Thursday, May 17, 2012

This Week's Ramblings

I haven't posted anything since last week. I'd say the biggest news of the week was the Copperfield tournament.The most interesting development, league-wise, was the performance of Greg Nitayamekin. His wins over John Patch and Pete Rios have stamped him as a powerhouse should he decide to qualify in 4.0. The kid plays a ton, and is a really good ball striker. Nice to see his improvement over the last year.

In 4.5 news, I noticed Hersh Pise straight-setted Anuj Singh, one of Copperfield's hot shot juniors. Maybe we SHOULDN'T be putting too much stock in those 3 kids... Matt Schlensker had an outstanding tournament, which should earn him some more playing time in a singles role for the Deucebags.

If I had to submit a ballot of my "top 10" every week, the Westside Black Sheep may have moved up without doing anything. I'm more skeptical about the Copperfield juniors, and with every passing week I get more doubtful that Sydney Jim will play 4.5. Without him, Sugar Creek is certainly beatable.

In 4.0 the team that intrigues me most is the Westside Warriors. They may have snuck up on the Mob Squad in week one, but they obviously have talent, and Etienne will be a tough out for anybody. I'd have to put him at the top of the 4.0 heap until someone knocks him off. I have no idea how good Andrew Nguyen is...but will be surprised if he remains eligible. He self-rated at 3.5...does this offer a little extra cushion for disqualification at the 4.0 level? I wouldn't think so...

I still think the Mob Squad and Hurricanes are the two best 4.0 teams, but Westside and Copperfield bear watching. There's been little news out of Lakeside because, frankly, their roster is not sexy and their division seems weak. Plus, their huge flame-out in the playoffs last year has left many people wondering if their time has passed.

Barring an upset, the 5.0 race may well have been decided last week.

As for this week's matches....yawn.

17 comments:

  1. jams are undefeated so far without sydney. they have a deep line up. but they will definitely need him in city playoffs to get anywhere.

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  2. JAM are so stacked and stocky the whole team looks like a football team instead of a Tennis team. They play tennis so physical I felt it when I played them.

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  3. A bunch of manly men for sure. Don't piss them off. What about Costilla?

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  4. Why isn't Sydney Jim playing?

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  5. Because he will get DQ'd on protest once he does.

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  6. i dont think he can be dq'd, since he's computer rated. i think only self-rated players are able to get dq'd. however, according to rating system, he should start out at 5.5, which he has, because he played div1 for rice. now he's computer rated at 4.5. so it's not him that's at fault, it's the rating system. with all said, i might be wrong. look what the computer did to rios. the bumped him up to 5.0

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  7. It turns out Rios was correct at 4.0

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  8. If Jim is dq'able, Kerig will be on it...

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  9. Just thought I should mention after looking at the 4.0 flights the "Good Guys" not to be confused with the 4.5 "Good-er" guys have won the most sets and lost the fewest games in 4.0s as of now in "3" Matches, Sienna has played 4 so they technically have the most sets, but have also suffered a loss. None of the good guys matches have been close, in the three rounds they played that have only lost a total of 5 sets and 78 games. They seem to be solid all around in singles and doubles with a quite a few "quality" players who I wouldn't exactly call ringers at all but are good enough to get the job done. I would not count them out, they may be contenders during playoffs.

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  10. Jim is a risk because he played in an ITF event, which meant he should have self-rated @ 6.0. So he has a computer rating based on an illegal self-rate. So Kerig is ready to pull the trigger.

    Has Kerig submitted his list yet this year or is he waiting to the end again? Of course Harold could submit it to but he tends to target the Asians with his rants.

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  11. Sydney Jim has a C rating so is untouchable. If somebody had wanted to DQ him for illegal self-rating, it would have to have been done last year.

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  12. Although the standard policy is no DQs for computer-rated players, a high profile player like Sydney might get some special attention. An even better question is whether Douds might garner a suspension for condoning his self-rate. Given that Sydney was bragging all over the web about his attempts at a pro career, it's hard to believe that Douds was unaware of Sydney's playing record.

    http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=88267&page=2
    http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=176190

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  13. 4.0 Rankings:
    1. Hurricanes (3-0)
    2. Copperfield (2-0)
    3. Westside Warriors (3-0)
    T4. Lakeside
    T4. Good Guys (3-0)
    6. Mob Squad (3-1)
    7. Sienna Plantation (3-1)
    8. Unicorns (2-1)
    9. Westside Phoenix (3-1)
    T10. Rolido Boys (2-1)
    T10. Cinco Ranch Comets (3-0)

    The top 6 are capable of winning the city.

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  14. Lakeside wins over Sugar Creek

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  15. Word on the street is that the Sugar Creek 4.5 team lost to Lakeside tonight, with Quack Bui, Don Rios and Connell/Morris winning for Lakeside. Certainly shakes things up a bit.

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  16. 5.0 Shake-up for the contenders. Sugar Creek 5.0 Team beat Willowfork 3-0 tonight. Sydney won singles, Straley/Montez won 1 dubs & Ford/Simon Jim won 2 dubs. Copperfield 5.0 cruised to a 3-0 win tonight, and now has a big lead in that division. With Willowfork @2 losses now, they are in a big hole, and they have to travel away the rest of the season, except for 1 match. Sugar Creek has 1 loss, plus they are down 1-0 to Copperfield in a match not yet completed from the first week. Big 5.0 match next week: Copperfield vs. Sugar Creek. A Copperfield win will all but mathematically wrap up the 5.0 Division.

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  17. so which is more important. sydney playing next week against 4.5 mob-squad or 5.0 copperfield. it's going to be a gamble, cuz he's a definite win against mob-squad, but will be underdog against copperfield

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