- I'm glad to hear that Hung Nguyen played last night. In all my years of playing league I don't think there has ever been a player about whom I'd heard so many contradictory stories. I was mistakenly informed that he wouldn't be playing for the Deucebags, that he was signed up against his will, that he played for the infamous 2006 Backesto Park team, etc. All of them have proved to be false. The one constant story I've heard is that this guy is GOOD. It sounds like he proved it last night.
- Alain Tran worked harder in the offseason than any other captain, and the results are starting to show. A case could be made that he has the best starting lineup in the city right now. I'm not sure what his top 8 would be, but with Nguyen and Borkop in singles and veterans Tran, Ballesteros, Jannuzzi and Teague (will Huffman be joining them soon?) he's got a solid foundation. One thing worries me about the team, but I'll hold that thought for now.
- I noticed Freeman changed the names of his two Hurricane 4.5 teams. I'm officially taking the "B-team" label off of Hurricanes II. Since receiving that moniker they've added McCool, Lombardi, Guy and Raymond Martinez. They're now very formidable.
- I really can't believe Willy Lock has lasted this long. Is he the best player (resume-wise) to play in the Houston league in this century? I remember getting lambasted after adding Farzad Heidari to my roster (and filling out his self-rating form without knowing his background). He got DQ'd to a 6.0 level, somehow. (he actually legitimately lost a set to one of my teammates in practice) Lock's background dwarfs Heidari's in accomplishments.
- Still, I'm glad Lock, Gururaj, Borkop and Nguyen are all playing. With all of the talent losses the league needed some competent new blood to avoid becoming too stale.
- Nice win for Ricardo Martinez last night. He and Roberto were the two singles players on Freeman's Hurricane 4.0 team two years ago. I don't believe the two ever played back then, but I think most of us assumed Narajos was the number one guy. Heck, even Ricardo might have agreed. Ricardo has a great game but has always been really lacking in self-confidence and sometimes struggles with nerves. It'd be nice to see Ricardo lead Copperfield on a playoff run. It's hard to believe a 4.0 team with those two singles players didn't do any damage at Sectionals.
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That line three doubles score for Lakeside's 4.0 team has to be one of the fishiest scores I've ever seen.
ReplyDelete- nice win copperfield
ReplyDelete- nice win duecebags
- lock should be dq'd
- nice win hung
- nice win ricardo
captain error of the week!
- hurricane a-team should have played gururaj in singles
Why does Lock even want to come out and beat up on 4.5 players?
ReplyDeleteLock needs to be protested and DQ'd. What's going on with the double standard here?
ReplyDeleteLock is so clearly not a 4.5 based on results and especially on Self-Rate Requirements.
You now have a scenario that the 4.0 bump-ups playing former Davis Cup players.
Let's get real and call it what it is: CHEATING!!!
Who cares. Their team stinks. It's fun for me to go out and play a former Davis Cup player even if I get my ass kicked. How often do I get a chance to do that? I can play some average 4.5 dude whenever, but playing a dude like that never happens for most of us.
ReplyDeleteOn the Locke DQ, does the captain have to be in the same division or just at the same level? In particular, can any 4.5 captain protest?
ReplyDeleteI filed a protest once. Never again. Too much paper work and not anonamous (sp?). Now people think I am a snitch.
ReplyDeleteI heard that Ryan Cooper beat Locke in a practice match before the coke open
ReplyDeleteI'ts been said before. Captains will file a protest at the time where it's most advantageous for them to do so. No need to rush into it.
ReplyDeleteEvery year the Rolido Girlz talk trash and then get there asses DESTROYED. Nice to see that ass whooping yesterday. Crawl back in your hole, Rolido Girlz!
ReplyDeletediv I
ReplyDeletewow, just saw the scores from gtac vs duecebags. duecebags barely pulled it off with hung's victory in 3rd set tie-breaker. the lost bumped gtac to 5th place. the sleeper, katy coaches, looks like they will try to make a run. they will play schwing, gtac, duecebags the final 3 weeks.
div II
- i would say that hurricanes b-team is looking more like the a-team.
- bs and canes have a cakewalk to city playoffs
div III
- copperfield's aquisition of martinez is paying off.
- canes A-team might be the let down of the season.
- titans might sneak their way into the playoffs
Douds would have to out-maneuver Freeman to take that playoff position. Does anyone really think that will happen?
ReplyDeleteThe Lakeside 4.0 line 3 doubles score is complete bullshit. The captain of the opposing team should send email after email to HTA, TTA, National USTA, etc... on this one.
ReplyDeleteJames Wooten/Oscar Larrazolo lose 6-0, 6-3 to current 3.5s Russel Wong/Joseph Yao??????
Michael Spoor should be ashamed of himself.
This is worse than Lock self-rating as a 4.5.
What happened in 5.0 last night?
ReplyDeleteI just took a look at the Women's side. Wow, it's a pretty weak 4.5 league without Betsie's team in the mix.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't she go to nationals ever OTHER year? She just went last summer right?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of fishy scores, check this out:
ReplyDeleteScorecard for Match # 1001685261 in 2010 NOHO USA ADULT MENS LEAGUE
Status: Confirmed by 48 hr rule
Woodlands - Pinto/Mitchell is the winner. Miguel Pinto/Robert A. Rizarri
defeats
Red Benzon/Bharath Gururaj 6-0,6-0
The other teams besides Hurricanes in 4.5 NOHO league are fillers, so Freeman's team make it straight to sectionals. I don't think they've even played match. Not real scores.
ReplyDeleteWho are the Lakeside 4.5 players, I know who Quack, Phi Huynh and Glenn Wright are, but 18-2?
ReplyDelete5/14/10 was a default
ReplyDeleteThe NOHO Matches are being played. Benzon was late, so Captain Pinto defaulted him.
ReplyDeleteThe Divisions are finally getting exciting. Some great match-ups next week will paint an even clearer picture for us all of who will be moving on. As the season matures, 4.5 is looking more solid than it did early on... watch for key captains to make a some strategic adds down the stretch. Who will turn the table and make a run in 4.0's? Who will win the big match-ups this week in 4.5? Can any 4.5 HTA Team compete with the NOHO Benzon/Freeman Squad? Thus far in 5.0 Toney/Bobo's Team are running away with the title. Will Copperfield get revenge next Thursday and make a late season run?
ReplyDeleteNOHO is a joke!!!
ReplyDeleteNOHO is a joke!!
ReplyDeleteCan this year's NOHO Team make it to Nationals like the '08 NOHO Bobo/Teague/Benzon Team? How would this year's NOHO Team do against the '09 Freeman/Benzon/Green Nationals Team?
ReplyDeleteCan Tran's team make it back to Sectionals... are they deeper this year eventhough they lost their star in Hasker?
If Tran adds Huffman, what is their strongest line-up?
ReplyDeleteBetsie's team did go to Nats last summer. Unlike Freeman most of her players prefer to sit out and then regroup every other year.
ReplyDeleteWeek 5 4.5 Predictions: Black Sheep vs Hurricanes II?, Can Titans trip up Lobsters?, Schwwiings vs D-Bags?
ReplyDeleteWhy all the hype about Deucebags? Hung beats Moser in 3 sets and all of a sudden he's a top player? Deucebags have squeaked by with some 3-2 wins and all of a sudden they are a Top team? If they can beat Shwwing and Lakeside in the next two weeks then I'll be a believer. Nguyen/Borkop wont like their matchups against Lakeside. Hess can handle either of the 2.
ReplyDeleteHess got drilled in week 2 in doubles. His game might not be where it used to be. He will not be the favorite in either match.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? Hess handle Hung or Borkop. He's solid, but not as strong as those two.
ReplyDeleteHas Lakeside really played anybody yet? Who are best 2 singles players, and what's their best line-up? Since Lakeside and Westside Black Sheep are less than a mile apart, that would be an interesting match-up/rivalry. Who would win that one... maybe they'll meet in City Playoffs.
ReplyDeleteDeucebags Best Line Up: Lakeside Best Line Up:
ReplyDelete1.Hung Nguyen 1. Ed Hess
2.Peter Borkop 2. Quack Bui
1.Tran/Dugas 1.Wright/Connell
2.Ballesteros/Januzzi 2.Vu/Zachary
3.Morales/Morales 3.Huynh/Nguyen
This would be a very interesting match up. I give slight edge to Lakeside.
shwwing best line up:
1. Lester Callaway
2. Flad Patterson
1.Rothe/Judson
2.Hall/Weinholtz
3.Martin/Lindloff
I give slight edge to Deucebags b/c I know Rothe will go with the wrong line up come gane time.
Nice break-down, but what about Chavarria and Teague in Doubles line-up for D-Bags? You throw them, plus Huffman would be a nice add, since he and Ballesteros have done well together for several years. I think D-Bags have the edge, but we will see soon enuff!!
ReplyDeleteChavarria and Teague??? Now that's puzzling? What has either of them done in 4.5?? Huffman/Ballesteros would be good, but no Huffman on tennis link yet. In Deucebags vs Lakeside match Deucebags may have edge in singles, but are underdogs in every doubles line.
ReplyDeleteLots of new talent, Medford, Blake Benton, Hess, nothing should be certain through the stretch.
ReplyDeleteNo of this new so called talent has done anything in 4.5 nor been tested yet, so I agree that it'll be fun and interesting to see how things play out down the stretch.
ReplyDelete- schwings have chance to upset duecebags and put them back in the hunt.
ReplyDelete- gtac will face lakeside. a lost will end the season for gtac
flight one is like the wild wild west!!! gotta love summer league
Jim Wooten couldn't handle those pesky 3.5s at line 3 doubles last week but he sure took care of the Copperfield 4.0 tournament.
ReplyDeleteI heard from someone that was there that Wooten and partner were f'ing around and hitting balls of the fence. Russell and Joesph are great guys but do truly belong in 3.5.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Spoor is learning from last year when he lost his stud before city playoffs. He is taking a page from the 2007 Sarosh/Freeman handbook - when when you need it, throw away a few non critical lines to make sure you don't get flagged by the system.
Way to go Spoor.
Spoor is a tool, Oscar is a Weiner and Wooten has no integrity!
ReplyDeleteHow do they f*ing sleep at night when they cheat the system?
YOU'RE the tool, dude. Gaming the USTA system should prevent them from sleeping at night? Get a clue.
ReplyDeleteThis blog would be so much better if people weren't allowed to post as "Anonymous".
ReplyDelete@1235p - I can change that in about 5 minutes if that is what you guys want.
ReplyDeleteBlog will die without anonymous comments. I won't visit it very often.
ReplyDelete99% of this blog is anonymous. that means 99% chance that this blog will die. maybe if the people who don't like the anonymous comments go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteit sounds like Lakeside 4.0 is chiming in! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that an anonymous poster complained about anonymity. In my opinion, this blog works pretty well with anonymous comments. As far as I can see, nothing said about Lakeside 4.0 and Wooten is out of line.
ReplyDeleteThe comments were tennis-related and pertained to a factual situation. My guess is that Lakeside is just sore that someone is pointing out a really fish score from league.
I've played with Jim Wooten several times in the last year. I have a hard time understanding how he could lose to a 3.5 team 6-0, 6-3. Instead of complaining about anonymous comments, how about someone from Lakeside trying to make a sensible explanation?
Spoor/NumbersGuy - The community is asking you to speak about the supposed odd loss your boys had the other night. Any input?
ReplyDeleteAlso, what's up with Jim Wooten suddenly playing 4.0 tournaments?
ReplyDeleteDid you not see that the handle was "Ironically Anonymous"?
ReplyDeleteIs this community serious?? Some of you guys act like a bunch of catty women. Change your kotex's, get a real life and go out practice your game. You'll be a better player for it and can thank me later..... lol.
ReplyDeleteit sounds like Lakeside 4.0 is chiming in again! :-)
ReplyDeleteI think a more appropriate handle would have been "Hypocritically anonymous".
ReplyDeleteIt's ironic because they posted as that complaining about it. While I feel like it's a lot of posturing on here the board would die if people had to register to post. I just go out and play and want to win.
ReplyDeleteI thought Spoor was an experienced captain. What a noobish move. For the unexperienced captains, here are some quick tanking tips:
ReplyDelete1. Against people at an entirely lower level, you don't have to lose to drop your rating. Just keep it a close win, say 7-6, 6-4. The computer is going to consider everyone's NTRPs as being close and lower your rating accordingly. At least, let the lowbies get some good match play and think that they were epic.
2. Against bad players at your level, just win 6-4,6-4. Do it every time. It's good practice for having your players feel some pressure.
3. Against good players at your level, win by whatever score you can if you need to. If you can afford the loss, then THIS is the time to put on the flippers and goggles. Have your guys get crushed badly so that the opponents get a strike and are pushed up to the next level during the following year.
The following story may or may not be true (LOL). In one summer league match a couple of years ago, our team (a yearly competitor for city playoffs) was losing to one of our arch-rivals. We had already lost 4 lines. However, the 5th line was competitive at 6-3, 1-4 with our top singles player having lost the first set, but coming back hard in the second.
On the changeover, I whispered to our guy to "let it go". He lost 6-3, 6-4. It was his only loss for the season.
At the year-end ratings, his rating remained at level while the guy that beat him was bumped to the next level. The rival team played up the next season so they could stay together. They got unceremoniously slaughtered the following summer while we made city playoffs at our old level.
That is USTA captaining at its best.
See that's the kind of unity we need around the city. I think the HTA should offer a training course (chaired by Freeman, Red and Green) on how to cheat and this could be turned into a powerpoint slide deck that is used on how to 'work' the system.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Keep it coming folks.
don't forget to include spoor into that group as well!
ReplyDeleteanybody, and I mean ANYBODY that throws a match to stay at their current level, is a PUSSY!!!
ReplyDeleteNew Player alert:
ReplyDelete- copperfield just added adam kent. can you say checkmate
- blacksheep just added murray fonseca. strong singles player.
- schwings just added rene ramirez. could be a factor
adam kent? that's a slam dunk
ReplyDeleteRumour is that Huffman will be jumping on the D-Bags for this week's big showdown.
ReplyDeleteHow much has Adam been playing? Ya' think he'll play singles or dubs? Def. a win in dubs whether he's been playing or not.
ReplyDeleteAdam is a killer singles player.
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case & Adam plays thru the remainder of the season and the playoffs, they may be booking their trip to Dallas. That makes them very strong. Kent & Martinez in singles. They just need one line of dubs. McMullan and company get one more somewhere. enuff said. How would they match-up with the Freeman/Benzon NOHO Team?
ReplyDeleteNoho would lose for sure.
ReplyDeleteHave you looked at NOHO's roster. I don't think anyone can touch them. NOHO wins 4-1 with right match-ups. 3-2 with wrong match-ups. No one can touch their dubs. 1.Burrmann/Dibua, 2.Vernon/Mills, 3.Benzon/Sumrall, 4.Wright/Pekar Singles: 1.No one knows how good this Gururaj kid is. He's a ringer. Then who's #2 Singles for them: Juan Lopez, Antoine Ford, David Guy or? Ford or Lopez may go in dubs & Sumrall may play 2 singles too. Rumour is the NOHO has a big time ringer coming on their roster soon too, which will shift Gururaj down to #2 singles. Another national run may be in the cards for this NOHO Team when it's all said and done.
ReplyDeleteknowing freemann/benson the noho roster is far from finished. there will be lots more on it when all is said and done and it already looks good
ReplyDeleteThey'll be in the mix with this current roster. They need another solid singles player though. This roster is not as good as last year's, and even then they had to squeeze out some doubles sweeps. You can't count on that every year.
ReplyDeletedo are die for 4.5 teams
ReplyDelete- schwings vs duecebags
- gtac vs lakeside
- titans vs hurricanes
schwings, gtac, and titans all need wins tonight otherwise bye bye for the season
As of right now I'd have to say Deucebags would beat any Noho singles players, but would be underdogs in all doubles. This is how good Borkop and Nguyen are.
ReplyDeleteborkop and nguyen are definitely good. but through in the heat factor, the results might be different.
ReplyDeleteWould lakeside 4.5 gain any respect with a 5-0 this week?
ReplyDelete