The #3 Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team is on an SEC road-trip this weekend, visiting #23 Alabama today and Auburn on Sunday. Chadwick's team is rested and ready, since their last action, a 6-1 decision over then-#5 Tennessee.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Today, 2:00
The Tide boast a gaudy 11-1 record thus far, but have not played the type of competition Ole Miss has faced. Of Alabama's competition that has even sniffed the top twenty-five, they beat Miami (4-0) and lost to Pepperdine (3-4) at the Malibu Qualifier for ITA Nationals. Since then, Alabama has slain a row of baby kittens, except for their reasonable wins at Indiana (4-3) and Clemson (5-2), neither of which, though, is particularly good. To open up SEC play, they beat Arkansas 6-1 and #44 LSU 5-2. All three of the Tide's doubles teams are ranked in the Top 80, a claim not made by Ole Miss, who generally fields strong doubles. And Junior Syketh Myeni is currently the #66 player in the nation.
The rankings would seem to indicate that the Rebels might struggle at doubles, however, earlier in the season the Rebels dominated the doubles point against Florida, who currently boast 3 teams in the top 60. My gut feeling is that our #2 and #3 teams (Britton/Vorster and Norber/Sauer) just have not been together long enough for the ITA to take notice, especially of Norberg and Sauer, who have been business-like in their winning ways, as of late.
The X factor is the forecast of rain in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss is, usually, a better team outdoors. The difference, though, is slight, and will unlikely be enough to make up for Alabama's talent gap against the Rebels.
Prediction: All Day Rebs 4-1 with wins at doubles and by Norberg, Britton, and Thiemann.
Auburn Tigers
Sunday, 1:00
The Tigers are currently #20 in the nation, 7-2 overall, and 2-0 in the conference. Their loss against #1 Stanford is certainly understandable.
I'd say more, but it's time to go to the match.
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Something Confirmed; Something Unconfirmed
I have confirmed from publicly released sources that the Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team has moved up to #3 in the country. The full rankings are available at the ITA website.
This is great, right? No this is bullshit.
We remain ranked behind Stanford, simply because they have only dropped one match. However, that one match was to Georgia, who, you might have noticed, we beat. Our schedule has been demonstrably more difficult. And we just came off a crushing defeat of the #5 team in the country. Their only claim to the #2 spot over the Rebels would be their win over USC, to whom we lost. Of course, we had the stomach flu. Anyway, Virginia is the top-ranked team in the country, and that is legitimate. But, Stanford, I have my eye on you.
On the unconfirmed front, I have it on pretty good authority that a member of the Ole Miss Men's Tennis team will be named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. The criteria for the award are pretty straight-forward - be super-smart, good at your sport, and a senior. This means that the recipient is almost certainly fellow blogger Bram ten Berge.
Every year, each SEC school nominates a male and female athlete. One previous from Ole Miss is Calvin Thigpen, the All-American Track Athlete who was elected president of the student body and awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. I say "nominee" because Thigpen - again, Rhodes Scholar - was passed over for Kentucky's Jeff Zurcher because, altogether now, "We are Ole Miss."
Sour grapes aside, if this rock-solid rumor does not turn out to embarrass me, Bram deserves it because he is the man.
This is great, right? No this is bullshit.
We remain ranked behind Stanford, simply because they have only dropped one match. However, that one match was to Georgia, who, you might have noticed, we beat. Our schedule has been demonstrably more difficult. And we just came off a crushing defeat of the #5 team in the country. Their only claim to the #2 spot over the Rebels would be their win over USC, to whom we lost. Of course, we had the stomach flu. Anyway, Virginia is the top-ranked team in the country, and that is legitimate. But, Stanford, I have my eye on you.
On the unconfirmed front, I have it on pretty good authority that a member of the Ole Miss Men's Tennis team will be named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. The criteria for the award are pretty straight-forward - be super-smart, good at your sport, and a senior. This means that the recipient is almost certainly fellow blogger Bram ten Berge.
Every year, each SEC school nominates a male and female athlete. One previous from Ole Miss is Calvin Thigpen, the All-American Track Athlete who was elected president of the student body and awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. I say "nominee" because Thigpen - again, Rhodes Scholar - was passed over for Kentucky's Jeff Zurcher because, altogether now, "We are Ole Miss."
Sour grapes aside, if this rock-solid rumor does not turn out to embarrass me, Bram deserves it because he is the man.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Kalle Norberg Powers Rebs To Victory
Lyon Chadwick, son of coach Billy, primarily uses two words to describe points that go the Rebels' way - "good" and "tough." A winner is "too tough" or "so good." When netters accomplish a string of "good" or "tough" things, Lyon will recognize their consistency by exclaiming his faith that they can continue to do the same "all day." And when our players are not playing particularly "good" or "tough," Lyon implores them to "go to work" or, alternatively, to "make them (the opposing players) work."
Kalle Norberg was so good that it was almost too tough to watch the way he went to work on some jerk from Georgia.
And his did it all day.
Norberg won 6-4, 6-4 to clinch for the Rebels after they had already taken the doubles point and won at #4 with Bram ten Berge and at #6 with Marcel Thiemann. He was all over the court, exhibiting his unique quickness that allows him to always be in the right position.
At doubles, Norberg and Otto Sauer won 8-6 and Devin Britton and Tucker Vorster won 8-4; Jonas Berg and ten Berge went down 6-8.
The importance of beating Georgia to open up the SEC Season is difficult to overstate. The intensity of Norberg and Berg was palpable. They clearly remembered the Elite Eight match with the 'Dogs in 2008. Their passion fueled a fairly raucous (all things are relative) crowd that frustrated Georgia players all afternoon. The crowd may or may not have influenced ten Berge's workmanlike style or Norberg's furious court-coverage, but it clearly assisted Thiemann in his 6-2, 6-2 win.
If the Rebels can take down Tennessee - I'm no eight ball, but I like our chances - and emerge from this monstrous weekend unscathed, they will be the clear early frontrunner for another SEC Championship.
Kalle Norberg was so good that it was almost too tough to watch the way he went to work on some jerk from Georgia.
And his did it all day.
Norberg won 6-4, 6-4 to clinch for the Rebels after they had already taken the doubles point and won at #4 with Bram ten Berge and at #6 with Marcel Thiemann. He was all over the court, exhibiting his unique quickness that allows him to always be in the right position.
At doubles, Norberg and Otto Sauer won 8-6 and Devin Britton and Tucker Vorster won 8-4; Jonas Berg and ten Berge went down 6-8.
The importance of beating Georgia to open up the SEC Season is difficult to overstate. The intensity of Norberg and Berg was palpable. They clearly remembered the Elite Eight match with the 'Dogs in 2008. Their passion fueled a fairly raucous (all things are relative) crowd that frustrated Georgia players all afternoon. The crowd may or may not have influenced ten Berge's workmanlike style or Norberg's furious court-coverage, but it clearly assisted Thiemann in his 6-2, 6-2 win.
If the Rebels can take down Tennessee - I'm no eight ball, but I like our chances - and emerge from this monstrous weekend unscathed, they will be the clear early frontrunner for another SEC Championship.
Bram ten Berge Is So Tough Right Now
Senior Rebel Netter Bram ten Berge is no slouch, academically. A classics major and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he is, basically, the "model" - it's funny because he looks like Nordic scientiests genetically engineered him based on a picture they saw in an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue - of a scholar-athlete.
He put his smarts to use yesterday in the latest contribution to REBELOG, a look inside the life of Ole Miss student athletes that, except for when penned by ten Berge or Jason Cook, is pretty much the definition of daytime firework. What is Bramey blogging about? The Rebels big weekend hosting Georgia and Tennessee, of course.
The best part, though, is how ten Berge attempts to introduce soon-to-be-fans to, perhaps, the best thing about the men's tennis team - its utilization of cheesy nicknames:
Get in on the inside jokes this afternoon. Doubles matches kick off at 2:00 at the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center. I am guessing we will see Berg/ten Berge at #1 doubles, Britton/Voster at #2, and Norberg/Sauer at #3. As far as singles go, I expect to see Jonas Berg, Devin Britton, Bram ten Berge, Kalle Norberg, Marcel Thiemann, and Otto Sauer in that order.
He put his smarts to use yesterday in the latest contribution to REBELOG, a look inside the life of Ole Miss student athletes that, except for when penned by ten Berge or Jason Cook, is pretty much the definition of daytime firework. What is Bramey blogging about? The Rebels big weekend hosting Georgia and Tennessee, of course.
The best part, though, is how ten Berge attempts to introduce soon-to-be-fans to, perhaps, the best thing about the men's tennis team - its utilization of cheesy nicknames:
Fellow senior All-American Jonas “the Ice” Berg (or Jompa for the insiders) and I “10-B”, started the year as the No. 1 ranked doubles tandem in the nation.
...
In addition to [Devin] Britton, the Rebs can count on 52nd-ranked junior Kalle Norberg or “Fresh” and freshman Otto “Otto-matic” Sauer, former top-ranked junior players in Sweden. The rock-solid German twins Chris “Hansi” Thiemann and Marcel “Fritzy” Thiemann, and last, but not least, Tucker “the Dragon” Vorster, round out the talented squad.
Get in on the inside jokes this afternoon. Doubles matches kick off at 2:00 at the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center. I am guessing we will see Berg/ten Berge at #1 doubles, Britton/Voster at #2, and Norberg/Sauer at #3. As far as singles go, I expect to see Jonas Berg, Devin Britton, Bram ten Berge, Kalle Norberg, Marcel Thiemann, and Otto Sauer in that order.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Case for a Great Rivalry
College athletics is all about rivalries, and on a campus that prides itself on tradition, rivalries are doubly important.
The movement to give our age-old game with LSU a nickname was not without controversy. Mostly because the nickname has all the collegiate football aggressive personality of David Cutcliffe's mother-in-law's toy poodle. Also, the first trophy design looked like a wiener.
Our rivalry with State works well because we have alternating big brother complexes. The Maroons have a clear advantage on the hardcourt, the Rebels on the gridiron, and real historical evenness exists on the baseball diamond. The competitive relationship with LSU is more difficult because they, generally, best us athletically, forcing the discussion on our side to devolve into the poor comparative quality of their campus, their women, and their overall behavior (ignoring, usually, as a low-blow the fact that General William T. Sherman served as its president).
Our late strife with our other neighbor to the West has been well documented.
A rivalry, though, that deserves some attention is our occasional engagement of honor with the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. True or not, Athens is often described by residents of both states as a "bigger Oxford." Large numbers of Georgians attend Ole Miss (generally, as a result of our lower admission standards). We have long been among each other's most desirable road trips. And, the impetus of my post, the contest between the Rebels and the Eastern Division Bulldogs is the marquee rivalry in at least one SEC sport.
My reference, of course, is to men's tennis.
Ole Miss and Georgia will renew their cross-net rivalry on Friday at 2:00. The last time these two teams faced each other it was in the Elite 8 at the National Championships in Tulsa. It was, for Ole Miss, their 13th trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen or higher and came in the same season as an SEC Tournament Championship and their seventh straight division title. If these sound like the marks of a national power in the sport, do not be alarmed. At least on the tennis court, "We are Ole Miss" has a slightly different ring to it.
These boasts do not even fare favorably with Georgia, though. The men's team from Athens boasts 6 national championships, including the last two. The Bulldogs have won 32 league titles (to the Rebels' suddenly meager-sounding 11). And that match in the Elite Eight finished 4-1 (a disappointing, if not altogether representative, score). The intensity and competitiveness in that match, though, was perfectly representative of these two programs' place as the premier teams of the conference. And words cannot fully express the gayness of this team's perfumed ambiguous glory.
But if rivalries can be built in a decade, this one has. The Bulldogs and Rebels met each other four times in the SEC Tournament final between 1997 and 2007. The road to the SEC championship has run from Athens to Oxford since Billy Chadwick put Ole Miss tennis on the map. And, if you want to ask whether Rebel tennis will just be its normal really good or will have a shot at the national championship, you need to ask whether the Rebels beat Georgia.
All this is to say that in the realm of Ole Miss athletics, there are few more intriguing, meaningful match-ups than the annual meet between Ole Miss and Georgia. It is a diamond in the crown of history between these two schools. And, unless Mike gets his act together, it will be your only opportunity this year to see competition of any significance in this - one of the few (if not the only) - gentleman's rivalry of the Southeastern Conference.
The movement to give our age-old game with LSU a nickname was not without controversy. Mostly because the nickname has all the collegiate football aggressive personality of David Cutcliffe's mother-in-law's toy poodle. Also, the first trophy design looked like a wiener.
Our rivalry with State works well because we have alternating big brother complexes. The Maroons have a clear advantage on the hardcourt, the Rebels on the gridiron, and real historical evenness exists on the baseball diamond. The competitive relationship with LSU is more difficult because they, generally, best us athletically, forcing the discussion on our side to devolve into the poor comparative quality of their campus, their women, and their overall behavior (ignoring, usually, as a low-blow the fact that General William T. Sherman served as its president).
Our late strife with our other neighbor to the West has been well documented.
A rivalry, though, that deserves some attention is our occasional engagement of honor with the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. True or not, Athens is often described by residents of both states as a "bigger Oxford." Large numbers of Georgians attend Ole Miss (generally, as a result of our lower admission standards). We have long been among each other's most desirable road trips. And, the impetus of my post, the contest between the Rebels and the Eastern Division Bulldogs is the marquee rivalry in at least one SEC sport.
My reference, of course, is to men's tennis.
Ole Miss and Georgia will renew their cross-net rivalry on Friday at 2:00. The last time these two teams faced each other it was in the Elite 8 at the National Championships in Tulsa. It was, for Ole Miss, their 13th trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen or higher and came in the same season as an SEC Tournament Championship and their seventh straight division title. If these sound like the marks of a national power in the sport, do not be alarmed. At least on the tennis court, "We are Ole Miss" has a slightly different ring to it.
These boasts do not even fare favorably with Georgia, though. The men's team from Athens boasts 6 national championships, including the last two. The Bulldogs have won 32 league titles (to the Rebels' suddenly meager-sounding 11). And that match in the Elite Eight finished 4-1 (a disappointing, if not altogether representative, score). The intensity and competitiveness in that match, though, was perfectly representative of these two programs' place as the premier teams of the conference. And words cannot fully express the gayness of this team's perfumed ambiguous glory.
But if rivalries can be built in a decade, this one has. The Bulldogs and Rebels met each other four times in the SEC Tournament final between 1997 and 2007. The road to the SEC championship has run from Athens to Oxford since Billy Chadwick put Ole Miss tennis on the map. And, if you want to ask whether Rebel tennis will just be its normal really good or will have a shot at the national championship, you need to ask whether the Rebels beat Georgia.
All this is to say that in the realm of Ole Miss athletics, there are few more intriguing, meaningful match-ups than the annual meet between Ole Miss and Georgia. It is a diamond in the crown of history between these two schools. And, unless Mike gets his act together, it will be your only opportunity this year to see competition of any significance in this - one of the few (if not the only) - gentleman's rivalry of the Southeastern Conference.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Baseball Moved to Oxford
Tuesday's game against the Arkansas State Whoosey-Whatsits has been moved to Oxford and scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. The game was relocated because Jonesboro is a terrible town where the best place to pick up chicks is Cici's Pizza the combined number of the Ole Miss coaching staff outnumbered expected attendance at Whoosey-Whatsit Stadium, even when divided by three Houston Nutt hates Arkansas Ryan Mallett ran his car into the bullpen at Whoosey-Whatsit Stadium on Saturday night inclement weather was predicted.
That means tomorrow will be a blistery, but unusually full, midweek day of Rebel sports in Oxford. Begin your day with a drink. Then, take in the Rebel Netters first outdoor match against Memphis at 2 p.m. The Tigers have all the flair you might expect from an inner-city tennis team, so Billy Chadwick's bunch will have dispatched their opponents with plenty of time for you to run over to Sterling, chug a few beers, and grab a Baconator to go on your way to Oxford-University Stadium without missing the first pitch, which will probably be disappointing for the Rebs, anyway.
That means tomorrow will be a blistery, but unusually full, midweek day of Rebel sports in Oxford. Begin your day with a drink. Then, take in the Rebel Netters first outdoor match against Memphis at 2 p.m. The Tigers have all the flair you might expect from an inner-city tennis team, so Billy Chadwick's bunch will have dispatched their opponents with plenty of time for you to run over to Sterling, chug a few beers, and grab a Baconator to go on your way to Oxford-University Stadium without missing the first pitch, which will probably be disappointing for the Rebs, anyway.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Insert Witty Worldly Headline Here
Last night, the Rebels’ UN Delegation took home yet another (though under a new name) River Hills Cup by dropping the Dogs of Starkville for the 22nd straight time. Just take a second now, and think about that number—22. So is it possible to be disappointed after a win over a rival and our 10th straight River Hills Cup? When it’s the first time you’ve given up a point in six years, I think so.
In front of a hometown crowd and against another indigenous opponent, Devin Britton faced a lot of pressure, which may have contributed to his dizziness and ill feelings before the match. He played pretty poorly in doubles and the first set of singles but turned it around after calling the trainer out. Unfortunately, he fell just short in the third set tiebreaker but nonetheless showed himself as the superior player on the court. On the bright side, Devin is using up all his bad luck early in the season. I look for things to go up for him.
This put State on the board but was not a real cause of concern for me. The lack of ease with which we sealed off the win, however, is not a good sign. To compete with other top-10 teams, we need to be able to rely on the last three courts as we have in the past. While our shakiness against State worries me, I won’t speculate any further since only a week’s time will tell. We take on top-ranked Ohio State in Columbus on Wednesday and play at ITA National Indoors next weekend.
While none compares to the highlights Tucker Vorster is rocking right now, here are some of the better aspects of the match:
-Swedish dominance: The three Swedes (Jonas, Kalle, and Otto) all played great and were the only winners in singles for the Rebs.
-Dutch/Swedish bilateral cooperation: Our highly touted doubles pair of Jonas and Bram finally showed up and restored some hope to fans.
-Return of the African delegation: Playing with Chris Thiemann in the third doubles slot, Tucker made his return to the team. While he may not have played his best, the duo grabbed three breaks and sealed the doubles point.
In front of a hometown crowd and against another indigenous opponent, Devin Britton faced a lot of pressure, which may have contributed to his dizziness and ill feelings before the match. He played pretty poorly in doubles and the first set of singles but turned it around after calling the trainer out. Unfortunately, he fell just short in the third set tiebreaker but nonetheless showed himself as the superior player on the court. On the bright side, Devin is using up all his bad luck early in the season. I look for things to go up for him.
This put State on the board but was not a real cause of concern for me. The lack of ease with which we sealed off the win, however, is not a good sign. To compete with other top-10 teams, we need to be able to rely on the last three courts as we have in the past. While our shakiness against State worries me, I won’t speculate any further since only a week’s time will tell. We take on top-ranked Ohio State in Columbus on Wednesday and play at ITA National Indoors next weekend.
While none compares to the highlights Tucker Vorster is rocking right now, here are some of the better aspects of the match:
-Swedish dominance: The three Swedes (Jonas, Kalle, and Otto) all played great and were the only winners in singles for the Rebs.
-Dutch/Swedish bilateral cooperation: Our highly touted doubles pair of Jonas and Bram finally showed up and restored some hope to fans.
-Return of the African delegation: Playing with Chris Thiemann in the third doubles slot, Tucker made his return to the team. While he may not have played his best, the duo grabbed three breaks and sealed the doubles point.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Rebel Roundup - Post Superbowl Monday
Superbowl Sunday took a toll on me. I'm still scraping barbecue sauce out from under my fingernails and can't really get my eyes open more than halfway so pardon today's lazy blogging. As for the Superbowl, it was a helluva game. Larry Fitzgerald is somewhere between Hannibal Barca and Winston Churchill in the all-time "ballsiest baller" scale. I still hate the Steelers but, damn, you've gotta respect a franchise that has won six Superbowls. Also, I'm still laughing at that commercial where an animatronic Koala with a British accent got punched in the face.
Anyway, here are some interesting links that you've likely already seen:
Andy Kennedy's Arrest Video - Yes, it's all right here. You can see a visibly drunk Andy Kennedy futilely plead his case to the arresting officer, and a bunch of overly "cop-esque," smartassed comments. Seirously, what's the damn deal with every police officer out there thinking they're some kind of one-liner machine? The only quip that either cop gets out that is at all humorous is the "we deal with the Bengals" line in response to Andy Kennedy warning them that this arrest will make national headlines (or become an "international altercation..." eesh, that's drunk right there). You can also see Bill Armstrong lose his lid and angrily curse at thedirty motherfucking lying son-of-a-bitch cabbie accuser, leading to his subsequent arrest. Watch the video (kinda-sorta NSFW with all of the f-bombs) and comment below, Cup fans.
D.T. Shackleford: Smart, Charitable, Blue-Chipper - We're keeping the recruiting talk on the down low until Wednesday when we'll be live-blogging for signing day. Until then, enjoy this piece on a nice young man from Alabama who may or may not have committed to play linebacker for the Rebels this weekend. We're not following recruiting right now, remember? Anyway, if we were to perhaps recruit and earn a commitment from this young man on the weekend before signing day, snatching him out of the grasp of Lane Kiffin's staff of super-recruiters, we would be adding a heckuva linebacker and an even greater human being to our football lineup.
We Finally Defeated Wake at Something - Yes, we're still pretty good at tennis. Perhaps Ivory Tower or one of our more frilly, Victorian-era sports enthusiast readers could give you more info. Me, I'm too busy watching Die Hard and eating pork to pay attention to a bunch of European guys jump around in tight fitting pastels.
Anyway, here are some interesting links that you've likely already seen:
Andy Kennedy's Arrest Video - Yes, it's all right here. You can see a visibly drunk Andy Kennedy futilely plead his case to the arresting officer, and a bunch of overly "cop-esque," smartassed comments. Seirously, what's the damn deal with every police officer out there thinking they're some kind of one-liner machine? The only quip that either cop gets out that is at all humorous is the "we deal with the Bengals" line in response to Andy Kennedy warning them that this arrest will make national headlines (or become an "international altercation..." eesh, that's drunk right there). You can also see Bill Armstrong lose his lid and angrily curse at the
D.T. Shackleford: Smart, Charitable, Blue-Chipper - We're keeping the recruiting talk on the down low until Wednesday when we'll be live-blogging for signing day. Until then, enjoy this piece on a nice young man from Alabama who may or may not have committed to play linebacker for the Rebels this weekend. We're not following recruiting right now, remember? Anyway, if we were to perhaps recruit and earn a commitment from this young man on the weekend before signing day, snatching him out of the grasp of Lane Kiffin's staff of super-recruiters, we would be adding a heckuva linebacker and an even greater human being to our football lineup.
We Finally Defeated Wake at Something - Yes, we're still pretty good at tennis. Perhaps Ivory Tower or one of our more frilly, Victorian-era sports enthusiast readers could give you more info. Me, I'm too busy watching Die Hard and eating pork to pay attention to a bunch of European guys jump around in tight fitting pastels.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
All Day Rebs Best Trojans
Not surprisingly, the Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team won their first team match of the year against the Troy Trojans earlier today. I snuck out of the Gillom Center after Devin Britton, who was, indeed, playing in the #1 spot, defeated some German to clinch the meet (let's celebrate America, right?). The Rebels won the doubles point, though our nationally top-ranked team of Bram ten Berge and Jonas Berg won their set with a slightly disappointing score of 8-6.
Calle Norberg was lights-out today, pwning some Latin American dude 6-1, 6-0. Jonas was a bit of a slow starter, but turned on the after-burners to win his match 7-5, 6-1. Devin Britton, though, staged an epic comeback in his second set, recovering from 3-5 to take the match 6-4, 7-5. After the win was assured, I bolted leaving Bram in control at the #4 spot, and Otto Sauer and one of the Germans just starting at 6 and 5, respectively.
Halpert mentioned, in jest perhaps, that things get a little rowdy at tennis matches. What Halpert underestimates is the phenomenal amount of caffeine that surely must be consumed by Lyon Chadwick, third-year law student and son of Coach Billy Chadwick. ACC basketball fans, Central American soccer mobs, and Tom Cruise have nothing on this guy. Dare I even mention the perpetual-intensity machine Mr. Chadwick was when feeding off Robby Poole. So, yeah, Halpert, if you want some legitimate Ole Miss enthusiasm that will make the brain-trust over at the Colonel Reb Foundation rethink their own devotion to Rebel Nation, get yourself down to the Gillom Center (or, when we move outdoors, the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center) and see what real fannage looks like.
The League of Nations plays again on Saturday in a non-conference match against Kentucky in the first round of the ITA National Tournament at 10:00.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Men's Tennis Makes Home Debut Tomorrow
The Ole Miss Internationals will play their first matches in Oxford for the 2008-2009 season tomorrow against the vaunted unoriginal Troy Trojans, who will be fairly outmatched (and likely outdressed) by Billy Chadwick's cadre of continentals.
As they generally are, the team is highly ranked and expected to win their eighth straight SEC West Championship. The Trojans, meanwhile, have obviously not yet figured out how to recruit the most talented foreigners to the Deep South. They have met South Carolina and Alabama this year in team competition, losing all six singles points and the doubles point to USC and taking only the #6 singles against the Crimson Tide.
Bram ten Berge, senior All-American, will likely start as the top-seed single for the Rebels, and Mississippi native Devin Britton will be making his debut in Oxford.
Troy ought to be no more than an exhibition for the Rebels, who I confidently expect to win 6-1 or 7-0.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Rebel Roundup: Friday Morning Linkage (EDIT - 2 More!)
Hardy Undergoes Another Foot Surgery - Greg Hardy, emo poet and destroyer of galaxies, will miss Spring practice but should be healthy enough to participate in fall drills after Wednesday's foot surgery. For those of you who may be concerned that Greg is going to miss all of Spring practice, I say don't be. He doesn't need it.
Does "the Curse" Extend that Far? - Our Men's tennis team has been picked to win the SEC by the conference's coaches. The Rebels, ranked #9 in America, earned 7 first place votes out of a possible 11 (I doubt coaches are allowed to vote for their own team). Go get 'em, you Nordic warriors you.
Construction on Baseball Stadium Nearing Completion - So, maybe it'll be done on time after all. The Ernie LaBarge Bullpen Club has a photo gallery of the construction's progress here.
Four More Years! For More Years! - What would a Houston Nutt inaugural address look like? Well, our amigos at Friends of the Program have speculated and, as always, hit the nail on the head. Giggity, indeed.
Tay-B Gets Crunk 25 Days a Week, Suffers Gunshot Wound - Since he's not dead, a lot of folks have been making jokes (if the bullets were footballs he wouldn't have been hurt, etc.) but you've still gotta feel bad for the former Rebel wideout. Godspeed, you tall, fast, concrete-handed squire.
Congress Introduces a bill to Kinda-Sorta Ban the BCS - I mean, they can't "ban" it, but they can prohibit the promotion of the BCS as a method of determining a national championship... maybe. I'm still confused as to how this fits into the Constitutional role of our legislative branch. Hey, Congress, don't you have a GTMO to close or maybe some taxes to raise or some shit? Stay out of our sport you overpaid hacks.
Does "the Curse" Extend that Far? - Our Men's tennis team has been picked to win the SEC by the conference's coaches. The Rebels, ranked #9 in America, earned 7 first place votes out of a possible 11 (I doubt coaches are allowed to vote for their own team). Go get 'em, you Nordic warriors you.
Construction on Baseball Stadium Nearing Completion - So, maybe it'll be done on time after all. The Ernie LaBarge Bullpen Club has a photo gallery of the construction's progress here.
Four More Years! For More Years! - What would a Houston Nutt inaugural address look like? Well, our amigos at Friends of the Program have speculated and, as always, hit the nail on the head. Giggity, indeed.
Tay-B Gets Crunk 25 Days a Week, Suffers Gunshot Wound - Since he's not dead, a lot of folks have been making jokes (if the bullets were footballs he wouldn't have been hurt, etc.) but you've still gotta feel bad for the former Rebel wideout. Godspeed, you tall, fast, concrete-handed squire.
Congress Introduces a bill to Kinda-Sorta Ban the BCS - I mean, they can't "ban" it, but they can prohibit the promotion of the BCS as a method of determining a national championship... maybe. I'm still confused as to how this fits into the Constitutional role of our legislative branch. Hey, Congress, don't you have a GTMO to close or maybe some taxes to raise or some shit? Stay out of our sport you overpaid hacks.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Tar Heel Tennis - What You Need to Know
Let's start with an editorial note:
GOOD GOD! THIS IS THE THIRD TENNIS POST IN A ROW!
But, Friday morning Rebel Nation will continue its most reasonable hope for a national championship in anything (back off, Rifle Girls, what you do is illegal in at least 13 states) against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is a different kind of program than Ole Miss - it has Americans. That's plural with an S. Five from North Carolina alone. In fact, the Tar Heels have not one, no, no, not one Nordic tennis player.
Advantage: Ole Miss.
Here's a recipe for success if you ever wanted one: recruit a bunch of Euro-trash who went to high schools like the Norwegian School for Athletics (Erling Tveit's alma mater - it's like Genesis One only without having to pretend that "academics" is the reason people go to school). If you (and by "you" I mean the architect of an athletic program that doesn't make money) absolutely have to have an American, make sure he's black.
Where's the diversity, Tar Heels? You're racism is killing me inside, North Carolina.
It's because of this lack of foresight that the Tar Heels got heeled by Miami in the ACC Tournament. Click the link, and you'll see why I cannot figure out if Miami has a tennis team or a fraternity chapter at a Big Ten school.
If you're looking for actual analysis, UNC boasts the #6 Doubles Team in the country - Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney, but Jonas and Erling are ranked #5 and Wellerman and ten Berge are ranked #21, so...Go Rebs! UNC players ranked in the ITA Top 100 include 2 court man Stefan Hardy at #73 and 3 court man Chris Kearney at #91. Ole Miss individuals are Erling Tveit at 22, Matthias Wellerman at 29, Robbye Poole at 56, and Bram ten Berge at 95.
The Rebels, in summary, are deeper than the Tar Heels by almost any measure. For more information on the Rebels click here or click here for notes on North Carolina.
25 Days a Week and I will be going to Tulsa this weekend where nothing less than a personal introduction to the team members' busty European sisters will be satisfactory. I think we will also try to catch the tennis match. We would liveblog, but we aren't sure that Tulsa has progressed beyond tins cans connected by taut string. But, if by some miracle, this system of tubes and wires connects itself to the only state that wishes it were Texas, we'll keep you posted.
GOOD GOD! THIS IS THE THIRD TENNIS POST IN A ROW!
But, Friday morning Rebel Nation will continue its most reasonable hope for a national championship in anything (back off, Rifle Girls, what you do is illegal in at least 13 states) against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is a different kind of program than Ole Miss - it has Americans. That's plural with an S. Five from North Carolina alone. In fact, the Tar Heels have not one, no, no, not one Nordic tennis player.
Advantage: Ole Miss.
Here's a recipe for success if you ever wanted one: recruit a bunch of Euro-trash who went to high schools like the Norwegian School for Athletics (Erling Tveit's alma mater - it's like Genesis One only without having to pretend that "academics" is the reason people go to school). If you (and by "you" I mean the architect of an athletic program that doesn't make money) absolutely have to have an American, make sure he's black.
Where's the diversity, Tar Heels? You're racism is killing me inside, North Carolina.It's because of this lack of foresight that the Tar Heels got heeled by Miami in the ACC Tournament. Click the link, and you'll see why I cannot figure out if Miami has a tennis team or a fraternity chapter at a Big Ten school.
If you're looking for actual analysis, UNC boasts the #6 Doubles Team in the country - Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney, but Jonas and Erling are ranked #5 and Wellerman and ten Berge are ranked #21, so...Go Rebs! UNC players ranked in the ITA Top 100 include 2 court man Stefan Hardy at #73 and 3 court man Chris Kearney at #91. Ole Miss individuals are Erling Tveit at 22, Matthias Wellerman at 29, Robbye Poole at 56, and Bram ten Berge at 95.
The Rebels, in summary, are deeper than the Tar Heels by almost any measure. For more information on the Rebels click here or click here for notes on North Carolina.
25 Days a Week and I will be going to Tulsa this weekend where nothing less than a personal introduction to the team members' busty European sisters will be satisfactory. I think we will also try to catch the tennis match. We would liveblog, but we aren't sure that Tulsa has progressed beyond tins cans connected by taut string. But, if by some miracle, this system of tubes and wires connects itself to the only state that wishes it were Texas, we'll keep you posted.
Breaking News...
Oxford, MS- An unfortunate off-the-court incident has put a damper on the hopes of the Ole Miss men's tennis team as they head into Friday's Sweet 16 matchup with North Carolina. In a packed press conference, UM coach Billy Chadwick acknowledged rumors of misconduct on the part of at least two of his players: "Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit have both met with me about the incident in question. I have not yet decided on disciplinary action, but a match suspension is certainly a possibility."
With the rumor mill spinning at full tilt, RSC contacted Chadwick early Tuesday afternoon to get the story straight. With unprecedented frankness, a disappointed Chadwick spilled the scoop on the troubled doubles partners:
"As a family, and as a team, we are very upset with the behavior of Jonas and Erling. We are still sorting out all the details of the incident, and I hope that no other players were involved." When prodded for more details, Chadwick was initially reluctant: "All I can say is that both players allegedly attended a house party on Monday evening that stretched well beyond the allotted team curfew of 11:00 PM..."
Hungry for answers, our intrepid RSC reporter was able to pry further into the heart of the story. An unidentified UM tennis staffer was able to provide this tipoff in exchange for his anonymity: (paraphrased)
Berg and Tveit arrived at a house party on College Hill road Monday night, and from approximately 10:45PM to 1:00AM, consumed as many as four Smirnoff Ices ('Smices') each. After this point, they called for a designated driver. Before leaving the premises, they were noted by one partygoer as being 'slightly louder than normal,' and were even rumored to have caroused with or perhaps even cavorted with a female attendee before their driver arrived.
While this incident was the first infraction for Berg, Tveit has been previously disciplined by Chadwick for an inconsistency in ironing his Polo shirts for practice, and for making two B's second semester of his sophomore year.
With the duo's status uncertain, RSC will provide updates as they become available.
With the rumor mill spinning at full tilt, RSC contacted Chadwick early Tuesday afternoon to get the story straight. With unprecedented frankness, a disappointed Chadwick spilled the scoop on the troubled doubles partners:
"As a family, and as a team, we are very upset with the behavior of Jonas and Erling. We are still sorting out all the details of the incident, and I hope that no other players were involved." When prodded for more details, Chadwick was initially reluctant: "All I can say is that both players allegedly attended a house party on Monday evening that stretched well beyond the allotted team curfew of 11:00 PM..."
Hungry for answers, our intrepid RSC reporter was able to pry further into the heart of the story. An unidentified UM tennis staffer was able to provide this tipoff in exchange for his anonymity: (paraphrased)
Berg and Tveit arrived at a house party on College Hill road Monday night, and from approximately 10:45PM to 1:00AM, consumed as many as four Smirnoff Ices ('Smices') each. After this point, they called for a designated driver. Before leaving the premises, they were noted by one partygoer as being 'slightly louder than normal,' and were even rumored to have caroused with or perhaps even cavorted with a female attendee before their driver arrived.
While this incident was the first infraction for Berg, Tveit has been previously disciplined by Chadwick for an inconsistency in ironing his Polo shirts for practice, and for making two B's second semester of his sophomore year.
With the duo's status uncertain, RSC will provide updates as they become available.
Monday, May 12, 2008
May Madness
That's right. It's that time of the year again, when all attention turns away from life as we know it and to the biggest, most hyped tournament of the year--the NCAA Tennis Tournament. After the first two rounds, which were held in baseball-style regionals, the remaining teams are ready to head to Tulsa, OK, for the Sweet 16. Yes, that includes Ole Miss (see the updated bracket).
Oxford Regional: I'll begin with a run-down of the Oxford Regional. The Rebs played the Marist Red Foxes in the first round of the tournament. I guess the closest basketball analogy is a 15 vs. 2 opening round game (and not one of those close ones). Demoralized fairly quickly, the Foxes were retired within two hours of play as multiple Rebels dropped only a single game or none at all. Afterwards, Vanderbilt and Indiana fought through a down-to-the-wire, four-hour-long match that finally ended when Vandy's Vijay Paul came back from three match points in the third set tiebreaker to live another day.
But only one more day: The Commodores moved on to face the Rebels, who won their regular season meeting 6-1, on Sunday. In doubles, Erling and Jonas just couldn't find their groove to get a break and dropped 8-6. On Court 2 after coming back from two breaks down, Matthias and Bram lost a tough tiebreaker to give Vandy the lead 1-0. The Rebels returned to the court for singles "with a little revenge" on their minds, according to Jonas Berg. The Rebs swept through the first set on every court and won on the bottom four courts with no visible struggle to advance to the Sweet 16.
What lies ahead: As it stands, the Rebs are set to play on Friday morning against North Carolina, whom we should handle with relative ease, having already taken them d
own 4-1 early in the season. In their second round match against Duke, UNC won via the doubles point and courts 4, 5, and 6 in singles (i.e. the same way Ole Miss frequently operates). That won't happen with Berg, Norberg, and ten Berge rounding out the bottom half--in any order. That would pit the Rebels against the winner of Georgia and Pepperdine, both renowned tennis programs.
Overall bracket: Claiming the top five seeds were Virginia, Ohio State, UCLA, Georgia, and Ole Miss, respectively. How do I feel about these seedings, specifically that Ole Miss and Georgia have reversed positions from their actual national rankings? Well, I have no problem with the selection committee's (I'm assuming a similar entity exists for tennis.) choice of Georgia over us. They're a pretty stacked team, and we tend to have a tough time against them. In fact, I'd prefer a six or seven seed just to get us to the other side of the bracket so that we could avoid Georgia and Virginia until the finals. Ohio St., UCLA, and USC present no problem in my mind--all year, I've wanted a rematch against Ohio St., and I just generally have no respect for teams in the PAC-10.
So far, my bracket is panning out far better than its March equivalent, as expected. The noticeable absence of upsets makes the task far simpler. In fact, only one host team did not advance to the Sweet 16. Who is it? In the unfortunate twist of the tournament, Tulsa, the team hosting every remaining match, missed out on this incredible opportunity for home-court advantage. Isn't it ironic...don't you think?
Oxford Regional: I'll begin with a run-down of the Oxford Regional. The Rebs played the Marist Red Foxes in the first round of the tournament. I guess the closest basketball analogy is a 15 vs. 2 opening round game (and not one of those close ones). Demoralized fairly quickly, the Foxes were retired within two hours of play as multiple Rebels dropped only a single game or none at all. Afterwards, Vanderbilt and Indiana fought through a down-to-the-wire, four-hour-long match that finally ended when Vandy's Vijay Paul came back from three match points in the third set tiebreaker to live another day.
But only one more day: The Commodores moved on to face the Rebels, who won their regular season meeting 6-1, on Sunday. In doubles, Erling and Jonas just couldn't find their groove to get a break and dropped 8-6. On Court 2 after coming back from two breaks down, Matthias and Bram lost a tough tiebreaker to give Vandy the lead 1-0. The Rebels returned to the court for singles "with a little revenge" on their minds, according to Jonas Berg. The Rebs swept through the first set on every court and won on the bottom four courts with no visible struggle to advance to the Sweet 16.What lies ahead: As it stands, the Rebs are set to play on Friday morning against North Carolina, whom we should handle with relative ease, having already taken them d
own 4-1 early in the season. In their second round match against Duke, UNC won via the doubles point and courts 4, 5, and 6 in singles (i.e. the same way Ole Miss frequently operates). That won't happen with Berg, Norberg, and ten Berge rounding out the bottom half--in any order. That would pit the Rebels against the winner of Georgia and Pepperdine, both renowned tennis programs.Overall bracket: Claiming the top five seeds were Virginia, Ohio State, UCLA, Georgia, and Ole Miss, respectively. How do I feel about these seedings, specifically that Ole Miss and Georgia have reversed positions from their actual national rankings? Well, I have no problem with the selection committee's (I'm assuming a similar entity exists for tennis.) choice of Georgia over us. They're a pretty stacked team, and we tend to have a tough time against them. In fact, I'd prefer a six or seven seed just to get us to the other side of the bracket so that we could avoid Georgia and Virginia until the finals. Ohio St., UCLA, and USC present no problem in my mind--all year, I've wanted a rematch against Ohio St., and I just generally have no respect for teams in the PAC-10.
So far, my bracket is panning out far better than its March equivalent, as expected. The noticeable absence of upsets makes the task far simpler. In fact, only one host team did not advance to the Sweet 16. Who is it? In the unfortunate twist of the tournament, Tulsa, the team hosting every remaining match, missed out on this incredible opportunity for home-court advantage. Isn't it ironic...don't you think?
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Interview with Billy
Last week, Billy Chadwick answered some questions submitted by fans for Grove Side Q&A with olemisssports.com. It opened up with the all-too-neglected topic of tennis recruiting. Apparently, we've got the top-ranked player from Sweden coming in next year to add to our four returning players. Aside from him, Coach Chadwick only mentions "a couple of recruits that we are working on that we should get some answers on pretty soon." Nonetheless, he feels "very confident that we will have an excellent team next year."
Really, Billy? By my count, that's five people on our roster. Barring any injuries or illnesses that have plagued us this season, that still leaves us with a gaping hole. Granted, the season isn't even over yet, but I'd like a few more commits before I believe that we'll be "among the top 10 in the country" again. That is, unless we persuade former high school tennis star and newly discovered Ole Miss slugger, Jordan Henry, to make the trip from Swayze to Palmer/Salloum.
Speaking of which, with spin that would make Fox News proud, Chadwick commented, "The Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center is one of the nicest tennis centers in the country. What makes it nice is that it is a good size where we can pack it." Translation: IT'S TINY! There's no way it ranks among the top in the country. Perhaps, after the planned renovations, we can revisit this topic, but the only way I see that happening is the addition of the Powe-Tron.
On another note, the host sites for Regionals will be announced Tuesday afternoon, and The Library is giving away free food from 12:15 to 1:30. Free food? I'll be there.
Really, Billy? By my count, that's five people on our roster. Barring any injuries or illnesses that have plagued us this season, that still leaves us with a gaping hole. Granted, the season isn't even over yet, but I'd like a few more commits before I believe that we'll be "among the top 10 in the country" again. That is, unless we persuade former high school tennis star and newly discovered Ole Miss slugger, Jordan Henry, to make the trip from Swayze to Palmer/Salloum.
Speaking of which, with spin that would make Fox News proud, Chadwick commented, "The Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center is one of the nicest tennis centers in the country. What makes it nice is that it is a good size where we can pack it." Translation: IT'S TINY! There's no way it ranks among the top in the country. Perhaps, after the planned renovations, we can revisit this topic, but the only way I see that happening is the addition of the Powe-Tron.
On another note, the host sites for Regionals will be announced Tuesday afternoon, and The Library is giving away free food from 12:15 to 1:30. Free food? I'll be there.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
More specifically, Scandanavia
As promised by Ivory Tower, I bring more discussion of the Ole Miss SEC Champion tennis team. The Rebs got sweet revenge on Sunday afternoon after a series of unfortunate events led to a loss at home to the Gators in the regular season. The semifinal against the Volunteers of Tennessee deserves little note, as the match went basically as expected (and because it is almost completely overshadowed by the final). The most important point of that match had to be on Court 1 in doubles, where our sixth-ranked duo finally showed up after a streak of less-than-stellar matches with an 8-1 thrashing. This sign of resurgence in the team brought a sense of hope for going all the way.
In the final round, the Rebs expectedly snagged the doubles point, but Florida's absurdly strong singles play provided little comfort (see: wins over Ole Miss earlier in the season and Georgia the day before). At this point, you start counting matches and guessing the optimal/most likely way of winning. Yes, Jonas Berg will smoke his opponent on Court 4 (more on this Swede-nom (that's Swede-phenom) to come). Kalle Norberg can almost certainly be counted on for the third point. Where's that last one we need? Jakob could certainly do it, as could Erling or Robbye (if he's having a good day).
Well, that was about right. Jonas once again finished his match expediently, while Matthias fell on Court 2. Kalle had to fight for our third point but came through as expected. With Robbye in a third set, the final point was likely going to come from Court 1 or 6. Jakob took the second set to a tiebreaker but was beaten out by a matter of minutes by fellow senior Tveit, who clinched the match with a win over the second-ranked, cheating (see third paragraph) Greg Ouellette.
That one match is huge for the Rebels going into Regionals--too often were we winning via the doubles point and courts 4-6 in singles. While a win may in fact be a win, RSC endorses the opinion that greater margins of victory yield much "better" wins. Strong play in the top half of the line-up will make the Rebels an extremely potent force to deal with in contention for a national championship.
The events of Saturday (i.e. the Gators' win over Georgia) posit the question of whether the Rebel squad could have overcome the deep, experienced Bulldog team. Let's check this out analytically, court-for-court, based primarily on Georgia's performance on Saturday. I will apply a loose form of the transitive property in this reasoning, so bear with me.
In singles, Erling still clearly wins on Court 1--based on how well he played and on Ouellette's win the day before. The Rebels likely drop Courts 2 and 3 to the Dogs, but of course take 4. That puts us at 2-2 for those of you keeping score at home. I believe that we would be able to take the last two singles matches for the win, but for the sake of argument, say we split those two. In doubles, Erling and Jonas would have laid the smack down on anyone had they played as they did; and based on a very explicit use of the aforementioned transitive relation, Tucker and Jakob would have taken Court 3 easily to seal the deal. Summary: On Sunday, Ole Miss played well enough to beat just about anyone the NCAA could throw in their way.
Now, the Rebs have a couple of weeks to recuperate before Regionals (which will certainly be hosted in Oxford) and barring an apocalypse, will head to Tulsa for the Finals. [Clarification for baseball fans: In tennis, the Super-Regional stage is skipped in favor of a large equivalent of the College World Series.]
In the final round, the Rebs expectedly snagged the doubles point, but Florida's absurdly strong singles play provided little comfort (see: wins over Ole Miss earlier in the season and Georgia the day before). At this point, you start counting matches and guessing the optimal/most likely way of winning. Yes, Jonas Berg will smoke his opponent on Court 4 (more on this Swede-nom (that's Swede-phenom) to come). Kalle Norberg can almost certainly be counted on for the third point. Where's that last one we need? Jakob could certainly do it, as could Erling or Robbye (if he's having a good day).Well, that was about right. Jonas once again finished his match expediently, while Matthias fell on Court 2. Kalle had to fight for our third point but came through as expected. With Robbye in a third set, the final point was likely going to come from Court 1 or 6. Jakob took the second set to a tiebreaker but was beaten out by a matter of minutes by fellow senior Tveit, who clinched the match with a win over the second-ranked, cheating (see third paragraph) Greg Ouellette.
That one match is huge for the Rebels going into Regionals--too often were we winning via the doubles point and courts 4-6 in singles. While a win may in fact be a win, RSC endorses the opinion that greater margins of victory yield much "better" wins. Strong play in the top half of the line-up will make the Rebels an extremely potent force to deal with in contention for a national championship.
The events of Saturday (i.e. the Gators' win over Georgia) posit the question of whether the Rebel squad could have overcome the deep, experienced Bulldog team. Let's check this out analytically, court-for-court, based primarily on Georgia's performance on Saturday. I will apply a loose form of the transitive property in this reasoning, so bear with me.
In singles, Erling still clearly wins on Court 1--based on how well he played and on Ouellette's win the day before. The Rebels likely drop Courts 2 and 3 to the Dogs, but of course take 4. That puts us at 2-2 for those of you keeping score at home. I believe that we would be able to take the last two singles matches for the win, but for the sake of argument, say we split those two. In doubles, Erling and Jonas would have laid the smack down on anyone had they played as they did; and based on a very explicit use of the aforementioned transitive relation, Tucker and Jakob would have taken Court 3 easily to seal the deal. Summary: On Sunday, Ole Miss played well enough to beat just about anyone the NCAA could throw in their way.
Now, the Rebs have a couple of weeks to recuperate before Regionals (which will certainly be hosted in Oxford) and barring an apocalypse, will head to Tulsa for the Finals. [Clarification for baseball fans: In tennis, the Super-Regional stage is skipped in favor of a large equivalent of the College World Series.]
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Key to Ole Miss Athletic Success: Western Europe
I assume that 25 Days A Week will have something more substantive for you in the near future, but until he does it falls on me to note that Ole Miss won an SEC Championship in ... something.
Yes! Tennis! I knew it!
Using a roster composed, primarily, of guys he picked up in a techno club Amsterdam, Billy Chadwick has won himself another SEC Title (Men's Tennis won the SEC Tournament in 1997, as well). In a fitting end to the tournament, the Rebs' top-ranked singles player, Erling Tveit (whose name is spelled, honestly, about as phonetically as possible), won his match against some unknown Floridian to suspend play and take the tournament.
So, warm congratulations to the Men's Tennis Team (and also the Women's Team! You did your best! Go Title IX!). Palmer-Salloum (yep, that's the Tennis Complex you've never heard of) will likely play host to regional and super-regional play in the NCAA Tournament. Regionals will be held the weekend of Commencement, which works out well for Erling's parents (two flights from Oslo costs a pretty krone - Norwegian currency, which, according to Google will fetch you about $0.20).
Yes! Tennis! I knew it!
Using a roster composed, primarily, of guys he picked up in a techno club Amsterdam, Billy Chadwick has won himself another SEC Title (Men's Tennis won the SEC Tournament in 1997, as well). In a fitting end to the tournament, the Rebs' top-ranked singles player, Erling Tveit (whose name is spelled, honestly, about as phonetically as possible), won his match against some unknown Floridian to suspend play and take the tournament.
So, warm congratulations to the Men's Tennis Team (and also the Women's Team! You did your best! Go Title IX!). Palmer-Salloum (yep, that's the Tennis Complex you've never heard of) will likely play host to regional and super-regional play in the NCAA Tournament. Regionals will be held the weekend of Commencement, which works out well for Erling's parents (two flights from Oslo costs a pretty krone - Norwegian currency, which, according to Google will fetch you about $0.20).
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tennis Update
This weekend, while without apparent sources of sporting excitement in God's Country, finds itself the host of the SEC Tennis Tournament (i.e. one that we can feasibly win). This blogger would certainly be there, were it not being held in the farthest farther major city in Arkansas from Oxford.
The team is almost, if not completely, back at full strength. Bram was actually listed to play this morning but was pulled out in favor of senior Jakob Klaeson just before singles. Perhaps he didn't feel well enough to play; perhaps Chadwick knew that we wouldn't need him to beat Kentucky. Well, we didn't need him, as the Rebs took doubles and then swept the bottom three games for a 4-0 win to take us to the semis against Tennessee.
Of note in the match--Kalle double-goose-egged his opponent on court 5. Jonas took his match with ease also (0,3). Jakob fought hard to clinch the match (7-5,6-2) for the Rebels. Everyone likes to talk about how well he plays in the postseason; I would love to see that manifest itself while Bram is out of the lineup.
On the top two courts, Erling and Matthias dropped their first sets before the match was suspended. They absolutely have to play better against Tennessee and (probably) Georgia if we're to have a chance to win it all. Yeah, winning courts 3-6 will get us through every time, but I'd like to not have to count on that.
There will be more to come as the tournament progresses. For those of you keeping score at home, live updates are available here.
The team is almost, if not completely, back at full strength. Bram was actually listed to play this morning but was pulled out in favor of senior Jakob Klaeson just before singles. Perhaps he didn't feel well enough to play; perhaps Chadwick knew that we wouldn't need him to beat Kentucky. Well, we didn't need him, as the Rebs took doubles and then swept the bottom three games for a 4-0 win to take us to the semis against Tennessee.
Of note in the match--Kalle double-goose-egged his opponent on court 5. Jonas took his match with ease also (0,3). Jakob fought hard to clinch the match (7-5,6-2) for the Rebels. Everyone likes to talk about how well he plays in the postseason; I would love to see that manifest itself while Bram is out of the lineup.
On the top two courts, Erling and Matthias dropped their first sets before the match was suspended. They absolutely have to play better against Tennessee and (probably) Georgia if we're to have a chance to win it all. Yeah, winning courts 3-6 will get us through every time, but I'd like to not have to count on that.
There will be more to come as the tournament progresses. For those of you keeping score at home, live updates are available here.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Yeah, we can be good at things too
Yeah, Ole Miss baseball had a great weekend. Believe me. I'm absolutely ecstatic. You know who else had a great weekend? The tennis team, who have now won (that's a palindrome) seven straight SEC West Championships. Even better fact, there have only been seven years of divisional SEC play in tennis. We're awesome.
On Friday, the Rebs smoked Arkansas indoors due to the crappy weather we had all day. Ole Miss easily took the doubles point and proceeded to win 1-2-3 in singles to finish it off. Black lining: Usually reliable Kalle Norberg dropped his match--though it didn't seem to hurt his confidence (foreshadowing).
Sunday brought a much more competitive match against a certain team from Louisiana who had recently taken down Florida who had recently beaten Ole Miss. They gave us one of our toughest challenges in doubles all year with a lights out performance from their top duo. The newly formed, power-heavy team of Wellermann and Poole won on court 2 easily, and all attention turned to Klaeson and Vorster, who rallied back and grabbed the point for the Rebs.
More bad news: The nearly unbeatable Jonas Berg got a stomach bug and had to sit out of singles, so our bottom three were shifted up a slot. Once again, no problem because Kalle Norberg was EVERYWHERE on the court. On numerous occasions, he would barely get a ball (that should have been a winner) and either smoke a passing shot or lob it in right into the back corner for the point. He was unstoppable.
On court 3, the SEC Player of the Week, Robbye Poole, continued his hot streak, though you would never have been able to tell without a scoreboard. Watching his matches, I feel as though he is always losing--even when he's up a set and a few breaks. He will not let you forget any point he loses, but between them he'll win three of four.
Erling dropped his first set 6-1 and nearly rallied back only to lose in a third set tiebreaker. Sure, we wanted the win, but I was just glad to see his fight.
Also playing were Wellermann (who handily won his match on 2), Klaeson (who handily won his match on 5), and Vorster (who dropped his match on 6 to quite a talented freshman).
Next Saturday at 11, the Rebs will destroy M-S-WHO? to finish the regular season 18-4 (9-2).
They're giving out free hot dogs. If you hate State as much as I do, please come enjoy a pleasant thrashing before/during the Grove Bowl. Oh, and it's Senior Day. We're losing Tveit, Wellermann, Poole, and Klaeson next year. It's gonna be rough next year trying to replace these guys, but somehow Chadwick has found ways to do it for 20+ years, so I trust him to do it again.
On Friday, the Rebs smoked Arkansas indoors due to the crappy weather we had all day. Ole Miss easily took the doubles point and proceeded to win 1-2-3 in singles to finish it off. Black lining: Usually reliable Kalle Norberg dropped his match--though it didn't seem to hurt his confidence (foreshadowing).
Sunday brought a much more competitive match against a certain team from Louisiana who had recently taken down Florida who had recently beaten Ole Miss. They gave us one of our toughest challenges in doubles all year with a lights out performance from their top duo. The newly formed, power-heavy team of Wellermann and Poole won on court 2 easily, and all attention turned to Klaeson and Vorster, who rallied back and grabbed the point for the Rebs.
More bad news: The nearly unbeatable Jonas Berg got a stomach bug and had to sit out of singles, so our bottom three were shifted up a slot. Once again, no problem because Kalle Norberg was EVERYWHERE on the court. On numerous occasions, he would barely get a ball (that should have been a winner) and either smoke a passing shot or lob it in right into the back corner for the point. He was unstoppable.
On court 3, the SEC Player of the Week, Robbye Poole, continued his hot streak, though you would never have been able to tell without a scoreboard. Watching his matches, I feel as though he is always losing--even when he's up a set and a few breaks. He will not let you forget any point he loses, but between them he'll win three of four.
Erling dropped his first set 6-1 and nearly rallied back only to lose in a third set tiebreaker. Sure, we wanted the win, but I was just glad to see his fight.
Also playing were Wellermann (who handily won his match on 2), Klaeson (who handily won his match on 5), and Vorster (who dropped his match on 6 to quite a talented freshman).
Next Saturday at 11, the Rebs will destroy M-S-WHO? to finish the regular season 18-4 (9-2).
They're giving out free hot dogs. If you hate State as much as I do, please come enjoy a pleasant thrashing before/during the Grove Bowl. Oh, and it's Senior Day. We're losing Tveit, Wellermann, Poole, and Klaeson next year. It's gonna be rough next year trying to replace these guys, but somehow Chadwick has found ways to do it for 20+ years, so I trust him to do it again.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Courtside Update: No, Not the NIT
The Rebel tennis team improved to 14-4 (5-2) today with a win over Vandy in impressive fashion. The middle of a three-game road stint, this match hopefully gave the team some needed experience in adverse weather conditions that Coach Billy Chadwick claims had quite an effect on the team in their loss to Florida.
The Rebels began the match with almost expected domination of the doubles point, as Robbye Poole filled in for the injured Bram ten Berge to win at No. 2 with partner Matthias Wellermann. Moving to singles, Wellermann's troubles continued at No. 1 in SEC play. Coach Chadwick has stuck with Matthias at the top spot in every SEC match despite a 2-4 record in conference play and a more proven player in Erling Tveit sitting at No. 2. I dare not question the decision making of our esteemed coach of 25 years, but I am waiting to see Matthias ram his huge serve down some people's throats.
Do not despair, Rebel fans, about losses on the first court--it is our depth that wins us matches. Tveit fulfilled expectations with a win at No. 2 (6-3, 7-5), and the "good" side of somewhat erratic player Robbye Poole showed up to pull out a win on court 3 (7-5, 6-4).
Jonas Berg continues to keep fans excited about the future of the program with yet another strong win (6-2, 6-4) at No. 4. I know that he plays easier opponents on courts 4 and 5, but Berg has only one loss in singles to his name this spring (and he made his opponent work for it). He plays hard and knows how to win; expect him to shoot forward in the line-up after the graduation of much of the team this year.
Kalle Norberg has returned to usual form in the past two matches after a disappointing loss at No. 5 against Florida with a 6-1, 6-0 win today. Jakob Klaeson filled the final spot over freshman Tucker Vorster as the Rebs still suffer from the injury to ten Berge. In only his second SEC singles match of the year, Klaeson bounced back from losing the clinching match against the Gators a week ago and showed resilience in his 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 6. The team really needs him to step up while ten Berge, who has been out of action since playing doubles against Florida, recovers.
The Rebels travel to Lexington to face Kentucky on Sunday and need a strong match to bring them home for the remainder of the regular season.
The Rebels began the match with almost expected domination of the doubles point, as Robbye Poole filled in for the injured Bram ten Berge to win at No. 2 with partner Matthias Wellermann. Moving to singles, Wellermann's troubles continued at No. 1 in SEC play. Coach Chadwick has stuck with Matthias at the top spot in every SEC match despite a 2-4 record in conference play and a more proven player in Erling Tveit sitting at No. 2. I dare not question the decision making of our esteemed coach of 25 years, but I am waiting to see Matthias ram his huge serve down some people's throats.
Do not despair, Rebel fans, about losses on the first court--it is our depth that wins us matches. Tveit fulfilled expectations with a win at No. 2 (6-3, 7-5), and the "good" side of somewhat erratic player Robbye Poole showed up to pull out a win on court 3 (7-5, 6-4).
Jonas Berg continues to keep fans excited about the future of the program with yet another strong win (6-2, 6-4) at No. 4. I know that he plays easier opponents on courts 4 and 5, but Berg has only one loss in singles to his name this spring (and he made his opponent work for it). He plays hard and knows how to win; expect him to shoot forward in the line-up after the graduation of much of the team this year.Kalle Norberg has returned to usual form in the past two matches after a disappointing loss at No. 5 against Florida with a 6-1, 6-0 win today. Jakob Klaeson filled the final spot over freshman Tucker Vorster as the Rebs still suffer from the injury to ten Berge. In only his second SEC singles match of the year, Klaeson bounced back from losing the clinching match against the Gators a week ago and showed resilience in his 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 6. The team really needs him to step up while ten Berge, who has been out of action since playing doubles against Florida, recovers.
The Rebels travel to Lexington to face Kentucky on Sunday and need a strong match to bring them home for the remainder of the regular season.
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