Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Not Much Goin' On.

As has been mentioned, the big 4.5 match this week is between the Deucebags and Sugar Creek. There have been a lot of twists and turns in their division, but it appears that this COULD decide a playoff berth.

In 4.0, Lakeside looks to crush the Spin Doctors to keep an edge in their three way battle. That division figures to get even more interesting as the season comes to a close.

In news across the state, it appears that Dallas 4.0 player Andre Vahdat and Corpus Christi 4.5 player Burke Marold have been DQ'd (based on the fact that their ratings have gone up when you click on their names in Tennis Link). No matches have been reversed at this time.

Marold is also playing on the Mason Creek 9.0 mixed team.

71 comments:

  1. Mixed matches don't get reversed when there's a DQ, right? Marold beat Straley in mixed a few weeks ago and the team won 2-1.

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  2. It should be retroactive for the current season.

    What bad captaining to let his player get busted. Shame, shame..

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  3. that captain should have read the book "how to beat the system" by freeman

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  4. The formula for keeping a ringer under the radar is:

    1. Win set one handily (play is straight)
    2. Get up a break in set 2.
    3. Give up a few games, throw your serve.
    4. Show it as competitive in the end.

    If you roll like this through the season and city then you really won't have an issue.

    Yes, I know this is cheating but you have to cheat to get out of the state....

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  5. I agree with Towle, shame on any captain that allows their player to be DQ'd based on 3 strikes. Simply sit his ass after two lopsided matches if you can't get him to manage his scores. In the end you simply hurt the team by "playing it straight" or whatever other bullshit you want to attack to this captaining stupidity.

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  6. A lot of people think they understand the "system" but they really don't. Everything is hearsay.

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  7. Towle,

    Do you think it is o.k. to play players who are out of level as long as they don't get "busted"?

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  8. John Kim is also an illegal player on the Mason Creek 9.0 mixed team. I guess Monty Lindloff is the new Red Benzon.

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  9. monty is a class act. he is not a scumbag like benzon.

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  10. It's ok to play players at the level in which they are computer rated. Are players tanking points, games, etc? Who knows but there is no system that could be developed which would eliminate people who will deliberately underrate themselves and then keep the scores close to keep their rating.

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  11. Hey AnonymASS,

    Yes, that is why I play myself at line 1 every week b/c I think it is ok to cheat.

    No, I don't subscribe to cheating. I was JOKING.

    The system does work the issue is that is takes 2-1 seasons to work, but it does work eventually.

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  12. Tanking games is not cheating, intentionally losing matches to give your team a better chance to win is not cheating, calling in balls out is cheating, playing people in matches that are not on the roster is cheating.

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  13. playing people in matches that are not on the roster is cheating

    Red did you hear that.

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  14. I love 4.5 summer league. I get to play 5.0+ players and I am virtually assured of a close score line at the end of the match.

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  15. To the guy who said

    Tanking games is not cheating, intentionally losing matches to give your team a better chance to win is not cheating.

    BullShi_

    Distorting any match score by intentional throwing games is unethical just like fixing scores to win bets.

    Whoever you put on the court should play their best. Perhaps these guys need to play 5.0 and not be wasting their time in 4.5.

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  16. But we won't WIN in 5.0!!!! Plus, every one else is doing it.

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  17. Well - if everyone would do their homework as "it appears" they do on this blog you will know that Burke Marold was a Mixed 4.5 at year end 2008. If you look him up, you will see that he did not play on any men's teams for 2007 and 2008 and in fact, 2009 is the first time. So, his rating was correct. Straley is rated as a 4.5 and almost won against Marold so what does that say about his rating?

    Monty Lindloff is a class act and I have never had any problems as long as I have played Houston tennis. I personally offended that anyone would make such bad comments about Monty. The Lindloff family is a mainstay in Houston tennis leagues and Houston tourneys.

    As far as everyone's complaining on this blog and worried about who is cheating and who is not, quit spending your time on this blog and get out and practice.

    Oh - by the way, John Kim is a good player - I have seen him play and have played against him. He is a 4.0 player no matter what his scores are. If you look at the NTRP guidelines....While he is gifted, he still has the hs mentality. That is not a slight, but is just a fact. Anyone who has played against high school kids in league or tourneys knows what I am talking about.

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  18. welcome to summer league...if you're a 4.5 player and can't win, that means you should be playing 4.0

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  19. OMG!!! And I thought womens' tennis was bitchy.

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  20. Assistant Coach Burke Marold
    Burke Marold is in his first season as an assistant coach for the St. Mary’s tennis program.

    As a junior player, Marold was ranked in the top 100 in the nation and in 2002, Marold, won the Fiesta Bowl, a National Boys’ 18 & Under tournament. Marold’s collegiate tennis career began as a scholarship player at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a NCAA Division I Tennis Program on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii. From 2004-2007, Marold finished his college career as a scholarship player at Westmont College, a NAIA Tennis Program in Santa Barbara, Calif.

    Marold’s experience and breadth of knowledge runs deep. His mother, Hilary Hilton, was a professional racket star, winning countless national titles in three different racket sports and was a commentatory at the 1978 Wimbledon Championship for NBC TV with John Newcombe and Bud Collins. His father, Charles Marold, holds nurmerous National Open Mixed Doubles Titles. Most recently, Burke was a member of the Texas State Championship team for the 9.0 Mixed Doubles Team.

    Marold is currently a first year law student at St. Mary’s School of Law.

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  21. How did he end up on a team in Corpus and in Katy. And how the hell did Alann Torres miss out on him. He recruits St. Mary's pretty hard.

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  22. Funny how that 4.0 John Kim has wins over Benzon, Peter Hill, Bill Morris and Andy Diep this year.

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  23. This looks like one of those instances where a player falls withing the 4.0 category of the "General and Experienced Player Guidelines" but is caught by item #1 of the Verification section of the "2009 Operating Procedures for the USTA Texas Section Leagues" which states:

    "If a player was a Super Champ in the past five years, he/she must self rate at or above a 4.5 NTRP level"

    Therefore, it looks like Mr. Kim illegally self-rated on February 15, 2009; however, based on all the information above I hihgly doubt this was intentional.

    The problem is most captains don't even know these operating rules exist (e.g., 50-mile rule). The Texas specific rules are not built into the NTRP self-rating questions which a player answers when initially rating themselves.

    This happened last year in Houston 4.0 when Aadrian Hasker signed up as a 4.0 for Chancellors. I kindly called my good friend Quan Vu and explained this rule (which he didn't know about, neither did Aadrian - so no fault to them) and they were able to sucessfully move him to a 4.5 team (lucky for the Mob Squad and the 4.0 Hurricanes) before the season began and avoided learning of the rule mid-way through the season and possibly facing some overturned matches (as seen by Lifetime in Dallas 4.0 this week).

    I'm not sure how to address the issue other than post the rule out here on a blog.

    Good Luck!!!

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  24. LOL, a guy who won the boys 18 & under at the Fiesta Bowl playing 4.5. I guess the satellite tour didn't work out.

    The real question here is not "Why is he playing 4.5?", but "Wow did Freeman not manage to recruit him for the 4.0 Hurricanes?"

    You sleeping on the job, Freeman?

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  25. Huh? Who won the Fiesta Bowl 18 and unders? Hasker? I'm lost.

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  26. Marold was just DQ'd as a 4.5 based on results and he won the Fiesta 18s.

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  27. Read the bio for Burke Marold in the 4:27 comment.

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  28. Yeah, Marold would make a solid line #2 for the 4.0 Hurricanes.

    However, now that Nadal is questionable for Wimbledon, the rumor mill has it that 4.0 Sienna is gonna bring Nadal in for a couple of matches to lock up making the city playoffs.

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  29. Do all Burke Marold's matches get disqualified?

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  30. Burke has the hots for Holly Lindloff. They met last year in Corpus at Mixed Sectionals. That's why he drives to Houston from San Antonio to play on Monty's Mixed team.

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  31. Hottie Holly is worth the drive.

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  32. "Funny how that 4.0 John Kim has wins over Benzon, Peter Hill, Bill Morris and Andy Diep this year."

    that's because they are average 4.5 players

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  33. So Burke is asst.coach at st. marys. He played league on saturday in corpus. then plays mixed in houston. that's alot of driving just to get Dq'ed.

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  34. Looking at the Hurricane roster (4.5 - who cares about 4.0) they really don't seem all that scary. Yes, they have the Dibuas but that is basically it. The rest of the team is above average but nothing so special that they won't be beat by a good all-around team. Look at their scores so far, the only convincing win was against Sienna Plantation (all others were decided by tiebreakers). I would not be shocked if they didn't advance to sectionals and if they do they certainly won't have the results everyone has been saying they'll have.

    I don't think they are any better than the Kingwood team from last year and they are clearly not as good as the Kingwood team from 2007 which had Armstrong and Hulbert in addition to both Dibuas.

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  35. Have they put their best lineup out there yet? Green hasn't played. Still, they are definately not that strong. But nobody else in Houston is either.

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  36. why hasn't green and hunckler played?

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  37. I wouldn't be surprised if those guy don't even get qualified. This team is better than most Houston teams but not by much and doesn't look like a contender for sectionals as originally predicted. In order to win they will be forced to ride the Dibuas in singles.

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  38. Is Puma on the same level as the Dibuas or a big notch below? If he's good enough for singles then Omon or Odion could play dubs. Puma is a pusher and can't play doubles probably.

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  39. The way I see it there are only 2 teams in Houston this year who are head and shoulders above the rest at their level. 5.0 Hurricanes and Betsie's 4.5 team.

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  40. Besides those 2 teams, it's anyone's to win on any given Sunday!

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  41. hurricanes will need the dibuas on all their matches. however, the courts gets about 110 degrees in the heat. the success of the hurricanes depend on the dibuas.

    puma is a good pusher. how do you beat pushers...either you bring them to the net or you come to the net, just like the way hai vu spanked him last year, 6-3, 6-1. he is known to quit, during or before the match.

    hunckler is the second best player and could play any lines you want him to.

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  42. On paper, SC Titans should be doing better than 3-4. They could be the sleeper at playoffs if their players peek at the right time.

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  43. So how would Betsie's 4.5 team (her best 8) stack up in the men's 4.5 league? My opinion - they could be competitive in the 4.0 league but probably bottom half in Men's 4.5

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  44. Who are her best 8?

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  45. Okay so people think Hurricanes arenlt that strong. Well I guess the challenge is now on. Time to make some last minute additions to separate the field !!

    MIB

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  46. Emma McDougal, Jo Keene, Cori Mullins, Dominique Glinzler, Kaye Estrada, Kristen Samuelson, Jesselyn Reed, Connie Hsiao, 9th woman is Lori Carruth for singles only

    You can't compare men vs women at the same level it's just not the same. I agree with the previous poster. The top of the women's level is competitive with the next level down.

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  47. Hurricanes definitely are strong and probably the team to beat but they aren't as invincible as years past. One of the other teams in contention with the right circumstances could dethrone them.

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  48. Betsie's Top 8

    Mcdougall
    Keene
    Glinzer
    Reed
    Mullins
    Hsiao
    Estrada
    Samuelson

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  49. Betsie's "ringers" (Emma, Jo, Cori) would beat 20% of 4.5 Men and 80% of 4.0 Men.

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  50. lol...women's tennis is the same as any other sport. a 5.0 woman will barely hang with a 4.0 man.

    PERIOD!

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  51. Isn't this how Billy Jean King kicked that old white dude's ass in the astrodome so many years ago?

    I wouldn't underestimate the power difference, but some of Betsie's top players could out play many of the guys, IMHO.

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  52. billy jean king is a woman?

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  53. I don't think men and women can or should be compared at the "same" level. Power and speed are hard to overcome no matter how much talent you have. I bet the top 5.0 Men could compete and probably beat most tour female players.

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  54. true...very true...

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  55. LOL Bobby Riggs is a man???

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  56. Here is some humorous reading on men vs. women at the pro level:

    http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=21533

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  57. williams sisters make me gag...yucky

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  58. Serena is a wo-man.

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  59. MIB,

    Late additions my ass, you are all talk and flash with no substance. Bring on your late additions, won't do you any good. Sectionals is already won. You'll be to busy telling everyone how great you are and watch your little team get passes by. We'll make sure to give you a call from Vegas.

    Houston Sucks

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  60. Your right. Forget about additions. I guess you know tennis

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  61. what the h--- are ya'll talking about.... lets play some tennis and quit yapping like a bunch of little girls ... all of ya'll are bunch of little GIRLs. Good day !

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  62. Earlier I saw what looks like a challenge between Hollis' 4.5 womens team and Freeman's 4.5 mens team.

    What would be the line ups and which team will win?

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  63. How about singles between Hollis and Freeman?

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  64. Forget tennis, just give me the cake.

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  65. Just don't let Freeman near the cake : )

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  66. Can we get some peanut butter on that cake?

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  67. Actually the challenge was more like Hollis 4.5 team vs Freeman 4.0 team. I think most everyone would concede that just about any 4.5 guy is better than any high-level 4.5 woman.

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  68. So then you're saying that Freeman's 4.0 team would win

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  69. news from tonight?? any scores??

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  70. Ronnie Kwan now plays for the girls team since he had a sex change operation ... is that a rumor ?

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