Well, well, with the Cities coming up this weekend, I have to say there were some surprises at the QT. T Bar M, who managed to SQUEEEEAK into the QT comes out the winner!!! - And how did they do it? By having 4 3rd set tie breakers against Noel and coming up the winner at 3-2. Wow! What an exciting match!!! I understand it came down to the last 2 lines played in that match and both final lines for both teams (Modic AND Noel) were match point down and both teams came back and took victory from defeat!!! The result ended up with a 3-2 win (the Hard Way in Table Craps speak) for T Bar M.
QT summary said we now have the cities upon us, where we seem to have some pretty good teams out there. A little bird told me that there are some surprises in store, and that HP might not be the shoe-in that everyone thinks!!! On a COMPLETELY side note as I am looking up players, - who the Hell is Max Stevens (an Open player). ANYBODY that can beat Johan Mudsam 6-0 6-0 has to be a pretty exciting player to watch!!! Okay, where was I? Back to 4.5...
T Bar M - Not really liking their schedule. They come out against Royal Oaks, and then have to come and play HP that same day (and btw, it's going to be HOT!). So having to decide which singles guys to rest to prepare for the toughest match in the heat of the day against HP does not bode well for TBarM. That seems to be a slippery slope.
Oak Creek - It can be nice playing the hardest team on paper the first round, because it is easy to get looked past and you know you can go 5 lines strong as your "must win" match is your first match. Unfortunately for OC, HP is so depth laden, that they can play 8 guys in the morning, and play a completely different 8 guys in the afternoon and not really have a drop off in talent.
Royal Oaks - Not really tested, IMO in flight B. Bartlett, who lost to RO 3-2 during the regular season was run over and destroyed in the QT. That does not sit well with me. Rothwell is going to have to do the Captain dance a little bit, as he will want to get his guys warmed up but not too over worked for the big match at 7/24 at 11 am.
I have always felt that captain's have over estimated needing to rest guys too much in playoffs, as having a good match or two under your belt really helps with the playoff jitters.
HP That's all you really need to say about them.
GOOD LUCK GENTLEMEN!!! AND HAVE FUN!!!
