Bentleague Recap…it’s been awhile:

 

Bentleague Recap…it’s been awhile:

Bentleague Recap…it’s been awhile:

 

Here are some quick hitters to get the BLOG up to date. 

I feel like Al Pacino!  I thought I was out…but they dragged me back in.  I’d like to thank the Board for agreeing to let Chris get a substitute for the Saint of St. Bernard.  Only took a month to get past the opinions and put it to a vote.  After two declined and two were shot down because of draft order ratings, the one hander came out of retirement.  Will Big Swinging Sticks run away with Bentleague XI or come back to the pack?  Will Nicky mount the charge predicted by the Swami in his draft analysis?  Will Grant and Brad ever win?  Inquiring minds want to know?  Tune in for the completion of round 4 and the final round as we approach Thanksgiving and the Holidays.  A lot to be thankful for…and it isn’t lost on the Swami that Bentleague is unmatched for good competition, sportsmanship, and friendship.  Well…sportsmanship is in question sometimes!  Now onto the recap…

 

round 3             

Oct 25th, Saturday

8:00                    Cobra Kai II    Tricky's Tribe               

Line 1                Greg Gordon                  Jack Ellis                                         6-2,7-5               Tricky's Tribe

                              Robby Economides    Max Agnew

 

Jack owns Gordo and Gordo knows it.  The MVP season seems like so long ago! 

Line 2                Ronny Regouffre          Addison Melancon     6-2,6-2              Tricky's Tribe

                              Caymen Sinclair          Robert Groeneveld

Addison is the Sundial Whisperer!  Tricky struck gold with this paring.  Had to be by accident.  Addi just what the doctor ordered.  Seems to have quit listening to the other 10 voices in his head and only hears the Cajun Coonass!  Who knew Roberto spoke Coonass!   

Line 3                Garret Phillippi             Kevin Phayer                  6-7,7-6,1-0      Tricky's Tribe

                              Ryan Fornier                  Andrew McQuaid

Garret and Ryan had a good run!  Big Burrito can confuse even the best of players.  Sometimes on his own team. 

Line 4                Jay Blossman                Chris Rabon                                  6-2,7-5               Tricky's Tribe

                              Steven Burgess            Danny Buttler

When the Round Mound is fired up…look out!  And Danny can win without his brother. 

Line 5                Ananth Desik                Justin Guitreau             6-2,4-6,1-0      Tricky's Tribe

                              Sid Hauptmann            Ross Doyle

Paper Pairing just not working or Cobra Kai.  Kudos to Ross and Rachel (I mean Justin) for taming the two forehands of Cobra Kai.

 

Sweep by the Tribe.  Sitting top three and having #5 on the IR realty hurt!  Couple more like this and Nicky will be back in it.

 

Total Points    0                                          5                          

9:30                    Big Swinging Sticks II Spin Doctors 2                            

Line 1                Joey Dunbar                   Mark Ferrer                    6-7,6-2,1-0      Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Mike Lane                       Brad Humphreys

Big Swinging Sticks winning this thing by winning tie breakers!  Hump and FerrMagic battling season long slumps at this juncture.  Did well to get it to the TSTB IMO.

 

Line 2                John Hearn                     Mitch Tucker                  6-1,6-1                Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Keith West                      Alejandro Torres

Hitman West combo to be reckoned with.  But 1 and 1.  C’mon MDB!

Line 3                Ray Brouillette              Hal Neitzschman        7-5,7-6              Spin Doctors 2

                              Seth Monaghan           Mike Mesa

Cerebral Duo too tough for Ray Ray and the Southern Grad!  Mensa not calling on this BSS duo anytime soon. 

Line 4                Matt Dean                       Billy Spiess                     6-7,6-1,1-0      Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Jeff St. Romain             Keith Laterrade

St. Ro vying for MVP consideration.  Dean posting some good wins too.  And…another TSTB win for BSS! 

Line 5                Wayne Songy                George Lampard         5-7,6-1,1-0      Spin Doctors 2

                              Kenny Boudreaux        Bentley Harvey

Give Harvey his due!  Nice pairing with George too.  Hairy Hal starting to figure out some winning pairings mixing some guile with some athleticism.  Swami can’t figure out why Kenny B isn’t winning more.  As Arsenio used to say…makes you say…HHHhhhmmm!

Total Points    3                                          2                          

Oct 30, Thursday

Visitor 1                            Home 1                            Score                  Winner

6:00                    Big Swinging Sticks II Cobra Kai II                    

Line 1                Mike Lane                       Greg Gordon                  6-2,1-6,1-0      Big Swinging Sticks II

                              David Parnell                 Tony Priola

First match for the one hander since the surgery.  Hard L to swallow after being up 5-2 in the TSTB.  Also hard to hear Pouty Parnell talk about being 2-0 against Lil Nadal. 

Line 2                John Hearn                     Garret Phillippi             6-4,3-6,1-0      Cobra Kai II

                              Keith West                      Ronny Regouffre

There you go G.  Naysayers be damned.  Maybe this guy can play doubles.  Helped to have Goof at the net.  Good battle and good win for Cobra Kai.

Line 3                Burt Dalton                    Robby Economides    6-7,6-3,1-0      Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Joey Dunbar                   Greg Eckholdt

Dunbar and Burt in the TSTB.  Eco and Eckho did good getting it to third.  Is robby still smoking because he is getting winded pretty fast lately?  Just remember…corn hole is not a sport!

Line 4                Shawn Potter  G            George Strain                6-0,7-5              Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Jeff St. Romain             Wayne Durr

There goes that man again!  St. Ro and Potter for the Win.  Geritol George and Wayne make it interesting in the third but fall a little short. 

Line 5                Skip Scoggins                Doug Autin                     6-2,6-7,1-0      Cobra Kai II

                              Kenny Boudreaux        Joshua Walker

Reading this…Swami is reminded that Bogalusa Doug has a couple of titles to his name.  Nice debut for Joshua too as a replacement for Paulie G.  Maybe if Boudreaux servered right handed he would have better luck!

Total Points    3                                          2                          

7:00                    Spin Doctors 2            Tricky's Tribe               

Line 1                Grant Matherne           Jack Ellis                          6-0,6-1               Tricky's Tribe

                              Brad Humphreys         Max Agnew

Jack the ripper entering MVP discussions.  Max…wants to know what about me!  This duo is tough but Oh and 1.  C’mon Grant.  Hal…I witnessed some of this one.  Please do not pair these two up again.  Hard to watch!

Line 2                Mitch Tucker                  Addison Melancon     6-3,6-4              Tricky's Tribe

                              Mike Mesa                      Robert Groeneveld

Addi and Roberto sitting in a tree...  K I S S I N G!  Thought it would be closer.  But you never know which Mitch will show up.  Swami at a loss watching Mesa too.  Some days he looks 35 and some days he looks 65!

Line 3                Mark Ferrer                    Kevin Phayer                  6-1,7-6               Spin Doctors 2

                              Billy Spiess                     Andrew McQuaid

There you go Ferr.  Ring the bell!  I knew they couldn’t keep you out of the Win column long. 

Line 4                Keith Laterrade            Ernie Anderson            7-5,5-7,1-0      Spin Doctors 2

                              Ken Looper                     David Butler

Couldn’t get much closer than this one.  Assume Looper finally made a six footer to force OT.  Congrats to K and K on the hard fought win!  Tricky better put the brothers back together!

Line 5                Josh Clark                       Chris Coincon              6-0,6-3              Spin Doctors 2

                              George Lampard         Steve Toups

Crazy George quietly racking up W’s.  Nice to see Josh get a W too.  Reply All Coincon and Toups go down but on paper this is not surprising.  You have to win the one’s you supposed to win and surprise some on the others.  This one, Spin Doctors were supposed to win.

 

Spin Doctors keeping it interesting.  Just think if Grant and Brad were winning!

Total Points    3                                          2                          

Nov 1st, Saturday

8:00     Cobra Kai II    Spin Doctors 2                          

Line 1                Greg Gordon                  Grant Matherne           4-6,7-5-1-0      Cobra Kai II

                              Tony Priola                      Mitch Tucker

Gordo and Lil Nadal in three!  Did MDB really double fault twice in TSTB!  And Grant was so close to getting his first Win too!

Line 2                Ronny Regouffre          Hal Neitzschman        6-3,7-6              Spin Doctors 2

                              Jay Blossman                Mike Mesa

Hal and Mesa again.  Tough ask for Jaybo and ReGoof! 

Line 3                Garret Phillippi             Billy Spiess      6-2,6-4              Spin Doctors 2

                              Ryan Fornier                  Mark Ferrer

Hal dialing up everybody’d MVP (Billy) and charlie Hustle again.  And again, another W for Spin Doctors.  Singles specialists on short end of the stick this time.  

Line 4                Robby Economides    Brad Humphreys         6-2,6-2              Cobra Kai II

                              Dave McGuire               Paul Eskine

Boom!  There is the Mayor of Mandeville.  Swami about ready to put out a APB!  Good win but can’t brag about beating the vocally challenged Eskine and winless Brad.  Someone ask brad about his previous titles so he can avoid talking about his winless streak!

Line 5                Sid Hauptmann            Bentley Harvey             7-5,3-6,1-0      Cobra Kai II

                              Ananth Desik                Mark Mills

And Yes…the forehands were on this night.  Couple of loose swings in the TSTB did in Spin Doctors.  Just what Cobra Kai needed to squeak out the victory.

Total Points    3            2                          

9:30                    Tricky's Tribe                  Big Swinging Sticks II               

Line 1                Jack Ellis                          David Parnell                                6-4,6-4               Tricky's Tribe

                              Max Agnew                     Mark Schneider          

Jack and Max.  Enough said.  Way to much game for Parnell and Samurai.  If rules were to force top three to the bench for additional rounds…Tricky may actually come back on BSS. 

 

Line 2                Addison Melancon     John Hearn                                    6-4,7-6               Tricky's Tribe

                              Robert Groeneveld     Keith West      

Still K I S S I N G!  AND W I N N I N G!

Line 3                David Butler                   Burt Dalton                                   4-6,6-3,1-0               Tricky's Tribe

                              Danny Buttler                Ray Brouillette             

Butler Brothers BACK together.  All is right with the world!

Line 4                Kevin Phayer                  Jeff St. Romain             6-4,6-2              Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Hauke Bayer                  Matt Dean       

St. Ro is for REAL.  BSS read the tea leaves.  Who would have thought Jeff would figure out that hitting the ball in actually gives you a better shot at winning.  Kudos on the Draft coupe’ Shano.  Ps. Let’s get this guy Hauke in the line up more and come up with a good nickname!

Line 5                Chris Rabon                   Lou Bonnett                   3-6,6-4,1-0      Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Justin Guitreau             Shawn Potter 

This guy Lou is pretty damn good.  Witnessed a little controversy during this one but all in all a good hard fought match.  Hard to lose in front of the wife and kid but it is always risky to invite the fam to Bentleague.  That’s one reason Brad and Grant’s wives don’t come anymore!

Totals 3                                           2           

 

rnd 4   

Nov 6th, Thursday

6:00                    Spin Doctors 2            Big Swinging Sticks II                           

Line 1  Singles              

Russell Anderson        Mark Schneider           7-6,6-2              Spin Doctors 2

Call me Russ not Russell happy to see single’s round!

Line 2                 Rudy Kalman                 Shane McCarthy         6-1,7-6               Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Mitch Tucker                  Jay Butcher

Rudy can’t beat Shane.  Everyone knows that. 

Line 3                 Michael Schwartz       Eddie Burdette             6-3,6-2              Spin Doctors 2

                              Mike Mesa                      Mike Lane

Young Mesa must have shown up.  Schwartz also doing a good Jaeckle and hide impersonation.  Can DickTrain play up with the big boys?  Jury is still out!  Let’s not confuse him with Jack just yet!

Line 4                 Hal Neitzschman        Joey Dunbar    6-1,6-3               Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Billy Spiess                     Burt Dalton

Burt and Dunbar do it again.  Joey Dubs quieting all the naysayers.  Swami wants to see him win a close one before deciding on coronation.  He was nick named minus -2 Dunbar for a reason.

Line 5                 Brad Humphreys         Matt Dean        6-1,6-2               Big Swinging Sticks II

                              Ken Looper                     Seth Monaghan

Sorry Looper.  Your turn in the barrel.  Losing to Seth has to be a new low point for Brad. 

Line 6                 George Lampard         Eric Daigle       6-2,6-0              Spin Doctors 2

                              CJ Mehle                          Kenny Boudreaux

Another win for George.  Give CJ some youth and watch him rack up W’s.  Keep and eye on Hairy Hal.  Dialing up some winning pairings of late. 

Total Points    4                                          3                          

7:00                    Tricky's Tribe                Cobra Kai II                  

Line 1  Singles              

Addison Melancon     Chris Kobrock               4-6,6-0,1-0      Tricky's Tribe

Looks like it was a close one.  Swami was hoping to see Ed’s name here.  As Bum Phillips used to say…if you have the big gun, you might as well use it.  Addi sneaky good of late.  Blessing to pick Donald then Addi vs. the other way around.

Line 2                 Nick Thompson           Blair Touchard               default               Tricky's Tribe

                              Mark Fair                         Ed Dauterive

Calf injury in warm ups.  That hurts!  In more ways than one!

Line 3                 Jack Ellis                          Tony Priola                      6-2,6-4              Tricky's Tribe

                              Max Agnew                     Greg Gordon

Effing Jack and Max.  As much as it pains me to say…Too much fire power for the one hander!

Line 4                 Donald Allen                 Garret Phillippi             4-6,7-6,1-0      Cobra Kai II

                              Robert Groeneveld     Robby Economides

Feature match after disappointing Lines 1 through 3.  Good save by Robby and G!

Line 5                 David Butler                   Dave McGuire               6-2,6-3              Cobra Kai II

                              Danny Buttler                Ryan Fornier

Butlers go down.  Butlers go down.  Ran into a buzz saw with Ryan rallying from back and the MoM dominating the net!

Line 6                 Steve Toups                   Doug Autin      6-4,1-6,1-0      Tricky's Tribe

                              Lowell Shih                     Jay Blossman

Who is this Lowell character and how did he win with Toups?  Just kidding Toupsie.  Lowell at the baseline and Toupsie’s athleticism at the net proved win worthly.  Did I really just type athleticism and Toups in the same sentence.  Eff me!

Total Points     5                                          2                          

 

Five – two for the Tribe.  Making Swami’s predictions look righteous but hurts in print. Effing elbow.  I want Jack and Max when the two handed back hand is back in action.  Not lost on me that you were aiming for the one hander all match! 

 

Points To Date”

Tricky's Tribe                               28

Spin Doctors                                              25

Cobra Kai II                                  27

Big Swinging Sticks II                            36

 

With two matches and one round left can anyone catch BSS?  Have a feeling how the Tribe and BSS fair against the Spin Doctors and Cobra Kai will eventually decide who earns the title.  Tribe just one sweep away from getting back into the title chase.  But…if a sweep is earned by BSS…the distance may be too great to overcome with only five matches remaining. 

 

 

Let’s play some more tennis to find out!