Here are some pics from this weekend.
Here is some info from USTA.
The blog does not have a very easy way to do a batch upload.
Send me some pics if you have them and I will put them up.
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News and information about Houston's USTA Men's Tennis league
Summarizing the National Championship...it seems like even though Freeman's team didn't make it all the way, Freeman can be proud of having 2 of the best 4.0 lines in the nation...
ReplyDeleteI think there would be no doubt that Sarosh was the best singles player at Nationals and Kern/Vellieux the best doubles team...
You people crack me up. Freeman is honored and applauded for having THE BEST 4.0 singles and doubles team in the Nation (which means according to every other posting on this subject means they are actually 5.0 players). When Red, Tim, or anyone else that your average Joe tennis player objects to does the same they are scorned and called cheaters. Freeman, you're sleeping with the right people or something.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that kern/veilleux are legitimate additions (no appeal?)to a team. Sarosh was more clearly out of level and a bumpdown.
ReplyDeleteRed's team was clearly out of level.
Tim's team was not clearly out of level except maybe David B. and couple others, but I only hear reports.
California is clearly out of level on every level.
Ahmed is pretty infamous in 4.0 circles, so I don't think Freeman is really getting a free pass there. 5.0 in Houston just seems to be a little less competitive than the 4.5 and 5.0 leagues in terms of people caring about the ringers. Kern self rating as 4.0 is pretty questionable but as far as I know he didn't play in college or anything so who knows. Ahmed might have been bumped out of 4.0 last year with no hope of appeal but he lost to another super 4.0 ringer in David Yang. Red and Tim do far more blatant stuff. Chance Morgan anybody on one of Tim's old teams for example. This yeah he had davis cup players and former world ranked juniors on his 4.5 team. That kind of crap is different than Freeman, who mostly does 4.0 texas all star teams that are by and large legitimate save for a couple of guys.
ReplyDeleteI've seen posts where the players were pretty harshly criticized as well. So, are 4.0 and below players immune to these attacks?
ReplyDeleteThe story of "THE BEST 4.0 LINES AT NATIONALS" to a "legitimate additional to a team with no appeal" are a far cry from each other. I've been to Nationals, and in my opinion, the top 5-6 lines at Nationals are dead ringers no matter what you want to call them.
It's safe to say that Ahmed is absolutely out of level in 4.0. I'm not sure why other 4.0 teams don't complain about Freeman the way 4.5 polayers complain about Benzon, Green and Hollis. One reason might be that its easier to get self rated players into 4.0 under the radar. A good high school player could self rate at 4.0 and really be a good 4.5 and nobody would know. Its not like when Green gets Chance Morgan number one in super champs to play 4.5, or the davis cup guy. Or when Hollis only gets major college players on her 4.5 team. These are much higher profile players and its much easier to research them and determine from their history that they are way out of level. A guy like this Kern has no easily researchable tennis background so how exactly do you complain or challenge him at 4.0. You wouldnt even know about him until he started winning all the time. Ahmed appears to be a similar case. I think its easier to slip unknown ringers into 4.0 and that may be why theres less drama and complaints.
ReplyDeleteYou can also add to that Dwyer Mr blogman himself adding that atp satelite player a few years ago. Not to mention the San antonio team in 2006 that had nothing but well known recent college players and top juniors. Freemans team didn't have that kind of blatant cheating, even if it was cheating to have kern and ahmed rate at 4.0.
ReplyDeleteLet's just face it At the Higher Levels 4.5 5.0 5.5 and Open People Sandbag or CHEAT. Its a FACT and we must DEAL with it. If you want a Fair Game stay in 3.5 and 4.0's. People who play League are always looking for ways to get out of Level Players. Let The Games Begin at the End of this month when Year End Ratings Come out.
ReplyDeleteSo, somehow at 4.0, which happens to house over 40% of league participation, there is no blatant cheating?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the blogger 3 posts ago. It's just harder to get self-rated ringers at 4.0 than it is at 4.5 and higher.
High School players could actually self-rate at 3.5.
I think the problem with the grid is that there is too much grey area from D3 to D1, to JUCO. Some D3 or Jr College players might be better than some D1 players (they're the exception but it does happen - ala Broach). Then you have to consider conferences and what line they're playing. There are just way too many variables that come into play once you reach 4.5.
The other thing to consider is that it takes a good college player to be a ringer/sandbagger at 4.5 and above - that's what makes it appear more blatant.
ReplyDeleteIn Ahmed's case, who knows what his background is, he played the game seemingly not tanking any games or matches and the computers kept him at 4.0. It's the system's fault - not his. Some would criticize him for not moving himself up when the competition was not good enough but still hesitate to call him a cheater because there are no guidelines or grid to define him otherwise.
When a college player continues to play at 4.5 (and assuming they're not tanking) and the computer keeps them there - it's the players fault and not the system.
In the case of women, there is no 5.0 or above level so that keeps the 4.5 level more competitive with college players.
kern and ahmed should be above average in the 4.5 level. they will beat the bottom half of the 4.5, but i would like to see them face off with the top 4.5 players. by the way, "when the ball hits the line or 3 inches inside the line, it's in".
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where all of the anonymous "player haters" have been.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you guys are back.
Don't you think you guys are the ones "out of level"? Maybe you shouldn't be playing that high then. Stop whining how others are better and practice. Stop letting your Egos get in the way and go BACK DOWN to your 4.0 or 3.5 because even if you win sectional you'll obviously get killed at Nationals.
ReplyDeleteSarosh did get bumped up to 4.5 last year. But then Freeman & Urtis filed petitions for him & 10 other players. Some suceeded, some did not.
ReplyDelete"and thats the truth and nothing but the truth so help me GOD"
Kern and Sarosh are better than Tim Green, Red Benzon, Glen Wright, Regent Phong, and Henry Li without a doubt.
ReplyDeleteThe last post is so Funny. I'm sure if you asked Kern and Sarosh they would not totally agree that they are that dominant over all those players. Please be reasonable Kern and Sarosh definitely will be competitive in 4.5 next year but by No means DOMINANT.
ReplyDeleteBased on the score lines and of what people say, I'm sure Sarosh would be dominant at all 4.5 locals & majors.
ReplyDeleteIf Sarosh can go head to head with dominant 5.0 players, I guess it will be Sarosh all the way in 2008 at 4.5's.
The only person that I see would give him a tough time would be Dibua, other than that I don't really see him having that great of a difficulty!
I go along with that other blogger then. Why is he immune to criticism then. If today he could in fact compete with 5.0's, and Dibua is the only 4.5 who would challenge him, then he's a cheater and a liar and in the same category as Green and Benzon.
ReplyDeleteOk, I just checked out Sarosh's singles record in the "5.0" fall league. Based on this he is definitely not a competitve 5.0 and definitely would not be dominant at 4.5.
ReplyDeleteHe lost to Davide Danese (4.5), lost to JR Pogue (4.5), and split sets with Wade Karel (4.0)
People need to very well understand that "Tournament" play and "league" play is completely different. All tournament players end up playing atleast one level below. Thats why you see some very good 5.0 players like Hunkler and Green play 4.5 league.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly if Sarosh happens to be a true 4.5 player, whats wrong in him playing down a level jult like anybody else at 4.0 league?
Why are Green, Benzon and Sarosh called cheaters or liars for following the norm thats followed across the entire USTA league?
Sarosh needs to bump up his game to even compete with Red, Phong, and Henry. Sarosh is definitely good enough to beat 4.0 players, but is he good enough to beat the upper 4.5 players? We will see next season. Don't even compare Odion with Sarosh. Odion is a true 5.0 and above player, who plays 4.5. There's no weakness in Odion's his overall game. Sarosh has many weakness and the good players will exploit that. Don't forget about David Yang. David beat Sarosh and even gave him a set to make it look close. Sarosh will give Red and Phong a good match, but would probably get only 6 games out of Henry, David, and Odion. Schmucker, Kallus, and Moser are the top 4.5 players also. Can Sarosh take them down? Mostlikely not. Just keeping it real!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Jason Turpen (one of my 3.5/4.0 guys) who just passed the Texas Bar Exam....CONGRATS Jason!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, congrats to any other tennis folks who just found out they passed : )
Sarosh and David both have kind of weird results (i.e. trends) if you look at their records. It kind of seems like they: only try sometimes, or have really bad mental games or something more sinister is going on. Well, it could just be the randomness of tennis, but it looked a little weird to me.
ReplyDeleteNothing weird about David Yang's results. He is a classic sandbagger, and loses when he needs to.
ReplyDeletedavid hall is the gatekeeper of the 4.5... if you can beat him you can be called a 4.5... maybe a weak 4.5, but at least a 4.5
ReplyDeleteSarosh's results do look weird...before sectionals and Nationals he had some close matches, but from Dallas - Sectionals onwards...it seemed like Sarosh went all out and barely even broke a sweat at Dallas and Tucson.
ReplyDeleteHow could he have not even dropped a set at both sectionals and Nationals or even played a close match?
Did his game actually get that better or is there something we don't know about?
Can freeman comment on Sarosh's results at Dallas and Nationals?
ReplyDeleteAhmed was told to keep the local matches reasonably close as a precaution, so that he could go to sectionals and nationals and play for real. He didn't lose a set at either sectionals at 4.0 or nationals because he is not a 4.0 player. Interesting to see Jason Turpen on a freeman 3.5 team. He played juniors and was ranked not too long ago. Freeman with a 4.5 team might be the new Tim green, corrupting league for everybody else.
ReplyDelete90 percent of the players on Green's team are 4.5's. If you feel his team is corrupting the league, I think you need to move down to 4.0.
ReplyDeleteI love it. The gloves are already on and the sparring has begun. Told ya Freeman - once you're in the 4.5 ranks - you're in the line of fire. Watch out! Of course, I don't expect Sarosh to play in Houston. Why would he travel to Houston only to get beat by the 4.5s?
ReplyDeleteWhat I know about Saroh's results from Aug onward are that he practiced a significant amount more that he had previously against some of the top 4.5/5.0 people to get his game up in prep for nationals.
ReplyDeleteHe has so much natural talent that he could just walk out there and beat people in local league.
It is called practice.
No its called sandbagging.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a little of both. I play 4.0 league and could clearly see Sarosh was dogging it during the season, but the word was that he wasn't practicing at all at that time, so I'm sure he sharpened up for Sectionals/Nationals.
ReplyDeleteSarosh is a cheater and a liar just like all the other sandbaggers. Noone really cared about it before because he was playing 4.0. Freeman is just as bad as Tim and Red. Noone really cared about it before because it was 3.5 and 4.0.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that people will care more now since Sarosh will start playing 4.5's instead of 4.0?
ReplyDeleteAnd if he starts beating up on 4.5 players, then everyone is going to start whining and moaning again saying that he does not belong at 4.5 and should be playing at 5.0?
Of course - that's the way it works. If you can't beat 'em. Whine and make excuses for your loss.
ReplyDeleteOk anyone who says Ahmed wasnt a blatant ringer in 4.0 is using Tim Green logic. Look at the guys results if thats not cheating I don't know what is.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is how/why did Sarosh escape scrutiny and criticism until now. I mean, people always said that he was definitely out of level but the posts have become much more harsh and critical as of late.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is, are there others who should be scrutinized. It still blows my mind that Freeman's team ABSOLUTELY dominated at Sectionals and the best they could come up with was a 1-2 record. Does that mean that Texas 4.0 is WAY overrated?
ReplyDeleteMore likely, Sarosh and probably at least 2 others (Kern, Veilleux, any others?) are WAY underrated and the rest of the team are avg 4.0's at best. That would explain the results at Sectionals and Nationals.
Ahmed is one of the biggest ringers in Houston history, right up there with Chance Morgan, Farzad Heidari, and Trent Broach. You could easily add Kern into that mix as well. Freeman had two absolute guaranteed wins at sectionals, thats how he breezed through. Of course at nationals every body has ringers, so Kern and Ahmed got cancelled out by all the other ringers. So yes, most of Freemans players were actually strong 4.0's, and then he had the added bonus of having good 4.5's in Kern and Ahmed. Its probably just being discussed more now becuase freeman did a good job of reigning them in during the regular season. The fact that those guys destroyed everybody at nationals where everybody is already a level up defintely adds scrutiny. But captains like Freeman and green will always have these players and they will always have a stranglehold on league for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteHey, what happened to "Jason knows and admits he has ringers so he's not as bad as Tim or Red".
ReplyDeleteYeah Im waiting for green to jump in here and say that ahmed is an average 4.0.
ReplyDeleteFreeman's 4.0 team would have easily won the National Championship had all the guys that had committed to playing actually showed up. Not having Eddie de los Santos even make an appearance at Nationals turned what would have been 4-1 wins into tight 3-2 losses.
ReplyDeleteWhile he is probably much smarter, Freeman is not even close to being as manipulative and underhanded as the other captains that get negative attention on this blog. At least his guys are computer-rated ringers and not self-rated ringers.
Freemans players Kern,Ahmed where once self rated and no matter what anyone says they are the Top 4.0 Players in the Nation! Hands Down!!
ReplyDeleteI can Guarantee you though that they won't be making that much Noise in 4.5 next year.
Freeman...you heard it from the anonymous superstar --- you need to work on being more manipulative and underhanded if you are going to make it at the next level...
ReplyDeleteHow can those be qualities for which one strives to achieve?
Well, Ahmed's thrown down the gauntlet so everyone should go try and take him out at the next tournament. THEN we'll see how good the guy really is when he's not tanking.
ReplyDeleteI'm just waiting for the rush in recruiting for this next summer... I'm sure all the captains are desperately trying to schmooze players now. When do the final ratings come out?
Recruiting started when Sectionals ended.
ReplyDeleteHell...recruiting started before sectionals....when teams started getting eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI've already started recruiting for my 2009 team :-) Ask Red!!!
ReplyDeleteWho would want to recruit Sarosh or Kern anyways. The ringers are that Goldberg guy, his doubles partner, and Kern's doubles partner, I can't think of their names right now, but I heard they are pretty good.
ReplyDeleteBonjorno, houstontennis.blogspot.com!
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