4.5 update - Week 2 in the books

New rankings:

T1. Brookhaven/ Bartlett 2 & 0 - dominate Greenhill and then take out Oak Creek without some of their top players
T1. Royal Oaks 2 & 0 - cruise through Hack might be tested this week at Garland?
3. Lakes/ Way 2 & 0 - likely to be 3 & 0 after this week
4. Lifetime 2 & 0 - destroy Garland but lack depth; Featherstone playing really well!
5. Oak Creek 2 & 0 - Their toughest match is behind them - cruisin towards Cities
T6. GlenEagles 1 & 1 - still to play their best lineup
T6. JCC 2 & 0 - cruising through a weak flight; 5/12 vs Village will be their only test
8. Somabat 2 & 0 - should be 3 & 0 after this week
9. Brookhaven/ Harlee 2 & 0 - haven't played anyone yet
10. TBar 1 & 1 - bounce back against weaker team
11. Village 2 & 0 start but in very weak flight
12. Garland 0 & 1 - horrible performance at Lifetime last week; must beat Royal Oaks this week to stay in rankings
dropped from rankings: Greenhill 0&2

Handicapping the 4.5 field…..

Well congrats again to Pickett and his High Point crew on representing Dallas just a year after Feldman and his Oak Creek team took Dallas to Nationals. So is there a contender to 3 peat?

I am surprised at how poorly the strength has been distributed between the respective flights and definitely brings into question the seeding system used and how teams are allocated to flights. There are 2 “flights of death” and some very good teams that will not see post season play while some weaker squads will be there. Surely the best teams should fight it out for all the glory?

Flight A – the 1st pool of death
Contenders:
Royal Oaks Rothwell – deep and talented but have not replaced the likes of Baker and Feldman at singles. Definitely in the conversation to win the spring but not sectionals and nowhere near where they were last year
Brookhaven Harlee – Ramos is back to partner LaSelle and Todd Bailin is a super player. I think I saw Wittington advertising for P90X or the insanity workout and will be tough on the singles line but that is their weakness unless there is some other ringer to be added
Lifetime Hill – adding Johan and Coach are big for this team and with Featherstone playing great this team is strong at singles but lacks dubs depth.
Garland Sisk – Great singles depth and we know John is good at picking up solid self-rates. These guys are legit and will be tough

Also in the flight:
Hackberry, McKinney, HP/Bazan & Lakes/Petersen

Flight B –
Contenders:
GlenEagles are the team to beat here! Culley & Brown proved themselves in cotton bowl; Brownlee is starting 8 from Picket’s nationals squad
Oak Creek Herget – small but quality roster!

Also in the flight:
Canyon Creek, TBAR/Miller, Collin County, GHill/ Allen, Garland 2/ Sisk

Flight C – Cake flight!
(ridiculous! Only JCC has seen any postseason action. Corey’s team is not the team of last spring so shouldn’t be seeded at all. I don’t understand how this flight was determined?)

Contenders:
JCC – Reiman continues to do great things with this team but they won’t be taking anyone by surprise this year. Shulman is a fantastic player and good captaining got him a 4.5 computer rating for a player clearly with 5.0 level ability

Also in this flight:
El Dorado, LTime/Arcaria, DFW, Garland/ Breukner, Village, Fair Oaks – yes one of these teams will be at the QT……….

Flight D – death flight #2
Contenders:
Brookhaven – Deep and strong roster with some nice additions! Feldman, Billy Roberts, Brandon Myers healthy again, Matt Cecere, Paul duToit! These guys are contenders to beat Royal Oaks at Cities
Lakes/Way – Wow! These guys are strong. Getting back Oberg from 5.0 to partner Pollock and then Welwood and Jannesch drift down from 5.0 and they add Blake Wittacker for Singles depth this team is dangerous!
TBar – perennial contenders
Greenhill – come so close so often and with Griggs back their singles is strong but I suspect will be on the outside looking in again

Also in this flight:
Somabut, LBH, DCC & Oak Creek Myrick

QT: Lakes/ Way, L/Time/ Arcaria, Oak Creek/ Herget, Lifetime/ Hill

Cities: Royal Oaks, Brookhaven/ Bartlett, JCC, GlenEagles & Lakes/ Way (QT winner)

Winner: GlenEagles as an upset pick!!

Early season rankings:
1. Royal Oaks
2. Brookhaven/ Bartlett
3. Lakes/ Way
4. GlenEagles
5. Lifetime/ Hill
6. Brookhaven/ Harlee
7. Garland Sisk 1
8. TBar
9. JCC
10. Oak CReek
11. Greenhill

Team Arcaria Finishes 2nd at Tri-Level Nationals

Congratulations to Shawn Arcaria’s 3.5/4.0/4.5 Tri-Level men’s team, which reached the National Final this past weekend at Indian Wells. Way to go, Team Fort Worth. What a huge accomplishment. Captain Arcaria’s team members are, as they appear in the photo below, Jean Nguyen, Ryan Delapaz, Noeh Romero,  Shawn Arcaria, Jason Kern, Eric Gordon, Stephen Bennett, Manolo Diaz-Marta, Drew Schultz, and Mother Fucking Bill Kaiser. The Forrest Gump of Men's Tennis. One trip to the Nationals with Father Bob's 3.5 team, One trip to the Nationals with Arcaria's Tri team, and the cover boy of the 2011 USTA Guide book on how to be a USTA Captain. Where will he show up next?
Here are some other interesting pictures I found of Mr Kaiser.
Despite his total lack of coordination and Big Bird-esqe physique he is able to put himself in the middle of the action. Who is this enigma that seems to find his way into tennis History?

Not just on the edge, but at times, the very center.

Some say that he is immortal and can be found through out tennis history! 

If you have and information about this mysterious man please leave it below.

TEXAS Tri-Level Men's 4.5 & under Section Championship

Tri-Level Sectionals Champs Ft Worth
@Houston, TX

Looks like Dallas will have 3 teams representing Dallas at the Tri.

1) Team Sisk (Dallas Winner)

2) Team Yoshida (Dallas WildCard)

3) Team Arcaria (Dallas West - FT Worth Winner)

Out of these three I would put Team Sisk as the favorite to make it to the Finals.

Sisk has been placed in the flight with Arcaria, SETX, and NETX.

Team Yoshida has been placed in a much tougher flight with Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.

With only 6 players it's going to be an uphill battle for team Yoshida.

Also, Word on the Street is that Houston has been accused of placing some questionably rated players on their roster. If anyone cares to elaborate please do so in the comments section.

Prediction:

Finals Dallas vs Houston.

Winner :Let's Go DALLAS!!!!!!

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