Sectionals

I'm not going to do any kind of detailed preview, mainly because I haven't paid close enough attention to know who the strongest teams and hidden players are.

In 4.0 my perception is that Waco and Austin may be the two toughest (non-Houston?) teams. Unfortunately for the locals, both of those teams ended up in "our" flights. The Unicorns play Austin in their second match on Saturday after a morning match against Midland. One online ratings guru has Midland 4.0's with the highest average DNTRP of any city. Take that for what it's worth.

The 4.0 Hurricanes open up with Waco Friday morning, bright and early. At one point I had a lot of confidence in this team, thinking it ranked right up there with the 2011 team which finished second in the nation. That was before the Ronnie Cline DQ, injuries and defections all hit at once. It will take a monumental effort to get past Waco and its roster littered with ex-supers, former Juco players and Sectionals veterans.

I am not privy to the travel plans of all of the 4.5 Hurricanes, but this does not appear to be as strong a roster as some of the previous teams. They open up with Corpus, who usually show up with the same cast of characters while attempting to add a questionable ringer or two. Amarillo may be the team to beat in their flight. Also present is Wild Austin. Interestingly, Andrew Merritt has qualified for both that team and the Austin 4.0 team. I have no idea which team he's declared for, but if it's the 4.5 time, please remove the Austin 4.0 team from favorite status.

The Good-er Guys ended up in a flight with (usually mighty) Dallas, but may have a chance, as Dallas doesn't appear to be unbeatable. They do have a roster of 26 players, so it's hard to figure out just who their top lineup will be.

Best of luck to all of the locals.

Don Rios

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the news about Don Rios. Details are scant, but my understanding is that he was vacationing with his family in Florida and his daughter was in danger in the water. Don saved her, but in the process he drowned. Apparently they were able to get him to a hospital, but his condition was irreversible and his family has decided to let him go.

Don was a quality player and person and a great family man who will be missed by many. 

Please send your thoughts and prayers to his family. As details emerge regarding funeral arrangements, etc. I will pass them along.

Give your loved ones an extra hug today.

Yawn.

City Playoffs are over. The Hurricanes won both 4.5 and 4.0 again. Also making the trip to Sectionals will be the Good-er Guys and the Unicorns. Apparently the Marnitz-Waters match was a really good one. The Unicorns appeared to be content with the Wild Card slot, as they didn't field a great lineup in the finals.

There will be some DQ fallout in the coming days. Also, it won't be long until midyear ratings are released, I assume. It's usually right around this time. I have no clue as to whether combo and/or Tri-Level will be using the midyears.