WOW!

Steve Kuri and our new River Oaks pro Shaun Harrop-Keenan playing 5.0 USTA for the La Tuchie Tennis Center, Stow OH won the National Championship today. This team beat Olde Towne Athletic Club, Marietta GA, to take the title. Congratulate Steve and Shaun when they return to River Oaks this week. They're the best in the country and we have them both at River Oaks!

US Open is over!!

Just felt a need to get that big ugly bus off the top of the Blog.

Men's 3.5 Playoff update

The finalists for the NEOTA Men's 3.5 are Western Reserve, Chagrin Valley and Medina High School which beat North Canton 3-2 winning both singles matches and one of the doubles. Matus Cech won 6-1, 6-0 at first singles against a strong opponent.

Grey wears the Maillot Jaune "yellow jersey" as he wins his singles match

Move over Lance, Grey is charging to victory in the final USTA match. Just when you thought the Tour de France was over we have a new winner of the Maillot Jaune.

Thank you Rick, Linda, and Dick for the cookout!

And a good time was had by all. We had to move the rock for Linda. Joe shows off his skill with the tongs!

John and Pam, allstar cheerleaders at final match

Rick and Dick, Captains Courageous

It looks as if Maria heard the news that the 3.5 guys are out of the playoffs, or it could be that she just won Wimbledon.

There's always next year!

Heard that one before, huh? Rick's team lost in the mini-playoffs to a surprising Medina team. Three courts went to third set breakers and we didn't come through on two out of three.

Grey was awesome, losing the first set 4-6, coming back 6-1 in the second and prevailing in a tough, tough breaker. Wally and Joe won in straight sets, but we were unable to get the deciding court, losing 1st and third dubs in tiebreaks. All the guys battled but it was not to be. Afterward, the beer and the tears were flowing and there was that empty feeling of the season abruptly being over. Time to get back to the "just for fun" tennis.

A note from Teresa

Dear Tennis Guru(s)-- As some of us near the end of match play for this summer league season, there are others embarking on the nitty-gritty of league tennis--the mini-play-offs, to eventual NEOTA's, then hopefully to STATES (held here at River Oaks!). The fantastic showing of team camaraderie and heartful athleticism is nothing short of inspiring! I am especially fond of the River Oaks' teams, but all of the teams that have played at RORC have been great to watch! Good luck to those that are battling in play-offs and thanks to everyone for keeping us up to date via the "Tennis Guru" Newsletters!! A real stress-buster!! Teresa B Teresa Boylan Mytennispro@sbcglobal.net www.mytennispro.usptapro.com

Overheard in the Court room.....

Joe Pare smoked the opposition in the senior River Oaks golf outing. (see picture below). Will Salem is in love. Will we hear wedding bells soon? Stay tuned. Hank Harris has enlarged his list of partners he can't play with.(some Swedish guy?) Rogalski and Lancaster are planning a "mega" cookout. Margie has turned on the popcorn machine! (after some internet prodding.) Is Steve Beans looking for a spot on the senior team? He was seen lobbing returns in the last 4.5 match. Send your "overheard-in-the-court-room comments to guru at tennis.friends@gmail.com . We would like to make this a regular feature.

Seniors tie for 1st but loose on sets

Hank Harris awaits the serve as he and Chuck Buschert played a tough Mentor team on court one Thursday night. River Oaks won 2 - 1 with Joe Pare and Dick Lancaster cruzin on court two and Jay Hansar and Ron Wacker doing the same on court three. We end the season with an 8 -1 record to tie with Mayfield Village and North Ridge but did not have enough courts-won to move on to play-offs.

The Fat Lady Sings to Gallo's 3.5

Laaaaahhhhh. Gallo's 3.5 Team needed a match win last night to advance to the playoffs. Unfortunately, it ended with a close 3-2 loss to North Ridge. Gallo's Team ends the season finishing at 3rd place in their flight. A FAT thank you goes out to Pete Gallo for doing a great job as the team captain. And, as the famous saying goes in Cleveland sports, there is always next year!

Good Guys lose to Mayfield Village, Maria pleased with first place finish!

Rick's 3.5 team lost 1-4 last night to a determined Mayfield Village team. The bright spot was Sam, who won his fourth straight match at first singles beating a tough opponent in a third set breaker. Everyone else played well but a victory was not to be. The guys will now get ready for the first round playoff qualifier vs. Medina High School next Wednesday at River Oaks. It's all good because Maria is smiling and the Courtroom had popcorn lastnight. Congratulations to all tennis friends on a fun season and good luck in the playoffs!

Clark's River Oaks' Super Seniors tie for second.

John Clark's River Oaks Super Senior team pulled out a victory over Western Reserve Tuesday night. Joe Pare playing with Frank Mucklo on one fired an ace to win the match over Ackerman and Burge in straight sets 6-2 6-3. Ron Thomas and Jack Gerson fought back from a 1 - 5 deficit in a second set tie breaker to win the set. They then went on to win the 3rd set tie breaker to win the match. Clark had to default court 3 due to a lack of commnications. The team ends up in second place this year with a 5 -3 season.

Season ends for Five Season's 4.0 team

The USTA season ended for the Wong Five Seasons 4.0 team with a loss to a very strong North Ridge team. Time to take a break and look forward to the fall Thursday night tennis league.

Where is Orville Redenbacher when you need him?

The popcorn addicts at River Oaks are going bonkers. After a long outage due to a faulty electrical outlet the problem was fixed. But, but, but, there is no popping. When will our cravings be satisfied? We all know that the base of the food pyramid is popcorn and beer.

Da Blues

The Lancaster Senior River Oaks 3.5 team is singing the blues tonight. After a 2-1 lose Mayfield Village they are tied with Mayfield Village and North Ridge but there fate is out of their hands. One more match to go next week and we will see what happens.

Some of our tennis players love this game.

All of this when the captain is on vacation?

Rogalski goes on vacation and Lancaster captains the River Oaks 3.5 team to two straight 5-0 victories. On Monday at Wembley Samir Mainthia and Grey Kennedy both won their singles matches in 3^rd set tie-breaks. Jay Hansar and Dick Lancaster took 1^st doubles in straight sets. Wally Mueller and Joe Pare did the same at 2^nd dubs and Todd Renzelman and Steve Hoelzer at 3^rd dubs.

On Wednesday night Western Reserve defaulted two courts. Samir Mainthia won again at 1^st singles. Todd Renzelman and Ron Wacker claimed 1^st dubs. Joe Pare and Wally Mueller collected 2 bagels on 2^nd dubs. Team wins 5-0.

Quick news

Monday: Rick's team beats Wembley 5-0 Tuesday: Wong's team loses 2-3 to North Olmsted Tuesday: Clark's team loses 1-2 to North Ridge

Where the service is divine

Does J. W. have a side line? It doesn't look like his office at Panera.

Egon "El Conquistador" Luengo Leads Five Seasons to Victory.

Our charming Chilean, Egon Luengo, led the Five Seasons' Wong team to victory over Fox Creek on Saturday afternoon. Egon's opponent shook his head as he watched Egon's shots hit the lines and power past him. A straight set victory for "El Conquistador" on court 2 singles. Meanwhile on court one Johnny "Brush" Alfes showed signs of brilliance with beautifully executed forehands and backhands against a young college age player. Despite being down in the first set John rallied to win it 7 -5, but then went "walk-about" in the second set. It took a third set match breaker for John to claim the win. The first doubles team of Ron Farnham and Mark Shepard lost a tight match 7-5 7-5. The second doubles team of Tony D'Avino and John Wong also lost. The last team to go on was that of Gordon Frye and Frank Mucklo. They had no idea that the match was on their shoulders as the singles matches were continuing. They won the first set but the other team came back strong and took the second set. In the match tiebreaker Gordon and Frank kept cool and executed their shots while the Fox Creek team's nerves got the best of them. Gordon served for the match and forced an error to claim the match and team victory.

Battle of the Oaks

Lancaster's River Oaks' senior team hosted Julius Skerlan's River Oaks senior team both on their home court. Hank Harris and Lars Ericksson matched up against Joe Arcisc and Frank Strnad and won 7-5 7-5. It was suggested that Hank might need a trip to LensCrafters to help his line calls. Court two was a lob contest between the teams of Dick Lancaster and Dave Bennhoff vs. Frank Schewlik and Steve White. It went to a 3rd set match breaker and Lancaster and Bennhoff won. Chuck Simon and Rich Smith teamed up to play court three against the seasoned team of Tim Rickard and Frank Mucklo. Rickard and Mucklo walked away in straight sets.

The Five Seasons’ juggernaut Gallo team rolls on.

From Pete's email: Last night's win was sweet in coming....or should I say "sweat" in coming. Cleveland Racquet club has a rule about wearing all white. Now I know why....the white helps reflect the heat off of you when playing inside. Yes, it was a hot time last night on some of our courts. Starting with the simmering burner that Bill Oatey and yours truly were playing on, I can only add that Bill's "heated" ground strokes and his fiery service game in the second set alerted our opposition that they were playing against real contenders. Third doubles play last night also left Craig (our dedicated coach) speechless with the level of play we demonstrated. Noteworthy, was the fact that wife, Hilary, was more vociferous in her support of our play during the match than was Craig afterwards. Final score 6-0,6-2.

Our 2nd Doubles team of the "Couple" made a gallant stand to preserve their undefeated status while playing together but succumbed to their opposition which had a few lucky (eyes closed) shots in the match tie breaker that ended their winning run together. The play on this court was definitely more heated than on the 3rd Doubles court. The two Mike's played to a 6 - 6 tie in the first set and overwhelmed their opponents in the 7 point tie breaker giving them the set win. The second set was clouded with barbed accusations flowing from the other side of the net questioning the "couple's" relationship both on and off court. It is understood they finally stopped their antagonism when warned by the two "Mike's" of potential point penalties being levied. With such distractions Mike and Mike suffered a 6-2 loss in the second set and coupled with the "lucky" play of their opponents in the match tie breaker a second court was lost with the score of 7-6, 2-6, 0-1.

1st Doubles team of Gary Alshouse and Gordon Frye turned the heat up on the front burner. Their service games were superb and the "approach" and "volley" segments were text book driven. Playing for the first time together was no disadvantage to these two seasoned tennis veterans. They play good, sharp, fast tennis with now question who would dominate. Gary has proven his value as both a singles and doubles player and Gordon has impressed everyone he has played with his Federer-like court sense. Congrats on a match well played. Good Guys won 6-4,6-3.

Skipping to 1st Singles and we see Egon " the Chilean Caballero" once again riding his white stallion into the sunset well a hard fought but well, deserved win. This match was Egon's toughest to date. His opponent was equally talented with tennis skills and ability to place the ball. He seemed to handle Egon's ground strokes but had problems with Egon's passing shots and especially his $55 serve that was on tonight. Our man outlasted his opponent and played smart the entire evening often times reminding himself of certain basics during play. Egon, focused on his own play, outsmarted his opponent and out played him to a 6-1,3-6,1-0 match win.

The match of the night was unquestionable played on the 2nd Singles court. Lee Zalud was playing even tennis the first 6 games of the first set but was broken and lost 3-6. I could tell after the first couple of games of the second set that Lee had become focused and was not going to let his opponent off the hook for the rest of the night. They fought each other for every point and every point won was a point earned by that player. The point rally's seemed to lengthen as the match went on. All the other courts had finished, including Egon's which had gone to an extended match tie breaker which Egon had won. By the time Lee's second set was approaching the 5-5 score all other players and spectators had thrown their attention to the 2nd Singles' court where a crescendo of play was rising to a very heated level. Lee was able to break his opponent and go on to win the second set 7-5 throwing the match into a match tie breaker. Both players appeared exhausted by now, but Lee still had this little smirk on his face every time his niece and nephew, who were watching from above, would yell out his name in encouragement. Also, Lee was the only one of the some 100 people watching who was not aware of the fact that the out come of his match would determine the winners of the team play that night. The match tie breaker started off even up to the 2-2 score. At this point his opponent had a run of points and breaks that put him ahead of Lee by the score of 7-2. Lee got the ball back to serve at this point and from the spectators above we could hear his small niece yell out, "Come on uncle Lee, you can win, I love you". Well, that little smirk came back to his face and Lee with the determination and concentration that only Lee can express, started a run on his opponent with two service points...4-7, two more points breaking his opponents next two serves...6-7, then getting the serve back and making the next two service points...now 8-7, and then going on to win the tie breaker after coming back from a 2-7 deficit. What a come back! Lee Zalud showed us all a lot of heart last night. Thanks Lee.

3.5's Implode in North Olmsted

Rick's River Oaks 3.5 team imploded at North Olmsted last night losing 3-2. Nothing more can or should be said. Still in first place. We'll be back next week!

Where is TennistheMenace?

Where is the Tennisthemenace? We are looking for your posts.

Supers Ultimately Win

River Oaks' Super Senior team beat Club Ultimate again. Pare and Mucklo took court one in straight sets. Clark and Ericksson had a slow start but pulled it out in the third set match breaker. Court 3 was defaulted by the guests. Jack Gerson and Roy Kaupe got the credit. The lines didn't count for the Club Ultimate players. Are the rules different on the the East side?

Season's slide continues for Five Seasons' Wong team

JW's team lost 4 - 1 against North Olmsted on Tuesday night. The only bright spot was that JW was back in the lineup.

Information arrived via carrier pigeon..

Gallo Five Season’s team crushes George Swartz River Oaks team again! The Swartz River Oaks team suffered the double whammy when they ran into Five Seasons for the second time this year. Gallo's team passed out Hooter's tickets to River Oaks players with all courts winning. River Oaks is O+O in this matchup. For a complete match run down click here. (Link to captain's wiki.)

Chilean chills Chagrin Valley Seniors

The righty lefty combo of Egon Luengo and Tim Rickard led the River Oaks Lancaster Seniors to a 3 - 0 victory over Chagrin Valley. Tim hit the winning shot when he chased down an "oh my god that ball is in" return and flicked it back for a lob winner in the third set match tie breaker. Dick Lancaster and Joe Pare played their "dink-and-lob" game on court two and won in straight sets. Jay Hansar read Joe Pare's book about "pissing off the opposition" and got it working as he and Ron Wacker frustrated their opponents and won in straight sets. Jay, what was that long discussion at the net and what was that dance you were doing?

River Oaks 3.5 men show Wembley how it's done!

River Oaks is all smiles after defeating Wembley! The River Oaks guys came on strong to defeat Wembley 4-1 in last nights 3.5 match. Every one played well. Sam notched his first win and Grey had his opponent talking to himself by the second set. Steve Hoelzer and Todd rocked on court 1, John and Joe showed them how it's done on court 3 and Steve Poe and Frank lost to tough opponents in a close one. Good luck to the Seniors tonight.

Five Seasons' 4.0 team has second win.

Celebrate good times.. Come On! With a win over Fox Creek the Five Season's 4.0 team is coming alive.

Super Seniors shuffle out of Mayfield Village

River Oaks Super Seniors lost to Mayfield Village 2 - 1 last night.

Only Three Months After Shoulder Surgery!

J. W. is back on the court and played his first USTA match of the Season on Saturday. He and his partner Tony D. put up a battle against a strong Peak Performance team. Good to see back John.

No explanation needed.

Tennis Tip of the Day

It helps to encourage your partner.

Dark week for Five Seasons' Teams

Both the Gallo 3.5 and the Wong 4.0 teams had losses this week. Check the team links for details.

Racquet East goes South on River Oaks Seniors

Racquet East was gracious in hospitality and in serving up a three court loss to the Lancaster River Oaks seniors. Rick Rogalski and Lars Ericksson had to toughest match but pulled out a straight set victory with a 7 -5 win in the second set. The team of John Clark and Mack Thomas seemed to be toying with there opponents as they won 6-3 6-3. Joe Pare and Frank Mucklo gave their opponents tickets to Hooter's, with win of O O . Match notes: Lars was seen waving for this partner to come to the net! Rick confused the opponents when hitting the ball at the net by looking in the opposite direction. Joe started trash talking by accusing the Racquet East team of stacking.

River Oaks 3.5 defeats Mentor Heisley again!

In a match that was much closer than the first one, River Oaks handed Mentor Heisley their fourth loss of the season by a match score of 3-2. The good guys are now 6-1 overall with Wembley coming to town next week. Dick and Joe struggled while Mack and Chuck won a close one. Ron and Lars pulled out a third set breaker and Grey put on a stellar performance at singles, taking the first set 6-0 and coming back in the second set and winning 6-4. Good luck to Dick's senior team tonight at Racquet East!

Joke of the month

While out one morning in the park, a jogger found a brand new tennis ball, and seeing no one around it might belong to, he slipped it into the pocket of his shorts. Later, on his way home, he stopped at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the lights to change. A blonde girl standing next to him eyed the large bulge in his shorts. "What's that?" she asked, her eyes gleaming with lust. "Tennis ball", came the breathless reply. "Oh," said the blonde sympathetically, "that must be painful.... I had tennis elbow once."

Super Slump for Super Seniors

River Oak's super seniors lost to a strong Western Reserve team last night. Details too painful to publish. Highlight of the night was returning to River Oaks to console ourselves with a couple of cold pitchers. (Maybe it was our uniforms, bathrobes and slippers...)

Tip of the day

Change a losing game.

If you are losing a match it's not a good idea to keep doing the same thing. Give your opponents something to think about. Change where serve and where you serve to. If your opponents like power, give them fluff. If they serve and volley, lob the return over the net man. Remember that tennis is a strategic game. You can change pace, change location, and change height.

Maria looks disdainfully at Dick Lancaster after being beaten by his patented dink.

Other News of the Week

John Wong’s Five Seasons’ 4.0 team had another rough week as they fell to River Oaks on Tuesday night.

Julius Skerian’s 3.5 Senior team had a nice sweep over Mentor. Roy Kaupe recovered from a bad slip to win his match in the third set match breaker.

Wembley wilts from the heat of River Oaks Seniors

The Wembley team lost all three courts to the Lancaster River Oaks Seniors. Rick and Egon on court one had a blast and put away Wembley's toughest team. Rick had his best game of the season and surprised the opposition with outstanding net play and some great topspin lobs. Egon kept the ship steady and pounded his serves. On court two Jay and Ron gave the watching captain heartburn as they seemed to take a little nap during the second set. But Jay woke Ron up and they took the match in straight sets. Mack and Dave had a hard time starting and dropped the first set. They switched sides and came on strong in the second and went on to win the third set match tiebreaker. They had no idea that they were playing against a world ranked shuffleboard player on the other side. (the things you learn at the table after the match.)

More from River Oaks last night.

Mack and Wally wait for Anderson and Dean to wipe there tears away after the 1st set. See if you can make out the other players. (click on the photo to enlarge)

Look at that form as Dick serves to win against North Ridge

Dick is a blur as he serves for the win in the 3rd set match breaker. Meanwhile our camera caught the thoughts of his partner Joe. (see Joe's brain now in the May Archive link) (click on the picture to enlarge.)

3.5's even things up with North Ridgeville!

With last night's match tied at two courts apiece and nine anxious team members cheering their every move, Dick and Joe easily won a super tiebreaker to seal another victory. The Tennis Guru was seen snapping many pix with his brownie flash cam , sure to be seen soon on this site. Doubles swept all three and although losing, Steve Hoelzer and Sam played well. Sam lost a third set breaker 12-14 and is a singles player to be reckoned with. Go Sam!! Next week, matches at Mentor and Wembley. Good luck to Dick's seniors tonight against Wembley! Who is this "tennisthemenace"?

Gallo's 3.5 Team Suffers Their First Loss

Tennis Guru, we could have used a case of your Traders Joe's Bear's Lair last night. After starting the season with 3 match wins, the Five Seasons 3.5 team suffers their first defeat 4-1 Wednesday night at Western Reserve. The only victorious court goes to Egon Luengo at 2nd singles. Way to go Egon, you are starting off a great year. The other courts....well, what time is practice on Sunday?

She give's lessons over the net? Which net?

Look what the guru found on the web. Teresa our tennis pro has a website. Link It says Lessons on Line. We all know that the lines are OUT! But just maybe she could teach those old slipper-waren' super seniors a thing or two. (Nice Picture, Teresa)

Supers Duper Hank Thomay's North Ridge team.

Joe Arcisz and Dave Bennhoff played the top team of Flickinger and Anderson and gave them a great match coming back from 2 5 to a set tie breaker and came with in a gnat's whisker of going to the match breaker. John Clark and Joe Pare had their hands full with Dolcini and Ritter. They were down in the second set tie breaker but came back to prevail. This caused Dolcini to throw his racquet down in disgust. (see the diagram below of Joe Pare's brain and you will understand that the "piss him off" mode kicked in). Hank and Frank just went to the bank and cashed in on DeMarco and Heindrichs. And a good time was had by all!

Cheap wine and a good cry helps the pain.

The tennis guru had to break out the cheap wine from Trader Joe's when he heard the news about Rick's team. He had the Bears' Lair cabernet while his lady sipped on the Pinot Grigio. (The Bears Lair is a young cabernet which could stand some time in the cellar, but it's nice alcohol content give a good buzz. The pinot is meant to be consumed young and is, (like some of my Lakewood friends) light and fruity. Oh, what has this to do with tennis? Well, like the fuzzy yellow ball, these two give you a nice fuzzy feeling.

Rick's 3.5 Guys fall to North Ridgeville!

The 3.5 team lost to North Ridgeville by an uncharacteristic score of 1-4. Wally and Joe won easily at doubles and that was all she wrote. The North Ridgeville team captained by Jim Dean has some very fine players and much credit is due. We will triumph in the rematch Wednesday at River Oaks! Sam made his team debut at first singles and played very well. Who is this "Tennisthemenace"?

Chuck saves the day for Lancaster Seniors

Hank couldn't make it tonight so Chuck was his last minute replacement and played with John Clark against a stacked Harry Baker North Ridge team. Chuck and John won in straight sets. While on court 2, the dynamic team of Joe and Dick went to match breaker to defeat Hertvick and Kellner. The guru doesn't want to talk about court 3 because Jay and Frank got mowed down by Fogleson and Martin. After the match the Baker-Hertvick team bought 2 pitchers of beer! Bravo guys! There was a lot of table talk after the match and one thing that surfaced (besides looking at the girls ) is that we have to keep things positive on the court. Your partner didn't intentionally miss that ball..let's just roll and not eye-roll.

GOOD GUYS WIN AGAIN!

The 3.5 Men's team earned another hard fought victory tonight beating Mayfield Village 3-2 in another close one. Todd and Ron cruised to a win on court one while Mack and Chuck were winning easily on court three. In a total team effort, Grey, up a set and down 0-5 in the second set, sucked it up and won seven straight to seal the victory 6-2, 7-5. Another tough one coming up Friday night at Northridge. If you're not playing, try to be there at 7:30 to cheer the guys on. Good luck to Dick's senior team Thursday against Northridge!

Club Ultimate Falls to Super Seniors

John Clark's super senior team won agains Club Ultimate 2 -1. Clark and Thomas smoked their oppenents on court 3. Lars and Joe A. also dominated. But on court one it was another story. The Hankster was out of steam and the Frankster was out of his mind. The lines were all out for them today as Ultimate team seemed to need a visit to Lenscrafters. Next up, Hank Thomay's North Ridge gang.

Tip of the day

Lob and Drop Shot

Try to surprise your opponent. Hit shots he isn't expecting you to hit. If he charges up to the net, lob over his head. If he appears to be too deep in one corner of his backcourt, try a drop shot to the diagonally opposite corner. That's what professional players do. Why not you? A lob or a drop shot is nothing to be ashamed of. You are not required to hit the ball hard all the time. ----Bobby Riggs

Hank to buy again?

Could it happen three times in one season? Can Hankster buy another pitcher this Saturday. Be there to find out and partake!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"In tennis, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you piss off your opponent" anonymous -aka "the tennis god"

Joe's tennis brain

So that's how it works! (click on image to enlarge)

Tip of the day

SPEED VS. ACCURACY

MOST INEXPERIENCED TENNIS PLAYERS THINK THEY HAVE TO knock the cover off the ball if they are going to beat anybody. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am certain that right in your own club, or your own neighborhood, there are several "pat ball" players -soft, steady hitters-who consistently defeat more talented players unable to conquer the impulse to drive the ball out of the court on every other point. Violence is no substitute for skill in tennis.

----- Bobby Riggs

Lights out for North Ridge team

The lights went out 3 times during our senior match at North Ridge tonight. River Oaks finally put the lights out for the Hank Thomay North Ridge team by a score of 2 -1. Chuck Buschert and Tim Rickard were blinded by Sunny Dukeman and Ken Anderson on court one. Joe Pare and Mack Thomas found the holes in Ken Williams and Roger Flickenger's games and had a resounding win. On court three, the ex-club champs, Jay Hansar and Dick Lancaster had their opponents talking to themselves. Dick was his old self through the miracle of ibuprofen and moved well on the court. Jay just didn't miss. Nice win guys.

Rogalski puts out winning line-up against Western Reserve

How does he do it? How does he know? Rick put out another winning line-up tonight against Western Reserve. The good guys took the match 3 - 2 Steve Hoelzer blasted through a match breaker on 3 dubs with John Clark. Wally and Steve Poe faced two blasters and won in 2 sets. Ron Wacker and Frank Mucklo ran into a buzz saw the first set but righted everything in the 2nd set and then won the match breaker. Lars had a tough match loosing in a match breaker. Sunil also had a rough night thinking he was at hooters while looking at the score. OO The captain kept his cool and some how knew the team would win. It was a happy ride home!

Rock-a-bye babies..Steve Poe may be seeing double!!

Steve and Kathlene are expecting twin pleasures. Will we see Steve in pink or blue or maybe pink and blue? Now let's see, Steve you're going to need two of everyting!

JW's Five Seasons 4.0 Team Has 1st Win!

JW's had it's 1st taste of victory last night against North Olmsted. See the Captain's wiki for details. It was good to see "master Chung" back in the line up. Even though he lost his court last night, we have come to respect his guile and tenacity. Ok now let's practice our Tai Chi moves and get mentally ready for next weeks big match.

Some one saw this Five Season's pro hitting volleys with JW. The rehab is going well!

One of our fans comments on the match

Hey Rick, good job last night!

Mucklo rules as 3.5's defeat Mentor Heisley!

Not scheduled to play, Super Frank changed in a phone booth, stepped in with only two minutes notice, and teamed with Jay to help Rick's 3.5 team to a hard fought 4-1 victory over a very tough Mentor team. Lars was on top of his game winning first singles 6-3,6-4. Joe and Dick lost the first set 6-7 before coming back in the second set and winning the tiebreak in a walk. Chuck and Wally cruised in the first set 6-2 , lost the second but came back strong to win 10-8 in the breaker. Jay and Frank won in straight sets while Grey suffered his first defeat at the hands of an extremely tough opponent. Congrats to all! A great win and still undefeated. See you Wednesday at WRRC.

Lars ist kaput fur June 2 - 10

Attention Captains, Lars is going to Europe and won't be here 2nd through 10th. If you want to get in the mood with Lars how about making some swedish meatballs. http://www.recipezaar.com/117746 By the way: Happy Birthday Lasse!

EBBunny?

Who is that EBBunny?

Something in the water or air????

It happend again on Saturday. Hank bought another pitcher!

The right stuff at the white place

Lancaster's River Oaks senior team opened the season with a win against Cleveland Racquet Club last night at CRC.

Rick's 3.5 takes all 5!

Rick's 3.5 team took on North Olmsted and it wasn't pretty for North Olmsted. Lars and Steve went to a set breaker and took 1st dubs. Grey dominated at 1st singles. Steve Poe has a sweat at 2nd singles but toughed it out. Sunil and Ron also went to a match breaker on 2nd dubs and pulled it out. John and Frank ate bagles at 3rd dubs. What a way to start the season! Also congrats to Pete's 3.5 Five Season's team that gave another River Oaks Team a drubbing wining 5 - 0 .

Supers Rule, Tonight

The first match of the season for the River Oaks Super Seniors and they took all three courts from Mayfield Village. Joe A and Dave B on one squeaked out a match breaker 11 9; Joe P and John C also went to the set breaker; while on court three the Hankster and Frankster won in straight sets. Also on the River Oaks courts tonight was Ricky "the Rick Rule" Rick making his debut on a new team and playing against Five Seasons. Rick had a novice partner but was able to carry the load. Nice job Rick!

It's more than 40 Love

Congratulations to Chuck B and Karen P just married in Arizona. Chuck is back on the court with a big smile on his face, but we have noticed that his concentrations is a little off. Could it be that he is still in honeymoon mode? :)

Three team practice

We had a three team practice last night. Regular, Senior, and Super Senior team members came and warmed up for this week's matches. Rick, Dick and John our captains did a great job of keeping things moving. We got to see some of our "secrete weapons" play for the first time. We have surprises in store for the opposition. Super Seniors play first this week on Tuesday at 6 pm at River Oaks, followed on Wednesday by Rick's Regulars, and Thursday by Dick's Seniors. Good luck to all....Results to follow.

A historic moment

Saturday afternoon tennis and Hank bought a pitcher!

USTA TIME

The teams are almost set, the schedules are out, and the snowbirds are back!

Watch the ball 

Fantasy Tennis Camp

When: Wednesday night

Where: River Oaks

For the serious player who demands total control, live play and intense competition.

Meet your heros:

• The Dink mister Learn how to have your opponents tell you to “hit it like a man!”
• The Hankster Have you opponents complain that they’ve been “hanked”.
• The renowned inventor of the “Rick rule”.

Sign up for trash talk sessions at Mike’s “big round table".

Will it happen again in 2005? Reporter from Tennis Magazine want's to know.

Waiting for the schedules to be published. Meanwhile see we do have a softer side.

Trash talk and tennis tips

Add your tennis tips or comments to this page. It's easy. Check out what has already been said. This is part of our captain's "wiki" site. Anyone can add to or edit the page. Post anonymously if you wish.

Sad News

Those of you who are active in the USTA will be saddened to hear that Ron Gillian passed away on March 25 due to complications caused by liver cancer. Ron was extremely active in USTA both as a player and official. If you were ever involved in the playoffs, you would certainly recognize him even if you did not know him personally. Ron was 58 and will be missed. Click arrow above for the full obit. Volleyman

what a team!

Have you signed up yet?

Are we going to play here??

Looking for people to help contribute to this blog

Just click on the email link on the left and send a note and I will add you to the contributing team on this site. You will be able to add what ever you would like. I will be sending out some invites too.

Tennis Guru makes booboo

The invite email for the senior 3.5 team went out with some typo errors..or were they senior moments... It said you were invited to join the "2.5" senior team. oops! It also had this site link wrong...ugh.. I am now sitting in a corner and meditating on my mistakes while taking my performance reducing drugs..

Snow ball

squared snow tennis
Originally uploaded by zalgon.

The sun will shine soon, but for today we have snow on the balls.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Please sign up for your teams asap

It's time for team registration. Link to the USTA sign in site. Have your USTA number; credit card number, and team number ready. Each team you sign up for will cost you six dollars. If your USTA membership is about to expire, you will be directed to a page to renew it. Ths season starts the second week of May this year!

Just added audio

Don't want to write but you can talk....well we just added audio blogger to the site. Email me and I will send you the phone number and pin. Just call and talk and it will be posted to the site. For those of you who just can't wait, the phone number is 1 661 716 2564 and the pin is the title of the famous George Orwell Novel...hint we have already past the date.... Try it out. No profanity please! Our players are very sensitive :).

The 2005 Season Begins today with the captains' meeting.

Welcome to our new 3.5 senior men co-captains, Dick Lancaster and Frank Mucklo. They attended the meeting in Akron today and received the team number. River Oaks will have two 3.5 senior men's teams. The team number for registration on the Lancaster team is 8564239140 . You can copy and paste this into the form at the USA League registration site: Sign-up form. Veteran captain John Clark will again head up the 7.0 Super Senior team at River Oaks. There will be only four teams so we have a great opportunity to win this group. The man is back! Men's 3.5 captian Rick Rogalski is lean and mean this year and has added new skills to his game. His team will highlight some new players this year and may send this contender all the way to nationals. Good luck and best wishes to John Wong who is having his shoulder repaired this week. He may be off the court for a while but his genius skills will captain the Five Seasons 4.0 men's team.

email addresses

Hope you all got an email directing you to this site. Please reply to confirm you email address.

3.5 Seniors win Ohio State Championship in Cincinnatti 

Pictures on the web

Pictures of many tennis friends and last years senior River Oaks 3.5 champs are here for you viewing pleasure. This may change in the future as I find new ways to post pictures. Future pics will probably be posted on flikr where you can comment on them for all to see. I will set up a flikr account for tennis photos. Meanwhile you can mail photos to tennis.friends@gmail.com and I will post them to the site.

River Oaks Saturday afternoon 3:00 - 5:00 group. Schedule click schedule

Welcome to our new tennis blog

Yes you found it. Our new site for all things tennis at River Oaks and maybe some Five Seasons.