Friday, July 11, 2008

Playoffs Night #1

Lee Leclear tennis center was hopping last night as the citywide championships got underway. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time watching my own teams play and didn't get to watch TOO much else...

The once-mighty Mob Squad limped into the playoffs with a depleted roster and pathetically could only get six players to play in these playoffs as all attempts to change team committments were denied. All six are high quality players, however, and as the old adage says, it only takes four players to win a match. The Mob has always had singles strength, and this year they counted on 19 year old Aadrian Hasker and veteran Ted Phoummarath to carry them through. Hasker edged previously unbeaten Brian Mills in the first set breaker, and then rolled through the second set. Ted P. relies on quickness, fitnesse and consistency, and that combination was a little too much for Sarosh Ahmed last night as Pumma won comfortably.

The Met figured to have the edge in doubles. Ward Jannuzzi and Michael Chec were at line 3 and received the default, and David Yang and Phong Regent were very impressive at line 2, beating Santesteban and Pham three and three. David Yang is quite a player. It was my first time watching him and every one of his strokes were solid and impressive. At line one, the match of the night featured the Phan brothers against Jacob Vernon and Daniel Duplechin. Steve Phan has historically been the Mob's best singles player, but they desperately needed some doubles strength. Vernon and Duplechin played magnificently and took the first set in a breaker. Their play dipped ever so slightly in the second and the Phans turned it up a bit and then overcame Minh's cramps to capture the super-breaker and giving the Mob its third line.

In the other 4.5 match, the Black Sheep pulled out a 3-2 win over Ssshhhwings. Peter Rothe was again out of the lineup for Shwing. Three of the five matches went to the third set as the teams seemed evenly balanced.

I have always thought of Peter Hansen as a doubles guy, so despite his impressive singles win earlier in the season it surprised me to see him at number one singles last night. Hansen was a key doubles guy on the SWAT team that made it to Nationals in 2005 and won a tight two setter against Mike Giordanelli last night. Westside's singles don't look that imposing on paper, but they won both lines last night as Sean Lacy also won at #2. Ssshhwin is always tough in doubles, and took two of the three lines, but dropped the match tie breaker at line one as Ristau and Alzate took out the strong partnership Benoit/Judson.

In 4.0, the Hurricanes manhandled Willow Fork in the singles, but showed vulnerability in the doubles, losing one line and going three sets in another. Reese and Montes rolled for the 'Canes in the third doubles line.

The 4.0 match of the night featured Sienna and Lost Forest. Chris Trevino had been spotless all season for Lost Forest, but got crushed last night by Justin Smith at one singles. Ace Melchor eked out a win at line 2 for Lost Forest. Each team one a doubles line and the match came down to Ronnie Kwan and Scott Boarman, who survived some confusion over the score to pull out the win for their team.

I'm not sure what happened in the Chancellor's-Smokers match, but it looked like Chancellor's was in control. Ismael Dutchover dropped the first set but survived a tough match with Nathan Huynh, winning in three at one singles.

In the other matchup, Daniel Goodwin's SAP team lost 4-1 to a Copperfield team that looks strong and has a solid shot at a berth in Dallas. Tuyen Nguyen won the only line for SAP. Thomas Sawaya dominated at one singles for the Copperheads.

55 comments:

  1. Yang is definitely the best player for the Met, when he wants to play. He's still getting use to his new racket. Once he does, you will see his abilities.

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  2. Doesn't the Mob Squad result just open the door wide for Copperfield? If they can't beat a depleted Mob Squad and a Met team that lost to a depleted Mob Squad.... Time to start thinking about Copperfield v. Kingwood and hotel reservations in Dallas- what a gift.

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  3. Seems to prove once again that if you're going anywhere you have to be able to at least split singles. Congrats Hacker for taking down Captain February. Does this mean that he will bench you in 4.0?

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  4. It was mentioned before. Isn't it against the rules for Met Hurricanes to have Jacob and Daniel in their roster. Houston can only bring in 1 player from outside 50 miles. Is anyone gonna say anything to Cheryl about this?

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  5. Good tennis last night.

    Any news on the Chancellor/Smoker match?

    The lights out there were horrible as usual.

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  6. Thanks, Kern. We were lucky to win last night. Freeman's doubles teams looked really good.

    Good luck in the Qualifying Tournament this weekend. Let us know how it goes.

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  7. Lights were horrible, guess that was the reason for the abundance of bad line calls at inappropiate times on numerous courts.

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  8. Actually, the bad line calls were appropiate for the ones making them.

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  9. Details, please. Name some Names.

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  10. What is the deal with the lights at Lee Leclear? It is city owned, right? Then why do the lights at Memorial Park seem to be brighter and always work? The city seems to be spending money out there. And Cheryl et al wonder why no teams want to play out of Lee Leclear.

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  11. Evil lights, I could barely see the Bon Bons.

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  12. Drive by Lee Leclear Monday through Thursday evening, then drive by Memorial. Even if Memorial Park is not making money from their court fees, the courts are at least full and making some money. Lee Leclear is lucky if they have 5 courts full on any given night unless its a tournament or league play.

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  13. What is really sad is that Houston tennis is huge, but San Antonio, Austin, Waco, and Dallas have city facilities that are 10 times better than Houston. The private clubs in other cities will open their doors to tournaments and league play without a problem.

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  14. Who cares about the lights, it is what it is. Let's hear more from the folks who watched the matches last night.

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  15. the wind was unpredictable last night. the singles matches were full of unforced errors with the balls sailing long or barely making it to the service lines. i saw more pushing then swinging because of the wind.

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  16. What it comes down to is Heart in the 3rd set Tiebreakers which will what alot of matches will come down to in the matches played in the remaining playoff matches.

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  17. Outdoor tennis is what it is. Everyone playing has to deal with the conditions and play. Some are just better at altering their game to fit.

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  18. Heart and nerves. The super breaker has minimized the third factor: conditioning.

    But for those superteams that focus year-round on Nationals (Austin-Davis, SA-Torres, Dallas-Branch, Kingwood-Kilshaw, Houston4.0-Freeman etc.) a third set breaker at sectionals brings enormous pressure knowing that you hold the yearlong hopes of your teammates in your hands. I've seen more than a few players wilt in that situation.

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  19. In the playoffs, if a captain has to default a match he has to notify the other captain prior to swapping lineups to allow the other captain the option of adjusting his lineup, right?

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  20. Justin Smith is my hero.

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  21. Funny, I played last night and didn't even notice any wind. I guess when you are focused in, the other elements just don't matter. As the other writer said, "it what it is" refering to the lights, wind etc...
    Another blogger was right about heart. The winning teams seem to always come out on top in the third set tie breakers. They have that edge. I think that it is a mental thing. One team is afraid to lose and goes for their shots and the other is afraid to win and can't close out a match.

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  22. I heard Ward begged the Met captain not to put him in singles bc he wasnt confident he could win.

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  23. Yes, you must notify the other captain and it must be line 3 doubles or line 2 singles.

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  24. Line 2S Shwwnngs 4.5 was blind and then got caught in his own ..ahhhhmm forgetfullness at the end of the match and Cheryl had to come and figure it out. Way to go Cheryl for thinking it through and being fair and just.

    and no I don't play for Westside!

    So Copperfield and Westside winning, again. Maybe this forum might want to take notice of these well built club teams. When my team played them, both were a very nice group of players and very solid with hardly a bad call or guy on the team.

    Uncle Ben

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  25. Westside is underrated with nice quality players. Great job last night.

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  26. I played against Westside last night and I totally agree. What a great group of guys. Well played!!

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  27. i definitely agree that westside has some quality players with quality attitudes and they make fair line calls. i feel the same way with the guys from copperfield.

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  28. Glenn has priapism

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  29. There is treatment for that: and its not the tennis blog.

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  30. I saw Sienna play... some players look like 3.5 level trying to be 4.0. They need to learn the basic stroke first ... learn to walk before run. Chancellor & the MET rules !!

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  31. who the heck is Justin Smith ... play kind of awkward

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  32. Westside is the BEST. I saw that match Ronnie & Scott, Scott did everything. They should have lost bc Ronnie looks old and retarded.

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  33. LeClear has really gone down. The neighborhood is bad, lots of car broken into. Good luck playing in the heat all day tomorrow only to lose an d find out your car is broken into.
    Copperfield will lose
    Kingwood will lose
    Sienna will definitely lose
    Chancellor will lose

    MET will WIN all ... YEAH

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  34. Learn to walk before run? Learn proper English grammar you penis.

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  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  36. I am old, and guess what? My team is still undefeated, is yours? Retarded, perhaps. See you on the court Mr. anonymous.

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  37. I predict the mob will lose their next match. No way they can continue to default a line and still have a chance. The Met choked.

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  38. Sienna will lose against WF today, awkward Justin is going down. Scott and Ronnie will lose. Go WF and Jerry Moore!

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  39. Sienna sandbagging ? hahaha most of them are borderline 3.5-4.0. This is the big boy league with 4.5 to open players as ringers ... get with the game boys

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  40. what team do you play for HTOWN HACKER ? just curious

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  41. MET Hurricanes 4.0

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  42. If you have to ask (and ask twice) you are not "in the circle".

    The blog writer plays for the Met 4.0 team that will win this weekend and then he also captains the 4.5 Mob Squad team as a charity function.

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  43. Looks like the MET has continued its inevitable crash course with sectionals (nationals?). I don't think we've even seen their best lineup thus far, still a few great players who have yet to make an appearance (where are you guys hiding Narajos?). I'm hoping we can at least keep the matches close tomorrow.

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  44. Prediction: Met 5, Sienna 0
    Justin needed a default to win today. Scott and Ronnie were too scared to play today. They will undoubtably hide again tomorrow from us big dogs.

    Go Met!

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  45. MET - get over yourselves and keep things in perspective. At the end of the day, we are all just 4.0's (yes, even you guys)

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  46. We are still going to crush Sienna tomorrow and in the finals, with our second team, we will crush Copperfield or Chancellors.

    Go Met!

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  47. What is priapism?

    Go Met!

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  48. Priapism: Abnormally persistent erection of the penis in the absence of sexual desire.

    Who is Glenn, show yourself ... sorry you have Priapism hehehe
    did he play ?

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  49. so who made it to the final tomorrow ? sounds like Sienna, Met, Chancellor, ???
    Is that right ???

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  50. In 4.0; all the strong team in the division (I, II, III, IV) are playing for the spot in the final tomorrow. I want to have Freeman's baby.

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  51. Losers of the Met/Sienna and Coperfield/Chancellors matches tomorrow will qualify for little State in Waco. These 4 teams all won their divisions and have all been undefeated all year. Nice job and good luck to all in the post-season!

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  52. What is little state in Waco? Is this a joke?

    Go Met!

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  53. I think Glenn played today and won the deciding match for his team. During changeovers, he looked uncomfortable. I hear priapism is a painful condition and we should not make fun of it as it could be any one of us with this horrible disease. I hear it may lead to a comorbid condition called testicular dermatophytosis, characterized by an itchy, flaking, ball sack.

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