Lew's comments in bold - odd sense of humor?
Tee shirts and Tennis is like Obama's Healthcare Plan ?
From Parenting Aces - Lisa Stone's words
"I reached out to Tim Russell, Patrick McEnroe, Lew Brewer, and others to get a better understanding of what USTA is trying to accomplish with its changes to the 2014 Junior Competition schedule. I emailed them the link to my article along with some specific follow-up questions. While Patrick did reply that he would call me to discuss my questions, I haven’t yet heard from him. However, I did have multiple lengthy phone conversations with both Tim Russell and Lew Brewer – a big thank you to both gentlemen for taking the time to talk with me – and here’s what I found out during those calls:
( I pulled out some of Lew's comments - strange at best. )
USTA has stated that it decided to reduce the draw sizes (see page 3 of the FAQ) partially because it wants to reduce costs for families and shorten the tournaments so players miss fewer days of school. Justifying the 128 draw size in the boys nationals in Kalamazoo, traditionally a great recruiting opportunity for college coaches, Lew said, “Honestly, while there are coaches who are interested in the 129th player to the 192nd player, more are looking at that top 128.” ...
.. Lew went on to say that if a player wants the Kalamazoo t-shirt that badly, he (Lew) would send him one.
Lastly, we discussed the online survey that USTA did a couple of years ago. Overwhelmingly, those who took the time to answer the survey questions said they would prefer tournaments have smaller draws so they would take fewer days to complete (and, as a result, be less expensive for families and require missing fewer days of school). I pointed out to Lew that nowhere in the survey was it mentioned that the results would be used to justify the changes that we’re now seeing in the national schedule. I told him that if USTA had disclosed the fact that they were going to use the survey responses to justify cutting the draws at our country’s top junior events, I was sure parents would have answered differently. Best case scenario is that this is a case of poor communication on USTA’s part. Lew Brewer says, “No one expects everyone to agree with the plan for 2014, but it WILL become effective on January 1, 2014. I think a lot of this mirrors the health-care debate. There are many who want to appeal the affordable care act. It is scheduled to become fully effective on January 1, 2014. Just like our plan, very few Americans have read the affordable health care act and are reacting to what is broadcast on the news or the blogs. The smart money – the insurance companies and healthcare providers – are preparing for 2014, because they can’t afford to be left behind if the law is not repealed.
