Lots of Action this Weekend...

Lots of action this weekend around the city, state and country...

Top Items are:
Updates from 5.0 and 4.0 Nationals
Updates from Mixed Sectionals in Corpus
Houston Fall Festival

Edits in red to be factually correct.

Men's 5.0 Nationals
The Houston team that is based out of Copperfield made the journey to Indian Wells this weekend to represent Texas and did AWESOME. They were undefeated in pool play, going up against a tough team from AZ that was also 3-0 on Sat afternoon. Today they played the semi-final and won against Florida 2-1, but came up just short in the final against the team from NC. Every one of these matches was 2-1 this weekend. I can only imagine the nail biting involved in watching that last line finish!

Men's 4.0 Nationals
The team from Dallas (Wild Dallas) went 3-1 in pool play. They lost one of their matches to New England and thought they were done, only to have the team from Puerto Rico knock of New England to propel Texas into play on Sunday based on set differential. They came up against the eventual champ Eastern in the semis and lost 4-1. Three of the lines went to breakers. They won the "feel-good" 3rd place match against Florida. Props to this team. This was the team that edged out Freeman's 4.0 team in the final back in August. Word has it they were w/o one of their top guys who was at his sister's wedding. Props to that guy for making the right long term decision.

I don't have much a ladies' update from the Texas team as they are not from Htown and were eliminated in pool play. The full update can be found on the USTA site here.

Mixed Sectionals 2009 - Corpus

Mixed sectionals were held this weekend in Corpus. For those who have not played in Corpus before they have several nice facilities around town (THANKS HEB!) and it is ALWAYS windy.

7.0 Mixed - Tran gets the trip to Nationals
Our own Houston team that is built from some of SAP and Freeman's Hurricane won the 7.0 flight this weekend and will represent Texas at Nationals. They went 3-0 in pool play and then squeaked by in the semis and finals to win. Way to go Mike and team!

8.0 Mixed
Larry's Copperfield team is making a return trip to Corpus. This guy has a warehouse full of talent out there from Copperfield. They went 2-1 in pool play losing their first one to to Austin. In the end the just came up short. The Kingwood team representing NoHo was also in this flight. They were the whipping boy (and girl) of this flight as they only went with 3 of their women. Too bad as they had a good team this summer. Who makes the schedule and puts Houston and NoHo in the same flight. What a bonehead move by USTA-Texas.

9.0 Mixed
The Mason Creek must make their reservations for Corpus when the register for the team at the beginning of the summer. I think this team goes every year. In talking with Monty they were going with 6 people, so playing time would be a non-issue! They took their limited roster and made it all the way into Sunday. The team from Ft Worth that beat them leverages the high/low strategy in mixed - 5.0 men and 4.0 women. The guys from the Ft. Worth team were on the 5.5 team that went to Nationals a while back. Talk about stacked.

Houston Fall Festival

I think this event is cursed with bad weather. I don't have any stats (sure I could correlate past weather with this event) but it seems that every time I sign up for this event my entry fee turns up being a non-tax deductible donation to HTA/USTA. The draws this year seem to be deflated from past. Here are the stats:

2003 - 922 entrants
2004 - 792 entrants
2005 - 1106 entrants
2006 - 622 entrants
2007 - 628 entrants
2008 - 240 entrants (3 weeks post Hurricane Ike)
2009 - 281 entrants

I can discount the 2008 showing b/c of the Hurricane and everyone was in recovery mode, but what explains the 2009 poor showing? There were several conflicts (sectionals, nationals) as outlined above, but this might account for maybe 30 total entrants.

Maybe it has to do with the pricing of events in general. Here are the entry fees for the corresponding years in singles/doubles format:

2003 - $20/$15
2004 - $20/$15
2005 - $22/$15
2006 - $25/$18
2007 - $27/$19
2008 - $27/$16
2009 - $27/$19

Maybe USTA is deriving more revenue per entrant, but decreasing overall tournament revenue. I don't know for sure, but someone has to do something, but it becomes a confidence issue as the people who play regularly will not continue to pay MORE for LESS competition for very long. USTA need to hire a consultant to work out an optimal pricing strategy. I can be contacted at this site and my fees are very nominal ;)

I hope those who toughed it out today get good value for their dollar and don't have to take a day off of work to finish an event.

What's Next.....

The next nationals update will be later this month as the 3.5 nationals are the weekend of the 16th. The next interesting update will be at the end of the month when 4.5 team that Betsy captains and the 4.5 team that is Red and Freeman's birth child will be headed to Tucson (EDIT: Vegas) to represent Houston and Texas. Let's hope they continue the good showing that was started this weekend!

Houston Teams Show well at Senior Sectionals

Senior 4.0

Congrats goes out to the team from Lakeside for a very strong showing at Senior sectionals in Tyler this weekend.

Most of you who play 4.0 know these guys and they are really a "who's who" of 4.o+ all stars from around the greater Htown area.

The group swept their flight in pool play 4-0 and then got squeaked out in two 3rd set breakers by the Dallas team.

What a great season, going 10-0 in city while only dropping 3 lines.

If you guys needs some people for next year, I can get a fake ID!

Senior 4.5

The 4.5 team looks like they won and will go represent our great state at nationals. I don't know any of these guys personally, but I can only imagine the craftiness that exists at the level.

From the scores it looks like the were one of 3 teams that finished 3-1, but the math was in their favor as they won by fewest sets lost.

Way to go guys!


Senior 3.5

The 3.5 team from Sugar Creek took 3 tough losses in pool play. They lost all three matches 1-2. Looks like some tough tennis.

Upcoming Nationals

Hopefully Greg is working on getting someone to feed info back to the locals when the 4.5 team goes to Vegas here in about 6 weeks.

I am very interested to see how this group does out there. Hopefully they come with all their guns and do well for Texas.

The 4.0 event is upcoming here in two weeks. It will be interesting to see how the team from High Point (Dallas) fares at this event after squeaking by the 4.0 Hurricanes team in Dallas last month. The results at nationals will help normalize the inputs that determine EOY ratings for 2k9 so that people can start recruiting for 2k10.

Here is an interesting stat that I would have missed if I were guessing. Mid-Atlantic has the most titles from last year. We are way down in the pack with five. I for sure would have guessed one of the Californias or Florida as the winner.

Come on Freeman, time to get out an do some recruiting as this is your new back yard!

HTA Season Underway

The HTA season has begun. I had heard rumors that there were going to be some new studs popping up on some fall rosters, but I haven't seen evidence of that so far. It looks like the Deucebags have integrated some new Met members onto their roster. They'll need some new talent to replace Aadrian Hasker if they hope to return to Dallas and surpass last year's finish up there.

From what I hear the players on the teams making it to Nationals have been working very hard at staying sharp and should be poised for success when they get there.

The combo tournament is rapidly approaching...it looks as though there's been little interest thus far.

Combo, Fall Season

The USTA Season has just about run its course. We will keep you updated on events related to Nationals and hopefully Betsie, Tim, Freeman and others will update us with goings-on in Vegas when the time comes. I don't have the bracket in front of me, but I seem to remember that the men's 4.5 team is in the same flight with New England, Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean.

HTA league signups for the fall season are underway. Those of you obsessed with ratings will be happy (or sad?) to know that the fall season will not be included in 2009 ratings calculations at the end of the year. So get out there, work on some new things, and don't worry about being "bumped up."

Also on the horizon is the combo tournament. It's a fun way to play with your friends from other levels. It appears that the 9.5 division will "make" this year, and 7.5 and 8.5 are always popular. The tournament is run over one weekend (Sep. 25-27) and offers a chance to qualify for Sectionals, to be held in October. Email htalera@houstontennis.org for a team number if you are interested.

Two Outta' Three

It started at Fuddrucker's, I think. It was during Tri-Level Sectionals, and I sat down to lunch with League tennis geniuses Tim Green, Red Benzon and Jason Freeman. I sat quietly, occasionally nodding my head and sipping about three gallons of Diet Coke while the three of them began making their plans and creating the Hurricane "franchise". Most of the discussion focused on the 4.5 division, but the seeds were being planted for the goal of Nationals trips for the 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 Hurricane teams. It seemed like an overly ambitious goal, but they were just a few bounces away from achieving it.

What will I remember about this weekend? Had a great time watching the 4.5 team...it sounds like a cliche but they really ARE a great bunch of guys. I'm astonished that they were able to win both matches on Sunday without taking a singles line. I've never seen that done before.

Tennis-wise, Jason Pieters was astounding and literally had me jumping out of my seat after he hit consecutive "trick shots" (I can't even describe them) during one of his matches. His opponent was frustrated, screaming "What is he doing here???? He should be at the Legg-Mason this week!!!" Truly awesome.

I'm happy and disappointed with the 4.0 team...we were a talented team that ran into a Dallas team that was just a little bit better. I'm now about oh for ten at Sectionals in my quest for Nationals. Still, it's been a great year...it's always a treat to play for Freeman. The highlight of the year for me was reconnecting with my old friend and doubles partner Mike Lo, who's returned to tennis after a long absence and whose game is coming back. He'll be a factor next year.

I'm glad to see Omon and Odion make it to Nationals after coming so close the last few years. I don't think they could have gotten there if they hadn't brought their college buddies Sumrall and Tam along. Even the best captains sometimes need some talent dropped into their laps and Freeman, Green and Benzon got a little lucky with these two.

Good luck to the Hurricane 4.5 and 5.0 teams and Natural Guts at Nationals. I'm pretty confident they'll do us proud. As for me, and the Hurricane 4.0 team...next year I plan on being one for eleven.

Checkin' in.

Austin beat San Antonio in the 4.5 division 4-1 this morning. Josh Torrez beat Mark Hildebrand and Chad Case eased past Chris Doyal. Looks like Austin Wild will be tough to take down as their singles seems rock solid.

Chris Bumann did not play in Abilene's first match. I assume he's not here, even though they're trying to say they're "resting" the nineteen year old. Don't think so. King-sized disappointment as I was looking forward to seeing him test the Hurricanes.

Good day for Houston teams for the most part. Hurricane 4.0 team was outstanding in waltzing through its first two matches, dropping only one line. The Hurricane 4.5 team won 3-2 in its first match in a match that didn't seem quite that close. The Deucebags lost 3-2 as Dat Bui decided not to make the trip, I believe due to work issues. SAP lost a heartbreaker to Waco 3-2, losing the deciding match in a third set breaker. Waco looks like it will have a battle with San Angelo for the semi-final spot.

The Hurricane 5.0 team looked to have things firmly under control in what figured to be their toughest match against Fort Worth, though the match had not yet completed at last report.

Weekend Schedule

I'm not sure if I'll have internet access (or time) over the weekend to properly update the blog. I do plan on getting out and supporting friends/acquaintances/rivals throughout the weekend and hope Houstonians will support each other. I'll print this out to give me an idea of where I might go to check out some of the action.

Here is a list of Houston teams, playing times, opponents and sites for those who might want to check out their friends during down times. Let me know of any errors. Sorry it's not very legible...troubles with Blogger formatting.

FRIDAY

0700 Canes4.0 v. San Antonio (Spring Park)
1000 Deucebags v. Amarillo (High Point)
1100 Canes4.0 v. SETX (Spring Park)
1230 SAP v. Waco (Spring Park)
1230 Canes4.5 v. NETX (Canyon Creek)
1400 Canes5.0 v. Ft. Worth (Spring Park)
1400 Deucebags v. Dallas (High Point)
1600 SAP v. Wild Ft. Worth (Spring Park)
1700 Natural Guts v. Corpus (High Point)
1700 Canes4.5 v. Abilene (Huffines)

SATURDAY

0700 Canes4.0 v. Midland (Spring Park)
0830 Deucebags v. Corpus (High Point)
0830 SAP v. San Angelo (Spring Park)
1000 Natural Guts v. NETX (High Point)
1000 Canes5.0 v. Wild Dallas (Spring Park)
1230 SAP v. NETX (Spring Park)
1230 Canes4.5 v. Fort Worth (High Point)
1400 Canes5.0 v. San Antonio (Spring Park)
1400 Natural Guts v. Austin (High Point)
1500 Canes4.0 v. Valley (Spring Park)