Early Action

I stopped by just for the beginning of the evening. League legends were abound: Jimmy Kilshaw, Allen Teague, Red Benzon, Phong Regent, Cheryl and Diana and so many others who have been mainstays of league tennis for years.

The singles matchups:

Hasker v. Omon

Pumma v. Daniel Morales

Carpenter v. Holmes

Patterson v. Lubrano

Hansen v. Q. Bui

Rios v. Alzate

Doubles Matchup (line 1 at 7)

Phan/Phan v. Ristau/Dimitrijevic

Odion/Burrmann v. Dugas/Dugas

Robins/Letan v. Rothe/Giordanelli

Omon and Hasker were on serve when I left, as was the Phan/Phan doubles match. Didn't get any other scores.

Mid Year Ratings are out....

Mid year ratings are out.

http://tinyurl.com/nln32y

Have fun with them.

Sorry for being so short, first post from phone.

No Secrets

I like the 4.5 playoffs this year. They're fun...at least while every team is still in the hunt.

This Thursday the 4.5's will be the only male division playing, and the matchups will all be familiar ones as division rivals will be squaring off in the playoffs.

Kingwood Crush vs. Westside Black Sheep

Kingwood swept the season series 2-0, both by a 3-2 count. Kingwood absolutely dominated in the doubles, taking five out of the six lines, while the Black Sheep took 3 out of 4 singles. Lacy and Phan split their two matchups and Bradley crushed Rios and squeaked past Quack Bui. Both teams have their backs to the walls after losing their first match in citywides. It's do or die time. It was nice to see Minh Phan playing on Thursday...he helps Kingwood's chances.

Copperfield Lobsters vs. MPTC - Ssshhhwings

Copperfield didn't use Holmes in the first matchup, but swept Ssshhhwings' vaunted doubles teams to earn the victory without a singles win. Lindloff surprised Bergmann in that matchup. In the season finale Bergmann retired to Lindloff, which may(?) explain his absence from the lineup the other night. Neil Carpenter dealt Sam Holmes his only loss in that one and Ssshhhwings' doubles rebounded well, albeit against a weaker Copperfield lineup. ***Edit*** Ssshhhwings are 1-0, while Copperfield is 0-1 in the playoffs

LLTC - Hurricanes 4.5 vs. MPTC - Deucebags

These teams should know each other backward and forward by now. This will be their fourth meeting of the year. The series was extremely competitive. The 'Canes won two of three, but only won 8 lines to the Deucebags 7. If, as I expect, the Hurricanes roll through the playoffs, then every line taken from them along the way can become crucial. Aadrian Hasker has the game to beat anyone in 4.5, but there are probably 4 Hurricanes (Dibua, Dibua, Pumma, David B.) who have the capability to beat him on a given day. Bui will be an underdog to any of those four or even to Green if he sneaks into the singles lineup. Anyone who can guess at Alain's doubles lineup is a better man than I am. I admit that I thought he made a mistake sitting out Jannuzzi last week, but Tran knows his team best and his team came through with two doubles wins to keep them among the favorites for that #2 spot.

P.S. I sent out an invite to Betsie to report on goings-on in the women's divisions. I know there is some interest out there and I'd love if she, or someone else, would take me up on my offer to report on Citywide/Sectionals in the women's divisions.

LLTC Impressions

The Hurricane 4.5 team won easily. Odion, to be honest, looked a bit off to me. It's a credit to him that he was able to win without playing his best. Ted Pumma destroyed Sean Lacy, as I suspected he would. I think he was fired up with all the talk of him being weak against serve and volleyers.

Possibly the most surprising thing was seeing Ted Bradley playing doubles. I'm not sure the strategy was sound, in effect "diluting" his talent with Chad Shaw. That's not a knock on Shaw, but I think Bradley alone gives you a better chance of taking a line. I guess the strategy was to hope for Lacy and Alzate to sweep the singles and Bradley to take a doubles line????? Anyway, the Black Sheep lost 5-0 and now have a lot of ground to make up if they want that second slot. They're an extreme longshot at this point.

I haven't been on the phone this evening so I've not heard results from elsewhere. The Hurricane 4.0 team was very unimpressive tonight, struggling mightily in their 4-1 win over Lost Forest. A performance like that will not get it done in either of their next two matches.

SAP won 3-2 over much-discussed Sienna. For me, the match of the night out there was a "meaningless" one, which could end up being meaningful if things break a certain way. Fifty-something Doug Whitehead fought off cramps in a match that lasted almost two and a half hours and beat tournament stalwart Roger Osorio in a third set breaker. Osorio is younger and looks fit, but also cramped on the last point, having to go to his left hand on the last shot of the match due to hand cramps. Just wait 'til the heat of the weekend daytime matches, boys....

In other news, I've heard that the Lakeside 4.0 team won 4-1 in a close match, and that Chancellor's pulled out some third set breakers in winning 3-2 over Copperfield. I haven't talked to anyone in the other 4.5 matches...hope someone will fill us in.

Citywide Championships - Week One

I thought I'd take a look at the first week's matchups. Captains have some interesting decisions to make. Those who have their weakest opponent first must decide whether they can risk "working some people in" despite the risk. The round robin nature of the 4.5 playoff will allow for more leeway.

I have talked earlier about all captains playing 'til the end, no matter what the standings say. I'd also like to add that I would hope we don't see any collusion, whereby a team with things wrapped up lays down for a buddy or loads up on a buddy's rival. I just wanna' see the two best teams make it to Dallas.

4.0 Matchups

Lakeside at Bear Creek - A great matchup right out of the gate. Lakeside has some quality veteran doubles guys and a couple of new singles guys. As usual, veteran captains will unleash their surprises during the postseason. Won't be surprised if Spoor has a few tricks up his sleeve. Bear Creek has waltzed through the regular season but I admit I'm not a true believer. They'll win me over if they take this one, but I'm expecting a surprising (to some) home loss.

Sienna at SAP - SAP has some quality players: Grego, Sontag, Kray, Osorio and Towle just to name a few. Sienna has received a ton of attention for a second place team, but their showing in the playoffs last year proved they're not to be taken lightly. I wonder about their singles, however. I'm not sure it's top notch. This one's too tough to call, but I'll lean slightly to Sienna based on past history.

Copperfield at Chancellor's - Chancellor's hasn't gotten much "pub" this year despite coming off a sectionals trip. The team squeaked through the playoffs last year, but has lost Dutchover, Hao Nguyen and Henagan from that team. Do the additions of De la Torre, Do, Melancon and Ruiz make up for it? I think they're slightly weaker this season and the competition is tougher. Copperfield is a real sleeper. They've got a bunch of guys who've got good resumes, some at higher levels or in tournaments or age groups. Are the fast indoor courts a big advantage for Chancellor's? I'll be curious to see if Lance Loken adjusts his lineup as a result. I'm going against my gut and picking Chancellor's to squeak one out.

Lost Forest at Hurricanes - I'm sure you've heard the term "bulletin board material". Gulp. My objective opinion is that Lost Forest may be on the lower level of 4.0 playoff teams. Captain Freeman has been playing a lot of games with the Hurricane roster, and I doubt we'll see the real deal in this one, though certainly it will be a quality lineup. Ace Melchor has a win over John Grego this season but I can't see the Hackers putting a dent in the Hurricane singles lineup unless the 'Canes use their second tier players. Hurricanes win easily.

4.5 Matchups

Deucebags at Copperfield - Hasker vs. Holmes in the battle of skinny young lefties. Bergmann v. Bui. Edge in both matchups to the D-bags. We may have some guesswork going on here. Do you swap the singles if you're Salinas? Do you swap yours expecting a swap if you're Tran? Not sure how a Bui/Holmes matchup would end up, but Copperfield NEEDS to split the singles if at all possible. Tran has been a bit scattered with his doubles lineups this year...I don't have a clue what he'll throw out there on Thursday, but I would think he can take at least one line. Robins and Letan will be tough to beat though. I'm picking the D-bags 3-2.

Black Sheep at Hurricanes - The singles matches should be barnburners. But where does the doubles line come from for Black Sheep? Can Hansen and someone squeak out a line 3 win? Alzate and someone? If I'm on the bench on Thursday I'll be checking out these singles matches for sure. Loved watching Lacy attack relentlessly last year in his playoff singles match. His matches are entertaining. Still haven't seen Bradley but a knowledgable guy told me I should have had him ranked ahead of Phoummarath. We may find out on Thursday. 'Canes 4-1.

Ssshhhwings at Crush - The schedule is set up for the Crush and Hurricanes to be the grand finale, but there are many obstacles in the way. I could see Carpenter taking a singles win for Rothe's team, but don't see them sweeping. One at the most. Crush's doubles are solid, but Shwings will not be pushovers by any means. I see the doubles being tight, but Kingwood coming out with a 3-2 victory.

Let your opinion be heard. Talk some trash, and then back it up.

A look at Citywides in 4.5

Well, it looks as though the Deucebags have effectively closed the book on the 4.5 regular season and we can begin to look at the playoffs, which begin in just a week. Here are the six teams and a quick look at what I feel might be a plausible lineup for them in the playoffs. Bear in mind that I have absolutely no clue about the best lineup on my own team, so these are obviously sheer speculation.

Hurricanes

The prohibitive favorites. Nobody else in the playoff has the firepower to stay with them, although obviously "on any given Sunday..." They will have the luxury of using some of their great depth if they jump out to a good start in their first couple of matches.

Singles: Omon, Odion

Doubles: David B/Green, Burrmann/Lombardi?, Sumrall/Tam

This leaves out Phoummarath, who obviously would be moved in if one of the Dibuas slides into doubles, perhaps in place of Lombardi? I don't think the 'Canes will need to worry about their best lineup until Dallas, however.

Deucebags

They're solid in the singles, but will have to be totally on their game to take two doubles lines against these playoff teams.

Singles: Hasker, D.Bui

Doubles: Tran/Jannuzzi, Dugas/Dugas, Diep/M. Morales

Again, I'm just taking a stab at most of this stuff.

Kingwood

They're loaded with playoff veterans and should not be underestimated. (These teams are in no particular order, btw) How will Phan fare (no pun) in the heat? Which Quack Bui will show up? Can Minh/Chantz shake their postseason blues?

Singles: Phan, Bui

Doubles: Vu/Huynh, Minh/Chantz, M. Phan/Pekar?

Santiago, Kilshaw and Rios may work their way in there as well

West Side Black Sheep

They've become a fixture in the playoffs and have given some teams a scare or two, but have yet to have a breakthrough win. Will this be the year? Do they have any singles depth beyond Bradley and Lacy if necessary?

Singles: Bradley, Lacy

Doubles: Hansen/Dimitrijevic, Alzate, Ristau, Teague/Shaw

Bear in mind that this same doubles lineup was basically non-competitive in their last matchup with Kingwood. They may not have the doubles firepower to compete.

Copperfield

The feel-good story of the year, surprising me by doing so well without Kudrick. They had some playoff jitters last year and really SHOULD have come in second. We'll see if they get over the hump this time around.

Singles: Holmes, Bergmann

Doubles: Robins/Letan, Mazaltov/Lubrano, Thrower/Rawls

I have no idea how good Mazaltov is, but this lineup looks like it'll have its work cut out for it. Can't see them sweeping the singles against anyone's top two. Begmann has been average at best this year.

Ssshhhwings

Peter Rothe somehow seems to be a "love him or hate him" type of guy. I'm in the first category, he was always fun to deal with when I was with the Mob Squad. He's been chasing after that Sectionals berth for years, and this year it really appears to be wide open. He'll need some iron-man performances out of Neil Carpenter. Not sure how much juice he still has in the tank, but Ssshhhwing will need every ounce of it.

Singles: Carpenter, Ramirez

Doubles: Rothe/Judson, Lindloff/Kim, Hall/Weinholtz

Unlike some other teams, this one has a lot of interchangeable parts. I won't be surprised if their lineup changes each time. Lindloff and Patterson have both been effective this year in singles as well, and may shoulder some of that load, though they'll be underdogs against most of the first line singles guys in city playoffs.

At this point I still don't have a pick for second place. Hard to go against Kingwood's experience though.

Wild Cards

Per Diana/HTA website: The Wild Cards for Sectionals have been determined. In the Men's Leagues, Houston received a Wild Card only in the 4.0 division. Houston's ladies received wild cards in 3.5 and 4.0.

Of course, there are occasions where teams drop out of Sectionals or where leagues don't "make", etc., in which case some slots may open up. (Anyone remember the Mob Squad fiasco from last year????)

However, at this time it puts even more of a premium on each and every match during city playoffs. In the 4.5 division, unfortunately, we will see some teams basically eliminated after their first two matches. I'm sure the captains and players will be classy enough to continue to play hard even if they're "out of it".