Line Finally Crossed. One of you has just been sent to time-out, so go sit in the corner.

I didn't think it would ever come to this, but I was finally forced to remove a post because of of someone going a bit too far with their comments. To this point, I have not thought it would be necessary to police everyone's comments before letting them hit the blog but I guess from now on I will have to select the option that allows me to review them first. It's ok to joke around, even to extremes if you ask me, but there have to be limits as to the degree that we take personal attacks. I don't want you guys to start holding back compared to the normal tone of comments but to whoever it was that decided to go that extra step in an effort to be cruel, that was definitely a bit too much, so please try to show some restraint going forward.

Back to the tennis, the discussion was about Alfonso Rodriguez probably taking 4.5 this year and whether or not Freeman would be putting together a 4.5 super-squad and if so will he finally start receiving the abuse that Green/Benson & other uber-captains receive on the Houston League Blog. And we now pick up where we left off.....

Breaking News!....No Sarosh, ticket sales now in jeopardy.

Chris Leach just posted that Sarosh has pulled out with an ankle injury. A real injury or an unwillness to face up to all the pressure the never-ending hype has likely created? I don't know the answer to that but my guess is it is a combination of both. Congrats to Chris for scaring Sarosh by sounding confident and unafraid. Congrats to those in the top half who now only have Trautman, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Leach, etc. to worry about. Sadly, Dennis Hilsmeier's chances did not improve one bit despite this development.

And the countdown stands at two....

Time to reload with a fresh discussion stream, especially since that last one just deteriorated into a battle of "yo momma" insults. Poll currently indicates that Quack is the non-seed with the best shot at going far. If you haven't voted, please do, it's about as close as we can come to seeing how many people are visiting the site. Back in December, the polls were usually topping out at around 10 total votes, so 50+ shows that we are starting to get some traction on this blog. I have been blasted in the past for not commenting more on 4.0 or Open, two levels I have admitted I do not know much about. However, there must be someone coming to this site who does. So please feel free and share your opinion on these draws as well.

4 days and counting to Gallery Open

Time for a new discussion stream. I still have not seen the actual draws but I have read everything you guys have posted. There was no way the seeding in 5.0 would make everyone happy considering how strong the field is so I would not fault the committee too much. There would be just as much bitching if they had seeded Reggie Black and not Amit Garg. Based on skill and reputation, Amit is far more the more deservant player. It may not be fair that Black has to play Reader in the 1st round but would it be any more fair if Reader had to play Amit? Kallus and Leach are just as much victims of the draw in 4.5 having to face Phi Hunyh and Sarosh Ahmed. I don't see Kallus pulling that one off but Chris just might have a chance cause he has nothing to lose and without all of the hoopla anything less than making the finals will be a disappointment for you Sarosh fans. He just might feel that pressure against a strong opponent like Chris in the 1st round. If he were to pull it off, I would not be suprised to see Chris be the victim of fatigue in his second match. 5.0s, Green has got it pretty bad for a self-rationalized 4.0 player like he claims to be. That would be an impressive run. His matchup with Dibua would be quite a match to see. Having had the opportunity to hit with Brian Smith a few years back I would also agree that he could emerge as the dark horse and take the whole thing. 4.0, the big question will be whether or not Ansari can bring an end to his 4 match major zone losing streak.

Anyone feel slighted?

Seeds are out and as in years past, the seeding does not necessarily follow the rankings. I personally do not have a problem with this because I would rather see a known player get the seeding that is appropriate instead of seeing him facing a top seed in the first round or two, especially in the case where the ranking-based seeds care about the points and the unranked known player (usually a local ringer) just wants to win that local event and doesn't care about rankings and probably won't be playing other tournaments out of town. From what I understand, the HTA usually spends a lot of time trying to get the seeding right. Doesn't mean they usually succeed but they do try. Sarosh should probably be seeded higher, but #16 at least keeps him from facing another seeded player until the round of 16, so anyone he take out at that point will still get 150 points for the tournament. I am surprised that Chris Leach did not get a seed within the top 16 based on the same criteria HTA seems to usually use. Regarding the 5.0s, I agree that this will be a pretty exciting draw as there are 5 or 6 people who have a legitimate shot at winning. I also wouldn't be surprised to see at least 1 completely unheard guy in the 4.5 draw do some damage. It has happened quite a bit over the years. Sorry to those offended that I don't talk about Open or 4.0s. I just really don't know any of the key people to keep an eye on at those levels.

Counting Down to the Cok.....make that Gallery Furniture Open.

Still too early for me to make predictions about the Houston Major Zone, but since talk will likely stay focused on this tournament for the foreseeable future I thought I would go ahead and start a new discussion stream since the last one was into the 130's. I also want to officially apologize to all the players who will be coming from out of town and forced to play at the far from impressive facilities at Lee Leclear, Memorial Park, and Homer Ford. It is sad that you can go to Waco and play at the kick-ass Waco Regional Tennis Center or go to San Antonio last month and play at the "hoity-toity" country clubs Fair Oaks, Dominion, and Sunterra. Come to Houston and you get homeless people, cracked and horribly sloped courts, torn nets, and crappy lights. No wonder we only get 1 Major Zone while San Antonio gets 3. With that I will bid you all Sarosh and here's hoping that all your Sarosh's may be Sarosh. Come to think of it, I am suprised that Jimmy Kimmel has not done a "I'm f&cking Sarosh" video yet. That would definitely top the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck videos for #1 on youtube. (You know I couldn't go a whole post without keeping the whole Sarosh thing stirred up and by the way, Lord of Strings, where have you disappeared to?)