"Roster" not "roaster", if you will. While a reader can easily overlook an occasional or random typo, a multiply repeated one is genuinely distracting -- not least because it can create ths suspicion (fair or not) that the mistake is more than merely a typo. And that sort of distraction can obscure a good substantive point, which would be a shame.

(01-13-2013 11:51 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  I hope Efe has a decent season, his first as a head coach. He was team captain of the team I was on (96-97) and being a Rice grad, I hope he can continue to build on what Smarr was able to do with men's tennis. A new tennis facility is in the works...we need to look good this next couple of years.

Hey, Buho00, you got one more year eligibility ( so do I). You go back; I don't think I can help much.

(01-13-2013 05:57 PM)texd Wrote:  Is that good? Bad? Average? I have no idea.

(01-13-2013 03:25 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  And the recruits for next year are ranked 125 and 194 nationally.

he current roster does not appear (I hope I am wrong) to have a legit #1 or #2 player for a top 30 school, and probably not a player who would be even in the line-up of a top 15 school. All I am saying is Rice men’s does not need to recruit 4 stars but two solid juniors (a US blue chip, a top ITF 100, or even a solid five star).

(01-14-2013 02:11 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  "Roster" not "roaster", if you will. While a reader can easily overlook an occasional or random typo, a multiply repeated one is genuinely distracting -- not least because it can create ths suspicion (fair or not) that the mistake is more than merely a typo. And that sort of distraction can obscure a good substantive point, which would be a shame.

Thanks. Corrected my posts as went through my spell check that way.

With the 2/26 ITA rankings rice men’s is unranked for the first time in years. With two four star recruits coming in looks like 2013-14 probably much the same unless Rice can sign at least two top recruits. Any suggestions anyone?

(01-14-2013 11:12 AM)ricetennis Wrote:  

(01-14-2013 02:11 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  "Roster" not "roaster", if you will. While a reader can easily overlook an occasional or random typo, a multiply repeated one is genuinely distracting -- not least because it can create ths suspicion (fair or not) that the mistake is more than merely a typo. And that sort of distraction can obscure a good substantive point, which would be a shame.

Thanks. Corrected my posts as went through my spell check that way.

This sounds like a typo that a secretary of mine once did regularly (before I started typing most of my own stuff). I constantly got back dictated documents that had passed through the spell check with "doe snot" throughout them. Had to write a special correction rule just for her so that error would be fixed despite being ok according to Word and WordPerfect!

From the tweetwire:

Quote:RiceTennis ‏@RiceTennisSID
Rice women [technically] make their television debut tomorrow when they face Texas at noon on the Longhorn Network #ricetennis pic.twitter.com/ELVksgWErh

snarky bracketed commentary on the distribution of LHN mine

Congrads to the women’s team. Now ITA ranked 26 and hope can keep the momentum going to break into top 20. While men’s in only gets 4 scholarships, there is no excuse for Rice men’s being unranked at this point in the season except for a recruiting problem (I will give the coaching the benefit of the doubt as this is the coach’s first season). Rice men’s needs to use scholarship dollars to attract at least one or two players for the top of the line-up. If the program is going to turn around they need to change their recruiting matrix and fast. Five of the seven ivies are ranked, w/ 2 in the top 25 and none have scholarships and that should be a wake-up call.

Men are currently tied with Penn State 2-2

Remaining matches are #1 (7-5, 5-5); #3 (4-6, 6-6); #5 (6-4, 2-6, 1-4)

Now 3-3 but Penn State leads 5-2 in final set of final match.

Mens tennis is only in shades of grey. Hard to get excited about a win over unranked Abilene Christian after a loss to Penn State, ranked like 72 out of 75.

Here's an article from his home paper on Rice freshman Tommy Bennett. He is from Sussex, on the Channel coast due south of London.

Women's team moves up two spots to #27.
Men's team returns to rankings at #66.

(03-11-2013 12:19 AM)ricetennis Wrote:  Mens tennis is only in shades of grey, no bright spot. How can anyone get excited about a win over unranked Abilene Christian after a loss to Penn State, ranked like 72 out of 75.

-3 rep points for mentioning "Shades of Grey" and "Penn State" in the same paragraph.

Kudos to Rice Women. Good luck in the NCAAs!
Rice Men’s tennis ends the season unranked for the first time in years. Best win to a team ranked #52 (Oregon) and losses to several unranked teams. While the new stadium is amazing, it takes more than facilities to attract really good players. Top players want to improve their games and look for a program with results. Efe’s first recruiting year was so poor that he had to move up a player from the Rice club team to make practices work. That should not have happened with Rice Men’s Tennis. This is D1 sports. Top programs get players to commit by the fall and we are looking at the summer to sign recruits. To avoid another mediocre year Efe needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Assume he will do what a lot of teams do that can’t attract top US players in the normal recruiting process, go shopping for a random foreigner who is still looking for a scholarship, or bring in some transfers who want the Rice degree. Rice Mens Tennis should not be in this position.

Don't think Efe and his assistant aren't working their butts off to bring in talented players. There are things beyond a coach's control that can derail a recruiting season, and recruiting at Rice has an extra barrier to get around because of its higher academic standards. And, at the moment, Rice tennis -- on both the women's and men's sides -- is a school that mainly recruits international players, and I see nothing wrong with that. The women's team is predominantly international, and they haven't done too shabby the past few years. Hopefully the new stadium and the successes will help attract more top US players, but there's nothing wrong with looking outside your own backyard for talent. If Efe is "shopping for a random foreigner who is still looking for a scholarship" or "bringing in some transfers," then that shows he is doing his job and working tirelessly to find talent wherever he can. Liat Zimmerman and Katie Gater are both transfers to Rice's women's team (and international players, also) who have made a hugh impact this year and last. It takes more than a year for a coach to build a program, especially after the loss of some of their stronger players recently. Give the guy a chance!

(05-10-2013 05:59 PM)owlowlowl Wrote:  Don't think Efe and his assistant aren't working their butts off to bring in talented players. There are things beyond a coach's control that can derail a recruiting season, and recruiting at Rice has an extra barrier to get around because of its higher academic standards. And, at the moment, Rice tennis -- on both the women's and men's sides -- is a school that mainly recruits international players, and I see nothing wrong with that. The women's team is predominantly international, and they haven't done too shabby the past few years. Hopefully the new stadium and the successes will help attract more top US players, but there's nothing wrong with looking outside your own backyard for talent. If Efe is "shopping for a random foreigner who is still looking for a scholarship" or "bringing in some transfers," then that shows he is doing his job and working tirelessly to find talent wherever he can. Liat Zimmerman and Katie Gater are both transfers to Rice's women's team (and international players, also) who have made a hugh impact this year and last. It takes more than a year for a coach to build a program, especially after the loss of some of their stronger players recently. Give the guy a chance!

(05-11-2013 08:10 AM)ricetennis Wrote:  [quote='owlowlowl' pid='9313107' dateline='1368226754']
Don't think Efe and his assistant aren't working their butts off to bring in talented players. There are things beyond a coach's control that can derail a recruiting season, and recruiting at Rice has an extra barrier to get around because of its higher academic standards. And, at the moment, Rice tennis -- on both the women's and men's sides -- is a school that mainly recruits international players, and I see nothing wrong with that. The women's team is predominantly international, and they haven't done too shabby the past few years. Hopefully the new stadium and the successes will help attract more top US players, but there's nothing wrong with looking outside your own backyard for talent. If Efe is "shopping for a random foreigner who is still looking for a scholarship" or "bringing in some transfers," then that shows he is doing his job and working tirelessly to find talent wherever he can. Liat Zimmerman and Katie Gater are both transfers to Rice's women's team (and international players, also) who have made a hugh impact this year and last. It takes more than a year for a coach to build a program, especially after the loss of some of their stronger players recently. Give the guy a chance!

[/

ricetennis, what are you trying to say.

The Women’s Team has had impressive results and that is a reflection of the coaching staff. Academic barriers to recruiting? Stanford and the Ivies have high academic standards for athletic recruits and sign top recruits both foreign and American in the normal recruiting window. Harvard is ranked #27 and several other Ivies are in the top 50 without offering athletic scholarships. While all D1 schools recruit foreign players, those players are also recruited during the normal recruiting window. The only programs that scramble for players at the eleventh hour are ones that have trouble recruiting and Rice Mens tennis for the second year is in that position. I agree with there being nothing wrong with recruiting foreign players if you cant attract the top American ones.