We need a very big, energetic, and loud crowd Saturday at 6:00pm at the Tennis Center for our match with Baylor. They are an excellent team and will be playing for the Big XII championship. They will not, however, have played in an environment that can match a fired up Aggie home crowd. We will need a couple of guys to really step up, but they are certainly capable of doing just that. I hope everyone who enjoys college tennis will make an extra effort to support our guys tomorrow.

consider me there.

Raven....

Having watched bu play I think there is one way to beat them. You have to win the doubles. It is non-negotiable. The doubles point must be won to have a run at a win. Second , you must beat them down low. They are not as good at 4-6. We won the doubles but didnt get the wins down low. Also, be prepared for the bears to cheat. They are taught to call the ball out on the far line away from the umpire chair. Since Knoll came to bu they have been cheaters and once a cheater always a cheater.



Prediction...I think ATM wins the doubles and wins at 4-6 with a shot of a win over horning at three. Cook is a good choice there. He is athletic and can make plays. Will be interested in how you play it.

rocket

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Also, be prepared for the bears to cheat. They are taught to call the ball out on the far line away from the umpire chair. Since Knoll came to bu they have been cheaters and once a cheater always a cheater

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Still havent' gotten over your loss have you? Can you do your crying on another board.

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ATM

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That is a teller machine. When referring to our school us aTm or A&M...Jeez

Don't attack Rocket horn. He is more knowledgable(and fair) about tennis than anyone on this board. BTW, Ill be there tommorow.

Gig 'em!!!

Rocket Whorn..... Quit Crying about your lost to baylor get over it.

where did you play your high school tennis aggie11?

Rocket horn...most fair? Maybe. Most knowledgable? I wouldn't bestow that title on him yet. He does know quite a lot, but I'm sure there are others that know more. He still hasn't admitted to me that he was wrong about his Duke comments earlier this year.

AT a big 5a school in the houston area..We had great teams.

fair enough.

Rocket: I agree with your analysis. We need somebody to step up tomorrow. Still not sure about Keith. If either Newport or Cook step up then I think it is possible. We did not play very well on Thursday, so maybe we are due for a big match. Time will tell, I suppose.

Rocket Horn's analysis was right on the money.I wish his prediction had been right also. Our bottom half came through but we couldn't win the doubles point.

Raven or saag68 could you give me an analysis of how the match went starting with the doubles..Thanks Rocket

good match overall. lester and newp played good at 1 dubs, never was in doubt in my mind, but it was close. skube and bauer were up 6-3 i believe and let it slip away. they just kept pounding it at bauer but he couldn't keep up. number 3 dubs was doomed from the start. from netted too many easy volleys and still looked sluggish. not to second guess cass, but i think we would have had a better chance with khaled in there since from didn't even play thursday.

newport just wasn't quick enough to hang at #1. he fought until the end, but the guy he played was extremely quick, and was painting the lines with 122mph serves all nite.

cook played a good first set, and was up 4-2 in the tiebreak when he got a little tight and lost it. fought in the second, but never could get back on top. his first serve % was pretty low, and he wasn't getting enough depth on his groundstrokes.

jarin's match was a trip. he would get up 40-love or 40-15 every game and then it would somehow get to deuce. once the baylor guy realized that skube wasn't going to beat him by hitting winners, he played step for step with jarin on the drop shots, lobs, and angles. i always knew jarin was going to win, just thought it would have been a little easier.

that's my take on those matches. didn't see much of 2,4, or 6 because i was afraid i'd lose my seat if i got up. the crowd was really great. there were a few questionable calls, some blatant(mostly by the guy lester played), but nothing that changed the outcome of the match, in my opinion. i thought cass's decision to play from at 2 was right on, we just couldn't get anything from 1 and 3.

it was a good match though, and hopefully we'll meet baylor again in the finals of the tournament if i'm envisioning the draws correctly. look forward to seeing what everyone else thought.

[This message has been edited by txag731 (edited 4/20/2002).]

The turning point at #2 doubles was the Skube's service game at 5-4. We had just broken and looked to be in good position. However, Skube got broken at love and our guys never seemed to get back on track.

At #3 singles, Lester was up 5-3 in the tiebreaker. I believe it was the next point (could've been the one after) when Lester played what I thought was an out ball (it was close though) and then barely missed the backhand down the line....it also was a very close call and Lester appealed it to the umpire. He appeared to lose focus then and ended up droping the breaker.

Rocket: The other posts are on target as far as the match was concerned. As predicted the doubles point was crucial and we did not get it done. Ryan and Lester played very well at number one, and we might well have won at number 2, but fell short as previously described.

The Baylor "freshman" at number one was very solid and while I thought Ryan played well, we never really got this match to the point where I thought Ryan could win. Keith's hamstring was still obviously causing him trouble and although he started well, you could see he was in trouble by the fourth game of the first set. Lester played well in the first set and lost a tie-breaker after being up 6-3 (I think). The only really controversial call of the night was at this point, and it seemed downhill from there. Ante seemed to be in control of his match at four from the beginning, although he had to work hard in the second set. Jarin had to work hard for his win at five, but I sensed throughout his match that he was going to win. Khaled had no trouble at six, winning two and one or something like that.

All in all very similar to our Pepperdine and Texas matches. Close, but no cigar. A point or two here or there and things could have been different. Such is the nature of sports, however.

It looks like we will get Texas on Saturday, assuming we both take care of business on Friday. The winner of that match will likely get another shot at Baylor on Sunday.

[This message has been edited by Raven (edited 4/21/2002).]

can't wait for friday. anyone know if the tickets are good for all day, i.e. i can buy them as soon as the tik office opens, and then i can go to classes, and enter and exit without buying another ticket? will there be tix available each morning, or would i be better off buying one of those tournament passes as soon as possible? this is my first b12 tourney, and want to see all the matches i can. thanks for your help.

Rocket Horn and Raven
I want to thank both you for your observations and comments. All of your posts throughout the tennis season have been excellent. Rocket Horn’s points on this thread prior to the Baylor match were spot on. I have been to essentially all of the home matches, and your summaries afterwards have been based on facts. I also want to thank Sherlock on another recent thread for his comments.
Keeping the posts to the facts and being positive will help our team as they prepare for the Big 12 tournament and NCAA play.

Joe, thanks for the props I appreciate the comments. I see the Big 12 tournament as an oppertunity to get better. Reguardless of how anyone feels about baylor they are big 12 champs and that is that. However, they are beatable down low and as we both have seen they are salty up high. Doubles as always will be key.

As far as Texas and ATM are concerned we must get to the semi's first to have another of our battles.There are few days off in the big 12.With that said, I am concerned that whatever is left for Sunday might not be enough after what will be an emotional win for either team. But that is what tournament play is about.

See you there..Rocket

Rocket and Raven

Look forward to seeing you both at the Big 12's. Hopefully, if we do meet up with Texas again, I hope we come out on top. If not, somebody please beat the hell outta Baylor.

I can think of not other coach in any sport that is universally despised by the other coaches in his sport as Baylor's coach is. Bringing in 21 and 22 year old "freshman" with professional playing expirence in Europe is not right. Not gonna say he's cheating since the NCAA obiviously has no problem with it, but it doesn't sit well with his competition.

I hope we can win it all again this year, but if not us, please anyone win it but Baylor!!!

AMEN!

Is it wrong to bring in a 24 year old QB to your football team?

Does he have professional playing experience in the sport he's now competing?

MarcAg....to answer your question....it is perfectly fine to bring in a 24 year old QB who hasn't played football professionally and who hasn't played football since he was 18 or 19. However, to bring in players of any age who have competed professionally in the sport that they are playing in college is a violation of most NCAA rules regarding professionals returning to college...except in Tennis....go figure.

Sherlock...

I predict that in a very short time there will be a change in the rule by the NCAA. There is a huge discussion right now concerning German basketball players that played "club" basketball for a while and land on american college teams. Club ball in europe is really pro ball with players recieving money like a pro player. There are many players in college tennis that have numerous atp points and have accepted prize money and apperance fees. Becker and Horning both have and as such are professionals. Until the NCAA rules on this we have to just grin and
"BEAR" it. Baylor is a step above right now and have a competitive advantage just as they did when Knoll cheated by giving free housing to some of his players which landed bu on probation. All I can say is I hope Matt enjoys the ride cause there is a toll booth ahead for the bears and this time I hope they get caught and recieve a punishment with some teeth.

My understanding is that you can play in a professional tournament and still be eligible, you just can't get paid for it. The same is true in golf and other NCAA sports.

Knoll didn't "give players free housing." A couple of former players let current players live with them when school wasn't in session. That was considered an NCAA violation (a booster type offense) so we lost 1 scholarship for a 1 year if I remember correctly.

Sir Edmund:
Don't go around making excuses for the Dark Lord of Big XII Tennis!

Assuming that the Bears have broken the rules (for discussion purposes only), it seems that the violation could be cured by having the player serve a short suspension and then pay restitution. I believe this happened recently in the baseball program at another Big 12 school, but I just can't remember which school.

The DMN ran an article on Mr. Becker last week. He appears to be a very nice young man. Perhaps the Bears should be congratulated on raising the competitive level of Big 12 tennis.

Also, where do athletes get that restitution money? Some schools just seem to have a restitution money tree on campus.

Congrats to the Bears and Aggies on making the finals of today's tourney. No matter who wins this one, hopefully there will be a third match at the NCAA finals.

Gig'em

The housing incident was self-reported by Baylor to the NCAA. Restitution was made and a scholarship was cut. I believe that Knoll may have received a reprimand as well. I am pretty sure that all these penalties were self-imposed and later accepted by the NCAA.