Western Reserve, LaTuchie, Force, Towpath, and Paramount Westlake Take Top Marks ... as the best* of the nigh-lowest level rec league tennis of 2021!
The best of the 3.0 best of 2021, Force, LaTuchie, Paramount Westlake, and Towpath (Western Reserve not pictured, probably to give them the advantage of ... SURPRISE!)
WHOA! What a wild 3.0 season! A season complete with geographically diverse Flights, road trips that sometimes meant playing on one day and returning home the next, and occasionally - occasionally! - high level rec league 3.0 tennis, the 3.0 regular season dust has finally settled as all the 3.0 regular seasons are complete! That's right, all of them, from 18+ to 40+ to those 55+ warriors we all aspire to be, the season is a wrap! And in what turned out to be one of the closest 3.0 season's in recent memory (i.e., last season), Western Reserve, Force, Paramount Westlake, Towpath, and LaTuchie all punched their tickets to the 3.0 playoffs! Along the way, several clubs enjoyed record breaking seasons while several players enjoyed record breaking rec league records that they'll probably never brag about because, well, let's face it ... none of our families or friends actually care. AND WE ARE SUPER HUMBLE!
So read on to find out who won, who's in the playoffs, who won some major* awards, and why N.A. DeFault may be the most hated - but most significantly important - player of our generation!
Click Below For Exciting* Information
18+ Recaps Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3
40+ Recaps Flight 1
18+ Records & Recaps
Flight 1 Standings
W.Reserve 8-2
CSC 7-3
Mayfield 5-4
CVAC 5-5
Green 3-5
Fairlawn 0-9
Saturday Matches
CVAC @ Western Reserve - 4-1
CSC v. Green - 5-0
Mayfield v. Fairlawn - 5-0
Due to a quirk in the 3.0 schedule, some key Flight 1 matches took place on the weekend, giving winless N.A. DeFault several chances to get his first win on the year (or career). In fact, N.A. played in all three matches over the weekend, highlighted by his 0-2 performance for Fairlawn at Mayfield, where the King's of Mayfield improved upon their record from last season, showing they'll continue to be a 3.0 force to be reckoned with in years to come!
Meanwhile, what a weekend it was for CVAC as they took down the Flight 1 leaders despite leading off with the poor play of that infamous Frenchman N.A. DeFault in #1 singles ... but congratulations to Western Reserve Captain Chris for his eighth 3.0 victory on the season! Unfortunately for Western Reserve, Captain Chris' bagel of N.A. DeFault was the lone Western Reserve highlight as the CVAC team came out with their tennis balls a'blazing (ahem)! CVAC's rookie Mark earned his fifth singles win on the season to get his club on the scoreboard while in doubles, fellow CVAC rookie David completed a fantastic inaugural 3.0 campaign with the win to go 8-2 on the 3.0 season while Steve and Mike, in a three set SUPER TIE-BREAK match sealed the deal for CVAC, not only giving them the team win and putting them in the running for D.F.O. Most Improved Team of the Year Award, but also giving CSC a chance to tie up the Flight 1 standings!
And tie up the standings CSC did! CSC's Captain Wayne inspired his 3.0 troops (an armed forces based on a scale of one to 10 being a 3.0 would probably be a pretty bad armed forces, come to think of it) as he and Erick swept the singles courts while Jack, not teamed up with his J&J brother for once, was able to get the team win with compatriot Dylan! And with that, after Saturday's matches, Flight 1 was essentially tied with Western Reserve and CSC at the top. Making this tie all the more tasty (that sounds disgusting) is that both clubs were facing off in the last match of the season, for a winner-take-all Flight 1 championship bout!
Monday Matches
Western Reserve v. CSC - 4-1
CVAC v. Fairlawn 4-1
Green v. Mayfield... no updates ... seriously, Green's matches are marathons!
With everything on the line - and we mean everything! - Western Reserve hosted CSC in what was essentially a playoff match. TO THE DEATH! Or ... for bragging rights. Which around these parts, are about the same. Win, and everything you've worked for all season long is yours (i.e., having to play and pay for more rec league tennis). Lose, and your weekend's are freed up to hang out with your family. Clearly everyone wanted to win! Western Reserve Captain Christopher knew what was at stake, and like a modern day Mad Max, put himself on the front lines, earning win number nine! No doubt inspired, fellow undefeated teammate, rookie Steven, like a modern day Tina Turner (story Steven), followed his leader and did the same, earning victory number six! Up 2-0, Western Reserve looked to be in the 3.0 drivers' seat, but CSC's strength was in doubles, and on two of the three courts, they took the early first set lead while at #2 doubles, the Brothers Pica rallied back in the second to tie the match! Unfortunately for CSC, Western Reserve's doubles tandems, like modern day hero's at that random base camp in Mad max (minus the odd fact they seemed to all be Norwegian even though the film was based in Australia), were inspired by Captain Christopher's motivational in-game speeches (we assume he at least said something like "good job!"), and Steve and David and Bob and Tim all rallied in three-set SUPER TIE-BREAK matches to go down in history (which is true, as the USTA website keeps track of everything you've ever done when it comes to rec league tennis ... and we mean EVERYTHING)! And with that, Western Reserve were Flight 1 champions while CSC, in their first year back after last year's hiatus, gave much pride to their tennis dojo with a fantastic season!
Speaking of fantastic seasons, CVAC continued their great run, enjoying the win on the final day of the 3.0 regular season with a big team win at home. Highlighting the good times for CVAC was CVAC's very own leader, Captain John, earning his third 3.0 win on the year, helping to put him in the running for the totally made-up D.F.O. Most Improved Captain of the Year Award!
Flight 2 Standings
LaTuchie 9-1
P. Medina 7-3
Wembley 5-5
Mentor 4-6
NCRC 4-6
CRC 1-9
NCRC v. Mentor - 4-1
Paramount Medina v. Wembley - 4-1
LaTuchie v. CRC - 4-1
As LaTuchie had clinched Flight 2 championship status two weeks ago and the playoff wild-card status had already been determined to go to Towpath, Flight 2 was playing for what most rec league 3.0ers end up playing for - pride! In North Canton (which is far, far nicer than South Canton), Captain Benjamin completed a fine year of leadership with the team win, even though he fell to D.F.O. Rookie of the Year candidate Nicholas. But Captain Benjamin first and foremost cares about the team, because you can't spell "team" without "Benjamin" (the D.F.O. Grammar Department is confirming that statement, but we're pretty sure it's spot on). Teammate Robert enjoyed singles win number three while in doubles, NCRC went 3-0, highlighted by rookie Matthew's fifth win on the season!
Paramount Medina also ended their fantastic season with the team win, highlighted by Jolly Green Giant Patrick's 12th overall 3.0 win on the year! Wembley rookie, Captain Brandon, got his club on the scoreboard with his fifth win on the season, but Paramount countered as they swept the doubles courts, probably using a comically huge broom as most of their players, like Bogdan and his 40' frame attest, are all over 10' tall!
LaTuchie, coming off their loss last weekend, needed the win to get their mojo back and get ready for the coming playoffs, which they had already qualified for, and try to earn the #1 seed, which, as far as we can tell, is only important for pride. BUT THAT'S ALL WE HAVE! And few people have more pride than LaTuchie's own Scott who earned his 15th 3.0 singles win on the season (sadly, Scott is 0-1 in doubles, meaning if you've ever won a doubles match ever, you're tangibly better than he is! Take that, Scott!). Doubles specialist Alan kept the momentum going for LaTuchie as he notched win number five (wins in both singles and doubles ... ahem...) while doubles stalwart Jeff sealed the season-ending win with his 12th individual 3.0 win! Congratulations to LaTuchie on a fantastic Flight championship season, but more congratulations to CRC for getting back in the 3.0 game after a season off!
Flight 3 Standings
Force 7-1
Towpath 7-1
Bay 4-4
P. Westlake 1-7
Springside 1-7
Saturday Matches
Towpath v. Bay - 3-2
Towpath, needing the victory to push for the vaunted Flight 3 title, also needed the victory to ensure playoff status via the wild-card, meaning ... they needed to win! Their chances, though, took an immediate hit as Bay rookie Nathan enjoyed his third 3.0 singles victory on the season, but their chances took an immediate boost when their very own Jason utterly destroyed travelling Frenchman N.A. DeFault 0 and 0 to end his season a perfect 7-0! In doubles, 3.0 veterans John and Craig steadied the Towpath ship with their sixth tag-team victory on the year, but Bay's Captain Mark, back after several years off, was in the mood to play spoiler, and in an epic three set SUPER TIE-BREAK that ended 10-8, he evened the team score at 2-2! WHOA! Would all of Towpath's 3.0 hopes and dreams come crashing down
against the tennis iceberg that is Bay? Or would they rally and ... well ... yes, they would rally. For Bay's choice for #3 doubles was none other than the twins N.A. DeFault and N.A. DeFault (or triplets, it's hard to tell anymore). With their season on the line, Towpath rookies Jeff and Brian showed incredible moxy, taking down the twins in a crushing 6-0, 6-0 win, not letting them score a single point! WOW! And with that, Towpath had ended their regular season, clinching at least a playoff berth as the wild-card and putting themselves in the Flight 3 title contention as well!
Monday's Matches
Force v. Bay - 4-1
After Saturday's results, Force's Captain Jeremy, knew the score (unlike most his team as it turned out), and knew that for his squad to repeat as Flight champions and get into the playoffs, the goal was simple - they'd have to win their match versus Bay. Lose, and to paraphrase that famously classic Oak Ridge Boys tennis song, they wouldn't have to go home, but they couldn't stay here (which is technically true as the Bay home courts have a city curfew) - they'd miss out on being Flight champions and miss out on the playoffs! Early on, however, it looked like Force would indeed have to go home, as Bay came out en fuego, taking the early lead on four of the five courts! Indeed, acting leader, Acting Captain David, put out one of the strongest Bay lineups to date, even making the controversial decision to sit N.A. DeFault, despite his two court appearance just two days prior. In his place, Acting Captain David put in potential D.F.O. Rookie of the Year candidate Dietrich in at #1 singles, and the rookie did what he's done almost all season long - win! And not just win, but win in a two hour death match, notching his 10th win in but 11 3.0 attempts! Down 0-1 (which is technically inaccurate as Dietrich's match was the last to end, but we're attempting to make this as dramatic as possible), Captain Jeremy let the former Bay player Travis know that Force
needed him to win, and the free agent signing immediately responded ... by dropping four games in a row. #Clutch Travis, though, at just the right time, threw a tantrum, knocked over his water bottle, and made sure the hard-hitting Nathan had to worry about slipping on said spilled water the remainder of the match, making him just that much distracted so the Bay Benedict Arnold was able to take the match, thus evening the team score at 1-1.
Thus, the fate of the Force season would come down to doubles, and Acting Captain David threw a tennis curveball by breaking up the Bay Dream Team of Brian and Tony, a move that immediately paid dividends as Brian and free agent Greg went toe to toe with one of the best doubles pairings in all the 3.0 landscape! But the veteran experience and sleeveless attire of John and James won the
day, giving Force the much needed 2-1 advantage. But, with victory oh-so-close, Force didn't plan on on Acting Captain David looking to derail the Force Victory Train! And indeed, he and his partner Benjamin rallied from 0-3 down to take the first set, forcing Force's Timothy and Robert to rally (which is a tennis kind of thing, as it turns out), and rally they did (again, you kind of have to), forcing the match to a deciding third set SUPER TIE-BREAK! In a back and forth end-of-season last-match-of-the-year show down, it was Force's Timothy and his super loopy forehands that pushed, pushed, pushed Acting Captain David back, almost out of the court, to the point that Acting Captain David was almost hitting his returns from nearby Avon Lake. Finally, out of gas, Acting Captain David netted one of Timothy's super loopy forehands, and with that, the match, and the season, was decided! (Also, Roger the Canadian won on his court at #2 doubles, but as D.F.O. is in a media dispute with Canada, we don't really give him any coverage or recognition).
After the match, both sides celebrated, Force celebrating their back-to-back Flight titles and Bay celebrating their third best season in team history, and both sides kept trying to send free agent/traitor Travis back to the other side as he kept trying to steal both sides food.
P. Westlake 8-0
LaTuchie 7-1
Force 5-3
P. Medina 5-3
Towpath 3-4
Wembley 3-4
NCRC 2-6
CVAC 1-7
Bay 1-7
40+ Recaps
Towpath v. Wembley
They're playing tonight in a pride match ... good luck to all!
Playoff Previews
Taking place the first weekend of August, the biggest* tennis event of the year will take place at Springside Athletic Club. So who is playing? And who will win? And why should you care? We'll answer at least two of those three questions ... here!
18+
Wildcard Playoffs
Western Reserve v. Towpath - The top team in Flight 1 takes on the best second place team in all the land (Cleve-land) next Monday as Western Reserve returns to the championship courts after a year off to defend their 3.0 honor. Western Reserve looks to have the advantage as Captain Christopher can call upon his own undefeated number in singles as well as the number of undefeated teammate Steven (we're guessing Captain Christopher has Steven's number). In doubles, the Brother's Pica have vast experience while undefeated doubles specialist Steve looks to play a major role on the doubles courts. That being said, Western Reserve will have to counter the experience of Towpath's Captain Frank, who is no stranger to playoff play! Indeed, with hard-hitting Jason and David at singles and the near legendary pairing of Craig and John at doubles, this wildcard team may in fact be the favorite! We at D.F.O. will make the controversial prediction that ... the winner of this match will advance to Districts! TAKE IT TO THE BANK!
Districts
LaTuchie, Force, Wildcard Winner - A round-robin event, top seed LaTuchie looks to be the odds-on favorite to advance past Districts to go to ... whatever is after Districts (D.F.O. is contacting Las Vegas bookies now to see what the betting spreads will eventually be). With the combined efforts of D.F.O. Player of the Year Scott leading the way on the singles courts and D.F.O. Captain of the Year runner-up Jeff leading the way from the sidelines (and possibly from the court itself), things look bright for Herb LaTuchie's favorite team! Add in the singles/doubles flexibility of undefeated Ronald and rookie DReddy and then the doubles acumen of Jeff and Alan and then the "x" factor that is rookie phenom Erik, and boy howdy, the only thing that may stop this team is the USTA accidently scheduling the 18+ and 40+ matches at the same time (hint, hint)!
Force, as the number two seed in a tournament that doesn't use seeding, is no slouch, however. Last season's District champions, Force has the experience necessary to make some noise (especially since many of them tend to yell quite loudly), and Captain Jeremy can call upon numerous players to play numerous positions as this Force team, while lacking specialists, more than makes up for it in terms of flexibility. That is, Wael, Adam, Travis, John, James, Roger, and Adnan could all play singles, but Wael, Adam, Travis, John, James, Roger, and Adnan could also all ... play doubles! How's that for analysis! YOU'RE WELCOME!
40+
Districts
Paramount Westlake v. LaTuchie - The top two teams in the 40+ Flight will go head to head as first place Paramount will take on vice-champion LaTuchie in a winner-take-all, one-and-done event! Paramount would seem to enjoy the advantage as they went 1-0 at home versus LaTuchie during. theseason, but with this match on a neutral court, home court advantage is no longer in Paramount's corner (though we're not sure if most the roster actually even likes Paramount, so maybe that won't be a factor at all)! That and the fact that LaTuchie can send out two of the best 3.0 singles players around, Scott and Ronald, a combined 23-1 on the 3.0 singles courts this season! However, Paramount's strength has always been two things - D.F.O. Captain of the Year Robert's leadership and Paramount's outstanding doubles teams! Indeed, with a litany of legendary 3.0 doubles standouts to choose from, Captain Robert has an embarrassment of riches to call upon! So who shall he call upon? And who shall be embarrassed?! WHO KNOWS!
D.F.O. End of Season Awards
Congratulations to the following for earning something you never thought possible ... mostly because you probably never thought about it.
Player of the Year Award - Scott Hovey ... 15-1 on the year, his only blemish was his one double's loss. FOR WHICH WE WILL ENDLESSLY MOCK HIM!
Doubles Team of the Year Award - The Kings ... Yes, that's right. The entire team/family wins this award. According to our counting, they went 15-11 together, which is the most any tandem has teamed up. And yes, you may say, "wait, aren't they all different King's?" And to that, we say, "PROVE IT." There are simply too many of them to count as this point, so sorry Jeff Sterling and Chris Thompson, your 8-0 mark for LaTuchie, while impressive, just doesn't match up to the Twins from Mayfield, each and every one of the King's!
Rookie of the Year Award - Dietrich Schelzig ... 10-1 on the season, including nine wins in singles, this Teutonic tennis playing maestro impressed with both his play on the courts and his Germanic chanting off it!
Captain of the Year Award - Robert Corts ... Led his team to the only undefeated record in all the D.F.O. coverage area (which goes all the way from Bay Village to North Canton!) even though most his team still wants to play for North Ridge instead of where they actually play, Paramount Westlake.
Co-Captain of the Year Award - Scott Mellino ... This award almost went to the entire roster of Mayfield's Kings as they are probably all co-captains but instead Force's Scott takes home this most coveted made-up award thanks to being co-captain of both the 18+ and the 40+ Force teams!
Assistant to the Captain of the Year Award - David Karam ... Bay Captain Mark knew he could rely upon the Dwight Schrute of 3.0 tennis if he was ever away!
Most Improved Team of the Year Award - CVAC ... Captain John's squad improved dramatically from last season's 0-8 finished to this season's 5-5 mark, highlighted by giving the Flight champions, Western Reserve, their only loss in the regular season!
Most Improved Captain of the Year - John Fenner ... Going from 0-8 to 5-5 is impressive enough, but his recruiting of fantastic rookies like Mark, Steve, and David show that CVAC's success will surely continue into next season!
Most Improved Player of the Year Award - Bogdan Nicolae ... Only 1-3 in the wins and losses department in 2020, Paramount Medina's hard-serving seven foot tall power house went 6-1 this year!
Free Agent of the Year Award - Jeffrey Roach ... Didn't play a second of tennis or even spend a second of time in the state of Ohio, but his $25 donation to the Bay team did help pay for post-match beverages, which is way more than Force's Free Agent Travis brought as he switched back and forth between Bay blue and Force yellow all season long.
Comeback Player of the Year Award - Mark Jeffers ... After more than a year off, Bay Captain Mark enjoyed one of his best seasons on the court, going 2-2, while also extending his own Bay record with Captain Wins as he lead his 18+ team to a top three all-time 4-4 finish!
Road Trip of the Year Award - Towpath to Bay ... NCRC's trip to Bay was technically the longest trip of the year, but the fact Towpath had to make the trip to Bay twice and both times it rained and one time the match was cancelled midway through because of rain meaning some of them actually had to make the trip to Bay three times, well ... hopefully Towpath had some fuel efficient vehicles at their disposal.
Worst Player of the Year Award - N.A. DeFault ... In well over 20+ matches, whether in singles or doubles, N.A. did absolutely nothing all season long. And sometimes did nothing twice.
Most Significant Player of the Year Award - N.A. DeFault ... Say what you will, but this guy is often the most important player on any given match day. Usually for the other team, but still.
Big Shout Out Section
Congratulations to D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Famer Clem for extending his own record, going 3-4 on the season to extend his own wins record, now standing in at an impressive 97! Just because he's achieved the greatest honor the D.F.O. can bestow (technically, that's true, and yes, come December we at D.F.O. will begin the painstaking process of finding out who will join the likes of Clem in the most unknown Hall of Fame around!), he hasn't rested upon his 3.0 laurels! Other shout outs include:
- 50 Win Club - William Farr, Denny Huff, Robert Rosenau
- 60 Win Club - Craig Warner
- 70 Win Club - John Consilio, Frank Licari
- 80 Win Club - Robert Corts
- 90 Win Club - Clem Kissling
*Most of these are probably wrong, for our counting is notoriously poor.
- 100+ 3.0 Matches Played - William, Frank, Robert, Lars, Travis, Roderick, and Clem!
Summary
Well, that's that! It's been another wild and wacky and even sometimes entertaining season of rec league 3.0 tennis. We'll keep the not-so-accurate updates coming as the playoffs take place over the next few weeks and the winning teams most-likely have to beg their significant others for an adventurous weekend of 3.0 tennis in tropical Oklahoma City for Nationals, but thanks to all for reading our weekly ridiculousness and thank to all for your hospitality when we visited your courts!
DFO fact check....I was 1-1 in doubles this season so take that!
Woah, woah, woah... I'm from South Canton! You're right though, North Canton is far better than South Canton. - Captain Benjamin