The Houston Citywide Championships are a bit of a mess at this point. In hindsight, it was a big mistake not having a gap between the regular season and the start of the playoffs in order to complete makeup matches.
In 4.0, we're about a week and a half removed from the end of the regular season, and we still don't know who all of the playoff teams are. Teams with matches scheduled for this Thursday may still not know who they are supposed to be playing.
4.5 is a little less messy, as the Deucebags and Coaches did a better job of completing their match than did some of the 4.0 teams. I'm a bit out of the loop on things since I'm not participating this year and Tennis Link is not updated, but hopefully people will post results of any make-up matches that are taking place.
The 4.5 schedule for this Thursday IS set, however:
Lakeside v. Black Sheep
Hurricanes II v. Deucebags
Hurricanes III v. Westheimer Indoors
Most observers have pegged Lakeside and the Black Sheep as the two teams to beat. If they live up to their billing (and if Houston doesn't receive a wild card), this could be the most important match of the postseason.
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Can't make all of the people happy all of the time.
ReplyDeleteCWC date was set way back when based on LLTC availability. HTA tried to accommodate user base by having RR event which means more matches and so they had to start EARLIER and butt up against end of regular season.
There was a one week gap, but I doubt anyone would have predicted this weather. Looks like we are in for further delays as Bonnie is going to hit somewhere between Brownsville and Beaumont. Weather guys really do a bad job at predicting.
Freeman will try to control the playoffs. Round Robin should not happen if a captain can have two teams in it.
ReplyDeleteHow can he control the playoffs when neither of his teams are in contention. Both, have losing records and won't do anything at Citywides.
ReplyDeleteHow do you "control" the playoffs by having 2 teams? You still have to beat the other 4 teams to win. I don't see one of the Hurricanes team laying down for the other, do you see a 5-0 win when they play?
ReplyDeleteI say kudos to Freeman for being good enough at recruiting to create 2 competive teams. Do you realize how difficult it is to gather enough talent on a team to make the playoffs, but to do it for 2 teams?
Sounds like sour grapes from the other captains. Just go out and beat the Hurricanes and be glad it's not like last year.
Losing records? What are you smoking?
ReplyDeleteCanes suck! They will be lucky to be waterboys for Lakeside.
ReplyDeleteKnowing Freeman and having played with and against him in several occasions my opinion is he will play to win when both teams square off.
ReplyDeleteI don't think God wants us to have the city play-offs!!! What up man.
ReplyDeleteWTF WILDCARD!!!
ReplyDeleteI heard new info that Houston may not receive a Wild-card this year for the 1st time in years. This makes Citywide a bit more dramatic. Just like the NBA Playoffs... Win or go home! Good luck fellas. Craig Bobo
ReplyDeleteIf true, then that would suck. Houston has some good teams that should have a 2nd chance to compete at Sectionals.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone do any make up matches this week?
ReplyDeleteHouston's #2 team would get beaten by the #2 team from Austin/SA/Dallas.
ReplyDeleteIt's a down year, especially w/ NOHO cannibalizing many of Houston's top players.
Looks like the 4.0 Nights/Rolido Boys "score" was finally reported...and then protested by Harold Gardner.
ReplyDeleteWTF is going on with that score. I definitively heard that the 3 of the matches in the Nights/Rolido Boys match were completed before the match was interrupted by rain (with Rolido up 2-1).
ReplyDeleteThere is something rotten there with a bunch of 6-0,6-0 defaults.
What was the protest? The score, players, or bad attitude?
ReplyDeleteHarold Gardner is a joke. I don't think anyone is surprised Harold is protesting something or someone. Hell, he protested a 4.5 player earlier in the year and rumor has it he requested Letan be suspended as captain (and Harold's team wasn't even in the same league). He's not even in contention for the playoffs after losing his last 5 matches. Do you realize how shitty of a captain you must be to finish in the bottom of that crappy division.
ReplyDeleteNice
Crummy captain or not, somebody reported a bunch of BS scores.
ReplyDeleteWish some "crummy" 4.5 captain would have the balls to protest Locke.
ReplyDeleteJust b/c you aren't a playoff contender doesn't mean you shouldn't keep everyone fair/honest.
Not a detective in the lot of you. The Rolido Boys & Knights never completed the match. The omniscient HTA screwed up scheduling make-ups. Why wouldn't Gardner protest the scores. Based on the standings at the time the JCC Dudes may have had a chance to make the playoffs instead of the Knights.
ReplyDeleteAll matches not completed by now should be double defaults. Ridiculous. The second playoff round starts tomorrow. Gardner hasn't even completed his match from June 3rd. Technically he still has a chance to come in second if they had beat Columbia Lakes.
ReplyDeleteAustin Blog is now saying that Austin got a wild card to sectionals in 4.5. Still no word on Houston 4.5 wild card?
ReplyDeleteWill 4.5 have 2 or 3 wild cards? It's good that Houston 4.0 got a wild card. Too bad Freeman doesn't have a 2nd 4.0 team to stir more discussion.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem at all with non-contending capttains helping to police the league. Everyone should assist in upholding the integrity of the rating system.
ReplyDeleteI am tired of this down year crap...I looked on the NoHo roster and there isn't 1 player I cant beat!
ReplyDeleteIs that you Ward?
ReplyDeleteLooks like NOHO's last ringer signed up. Femi Thomas
ReplyDeleteThis rule where you can sit out 3 years and come back .5 rating lower is just dumb.
Just heard that Lakeside and Deucebags played last night. Word is that Hess beat Borkop and Lakeside and Deucebags took 1 line each of doubles. Looks like Citywides may be an indoor playoffs. I'm sure Westheimer indoors will use their indoor courts to their advantage.
ReplyDelete1.Lakeside
ReplyDelete2.Black sheep
3.Westheimer Indoors
4.Deucebags
5. Hurricanes 2
6. Hurricanes 3
Anyone care to make any late predictions on the 4.0 playoffs from each division going into the final week? Read a lot of mixed reviews.
ReplyDeleteEven if a guy sits out 3 yrs he can be protested and with enough documentation he can be DQ'ed, i.e. won a ton of matches in previously played league season or college experience, just because they sat out 3 yrs does not give them a free pass. I know from experience of filing a grievance and winning using that logic.
ReplyDeleteto further my last comment, if one looks at his results from 2005, it would be a no brainer with plenty of wins over 5.0's and 5.5 players and easy wins over 4.5 players. Will anyone in NOHO or HOU step up on Benzon's ringer?
ReplyDeleteFemi isnt that good...Lera confirmed that 4.5 houston gets 2 teams into sectionals...not sure where Bobo got his from, but wrong as usual
ReplyDeleteI agree about Femi. He can hit a hard ball and it looks nice, but needs to keep it in play more and improve his conditioning. I think Hess and Bharath would beat him.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone protested Lock ? He's still the best 4.5 out there right now !!!
ReplyDeleteSince the AR Hacker is chiming in, could you please tell us who the teams to beat are in the state of Tx ? I'm intrigued that even though you are from Arkansas you can know the Tx teams around the state so well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not intrigued at all about AR Hacker. He should stick to posting worthless threads on a blog no one reads and STFU on Houston tennis
ReplyDeleteWhat are the chances we get some city wide matches in this evening?
ReplyDeleteRainout for sure tonight.
ReplyDeleteAR Hacker is Jason Lyons
ReplyDeleteJason Lyon
ReplyDeleteI think Red or the NOHO team are bashing AR Hacker because he poses a threat and information to DQ Femi. I'm sure the other post of he's not that good is from his own NOHO teammates trying to convince people not to DQ him.
ReplyDeleteYeah Femi sucks. He only beat Hasker 2,2.
ReplyDeleteFemi will not play for free.
ReplyDeleteAR Hacker poses no threat to Noho. He's a very informative guy with normally good insight. He's wrong about this one though. Results from 2005 don't matter in 2010.
ReplyDeleteBook your indoor courts now. It's gonna be a rainy washed out day folks.
ReplyDeletefemi is not a 4.5 players. he's a 5.5 player and should be dq'd. this guy can easily beat bharath and lock. this is cheating!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think femi can beat Capt. Douds with the Titans. OHH WHO IS FEMI?
ReplyDeletefemi beat lock? do you know how good lock is????
ReplyDeleteyou lost all credibility with that one. what are you smoking?
Awesome news for Houston if that is correct with regard to 4.5 Wild-cards. As of a couple days ago, HTA hadn't rec'd word and the rumour on the street was that Austin Wild, Dallas, and SA were receiving wild cards. Austin Wild has rec'd one, and it has been confirmed on the Austin Blog. Based on a post above, if Houston does have one, then I assume that Dallas or SA has the other one. So, I guess we'll wait for word on the others. The Hou Citywides are starting out with a lot of drama... it will be exciting over the next couple of weeks to see who represents H-town. Good luck fellas/teams. Craig Bobo
ReplyDeleteLock is unstoppable ! He'd beat most 4.5's out there.
ReplyDeletecan anyone get me an indoor court please?
RN
What proof do you have that Femi should not be a 4.5? If you have the proof give it to your captain or post it here so that he can be protested.
ReplyDeleteLast rumor I heard was San Antonio and not Dallas got the 3rd wild card spot. If so, Dallas got screwed on wild cards for the second year in a row.
ReplyDeleteIf San Antonio gets the wild card then it changes everything. Wild Card teams could make some noise.
ReplyDeleteHow does Dallas not get a wildcard?
here is proof. anyone who wins fall fest open is at least a 5.0
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5198320.html
I think it will be Dallas that gets the other wc, because they have the largest league. Hence they have the most cards in the wild card drawing, but you can't leave SA out of the mix, because they had one card in the drawing with 9 or 10 teams. I believe Miller said that he and Alann Torres play off this Saturday for their automatic berth to Sectionals. Craig Bobo
ReplyDeleteThe Chronicle article is from 2 years ago, and I'm not sure that is DQ material. He did beat Casariego who is a very good player.
ReplyDeleteTournament results don't come into play in getting a player D'Q'ed.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Noho has just put themselves in contention for another sectional title.
Tournament results don't come into play for a computer DQ. But they can be used to show a self-rate DQ.
ReplyDeleteLots of NOHO guys trying to blow a smoke screen on this one.
Speaking of illegal players: someone should look into the players in Hacker's 4.5 poll more closely before playoffs get underway.
ReplyDeleteWhat?? Whose illegal?? Tell me more !!
ReplyDeleteoh darn I am so outed, guess I should become anonymous and become a keyboard cowboy like the majority. Anyways put my record up against yours and I assume your will better. My league results are laughable so go ahead and snoop.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:29 I respectfully disagree, matches from 5 years should be valid, as well as 2007. I have no dog in the fight except want to see rules followed. Same as using College Results from 5 years prior or a national ranking, etc.. I have used this type of info successfully in 2 grievances.
If Thomas is allowed to play, the NOHO appears to have gotten stronger, with their two National Players (Dibua/Sumrall) they will be tough but being in the same group as SA makes it a tough road.
Let's just say it's a guy who has used multiple names and USTA numbers to get into the 4.5 ranks.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Ed Hess? He has a mixed rating. Otherwise, yes he would not fit as a 4.5 self-rate.
ReplyDeleteUse multiple names? Are you referring to Red Benzon or Blue Benzon... Is that the same guy?
ReplyDeletehmm if SA did get the WC, I might look differently at winning this weekend and try to get the WC and stay out of the Group of Death with NOHO.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to refer to him as "Pink" Benzon. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf Femi is an illegal self rate then a Captain should protest him. If you can come up with some evidence that he's not eligible to self rate as a 4.5, then move on it. By putting Thomas on the Noho roster they have taken a chance to put themselves in a position to win at sectionals.
ReplyDeleteOn Tennis Link, there is an Ed Hess with a 2008 5.0 rating, and an Edwin John Hess with a 4.5 rating. It looks like they are the same player, but can someone confirm? If it's true, then did he get bumped down after 2008 along with changing his name? Or did he sign up for a new USTA membership in 2009 and self rated himself as a 4.5?
ReplyDeleteIs this legal? If yes, then there will be a lot more new USTA memberships in 2011.
Haha. I was thinking about creating a new user name and playing left handed and leading Freeman's 3.0 team to the 2011 national title. Who's with me?
ReplyDeleteLooks like something shady going on with Hess. If he plays in the playoffs, is there a chance that his matches will be DQd if his rating is over turned?
ReplyDeleteany updates when we will know where exactly the wild cards will be placed into pools? Also, did SA get the 3rd wild card?
ReplyDeletehess has two loses. one badly in dubs, and the other against moser. moser lost to nguyen. nguyen lost to cooper. if moser, nguyen, cooper are all 5.0, then ed is 5.0
ReplyDeletepersonally, i think moser, nguyen, cooper, and hess are all 5.0 players, but not top 5.0 players. other 4.5 players that will be bumped to 5.0 next year; bharath, davila, bui, borkop
ReplyDeleteWell, for the last 3 years midyear ratings have come out on July 14th or 15th, so we may get an idea of where people stand within a week or so.
ReplyDeleteHow in the "f" does Dibua still get to play in 4.5? Hasn't that guy gone to Nats several times. He's on the winning 4.5 Houston team that goes to sectionals every yr.
ReplyDeleteDid Gleannloch Farms decide to drop out of the 4.0 playoffs? Maybe somebody knows what happened...there are three teams from Div II in the playoffs and only Lakeside from Div. I. It looks like SAP got a nice break.
ReplyDeleteHess is interesting, under Ed Hess he had a 5.0 M rating at 12/08 and in 2009 he did play with a 4.0 partner, meaning he had 5.0 rating still and then got a 4.5 M rating (somehow) gotta love the Computer, so he seems perfectly legit.
ReplyDeleteWord has it that Glenloch could not pull together people to finish lines from rainout.
ReplyDeletehuh? what does that matter? they are 8-2. Shouldn't they automatically be in the playoffs? Or did they not want to participate?
ReplyDeleteSo if Ed Hess and Edwin Hess are the same person and he has 2 valid ratings, then can he choose to play under the lower one? I'm assuming that the 2008 5.0 rating is still valid?
ReplyDeleteDoes a mixed rating trump a men's rating?
Looks like only 1 match will get played tonight - Westheimer Indoor vs Hurricanes III. Any predictions?
ReplyDeleteIt's been confirmed that SA got the final wildcard.
ReplyDeleteScrew Dallas and their 28 4.5 teams!
if bharath plays, then canes win 3-2.
ReplyDeleteif not, then titans win 3-2.
Gleannloch knew they did not have enough guys available to play the playoff matches, so they notified HTA they'd pull out to let someone else in. A very sportsmanlike gesture from captain David McDonnell.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading Ed Hess wasn't that good earlier in the blog and then when he lost twice he still wasn't good. All of a sudden I hear through the blog he won against Borkop and he should be DQed. Bloggers can't make up their mind if Ed is good or not. I'm so confused!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting conflicting reports, is Ed/Edwin Hess good or not? I need to plan my line up and require this information.
ReplyDeleteSporty move by Gleannloch then. Unfortunate they can't play in the playoffs. Lucky break for SAP. Will their players who are entered into the SA-MZ pull out to play the playoff matches next weekend though?
ReplyDeleteLooks like weather may break for a few hours. Only if there was some sun to dry the courts. Small window of opportunity appears to have risen from 6 to 10.
lets get to the more important matters, where is lebron going, and who's gonna win world cup?
ReplyDeleteSorry guys, I looked into this earlier, but Hess's rating is legit. Note that his rating for his 2009 mixed team (under Edwin) is 5.0 on the team page
ReplyDeletehttp://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/reports/TennisLinkReports.asp?Level=T&TeamCode=DB008B5A7290B8383ABAF5EA59D85F7E0D3CF3B251&CYear=2009
But his 2009 year-end rating is 4.5 (you can look it up at the Texas section page). He may have used a new name, but his rating at the start of 2009 was 5.0 and the computer moved him down based on his match results.
Don't worry about Ed Hess. Go ahead and play against him, then make a protest if you lose.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to better understand the situation with Hess. From the discussions and tennis link ratings, this is what I see.
ReplyDelete* Ed Hess has a 12/31/2008 year end mixed rating of 5.0.
* Edwin John Hess has a 12/31/2009 year end mixed rating of 4.5.
Assuming that they are both the same person, he is playing 2010 with the 4.5 rating. Is this correct? If yes, then I think this is unfair and a loophole in the system. If I have a 5.0 rating, then all I have to do is get a new USTA membership under another name, play mixed with a 4.0 woman to get the 4.5 rating. Is this what happend with Hess? then forget tanking, the new formula is to play with a 3.0 and get down to 4.0.
Another question is why does Hess have 2 different memberships? Are there other players that have 2 or more memberships and are allowed to play at the lower rating?
I used to have another membership number when I was 16, and they wouldn't let me renew it when it expired.
ReplyDeleteHere is another loophole with the Hess' multiple accounts. What is to stop Odion from getting another USTA membership, self rating himself as a 4.5 (which he can because that is his computer rating), and playing all future matches under the new account? When the computer is run at year's end, none of his previous historical matches would count toward the year end rating. In the computer, he would go from a top 4.5 player to a newly self rated 4.5 player.
ReplyDeleteI'm not suggesting that Odion would do the above scenario, just using him as an example that most players can appreciate.
Maybe another team will drop out and Dallas will get their wild card that way. With their luck on the drawings the last two years I would put money on Ft. Worth getting the next spot or Houston getting a second team. Or what the hell, let's let Waco have a wild card before Dallas. Only seems like kharma should give you a wild card when you have 1 in 28 chance for Sectionals while in SAT you have a 2 in 8 chance at Sectionals.
ReplyDeleteNot pulling out of MZ. Just going to burn up I-10 and play a lot of tennis. Thank you Glennloch.
ReplyDeletewaco has 3 teams.....thats just a dumb comment
ReplyDeleteBlack Sheep up 3-1 vs. Lakeside
ReplyDeleteLakeside lost to WS Blacksheep. Guess Lakeside decided to take the advise of one of the bloggers and go after the WC.
ReplyDeleteLast I checked (the DNTRP Self Rate Grid) former satellite and futures players are precluded from playing 4.5
ReplyDeleteFemi joined our staff in July of 2004. Former Assistant Professional at Piney Point Racquet Club. Has worked with other clubs and USTA Programs over the last 3 years. PTR Certification. Femi was one of the top ranked juniors in his age group in Nigeria , representing his country in the US Jr. Open and Junior Davis Cup Competition. Femi competed in professional satellites & professional futures tournaments.
Anyone have information on the matches that were played? I heard that there were some close matches but don't know the final results. Any update is appreciated.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zoominfo.com/people/Thomas_Femi_735178237.aspx
ReplyDeleteHurricanes III defeated Titans 3-2. Again.
ReplyDeleteBlack sheep 3-2
ReplyDeletehttp://dps.usta.com/usta_master/sitecore_usta/USTA/Document%20Assets/2008/02/14/doc_13_7372.pdf
ReplyDeleteAccording to the grid, Femi should be a 6.0
Hurricanes 2 beat Deucebags 3-2
ReplyDeletePlease send your protest in already. The suspense is killing me.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, Femi Thomas is not in the ITF database, so he never played futures or the US open juniors as his resume claims.
ReplyDeleteJust saw that Pio Davila beat Quack Bui 6-2,6-0. That is very impressive. Tom Ristau has put his team in a position to win.
ReplyDeleteOdd lineup by Lakeside
ReplyDeleteOdd how? What were the lineups?
ReplyDeleteSomeone tell me how Freeman got Sebastian Chambert's rating to go down from 5.0 in Summer 2008 to 4.5 in Fall 2008 to 4.0 in 2009?!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteFreeman sleeps with the devil that controls the rating system duh!!
ReplyDeleteIs it true Freeman has hacked into the USTA computer and can change players ratings?
ReplyDeleteNo that's ridiculous. Freeman has nothing to do with the ratings.
ReplyDeleteWhat's all the fuss about Thomas Femi? He is not even the best player on NOHO. NOHO will win sectionals because top yo bottom they are good, not because of one player. Watch and see.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that NoHo waited until the 11th hour to add Femi says it all. The guy is a ringer and should be DQed. Definitely worth checking out since he has played futures and satellite.
ReplyDeleteWhat is john burrman doing for the NOHO team. He is like the worst player in the team. can't win line 3 with the Titans. I think Letan beat him and in that case Letan should play for NOHO. John your getting old, there is no way you should be allowed to play with the NOHO Team, you barely can make it with the Titan's 4.5
ReplyDeleteHey Capt. Douds! Just heard you could not handle a bumped up 4.0 player like Morris. I have said before and I will say it again, save your team from loosing all this matches KEEP YOURSELF OUT OF THE LINE UP.
ReplyDeleteWestside Black Sheep will dominate!!
ReplyDeletePio Davila us unstoppable!!
9:11am - maybe so but it takes 3 lines to win in this TEAM event. He is very nice player but you just never know- that's why you play the match especially with no/ad and 10pt breaker.....but like the confidence in your statement- See you guys soon!
ReplyDeleteTitans beat Canes II. Ford beat McCool 4 and 4.
ReplyDelete