If you're talking about the 9.14 on the Austin team, he's a friend of mine and he's definitely not a 5.0, but I'd say in singles he's a strong 4.5, in doubles maybe a mid to high 4.5. On the other hand he's not 18 so he might lose to some really young guys.
The problem with that being it’s supposed to be 4.0 tennis. The other problem with that being he might not even win easily despite being way out of level. The NOHO team should be full of guys like him knowing their captains history.
To set the tone, I'm not asking you to defend your friend or saying he cheated or whatever, I'm more curious on how he described the experience, if winning easily was fun or kind of a chore every weekend. How did he get stuck at 4.0, is it his first time playing USTA, did he lose alot and earn the 4.0 rating? He will be "at level" for the TX tourney for sure, meaning his team might not advance, it's TX, but was the regular season fun for him because he probably won fairly easily? I'm trying to contrast that with the 4.5s I know that voluntarily play open singles tourneys instead of 4.5, they lose often, but they "enjoy" the challenge. I'm not sure that's a good idea either, but for some reason to me it is interesting, all the different personalities.
Thanks for the info, sorry at first your post was just my quote for some reason with no comment from you. Anyway, what made him appeal down, I'm curious about that, to win at 4.0 or didn't like playing 4.5 (although of course he could play both 4.0 and 4.5)? Sounds like he is a true 4.5 based on the commenter that knows him, maybe you know him as well.
Interesting, that's a quick ticket to 4.5 land then, guess this is his one 4.0 hail mary season.
Not a whole lot really, but I'm not that focused on who wins, I have some strange interest in motivations I guess for lack of a better way to put it.
I'm not sure why you think I'm justifying or defending anything ? There was a statement made that he is a 5.0 and I was just providing some information and background. Look, the San Antonio 4.5 team had a guy playing singles who played ATP futures events back in the day (he's 46 now) I really don't think he's a 4.5, but the system is what it is, I gave up whining and complaining about stuff like that a long time ago. San Antonio didn't even win, they lost to North Houston.
Well like I said, I never justified anything, just provided some information so I'm not sure why you posted that. I do agree that there are problems with the system, I used to captain competitive teams years ago, now I captain a middle of the road team that spends more time drinking beer and hanging out than anything else.
I can shift your thinking a little bit. First, none of the sandbaggers are doctors or lawyers, trust me on that one, speaking for TN and Dallas. The doctors and lawyers belong to clubs that often don't take USTA seriously and play ore inter-club matches, but certainly they play in level, they don't have the time to tank matches on a weekend, most are too busy working, on call etc. . Most of the self-rates are young guys in their 20s and not yet busy with families etc., nor are they going through law school or med school, or anything that takes up a lot of time. I'm casting a wide net, but that's the general profile. The captains organizing the show are usually retired and it's a hobby, like a tennis general manager fantasy league, sometimes captaining AND travelling with teams they only captain and don't even play matches on. Another category that is repeated often is tennis teaching pros forming teams, rural pros self rate at 4.0 and bigger city ones 4.5 and they bring the club members along or the people they know through clinic or lessons, good for business. I don't think you will be influenced by them in everyday life and most of them aren't bad people, just regular people with interesting behavior when it comes to recreational tennis. Why do I know so much, well, I play a lot, get recruited for teams, and facebook, when a tennis achievement happens you better believe it will be blasted on facebook.
Understood, but don't let it frustrate you, it is what it is and pretty fascinating. One extreme for example, I know a guy that started playing 2 years ago and improved very quickly, can win 4.0 matches in doubles based on tournament experience. He is rated 3.0 and I told him he should play on a 4.0 team. His comment was no way, I want to stay at 3.0 for as long as I can and win! So that's another category, someone who started playing recently and really likes winning over competitive matches.
Again, not really justifying anything just pointing out this guy isn't a 5.0, I agree he's more of a 4.5 and he will be moved up to 4.5 next year. He's definitely not trying to hide, he's playing 4.5 league and 4.5 tournaments also. I know he took two losses in 4.5 singles matches in league and took another loss in a 4.5 tournament last week, plus two 4.5 doubles losses in a tournament at the beginning of the year. The system will move him up I'm sure.
I never assumed anything, I was stating my curiosity about winning easily every weekend or at least twice or tanking twice to qualify for post season. He could be playing 7 matches a weekend 6 competitive UTR and 1 USTA at a horribly painful level below his level, my curiosity would actually increase if that was the case, not decrease, but no assumption made. Most teams that go this route don't have the 20 plus people roster, but yes, I've seen the 2 match minimum approach in action, where the ringers only play enough to qualify. The savvy teams actually have those ringers lose in the regular season while winning the overall match in case they fail at sectionals and don't make nationals. Anyway, still curious.
He did beat one of the top singles players on the Austin 4.5 team that made the sectional semifinals in a major zone tournament final. And he beat him 6-3 6-2.
