Friday, November 14, 2008

Sad News

I heard some bad news yesterday:  Jason Freeman has gotten a promotion and will be moving to the D.C. area in January.   Jason has been the dominant player on the 3.5 and 4.0 tennis scene over the last few years and Houston's leagues will be much weaker in his absence.  Being a successful captain requires a lot of skills (unless, like me, you just happen to be lucky enough to have a lot of great tennis players for friends): you have to be very likeable, slightly slimy and a good salesman.  Freeman is all of those things, though he really needs to increase his sliminess.  :)

My own opinion is that Jason and Red and Betsie Hollis are the three most influential people on the local league tennis scene and Freeman's exit will leave a big void for someone to fill.  I'm not sure what will become of the teams he had planned for next year.  Whatever 4.0 team he assembled would have been an odds-on favorite to take the city just based on past performance.  I'm not sure if he ever would have been able to truly hang with the big boys in 4.5...we may never find that out.

From a personal standpoint, I had a great time playing on his team last year.  His enthusiasm and passion reinvigorated me and was infectious.  It's just a lot more fun to play on a team with someone who is really passionate about league, and the only other teammates I've had that were equally inspirational were Tuan Tran and Red Benzon.  Playing league next year is just not gonna' be the same for me.

27 comments:

  1. Freeman/Benzon for President 2012

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  2. More importantly, is Sarosh now a free agent???

    Good luck in DC Jason.

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  3. Wow!

    Not only are the Houston leagues going to suffer but leagues across the state!

    Jason – I enjoyed playing on your 3.5 team last year. It was a fun ride! Thank you for your support and ideas for my own teams in Dallas! Good luck!

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  4. What a wonderful day! If there is anywhere better that Freeman could learn to be slimier than DC (although I don't think he really needs it)? I hear he has already started appealing for players in the Mid-Atlantic.
    What will be most interesting is whether he can compete at 4.0 in DC? Rumor I heard was that he requested a transfer to a weaker region so he would stop embarrassing himself on the court.
    I'll keep reading about tennis since I'm not allowed to play for 3 years. Freeman has prohibited all of 4.0 members who went to Nationals from playing until we can self rate at 3.5 when he returns.

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  5. What does Kern have against Jason?

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  6. "I've had that were equally inspirational were Tuan Tran and Red Benzon...."


    Surprise surprise, Greg is influenced by 2 crooked players.

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  7. Any Ideas as to who might take over Freeman's Teams? Towle maybe ? Urtis? His Teams need lots of attention maybe Sarosh can Captain the Teams..

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  8. I would guess that Urtis or Dwyer or Towle would take over.

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  9. What about Godwin??

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  10. Sorry to hear you are leaving Jason. All of us across Texas will miss ya. I wish you the best.

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  11. If Freeman is leaving then the 4.0 Division is up for Grabs for sure.

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  12. Looks like Freeman is ending with a final boom with Tri-Level. And Hollis is going to assist him. They've both got pretty killer teams. Hollis is up to her usual tricks with Emma McDougal and Holly Lindloff on the team.

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  13. Yah lets see if everyone agrees now with earlier posts that MCcdougall is a 4.5 player. I'm sure that Hollis abides by all the rules but she does have her RINGERS in place for sure!

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  14. Looks like the (Un)holy Trinity of Dwyer, Freeman and Benzon are all on the same tri-level team.

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  15. Tri Level is for people who can't make it in the Summer Leagues so that's where they belong. Along with Hollis.

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  16. hmmm - seems Hollis makes it summer, combo, and tri-level. She even makes it in summer when she's not captaining a team. You're just a jeolous loser!

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  17. I am new to the blog and tennis in Houston...Who is this "Hollis" person and why are some people on here so focused on him? If Hollis is breaking the rules, report it to the league leadership or tournament directors. If not, lets focus on some good tennis talk. Does anyone know what courts are being used for next weekend's junior tournament? I tried to get a court at Memorial Park and couldn't

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  18. Try Sunday. There will be less courts needed for the tourney then. No way you'll get a court on Saturday.

    Hollis is actually a Women's 4.5 team captain. She's created somewhat of a dynasty in women's tennis and there are some people who resent the fact that she's able to put together winning teams year after year. She's goes to Sectionals every year she has a team (except the years her team sits out because they went to Nationals the year before). I think her team has gone to Nationals like 3 or 4 times which is hard to do. I don't think she's been a captain much more than 10 years.

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  19. Betsie Hollis is a controversial women's captain (4.5 - although she started off as a 3.5 captain), in the same way as Red Benzon, Tim Green, Jason Freeman. She manages to always put together teams which win locally and go to Sectionals. She's gone to Nationals several times as well. She's controversial because she pushes the rating limits by having former college players on her team. Some think she shouldn't do it while there are others who believe if these players are underrated and available to play, then why not. The issue is that she somehow gets a large majority of the best players in Houston to play on her team. Call it good captaining or underhanded recruiting - who knows. As far as I know, unlike some of the men's team captains, she has not "cheated" the system - she's not had players lie on their self rating or had players lose deliberately but many still believe it is not right and criticize her for it. I, personally, think it's just good recruiting/captaining and the result of many years of success. The better players want to play on a winning team, one which will go to Sectionals and has a legitimate chance to win it all. But that's just my humble opinion. What do I know - I've never gone to either. But, I do know Betsie personally and she's not a bad person. She's a committed and competitive team captain who likes to have winning teams. So criticize her for that.

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  20. Thanks for the heads up. I have only been on the tennis scene in Houston a few months and just discovered this blog. I read some of the older posts in previous months and saw more posts about Hollis. From my experience, good players want to play on good teams that are well run. And the winning captains tend to be "loathed" yet typically it is the people who can never seem to achieve what the winning captains achieve who do this. In other words, the "Losers" are jealous about the "winners". This is true across the board in life and it is easier to sit back and gripe and pick at the winners than it is to become a "winner" yourself. If there is anything improper, report it to authorities, if not, lets focus on tennis and cut the whining.

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  21. Welcome to Houston!

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  22. Congrats Jason,
    I moved here from DC and Mid-Atlantic tennis. DC League was my favorite, but the Northern Virginia league is by far the most competitive.

    Word of warning, they monitor levels much tighter over there than here.

    They do have a nice Winter's USTA Doubles league that starts up next month.

    Jonathan

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  23. I'm familar with the success of Jason's teams the last couple of years. To be honest, I think it's good to NOT have guys like Jason involved in Texas Tennis Leagues.

    In 2007, his 4.0 team crushed everyone locally then had mostly 5-0 win's at Sectionals each match.

    Having all-star teams ruins the fun for most and discourages new players from joining. Sorry Jason but good ridance...

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