Bentleague X: The Sequel Draft Recap

 

Last Match Up Close and Personal

Bentleague Results

Sept 11th Thursday

    Vistor                                Home                                Score                  Winner

6:00                    Tricky's Tribe                  Cobra Kai II                    

Line 1                 Nick Thompson           Ed Dauterive                         7-6,7-5              Cobra Kai II

                           Mark Fair                  Blair Touchard

Excellent tennis on the clay to start Bentleague off right.  Beau Chen defending club champions humble Tricky Nicky to decide final match of 6pm starters to give Cobra Kai the team victory.  Tasmanian Touchard makes impressive debut and Dr. Death says Russel who to the rest of the league!  Back to the drawing board for Tribe’s line 1 as things don’t get any easier.   

Line 2                 Donald Allen                 Chris Kobrock               6-3,6-4              Cobra Kai II

                           Addison Melancon        Tony Priola

Sensei Kobrock Kai dials up lethal combo at line 2 proving Swami correct in pre-draft analysis.  Lil Nadal rises to the occasion and leaves Tricky scratching his head on third and fourth round draft selections.   

Line 3                 Jack Ellis                          Greg Gordon                  7-6,6-3              Tricky's Tribe

                              Max Agnew                     Ronny Regouffre

The Mad Max and Jack the Ripper show shine in Bentleague debut.  Erasing pre league collapse again the plus 50’s.  Losing Close 1^st set too much to overcome for Gordon Geecko and Regouffre.  St. Bernard Swami believes in Cheech and Chong and is confident they will regroup for Sensei’s team on next outing.  Nick may have to break up the Max and Ripper duo to reinforce Tribe's line two if things do not improve.

Line 4                 David Butler                   Caymen Sinclair          2-6,7-6,1-0      Tricky's Tribe

                              Danny Buttler                Robby Economides

Butler brothers prevail (again).  What appeared as domination in first set victory turned into a Third set tie breaker collapse.  Swami can only surmise losing that 2^nd set tie breaker killed Kai’s squads’ confidence.  Hats off to the Butlers.  They find a way to win.  Made onlookers forget the absence of the Big Burrito.  Will the special request from the Prince of the Parish to Captain of the Tribe be honored.  Swami hopes so.   

Line 5                 Chris Rabon                   Greg Eckholdt               6-2,7-5              Cobra Kai II

                              Ernie Anderson            Dave McGuire

Cobra duo of Doc Eck and the Mayor of Mandeville take line 5 in two.  Rolled in first set, but not so fast said Round Mound of Rabon and the Senior Anderson.  Second set was a nailbiter.  Just glad Robbie was on the sideline to question the line calls because it got interesting.  JK.  Hard fought battle between Rabon and Greg’s forehands and the Mayor and Ernie’s net play.  Dave rivals Shane for quickest hands at the net ensures Kai victory!

Total Points     2                                          3

                             

7:00                    Spin Doctors 2            Big Swinging Sticks II                           

Line 1                 Russell Anderson        Shane McCarthy                        7-5,7-5              Big Swinging

                              Grant Matherne           Eddie Burdette

Wow. Here are some quick hitters from this one:  Shane and Eddie will be a tough out.  Grant is still winless in Bentleague.  Russell coming back to the pack or others bridging the gap.  Eddie most improved over a three-year period in Bentleague history.  Did I mention Grant is winless in Bentleague.  Will net play be a liability or does the Capt. move him to line 2/3?  Great match nonetheless.  Could have gone either way.   Does choosing clay make Shane a genius?

Line 2                 Rudy Kalman                 Jay Butcher                                    2-6,6-3,1-0      Big Swinging

                              Brad Humphreys         Mark Schneider

Mouth of Mandeville was on fire early.  Could be heard three courts away (In the first set anyway).  Swami had an up close view on this one and it wasn’t pretty early from Butcher and Samurai.  Tennis gods knew Butcher would play better and Brad would normalize, but MoM’s collapse was disheartening.  We now know RuPaul can’t carry a line.  IS RuPaul’s game too one dimensional for Doubles at this level.  Time will tell, but as the Swami predicted…back to the drawing board for Hairy Hal trying to pair up these pieces.   

Line 3                 Michael Schwartz       David Parnell                                2-6,7-5,1-0      Big Swinging

                              Mike Mesa                      Joey Dunbar

Closest match of the night.  Very fun to watch and perfect close out to first match.  This match had a little bit of everything.  Some alligator arm forehands and some excellent shots when their team needed them the most.   Plenty of "what if" opportunities from both sides of the net.  In the end, Parnell and Dunbar were more solid and ensured the sweep for BSS II.  Looks like teams will be circling the week they play the Spin Doctor’s as the move up week from here on out.  Anyone else see Mesa aging right before our eyes?

Line 4                 Mark Ferrer                    Keith West                                     6-3,0-6,1-0      Big Swinging

                              Hal Neitzschman        Matt Dean

Ouch.  This one was hard on the eyes if you were routing for the Spin Doctors.  SD Duo started off horrible, dominate the 2^nd, and then give away the TSTB.  Giving up that lead in the TSTB will not be forgotten quickly.  May be just what the doctor ordered for Wild Keith West and Matty Ice Dean.  Swami told them they could rewrite the script during the third set tie breaker and boy did they ever.  Of course…. they had a little help from Hairy and One Unplugged down 8-5 in that third set tie breaker before turning it around. 

Line 5                 Bentley Harvey             Ray Brouillette                             6-4,6-3              Big Swinging

                              Billy Spiess                     Jeff St. Romain

Did someone say Jeff St. Romain was the best one on the court.  Pleasant surprise for Captain Shane.  Swami witnessed a few and St. Ro was on fire.  Ray Ray can’t move as he once did, but still has all the shots.  Definitely, a team to watch as we progress into the season.  May need an injury disclosure from Free Willy.  Word on the street is that the shoulder is hurting.  When Old Knees Harvey is hitting more forehands than Willy, your team is in trouble.  Swami suggests a younger partner with Old knees next time.  Willy…get that shoulder healthy ASAP.  Your team will need you in the weeks ahead.

Total Points    0                                          5                          

 

BSS II sweep is a great way to start.  Will not be that easy next week.  Draft/team depth will be the key as more players get playing time in the weeks ahead.  Swami almost perfect in preseason analysis.  Hal’s team had two lines at their fingertips.  Better get some practice on TSTB’s and figure out those pairings.    Nice start by Cobra Kai.  Foresee more tight ones in your future.  Looking forward to Match 2 (Round 1) on Thursday.