Has the tennis year started? Really? I hadn't noticed.

It is hard to believe that Mabry is this weekend. This tournament used to be a pretty big deal. I guess it still is for seniors (major zone) but the 400, 200, 100 point tournament system has weakened its appeal as has the hit-or-miss weather this time of year. 16 draw for singles in 4.5 compared to 32 draws in years past. Did 5.0 even make? Did they even offer it? Berry Creek, disappointing participation. Abilene? If I saw it correctly, there were 9 guys signed up for 4.5 and only 3 for 5.0. Things are definitely amiss on the USTA tourney scene. Where are the die-hard regulars that sign up for every tournament? Kallus, you out there? Did you finally throw in the towel? Schmucker, did you decide to save the tourney fees and the hassle that comes with not showing up? Ansari is still at it, so 4.0 has that going for it? Where is the 4.0 graduating class of 2007 (Kern, Warren, etc.) that was so highly talked-up last year but never showed up at events. There is going to be a lot less to talk about this year if things continue the way they have started. I guess the MZ in San Antonio will be the first true test of player commitment this year. Maybe more guys are just planning to play closer to home, so let's see how things go at Lost Forest. I assume the Dugas brothers will play there so it will be interesting to see how many sh*t-talkers accept their challenge and come out to take them down. I wish them well cause it is good to see some new voices being expressed here. Til Later. JM

News Flash to Texas Tournaments...US in economic recession!

Any one else get their USTA book/schedule for 2009 and notice that nearly every tournament in the state raised their entry fee by at least $3 - $5? Please correct me if I am wrong, but would this not seem a strange time for tournaments to be looking to squeeze out extra money from entrants? What makes even less sense is that it is the smaller local type tournaments that will only draw a handful of players for each level anyway that are asking the most. $33 to participate in a draw of 5 people at the nearly-monthly Missouri City events at the oh-so-lovely craphole that is Lee LeClear? Please don't hate me but I think I will pass. And don't get me started on the price to play doubles. $31 bucks to get in a 100 point tourney and I only get 1 guaranteed match? Well that t-shirt better be made out of silk, or in Lord of the Strings case, hemp (just joking LOTS, we all love you...even if you are out to kick each and every one of our asses on and off the court). Anyway, it seems like tournament tennis here in Texas keeps on taking one turn for the worse after another and I honestly don't think the players are to blame. If you ask me, $25 tops for singles entry and $20 per player max for doubles. And don't force me to sign up via the internet and then charge me an extra $3 for making your job easier, Mr. Tournament Director. How's that for kicking off the New Year. If you are bored and have money to burn, don't forget Mabry is coming up shortly for the 200 point, likes-to-travel crowd or you can just blow a wad of cash out at Lee LeClear at the 100 pointer I ranted about earlier. I didn't get enough of a response to the idea of a challenge ladder or one day Houston Tourney Tennis Scene tournament so I will drop the idea for the time being. Now get to hitting.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Happy Holidays to all, 3.0 to Open. I hope you all get massive forehands and deadly kickspin second serves under your trees. To some I wish modesty, to others the confidence they lack. To some a bit better eyesight when it comes to line calls, to others a bit more focus when it comes to external distractions (you know who you are). Here's hoping that lower gas prices can offset the bad economy and keep everyone showing up at tournaments in 2009. I would wish "kindness onto others" for all the posters at this blog, but even though you get mean spirited quite often, you are never boring so I guess we can all live with you just the way you are...for now.

Oh yeah, and there is a tournament in Dallas this weekend for the one guy who cares. Good luck.

HTTS Tourney, League, Challenge Ladder, etc.

Hey, I will throw this at you guys here in Houston and see what you think. Would anyone be interested in any form of organized competition associated with this website to let some of you guys basically put your money where your mouth is? Especially since there will not be much other organized tennis between here and the Spring. Just a thought. I don't know how committed I am to the idea anyway cause it would require me to come out from behind my veil of secrecy. If we did anything I can tell you this, no entries submitted in the name of Anonymous would be accepted. Stew it over, let me know what you think. Honestly, I really just needed something to talk about to justify a new discussion stream and this is all I could come up with.

Countdown to 2009...I can already here those Abilene winds a blowing.

Well, 2008 is all but in the bag now. Interesting to see if the weak economy has any impact on tournament draw sizes next year. Perhaps the cheaper price of gasoline will more than offset the continued upward spiral in entry fees. To me, it seemed that the tournament scene lost a lot of steam around the time that Ike came through and screwed up Sectionals. The Sectionals makeup was largely a joke with so many players not being able to make it, but I still am glad USTA rescheduled and did not cancel. I also think it was the right thing to postpone it instead of playing it as scheduled and giving a big F U to all of the Houston and coastal players who had much bigger things to be worrying about that weekend.

Maybe its because I did not personally play in many tournaments this year, but I felt that this was one of the less exciting years we have had here in Texas as far as tournaments tennis is concerned. Please feel free to disagree if you felt otherwise. I think not having the Master's Cup count towards qualifying next year may help since that will open it up a bit and give more people a chance at getting the needed points. Plus I think USTA needs to consider 2 more things: 1) instituting ranking point penalties for no-shows, and 2) a reworking of consolation in major zones to make them more meaningful and increase consolation participation in the smaller draws so as 5.0. In terms of penalties for no-shows, I think each player should be given 1 major zone no show without penalty and after that, each major you sign up for and do not show up, the 0 points from that event will count as one of your five countable results for the year. That would likely prevent a few of the guys we know have a history of signing up and never showing up from screwing up seeding at tournaments, etc. For instance, sign up for all 8 majors and only bother going to 4 of them, well guess what you will end up with three 0's and two other results for your final total. As far as consolation, I think that, there should also be a penalty such as points being deducted from qualifying (for master's cup and year end ranking) totals for not bothering to play consolation. For instance, whatever the point value of a consolation match (30 in majors? maybe its 25, I can't remember right now) could be deducted for every tournament in which you are in consolation but decide not to stick around and play. Loss in the 1st round of 3 major zones and decide not to play consolation, well guess what, you will have 90 ranking points deducted from your total ranking points (best 5 total). This would force the top guys and anyone else who cares about their ranking from thinking that consolation is a waste of their time so they will just go home. Open, 5.0 and to a lesser extent, 4.5 are horrible in terms of consolation participation. This could fix that. Anyway, those are just some thoughts I have, it's not like I am exactly commissioner of tennis or anything.

The Great Valdez Trajedy...and I don't mean an oil spill in Alaska.

Discussion stream quite long, so time to refresh. Masters Cup predictions not too far off, feel free to share your's now. As far as Adrian, my two cents is that as long as he did not have a history of late entry the USTA should have let him in and they had plenty of time to do it before posting the invitees or sending out invitations. The argument that some other deserving player would get bumped and it would not be fair does not hold water. The lowest ranked player should be knocked back to alternate status to make room for the current and defending #1 player. How can anyone else be deemed more deserving for the chance to play than the #1 guy? If they had let him in late but before posting entrants or sending invitations, then no one but Adrian and the USTA would have even known and none of this discussion would even have to happen.

Lost Ghetto....I mean Forest.

The title is probably not very polite but you know what I'm talking about. It's a shame too because the club is actually a really nice little club, the owners are good people, and the tennis pros are actually quite talented, especially Hernan. I also hear they have a new guy from Chili who is quite the talented instructor and has worked with top guys down in that country. I digress. Anyway, there is actually a few pretty good players and a few early round match ups that will be interesting to see. I personally do not think either of the top 2 seeds, Kallus & Schmucker, will make it past their 1st matches. That said, I included Kallus in the 4.5 poll out of courtesy since he did get seeded #1. Plus, I thought it might deflect some attention away from Arya. Does that make me a bad guy?