeleteDallas Branch congrats. As for the 2 Dallas singles players Kelly and Davis they are legit. I don't understand the complaining. Could they play 5.0 YES, but they are par for a championship level team. Dallas was a good legitimate team. I had a great time playing Kelly. He slow plays does lots of things that I thought were fun and familiar. The guy is a gamer...loved it. I would have loved to see how our match would have played out at 2 all. Best of luck at nats...you guys deserve it.
ReplyDeleteHilderbrand
M. Guerra,
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone has accused of being any good.
What was said is that current college players should not play 4.0 tennis.
If you school has 4.0 players, they should quit wasting money and just for a 4.0 USTA team.
Anon 8:52 is Kim Anderson
ReplyDeletePlease tell me how all you big cities can complain about waco? We have had what 1 dq in 6-7 years, thats below the norm for you guys in just one season, and you call us cheaters? DELUSIONAL! you all are just lucky the waco captains dont live in the big cities, because if they did you all would be sitting home every year. The big cities have 10 times the resources that we do, and we are still showing up in the semifinals.... keep complaining!! we just cant stop laughing :)
ReplyDeleteMD...
ReplyDeleteThere could be a couple of reason for big cities having more DQs than smaller cities.
1. Possibly more players and more teams. Taking Dallas vs Waco this year, Dallas had 44 teams playing in the USTA 4.0 leagues, Waco had 3. Dallas had 10-12 strong teams, Waco had 1.
2. The bigger cities do a better job of policing their own teams. With the bigger number of competitive teams, those teams report most of the players who are DQ'd for investigation. I could be wrong, but most players DQ'd in big cities are turned in by other teams from that city. That is because there a many teams in Dallas with a chance to advance to Sectionals or beyond. In smaller cities there is usually one team and on rare instances two.
While there are more DQ'd players from big cities there are also more doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, and astronauts.
It is much easier for a small city to cheat because they are not on the radar. They play fewer matches during their leagues and for the most part nobody has ever heard of most of the players.
I don't usually respond to anons who call me out by name but refuse to sign their own, but I'll make an exception this time to clear up some misinformation. First, Arvesen played for us in '06, not '07. Second, the current super champ rule was not in effect back then, and John was not the only one playing 4.0. One of his opponents, Wade Sinard, played for Corpus, and i'm sure there were others. Third, John did play two meaningless matches for Baylor, three years after playing on our team. Both were line 6 singles against D3 teams, where he won one, and lost one. Fourth, the Waco guys playing for Le Tourneau had computer ratings this year, and were no better than 3.5 when they self-rated last year. If they were stronger, they would have been DQ'd. (Note: see the post above mine. Waco has had 1 DQ in the past 20 or so years, while I know of four different teams who have had more than that in this year alone.)Look at their records. I expect both to retain their 4.0 next year due to their losses and close wins. Only Erich Schwartze had multiple blowout wins, and I believe he will get bumped. Anyway, those two guys are proof positive that many (as opposed to a few) genuine 4.0s play college tennis at the D3 and Juco level. One guy I know even had a 3.5 rating when he went to play Juco in Kansas. I agree that USTA should adjust their guidelines to reflect this reality.
ReplyDeleteSanders
Hey Colonel, shut the hell up already, nobody really cares about you Whacko David Koresh wanna bes.
ReplyDeleteNice touch by Kelly's opponent and class move but don't drink the Kool Aid like everyone else...nice and fun and slow playing and etc..had that been the finals match you would have seen the 5.0 plus come out in him...ask the kid he played and beat physically and mentally and ask him how "fun and familiar" it was! He will play well enough to win, self rating a joke.
ReplyDeleteOnly ones takin' up for him are Branch followers. He did not drop a single set in cities or sectionals playing singles and only one in doubles. It will be the opposite in nationals and he will be the whipping boy! Start the excuses now!
ReplyDeleteThis won't be Kelly's first trip to Nationals. He's been there before and will hold his own with all the other out-of-level players. If you consider he is closer in age to 60 than 40, the guy is an amazing player, competitor, and, if the other posters are correct, he can execute a little gamesmanship when the situation calls for it. He will represent Dallas tennis very well.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a racket up your ass, I'm guessing you couldn't walk off the court. In any event, Kelly is to fast for such a scenario. Now his second serve, that's another thing...
ReplyDeleteKelly is a stealthy player. You watch him hit, and sometimes even play a match against a lesser opponent, and you think..."man, I can kill this guy."
ReplyDeleteThen you stand there in dismay as he dismantles you on court and wonder why it's happening.
Gamesmanship indeed. I wish I could flip the switch like that when I needed/wanted to.
I agree, he will represent Dallas well. So will Mr. Davis.
Not sure about the other Branch players....the youngsters (Frink and Underwood) lost two doubles matches at sectionals. I wonder how their confidence is.
2:08 you are wrong. I know Mike had more gas left then he let on but I had him cross eyed when the whistle blew. The only thing that would have saved him at that point was a super breaker. Otherwise no way.. Having said that I liked him and I understand him and I respect him. He is a great player that is playing in the right level. "You get in shape to play tennis you don't play tennis to get in shape." He wears people down. Get in shape and you will do fine.
ReplyDeleteIf you were a captain... where would you try to win 3 lines against Branch's team? Lets explore some options.
ReplyDeleteSweep the singles against Kelly and Davis and try to win one doubles line? (You don't have the horses in singles, but if you did then which team do you want your best doubles team to face and at what line would you find that team? If you can answer that question correctly then you should pick lottery #'s.)
Split the singles and try to win 2 of the 3 doubles lines? (OK, you stack and luckily have your best singles player play Davis and win in a 3rd set breaker after hooking him at 9-9. Your best doubles team beat Slezak and Williams in a super breaker and your 2nd best team loses to Kiron and Huffman 6-2,6-1. And your 3rd best doubles team can't beat anyone on Branch's 17 player roster. Well that didn't work!)
Try to sweep the doubles? (Yeah right!)
Well just keep in mind San Antonio Miller was missing 2 of the best players on the roster the entire weekend. Glen Barton who played on the San Antonio Racquets and Scott Meyers who played at TCU. Miller had the best 4.5 team assembled in a decade but those 2 guys could not make it so that made them human otherwise they coast through the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI have played on a team with mike kelly's for the past 4 years. He is one of the nicest guys in the world, if he is on your team. If he's not on your team, you want to punch him. That's the way I describe mike to anyone who doesn't know him. He's a great guy who want to win more than any person I know. I practice with him all the time and have been on the receiving end of some shots that piss me off to no end. Thinking I have all the shots covered that any person could hit, but then watch the smile on Mikes face after he pulls of the unbelievable. He is truely a good 5.0 or a great 4.5. According to the usta, the best 4.5 players should beat the lowest level 4.5 players 0-0. So everyone stop bitching and admit you would have him play on your team in a heart beat.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Mike is a great guy off the court.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with Mike Kelly or his rating. Mike is a top notch 4.5. His match with Hilderbrand was great to watch. They had hard fought points and they questioned each others calls a few time. The match never got heated and they always moved on to the next point and kept playing hard. I personally think Mark was going to win the second set and who knows what happens in the super buster. Just like Mike, Mark is all heart, you may hate him on the court, but having him as a teammate is the best and he would give you the shirt off his back.
ReplyDeleteI talked to Mike after the match and he was a really nice guy. You guys in Dallas are lucky to have a great TEAM. Again, good luck at Nats.
Miller
Well, if that happens he can use his warlock potion to remove it! Can we leave the verbal assaults off the blog? I hope Dallas does well and if you play in a Dallas league it seems you should too. I have been defeated many times by him but would not mind him being a team mate of mine. Gives all he has, even if it is just when needed. He is money come crunch time. Good luck Dallas Branch.
ReplyDeleteWell, there are more Branch guys out there than I thought. Wake up people taking up for his antics. This guy has no business playing 4.5 and too many people have told me so. I have seen him play just well enough to win and I have seen him destroy people like the first match in cities. He won 12 straight games for crying out loud against a good HP player. Ask P. Abshire what he thought also? He is a darn good experienced, tournament tested 4.5 and that match was a complete dismantling. He knows when to pull in the reins and when not to, period. As I said earlier, I hope he will get toasted at Nationals and deservedly so.
ReplyDeleteBTW, did anyone see Kelly the tanker playing doubles w/ Frink Saturday afternoon? Frink/Underwood lost two matches at sectionals but Frink mysteriously wins his match when playing w/ Kelly? come on... If you can seriously sit here on this blog and deny that midway thru the second set he did not begin to ramp it up his game (return and serves especially) you do not know tennis. I wanted him to lose worse than the 50 people that were watching but he was at a completely different level when needed. Not sure who the guys were he was playing but they were darn good. Mind games and gamesmanship only goes so far. He will meet his match at Nationals when he faces Super Tankers (5.5's at 4.5), and he will be a speedboat
ReplyDelete5:28..you are wrong. That match was not in jeopardy. Respectfully you played great and it was fun to watch. No offense but have seen it too much. He flat out gave one game away up 2-1 as he thought the doubles was rolling. He gave another away on a cussing penalty and a third spending too much time waiting and watching to see what would happen on the next doubles court so he could rest for the final. I have no doubt the match would have been fun to finish but he was plenty fresh as evidenced in the final and had another gear. Just as all his opponents think, you figured he was tired and the only thing that would save him was the breaker? You didn't even win one set and were given 3 games in the second and you still thought he was in trouble, pleeez. Look, it was great to watch your match and I wasn't pulling for Kelly and Branch but stayed to watch. You both played great and we will never know. There is no shame in losing to Branch and losing the first set to Kelly. You both have great teams and both deserved to go. That should have been the final.
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