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FEBRUARY 14 - 15, 2009 TOURNAMENT - STRAIGHT DOUBLES
The next tournament will be the weekend of February 14 - 15, 2009. The usual double-elimination seeded format will continue, with possible round robins thrown in. We will continue the ZB Handicap format.This is the season, and so it is a good idea to make reservations early. If nothing can be found, call Jef or Kathy at 760-767-4536. If you are planning to play, you must sign up by 7:30 p.m. on the eve of the tournament. Sign-up at the clubhouse, or contact Jef or Kathy: phone 760-767-4536, e-mail: jef@znet.com, or if all else fails, call the tennis center at 760-767-0577 the Friday night before the tournament (definitely before 8 p.m.). The draw will be completed by around 9:00 P.M. and play will begin on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. If you want us to call you with the start time, add your phone number with your name when you sign up. Also, if you are just joining the club, please provide contact information, preferably an e-mail address, if you wish to receive a newsletter, and if you want to be listed in the club's directory. If you want to share and consume goodies, there will be a Goody Bar in the clubhouse on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
MARCH 14 - 15, 2009 TOURNAMENT - TEAM TENNIS
Jim Ruggles has proposed a "Team Tennis" format for a future tournament. Jef is suggesting we try this new format in March, rather than February, as this format was not properly presented at the last tournament, and "changes are bad". So I'm going to spell out what this new-fangled "team tennis" format is like:1) during the February tournament, the membership defines who will captain the various teams. Probably 3 would be a good number. After someone is elected, he/she will designate alternates, to take his/her place when absent at "the draw". For our example, let's say the 3 captains are Larry, Moe, and Curly.2) during the draw on the Friday before the tournament, the group of captains will meet in secret. They will choose team members in order in an equitable manner. As each captain must choose him/herself, when the choosing gets to his/her approximate level in the rankings, he/she must pick themselves. Random means will be used to determine the choosing order. Let's say the order of choosing turns out to be Moe, Curly, Larry. First the men's component of the team is chosen. The captains pick from the signed up participants. Moe ponders for a microsecond, and say picks Tom. Curly has to pick Curly, because he is in the top level. Larry picks Harry. Moe picks Fred, Curly picks Don, Larry picks Bill, etc. From the women's list, the picking order is reversed: Larry picks Mary, Curly picks Sally, Moe picks Suzie. Larry picks Rhonda, Curly picks Kathy, Moe picks Jane, etc. Finally the team members are selected (NOTE: Moe must play on Moe's team, Larry on Larry's, and Curly on Curly's):
A (Moe's Team) B (Curly's Team) C (Larry's Team) Tom Curly Harry Fred Don Bill Gary Joe Larry Moe Spike Russ ... ... ... Mary Sally Suzie Rhonda Kathy Jane Carla Betty Buffy Francis Marilyn Jenny ... ... ... 3) The tournament consists of a round robin. There are 2 possible formats that will fit in the approximately 12 - 14 hours of tournament play (NOTE: example will assume 24 men, 24 women, but it will work if the numbers are somewhat more or less). Everybody will play at least 3 matches, and probably 4 matches during the weekend:
a) Straight doubles ONLY:STRATEGY: Captains might choose teams at high, middle, or low levels first. They might keep some better players in reserve to try for some easy wins. There might be times when one match could be sacraficed (as probably unwinnable) so that one or two matches to be arranged later would be probably victories -- for example when team 1 chooses a top player, and team 2 counters with 2 lower division players, then team 1 will probably win the first match, but will probably lose a couple future matches, as the first team has to place 1 lower division player later, and the 2nd team has a better pool to choose from in the future. Therefore, no team will probably choose the anchorman in a team as the top player. But, probably, each team will field matches of equal likelihood of success.Team captains alternately choose players who will play in each match. For example, say teams A and B meet in men's doubles. Moe picks Tom, Curly picks Don, Moe picks Spike, Curly picks Joe. So the first match-up will be Tom & Spike, vs. Don & Joe. Then Curly chooses first to select the next match, and they keep going until there are not enough men to field a match. In that case, either one of 2 possibilities will occur:b) Straight and mixed doubles:1)These leftover players will not play in this round, but these leftover players WILL play in all future rounds. Each team gets half a win for the unplayed match. (best when more than 48 players sign up)2)These leftover players will play in the future with substitute(s) filling in for missing players at a later time. Substitutes cannot do this more than once, and do NOT have to be close to opposing players in ability, as substituting team wound up with fewer players, so can use this as an advantage. However, every other time, the opposing team captain can choose the substitute. Or captains can agree on a method for substitutes. (best when less than 48 players sign up)
The following rounds will be determined: MEN's AB, BC, AC, WOMEN's AB, BC, AC. With our example, 8 men and 8 women per team will allow the preceding match-ups to be completed twice during the tournament. The captains will repeat the process Saturday afternoon, and from their prior experiences in first round may decide to change team make-ups for the 2nd and last cycle.
The winner will be the team with the most wins. In case of ties, a single MIXED DOUBLES finals round will decide the winner. In case of 3-way tie, randomly decide 2 of 3 teams. They play a mixed doubles match. The winner team captain selects someone (possibly winner(s) of previous match) to play a mixed doubles match with the best the 3rd team can select. The winner of the final match is the winner.
Same as 3a, above, except the following match-ups will be done (and there will be no chance to change match-ups after the draw):Note: MEN's, WOMEN's AB, BC, etc. each take exactly 1 hour. MIXED AB, BC, and AC each take 2 hours. To allow resting between matches, men will alternate with women. In either format above, ideally everyone plays in 4 matches. If it is easier to have someone play twice, then some could play 5 times, but in other odd cases, some could play only 3 times. For example, let's say when B plays C, and B has 8 and C has 7, then it would be better to have someone in C play twice, but during another hour, as one person can't play twice at the same time. The person(s) who plays twice in any round must not be too "out-of-place", and can only play twice once. If it is easier to have someone not play (like if there are a lot of sign-ups for the tournament), then that person can only be omitted for at most 1 round, and will play 3 times.The following rounds will be determined: MEN's AB, BC, AC, WOMEN's AB, BC, AC, MIXED AB, BC, AC.
The winner will be the team with the most wins. In case of ties, 3 simultaneous matches will decide the winner: MEN's, WOMEN's, MIXED between the top 2 teams. In case of a 3-way tie: random chance determines which team plays which other team. Winner plays 3rd team.
SATURDAY POTLUCKAs usual, we will have a potluck on on saturday after the first day of play. If you wish, you can drop off door prizes, which will be awarded at the end of the dinner. Happy hour (BYOB) is at 6:30 and dinner is at 7 p.m.
BORREGO NEWSAfter significanct December rains, there was not too much follow-up precipitation. A fair rainfall was recorded on the morning of January 26. The desert is still fairly green, and we still expect a good flower season.
JANUARY 2009 TOURNAMENT We had a moderately good turnout for October of 44 contestants (24 men, 20 women) for a weekend with good tennis weather -- mild and little wind. We tried the "ZB Handicap" format, which made for some unlikely upsets and very close matches. In addition, a "Wildcard" playoff round was added. One of the 2 wildcard matches had one team going down to finals in lower divison, and another going up to finals in an upper division!
Barbara McClure won the $50 drawing. Congratulations, Barbara!
Jim giving Barbara her prize
| OCOTILLOS | Jojobas | Yuccas |
WINNER Bryan Worthington - Marla Anderson started in Jojoba division, but lost Ocotillo/Jojoba wildcard and moved down to Ocotillo finals | WINNER Al Lieb (Gary Edwards) - Harriet Lisak | WINNER Tom McClure - Penny Pralle |
RUNNER-UP Ed Ghiorso - Terry Moy | RUNNER-UP Russ Hanson - Kathy Gehring started in Ocotillo division, but won Ocotillo/Jojoba wildcard and moved up to Jojoba finals! | RUNNER-UP Ken Shallahamer - Ursala Hawkins |
| Gary McNamara - Marla Anderson | Doug Baker - Jackie Shallahamer | Fred Dow - Barb McClure |
| Dennis Smith - Dianne Burlison | Don Wilson - Mary Kay Romeo | Mike Shoemaker - Bonnie Wilson |
| Rick Gehring - Sandy Kean | Pete Azar - Joanne Cohen | Al Lieb - Joanne Cohen |
| Mark Armstrong - Carolyn Smith | Curt Hawkins - Bonnie Wilson | Sheldon Baker - Susan Dow |
| Tom Freed - Barbara Ash | Harold Plett - Sandy Kean | Jim Ruggles - Roz Smyth |
| Lee Lisak - Lorlei Peterson | Borden Granger - Carmen Perez | Jef Johnson - Jan McNamara |
| Oct 25 - 26 2008 Mixed doubles | Feb 14 - 15 2009 Straight doubles |
| Dec 6 - 7 2008 Straight doubles | Mar 14 - 15 2009 Mixed doubles |
| Jan 10 - 11 2009 Mixed doubles | Apr 18 - 19 2009 Straight doubles |
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NEWSLETTER JOKE INDEX since 2002 Newsletters online can be found at http://www.borregotennis.com.
