Happy Independence Day...

Wishing all of you a very happy and safe Independence Day. What wonderful opportunities we all have as a result.

Nuff said...

Format Change???

Things could be changing...

There is a motion up before the NCAA D2 Tennis Committee at the moment which considers a format change with respect to match scoring. Essentially the motion suggests a move away from the 9 point scoring format to the 7 point format already used in NCAA D1.

For those of you not familiar with the scoring format currently used in D2: each team match consists of 9 tennis matches: 3 doubles matches and 6 singles matches. Each of these matches is worth 1 point. Thus, there are 3 doubles points and 6 singles points available. The NCAA D1 format has only 7 total points available as the singles matches are still worth 1 point each but the doubles play is only worth 1 total point for scoring. The doubles point is awarded to the team winning the majority of the 3 doubles matches.

This format change places a greater emphasis on the singles matches and ensures that the team winning any given dual match must win at least one half (3) of the singles contests. Also, this format change could also shorten the dual match somewhat. If a team has won the first 2 doubles matches finishing, the third match would be stopped as a majority has been achieved. I am not sure that this is a big deal though.

I was asked by another coach for my opinion about this rule change and I responded by saying that "it depends on how well we play doubles during any given season." However, truth be told, even though we have always played pretty solid doubles, I support such a format change. With the recent NCAA rule changes in D2, the incoming players are younger (I will avoid the obvious cheap shot at the schools who seem to have a special relationship with the NCAA) and have less experience. As a result, much practice time has to be devoted to doubles...probably more than singles. I feel that it is more important for the players to be hitting more balls and focusing on developing their skills, strategies, and fitness rather than spending more than half of a practice on teaching doubles on a day-to-day basis. If only 1 point is at stake for doubles, coaches could spend a little less time in that area. This, in my opinion, would not only make the players happy but would be better for their overall development.

This rule change, if approved, could be utilized as soon as next season.

What are your thoughts?

Nuff said...

Hey Bernie Tomic...

Gotta give a shout out to Bernie. I remember watching this guy beat the #4 seed in the Junior US Open, Fernando Romboli of Brazil back in 2007. He was 14 years old and maybe weighed 120lbs. We were surprised then that he won but I am not surprised to see him winning now.

Go Bernie.

Nuff said...

Roger as a Lefty...

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Surgery Goes Well...

Good news! Surgery went well yesterday as the skilled Dr. Nicholas, who has served as team physician for the NY Jets and NY Islanders, was able to repair Coach Neil's Achilles tendon.

Of course, the surgery was the easy part. Now the hard road of rehabilitation begins. In general, there will be a period of non-weight bearing followed by a process of strengthening and stretching. All in all your coach should be mobile for the fall season and should be ready for 4.5 USTA tennis next summer.

In the meantime, you may see Neil zipping around on some sort of clipper blue scooter for more rapid ambulation.Join me in wishing Coach a full and speedy recovery.

Nuff said...

OUCH!!!

Everybody send your collective good thoughts to Clipperland as good old Coach Tarangioli goes in for his MRI exam today. Unfortunately, your Coach was injured last night during a USTA 4.5 match.

In only the fourth game of the match, your pal Neil hit his service return from the ad-court and like any good doubles player, began to follow his shot into the net. With that dynamic push off, he felt as though "someone hit me (him) in the back of my (his) lower leg with a tennis racquet".

That is never a good sign and usually means at least a significant strain of the calf/Achilles area. I certainly hope that a strain is all that this is and not a significant tear of the tendon or muscle which would likely require surgery and a fair amount of recovery time.


I will certainly keep you up to date with the process. In the meantime, do not hesitate to send off some well-wishes to Coach Neil. I know he would appreciate hearing from you.

Email Coach Neil: tuki_1@hotmail.com

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Happy Father's Day...

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the fathers out there a very Happy Father's Day. These well-wishes go out especially to the fathers of our current players that have let us borrow their sons for our tennis purposes. Also, I would like to extend greetings to all former Clippers that are now fathers themselves. It is always a pleasure to see so many of you throughout the year and I hope you all enjoy your special day.

I am pretty sure that if my own father, and former coach of the Clippers, were still alive today, he would want to have a good meal and spend some time with his grandchildren. He would probably splurge and order himself his annual Manhattan cocktail consisting of whiskey, vermouth, bitters and a cherry. I am not sure he actually enjoyed this Manhattan or it was just something that he did once a year for a reason he never shared. I tasted this drink once and found it to taste like I would suppose gasoline would. No thanks.

Have a great day all.

Nuff said...

Clippers Sign Majauskas

Hello again Clipper family folks,

I am pleased to announce that Benas Majauskas of Lithuania has signed a letter of intent to join the team as a student athlete this fall.

Benas has extensive international tennis experience and will be expected to play at a high level here in Bronxville. He was a charter member of a group of solid players from an emerging tennis nation including practice partner Ricardas Berankis. As a 17 year old, Benas achieved an ITF junior world ranking of 367 before choosing to concentrate on academics rather than traveling for tennis. Benas will also be an asset in doubles as he has won two futures events with a partner.

For a quick look at his court work see below:



Join me in welcoming Benas to the Concordia family and wish him nothing but success during his time here.

Nuff said...

Olfans Signs...

Greetings Clipper fans!

In some summer good news, Tomasz Olfans of Poland has signed a letter of intent to attend Concordia in the fall. Tomasz joins the team and brings an exciting game to New York that will help continue the strong tennis tradition that you all have become accustomed to.

Tomasz also has extensive ITF junior and men's experience that will serve him well versus the top competition he will face at the NCAA II level. He has been ranked as high as #548 in the ITF junior world rankings, with limited events, defeating several players inside the top 200.

For a glimpse his game see below:



We look forward to having Tomasz here in Bronxville and competing once again for an NCAA II National Championship. Join me in welcoming Tomasz.

Nuff said...

Perspective...

I am happy to report that the fine folks at Dell have finally fixed my computer and it seems to be functioning normally at this point. I hope that this good fortune continues for many years after the warranty expires.

During the time shortly after our third semifinal loss in as many years to Barry, I thought quite a bit about why we have not been able to get the job done, advance to the final and have a chance to claim the championship. In addition, I have been hot on the recruiting trail to bring in new players to assist next season. There will be five new players this fall.

As I look back on my twelve years with the team, it is easy for me to become frustrated with the fact that I never achieved my goal. It is often hard to remember the many good times. I came across a quote that really makes a lot of sense:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
- Anonymous

I encourage all of you to keep that smile and remember the good things. I will try hard to as well.

Nuff said...

Greetings...

Hello and many apologies for the long lapse in posting. It was a whirlwind end to the season and to be honest, a slightly disappointing finish.

I know that many of you were following us live on ncaa.com and via twitter and for sure know by now, that we lost to Barry in the semifinals once again this year. This was our third loss in as many years to Barry at this point in the draw. However, this loss was a little different as we were ranked higher than Barry and had beaten them earlier in the season.

Oh well, what's done is done. No use crying over spilled milk. I had really hoped to bring home a National Championship for the Clipper-Nation and it looked to be even more possible this year. You have to give Barry credit. They played good tennis when it counted and stepped up in the moment. We did not. I will take the blame for that. I should have had the guys ready.

In any case, now we have a third semifinalist trophy in the case here in Bronxville and this is something that many other school would love to have. I guess this is not too shabby for the smallest NCAA participating school in the country.

We must say goodbye to Tamas and wish him well. Tamas has finished his fourth year of eligibility in tennis yet will be back at Concordia for his final semester academically. Rumor has it that he will be using his tremendous athletic ability for the cross country team in the fall. Best of luck. Tamas has been someone that could always be counted on and started to play the role of leader late in the season. It will be difficult for the team to replace him.

Now on to the summer break. One that is much needed by me. I look forward to some nicer weather, some time to think and also to prepare for the future. I promise you all that there will be some good players coming to help the cause in the fall. Most importantly, the returning players need to get better. We need to improve our collective game if we are to continue the winning ways. If we want to achieve our ultimate goal, we need to do more. It is not enough to simply set goals, we have to do what it takes to get the job done. Talk is cheap.

For now, nuff said...

Tuesday AM...

Starting the day. A bit of a late night watching the NBA in triple overtime. It's going to be another hot one out there as we hit the practice court at 10:30am. Looking forward to the breakfast at the hotel.

I hope Coach T. wakes up feeling better as his voice is gone and a bit under the weather. I tried to keep the room temperature above 60 degrees for him last night.

At least we had a quiet room as we had to move due to a very noisy dog next door.

Catch you all later. Off to the omelet station.

Nuff said...

The Trip Begins...

Today is the day. The final ride begins...

Up and out early this morning as we meet at the college at 8:45am to depart for the airport. We are leaving from HPN - White Plains. This is usually quite convenient as it is closest to Bronxville with no traffic and no bridge to cross. However, we will be taking a school bus as both men's and women's teams will be traveling together. School buses are not allowed on the highway that takes us to HPN so it is the back road route for us.

11:20 departure to Orlando scheduled. I hope to have better luck at this regional airport than I did at Florence, SC.

We should arrive in Orlando at about 2pm and get settled. Shortly after, we will hit the practice courts. The forecast is for very hot weather (95 degrees plus) so it will take some adjusting. We have no had the most balmy spring here in NY for sure.

Check back throughout the day for some updates and wish us luck.

Shower time.

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I Don't Know...

I just don't know if the players realize how hard it is to just flip the switch when you need to. We need some good preparation and we need it, well, yesterday! Looking forward to some much needed solid practice time. These matches will not win themselves.

Nuff said...