Roster additions have certainly slowed down, although Odion Dibua joining the Copperfield team certainly made waves this week. How good are their juniors? I honestly thought Sugar Creek might end up with Odion and that their roster might end up being strong enough to make it to Nationals. That still may happen, of course, but now the big question is: just how good are those juniors that Copperfield added this year? Sugar Creek may have a legitimate hurdle in its quest for Dallas.
In other news, we already have our first DQ, as 4.0 player Vijaysimha Chitiyala from JCC was the victim. His team was not a legitimate threat, and his record (all playing #1 doubles) will not dazzle you.
Anybody know the story behind the dispute of Copperfield Shank and Whiff's (4.0) 3-2 win over Lost Forest last week?
On to this week's matchups: The biggies, as I see it, are: The two undefeated Copperfield 4.0 teams do battle. I wonder if Kallus will be in the lineup? LLTC Mob Squad 4.0 heads to West Side to take on the undefeated division leading Spin Doctors. I would expect the Squad to bring out all of their big guns with their backs to the wall.
The 4.5 schedule is fairly tame. Ward Jannuzzi, Chad Henagan and the Good-er Guys will face the 4.5 Canes. I haven't heard any news on when last week's Hurricane-Blast match will be completed, but these things usually drag on. Wow...that's it as far as remotely interesting matches (at least to me). I guess the surprising 2-1 Clambakes also deserve a mention as they face Lakeside Country Club. Lakeside looks like they may struggle to secure a playoff spot this year, so every line may be important.
Big matchup in 5.0 as prohibitive favorites Copperfield take on WillowFork-Hawaii 5.0, who are also undefeated.
Discuss.
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there's a big difference between juniors and 4.5 top singles players. 4.5 players know how to adjust and grind it out. juniors are like machines and i dont know if they have the experience to adjust. therefore, i would not consider them taking teams with solid singles such as canes, jams, mob squad, lakeside, blacksheep. but if they split the singles, odion might be the factor that puts them on top in the doubles.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Too many juniors, when the going gets tough in the adult league, takes the posture "I'm not having fun anymore, I want to quit." I'm sure this will get rebuttals from several above-average juniors, and there are some, but it's what I see from the average ones. Will Copperfield's be average or above average? We'll see how they emerge from the crucible of a tough match.
DeleteAlmost nobody in 4.5 can give them a tough match. I have seen them play. Don't lump all juniors into one bucket. That's asinine. Check the superchamp rankings and compare them to past juniors in 4.5.
DeleteRead more closely. There are two buckets. Lots in the average bucket, a few in the above-average bucket.
Deletewest side black sheep is gonna upset a lot of teams this year. They have depth from last years tanking. Ristau has a solid squad who can compete with any team.
ReplyDeleteWestside and Sugar Creek are the teams to beat
ReplyDeleteWhat dispute occurred in the Copperfield/Lost Forest match last week? I was there and I am not aware of any.
ReplyDeleteThere is no dispute with the Copperfield/Lost Forest match. Lost Forest didn't have all of their players registered at the time of the match so I entered scores with the registered names. HTA went in and changed the name of one of the players to the correct one after the fact, therefore, it was a "dispute". In reality, it doesn't matter anyhow, because the match score was 6-0, 6-0 anyhow.
ReplyDeleteRaymond Martinez on the 4.5 hurricanes is the guy to beat in singles right now. He pulled out a great win at line 1 singles last week against JCC.
ReplyDeleteThis Hersh Pise that the canes added to their 4.5 team is seeded 5th in the open division this weekend at copperfield. Has a pretty good tournament record. Might be a tough singles player for the canes. Him and Raymond Martinez could be deadly for them
ReplyDeletei'm really impress that the canes are able to recruit good players year after year. i'm also impress that jams, copperfield, blacksheep, mob squad, have went out and have a strong roster. it's going to be a dog fight in the city playoffs.
ReplyDeletepete taylor was considered as 1 or 2 best singles at the beginning of the season. i would put raymond at that spot for beating him. this puts the canes in the driver seat, because i dont think any of the copperfield jrs would be able to beat pete.
ReplyDeleteI heard 4.0 Mobsters want to add the big gun Greg Drywer to their family. Have you heard of this player Htown?
ReplyDeleteYeah. Old guy. Walks with a limp. Can't move. Out of practice. Non-factor.
DeleteMuch has been made of juniors playing, but while they are solid to strong 4.5 players, they still aren't a slam dunk. Look at the beast of 4.5's of the past, Ed Hess, Antoine Ford, John Kudrick and Bharath. I would still bet on any of these guys vs the juniors.
ReplyDeleteThis year Hersh, Raymond, Pete Taylor and Sydney Jim look like the guys in 4.5. The juniors will be solid during the regular season, once the playoffs starts only the stars play.
According to a birdie with the Deucebags, they only lost to juniors as they weren't prepared. Dan could have taken his guy except that he thought he was going to get a walkover and spent 4 hours before hand hitting at his club. He was beating the copperfield junior 3-1 and then cramped. Only after cramping did he lose 11 of the next 12 games. Same with Javier, we was in his match but wasn't mentally ready and lost 3,3. Dan and Javier are ready, plus the Deucebags have some surprises next time.
New rankings on who are the top 4.5 singles?
Sydney Jim a 4.5? What a joke. I see his cheating ways have not changed since the junior days.
DeleteMost ridiculous comment ever. Why would they think they were getting a walk over? Excuses are for losers. And the Douchebags are dumb if they think those kids were going all out. They didn't need to against the scrubs the Douchebags had playing singles.
ReplyDeleteI love all of these old league veterans who think USTA league is the shit. These juniors will chew you up and spit you out.
How do you mentally get ready for playing a junior vs. an older opponent? That sounds like a rather flemsy excuse for losing.
ReplyDeleteDeucebags were expecting a Mike Salinas or McMullan, but not a junior. They obviously werent ready for a real competitive match.
ReplyDeleteReally? I'm extremely out of the loop, but multiple people had told me that Copperfield was adding the juniors. I don't remember if I had posted it here, but I'm surprised the news hadn't filtered down to the Deucebags. Anyway, it's somewhat of a moot point. The two teams will play again in a little over 2 weeks, on the Dbags turf. Will the juniors even make the trip?
DeleteWho are the top 5 singles players in the 4.5 league now?
Deletethe dbags hit another low. how can they be so arrogant against copperfield. do they really think copperfield had a weak team? however, i do agree that the old vets are rusty and need time to brush off the dust and get ready. juniors play year round tennis, while most of us only compete during summer league. maybe dbags should stay on top of this blog and get the latest info.
ReplyDeleteI hear there are changes coming next year to league. Are they creating new divisions based on ages?
ReplyDeleteHere is link to flyer for league changes, yes there are new age-based leagues coming. USTA has to cater to that aging market base. Get a few MBA's in there to eff it up for all!
Deletehttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/1309470/5939%20New%20League%20Flyer-general.pdf
League participation will be at an all-time low next year. Too watered down.
DeleteFunny thing about all this is Dan G. is yet to win a singles match. Deucebags have no chance against Copperfield the second time around. It might be worse than the first time now that you add Odion into the mix in doubles.
ReplyDeleteHow about that Gregory N. Kid in 4.0\4.5? He seems to be playing as well as I did last year. Look for him go be a big factor in 4.0.
ReplyDeleteGUILLA
4.5 Rankings:
ReplyDelete1. Copperfield (they just added even another top junior)
2. Black Sheep (deep enough to overcome other issues)
3. Sugar Creek (all depends on how committed Red is)
T4. JCC/Hurricanes (solid, nothing special but all-around good teams with good captains)
6. Chancellors (can take 3 lines off top teams with good matchups)
7. Duecebags (all-around solid team)
8. Lakeside (talented but they just don't seem to have it together this year)
If the 'Bakes can somehow upset Lakeside where does that put the Clambakes? Anthony Jones had a big win over Coyle last week and they've added some new guys.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing about juniors is that while they crush the ball most of them lack the mental capacity to stay in matches with older guys.
In 3rd place.
Deletethat greg n. (4.0) kid just recently beat: alvares, costilla, morris, which are all decent average 4.5 players. however, his 4.5 team is 0-3, but his 4.0 team is 2-0. canes 4.0 will benefit from him
ReplyDeleteIgnore me - this is a test for comment notification
ReplyDeleteWe ignore you anyway.
DeleteKERIG WILL BE ON HIM LIKE HERPES ON A WHORE
ReplyDeleteI would be if he weren't a B, you nitwit.
DeleteGUILLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ReplyDeleteWell it looks like Copperfield 4.5 has added a nice young junior team. The good news is that they will probably win. The bad news is that the older guys like Mike Letan either won't play much or will need to find other teams next time around if they do want to play. This is the trade off. You add Juniors to your team, and you may be limiting your own playing time down the road. Is that what you want? Do you want to actually play in the league or do you want ot sit on the sidelines and watch the kids? Is winning that important? You older guys have to decide that for yourselves.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be nice to come out to Copperfield to have a beer with the guys. Not any more, because the guys aren't old enough to drink yet. How sad. Where has the fun gone in Thursday night leagues. I believe we have put winning way too high on the scale of what is really fun in playing "Adult" leagues.
I think I am not firmly in the "Copperfield is the team to beat in 4.5" camp.
ReplyDeleteI'm also in the "let's bring back the 19 year old minimum" camp.
ReplyDeletei'm also not convinced that copperfield is top 1 or 2. i dont mind the age guideline now, it's like open division for 4.5. i think next year, there will be an 40+ age division, so many of the old timers who enjoy league will still have their fun
ReplyDeleteMost of the guys close to or older than 40 that I know would rather be playing in 4.0. I'd much rather be playing levels than age groups. It's always more fun beating a few 20 or 30 yr. old's. If I get bumped up after this year, I'm not looking forward to next year having my butt run around again by the 4.5's that should be 5.0's. Today I chalked another year on the belt. M. Salinas
ReplyDeleteI meant to say earlier I am NOW firmly in the "copperfield is the team to beat" camp. I'm a believer in the juniors. And Odion and the role players.
ReplyDeleteWhatever team Rios is promoting will WIN !!
ReplyDeleteRios Sucks
ReplyDeleteOh, thank God. I wasn't sure I was in the right place until I saw this.
DeleteBabu for President!
ReplyDeleteGood Guys beat Hurricanes. Way to go Ward !!
ReplyDeleteLCC wins in 4.5
ReplyDeleteSIENNA LOSES TO SUGARCREEK
ReplyDelete