Friday, June 5, 2009

"And DOWN the stretch they come!" --- Dave Johnson

The playoff picture is starting to come into sharp focus.  Let's take a look at the interesting races for playoff spots.  

In 5.0, it's all over but the shouting.  There are occasionally wild cards available in 5.0, in which case it's still a three horse race with the Met, Black Sheep and Willowfork all in contention.  The edge may go to the Black Sheep, who have no more matches with Copperfield.  

In 4.5 Division I it's pretty clear that Copperfield and Ssshhhwings are both going to the playoffs. Copperfield is a great story...they've managed to overcome the loss of John Kudrick without skipping a beat.   The addition of Samuel Holmes (seen here in his youtube video) makes them a very interesting.  (This blog is not about social commentary, but I think it's great that league tennis has become SO much more diverse than when I first started playing).  Shwing still needs to get Neil Carpenter qualified.   I've not seen Holmes play, but if I had to make a list of the "elite" singles players in the Houston 4.5 league, I'd say: Dibua, Dibua, Phoummarath, Phan, Carpenter, Holmes, Bradley, Trevino, Straley, Hasker).  Playoff teams lacking a singles player of that caliber will not have a prayer.   

In 4.5 Division II, Kingwood has a leg up on both Westside teams, but doesn't have things clinched, as they play NWO and the Black Sheep in the last two weeks of the season.   If we assume the Black Sheep sweep Lakeside Estates in the final week (other than Orozco their roster is very weak), then the two Westside teams will be tied at 4-2 with 20 individual wins and 10 losses and both will have a match against Hurricanes 2 and Kingwood. Whichever team performs best in those matchups will make the playoffs.   Any "throwaway" lines may come back to haunt either of these teams.

In 4.5 Division III Sienna has made things interesting, and they're actually mathematically still alive for a spot in citywides, but with two matches remaining against the Hurricanes their chances are slim and none.  So, it'll come down to the Deucebags and Sugar Creek if Miguel Morales can pull out that third set breaker.  If he loses, the Deucebags chances may just evaporate.  

In 4.0 Division I, it's Bear Creek and Copperfield.  Willowfork still could tie in wins and losses, but is too many lines behind to realistically have a shot.

4.0 Division II is the most interesting Division to me.  Despite its undefeated record, Chancellor's is not assured of a spot.  They dropped two lines last night.  If the Smokers swept, then Chancellor's will have dropped 5 lines on the season, Smokers 6 and Lakeside 7.  Chancellor's has the toughest schedule down the stretch, playing the Spin Doctors and Smokers.  A loss to the Smokers gives all three teams a shot. 

4.0 Division III has the Hurricanes somewhat comfortably on top, but still in slight danger as they play JCC in the season's final week.  Right now Sienna and JCC are tied in wins, losses and individual lines won.  Sienna could be in the interesting position of NEEDING a Hurricane victory in the final week to even make the playoffs.  

4.0 Division IV has SAP and Lost Forest with berths sewn up.  The only drama will be which team wins the division.  SAP with the edge right now, but the teams meet again in the season's final week.  

49 comments:

  1. blacksheep was the victor in setting lacy as number#1 singles. if they would have placed him playing #2 against hale, then that line could have went either way.

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  2. Sienna 4.0 sucks.

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  3. Is there no head to head tiebreaker prior to going to matches lost? For instance if the Black sheep and NWO end up tied, do the Black sheep not go on because of having beaten them twice?

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  4. Re Blacksheep, it goes right off the various tennis link column results. Total matches won, sets won/loss, etc....Not head to head.

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  5. that might be the dumbest thing i have ever heard. how could head to head not be the first tiebreaker? does anyone else think this is insane?

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  6. it's all in the stats under each column. so it could go down the last column, "Games Lost". there will be no ties. that's why you should take every game seriously.

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  7. I find it hard to believe that Lacy would have lost to Hale on line 2. I would consider Lacey to be one of the upper end singles player if not on the list of "elites" especially considering he recently lost to Phan in a 3rd set breaker after winning the 2nd set 6-1. He's not dominant but he sure doesn't lose much.

    Copperfield will be tough with Holmes added to their singles. Playoffs should be very interesting this year, especially if it is a round robin. All 3 4.5 divisions have 2 good teams. The only 4.5 race that still seems in doubt is DII with the 2 westside teams. Funny that head to head wouldn't be the tie-breaker. That makes no sense. Is Kingwood pretty much safe?

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  8. No head to head. Does that sound like UT vs OU. :)

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  9. Thank you.... YES Sienna 4.0 does suck. But if Freeman is smart he will drop the last match to JCC to keep sienna out of the playoffs. Since they can surprise. And JCC's older roster will melt in the July day playoff heat.

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  10. kingwood is not safe. they shouldn't let their guards down like they did with nwo. they could end up out of the playoffs.

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  11. whoever posted sienna 4.0 sucks need to be a man and post his name so we will know what a loser you are .. Get a life dude !

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  12. Does Sienna 4.0 have a chance for the playoff ? what do they have to do ?? what if JCC beat Hurricane ?

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  13. Sienna is in the playoffs. They have no real concerns since Sienna has only cupcake matches left. It is completely in Sienna's control. People are just blowing hot air on this blog and trying to draw up drama when none really exits. Sienna does not suck. They are clearly the 2nd best team, if not the best, in Houston.

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  14. "2nd best team, if not the best, in Houston." Spoken by a die hard Sienna player I'm sure. Sienna is no better than the fourth best in 4.0. They will not be going to Sectionals.

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  15. Who are the three best teams in houston?

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  16. Sienna will go to national, then Davis cup

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  17. Who are the best singles players in 4.0 league.

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  18. The 4 best teams in 4.0 are:
    Hurricanes
    Sienna
    Chancellor
    Bear Creek
    The best singles players in 4.0 are:
    Scott Foster
    Brian Anderson
    Sebastien Chambert
    Roscoe Trujillo
    Bethuel Gabriel
    Juan Pacheco
    Sidney O'Pry

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  19. That last poster actually knows what he's talking about. Not a bad list.

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  20. I am on the JCC team and I agree that Sienna will most likely make the city playoffs.

    However, I find it kind of humorous that someone comes in talking about how good Sienna is after they got smacked down hard on Thursday night. Perhaps they sacrificed a line at #1 doubles, but two of their top lines (Darnel and Ronnie&Ed) got crushed.

    When Sienna has qualified for Sectionals, come back and tell us how good you are. Till then you are just one of many teams that have qualified for city playoffs but failed to make it to Sectionals over the last few years.

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  21. Phrase of the day is,,,, "smacked down hard".

    But, hey,,,, they are are the best team in Houston??????

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  22. JCC - harsh words coming from an old guy!

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  23. I that might have been the first JCC post since the creation of the blog. We need some excitement here, keep em coming!

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  24. first it was sarosh from the hurricanes that dominated 4.0. then it was narajos from the hurricanes and next it will be foster. seems like the hurricanes produce some top 4.0 players, but once they get moved up, they are getting smacked around.

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  25. LOL, you know us old guys:

    "Get off of my lawn!"

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  26. Narajos and Martinez haven't exactly gotten smacked around. Narajos lost to Bradley but beat Rios. No shame in that.

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  27. BTW...There was a big 4.5 match in San Antonio today. Alann Torres team probably needed a sweep over Mike Miller's team to earn the Sectional bid. Vazquez/Torres' team won 3-2, dropping both singles. With one makeup match to be played it's a virtual certainty that Team Miller will represent San Antonio while Vazquez will have to hope for a wildcard. Reid Strand was a DNP.

    Also, Eddie Hill's Lifetime team took down Springpark/Walters, who were the 4.0 champs from Dallas last season.

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  28. The JCC guys have been confused by this newfangled internet thing... :) J/K

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  29. LOL. The last time I went to Sectionals was before the internet was invented. Really.

    Getting old sucks. Avoid it if possible. Still, it doesn't hurt to humble some cocky young guys in the cool air-conditioned comfort of the JCC every now and then.

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  30. I guess the air conditioner was in Siennas eyes. I ment sun,,, oh, they were playing indoors,,, well I don't know what to say other than SMACK DOWN, SMACK DOWN, SMACK DOWN!!!

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  31. I see Torres and his sleazebags tanking the make-up match since they are guaranteed 2nd. Thye could get a WC, but also tank to keep their goons down for another shot next year.

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  32. Greg... In 5.0, Westside has another loss that hasn't been recorded online yet to Willowfork from 3 weeks ago. Obviously, Copperfield has already wrapped up the 5.0 Division, thus securing a trip to Sectionals. So, It appears that Willowfork and the Met are battling for 2nd down the stretch. Westside has really strengthened their team with recent additions of Rafael Herrera and Matt Pyle, so they cannot be counted out. If both the Met and Willowfork trip down the trip other than a loss to Copperfield, then Westside could climb back into the mix. It's been nice to see some growth in 5.0 tennis... with more teams than ever before, and more players getting back into it. Hope the trend continues. Craig

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  33. Hey C Towle, what's your email address? re. our convesration after LF Tourney

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  34. When are Sarosh and Miguel going to finish their match?

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  35. make sure you get a someone to watch the lines, otherwise sarosh will "hook you like a fish".

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  36. Sarosh and Miguel will finish match when both teams agree to date/time.

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  37. big match in 4.5 div III. duecebags vs. sugar creek. these two teams find themselves battling for the second spot everyweek. sugar creek can secure second place with a win, while duecebags can probably kiss the season goodbye with a loss.

    div II.

    hurricane b-team vs. blacksheeps. the canes can repeat an upset and spoil blacksheep's chances.

    lakeside vs crush.
    crush needs to sweep lakeside to broaden their lead in the division, because they are not guranteed to make the playoffs yet.

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  38. The Duecebags/SC matchup is interesting this week. Every time I think Alan and his team are down for the count they respond. With their results against the Hurricanes, I don't think you can write them off no matter who you are.

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  39. Put Jacuzzi in the line up.

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  40. Jacuzzi has been in the lineup. Cant win at 5.0 or 4.5. Maybe 4.0 next year.

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  41. Division Captains,

    If you can't record your scores within a few days, you're being unfair to all the league players who compete and want to know the true standings for playoffs and results.

    Record the scores and quit playing your own head games.

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  42. Just for that, I will wait till the end of the season to record the rest of my team's scores.

    How do you like them apples...

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  43. It would be a dick move but you can email Cheryl and request a forfiet if a team has not reported their scores within 3 days.

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  44. I just emailed her to that effect.

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  45. What are the matches too look for this weekend?

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  46. Correct me if I am wrong, but EITHER team could report the score, not just the home team right?

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  47. Correct, but it is the home team captains responsibility.

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  48. Yes either team can report the score. The opposing captain has 48 hours to validate it. If no appeal is made about the scores within that time the scores stand as correct. I did see one result where a mixed captain lost a line but failed to notice that the two players they lost to added up to more than maximum rating level. They won the overall match 2-1 but considering last year's division race came down to 1 line, that may prove to be a crucial mistake later in the future.

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