tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post7673615233425882005..comments2024-03-26T09:23:26.937-04:00Comments on ZooTennis: Top Seeds Breeze on Opening Day of ITA Men's Team Indoor; Klahn's Return Boosts Stanford Over BaylorColette Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14905215531491180014noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-17042514588025860402012-02-21T10:19:26.095-05:002012-02-21T10:19:26.095-05:00I became involved in a conversation regarding line...I became involved in a conversation regarding line calling with two officials running the tournament . I asked why the futures and challenger tournaments can have officials calling lines but the ita and NCAA can't afford it? It's not as if venues like Rochester NY or Godfrey IL or Chico CA have gobs of money to spend. His reply basically was that the usta funds the lines people. I replied that if the usta is serious about using the college system to develop players, then it needs to toss some money in that direction. (Maybe pat and Jose can donate a few bucks if their salaries are as high as the other comment thread attests.) They could also get more sponsors, line the walls like these other tournaments with their advertisements, plead and cajole the athletic departments to contribute more. What they can't do, and what these two officials seem resigned to doing, is nothing.<br /><br />I know hawkeye is expensive and that the majors have them on only a few selected courts; however, I partially attribute that to a "let's test this out and see how it works" stance. It took the itf how long to finally mandate it for all Davis cup matches (it just happened)? It's clear to everyone that it works and my guess (as long as pressure continues to be applied) all courts will have hawk eye. The beauty of hawkeye for the college scene is that the initial cost can be amortized over time vis-a-vis the annual outlay for officials. And to make the cost even lower perhaps, can't they just buy hawkeye and have it transported and temporarily set up for these two main college tournaments.<br />.<br />Again something has to be done and I don't think the answer is "stop cheating." The human eye is incapable of correctly determining whether a ball is in or out, as officials miss about 1/3 of the calls that are challenged by the players. When you throw in the player's natural bias into the mix, the probability of a miscall rises even without the intent of cheating. Heck, in the Frank match there were disagreements between the fans who were right on the lines whether those two balls were in or out. When I'm at the us open, my buddy and I would bet a beer on what hawkeye would reveal.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I think we all agree that miscalled lines, chair overrules and point penalties deciding matches mar the game. And to do nothing, to accept this ridiculous situation is organizational malfeasance.Russnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-22882226772094035512012-02-21T07:01:04.928-05:002012-02-21T07:01:04.928-05:00Mikalea: I wholeheartedly agree--they need to stop...Mikalea: I wholeheartedly agree--they need to stop cheating. But as the opponent, what can you do? Get all bent out of shape, angrily stomp around, and then lose the match b/c of a few points? Or breathe and say "Okay, they are going to call them close. I am going to STOP hitting the ball so close to the line and win another way". (Btw, I also am going to all them up to the net and tell them that if they are going to call them that way, so will I.)<br /><br />You have no choice. What else do you do?<br /><br />And to be fair, just b/c you thought it was in doesn't mean it was. Haven't you ever been in a room with your trusted tennis friends watching a TV tennis match and had differences of opinions as to whether a ball was in or not?<br /><br />But I do agree, if there is cheating, it needs to stop.work-hard-tennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15527717750740121251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-62092141367221012272012-02-20T19:05:49.631-05:002012-02-20T19:05:49.631-05:00work hard tennis
"just get better" mean...work hard tennis<br /><br />"just get better" means what to someone who just hit a winner on the inside of the line-which is called out by cheaters. That is the best shot in tennis-you cannot get better than that. <br /><br />How bout stop cheating<br /><br />MikaleaMikaleanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-1334308700018824022012-02-20T11:57:24.487-05:002012-02-20T11:57:24.487-05:00@Russ,
I'd love to see hawkeye at college mat...@Russ,<br /><br />I'd love to see hawkeye at college matches as well, but that will never happen. You acknowledge that it is expensive, but I don't think you understand the cost. No grand slams even have 6 courts with hawkeye. The suggestion that the NCAA championships, which use 12 courts, should install hawkeve is absurd.Never going to happennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-75319999512125455992012-02-20T11:53:21.717-05:002012-02-20T11:53:21.717-05:00I have always told my kids not to be whiners about...I have always told my kids not to be whiners about line calls. Get way better than the opponent and then you won't have to worry about it. I get so tired of juniors (the parents especially) complaining about the linecalls. Get better, I say.<br /><br />Yet, I have to also say, when those officials are sitting up way high in the chair, and do some of these overrules that they cannot possibly be seeing the angle correctly. Anyone who plays tennis knows that. You need to be right on the line (like a linesman is) to see where the ball lands. Yet continually I have seen them do the questionable overrules, making the person feel like a cheater. They should know that. <br /><br />Kind of scary to me.work-hard-tennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15527717750740121251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-68445005730306554362012-02-20T10:29:04.872-05:002012-02-20T10:29:04.872-05:00Since the subject of cheating has been brought up(...Since the subject of cheating has been brought up(again), how about talking about how some college coaches teach their players the technique of line calling( when and where to throw in a bad call)? Also, what about "Stacking" the lineup? Gamesmanship starts with the coaches.university tennisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-6773428316384184682012-02-20T09:13:34.667-05:002012-02-20T09:13:34.667-05:00This prolem would be alleviated if the Referees wo...This prolem would be alleviated if the Referees would place extra officials on the far side lines when matches get tight. The Big 12 Conference requires officials on the far side lines on deciding matches or when the team match is getting close. It has solved a lot of problems. It's hard enough to see the far side lines. Playing indoors makes it even worse. For some reason, most Referees at the NCAA National level refuse to use common sense and use officials available to them.ITa Officialnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-55500027947272278902012-02-20T07:15:23.456-05:002012-02-20T07:15:23.456-05:00The NCAA and the ITA have to require schools hosti...The NCAA and the ITA have to require schools hosting the two major tournaments to install hawkeye. I know it's expensive, but, as a freshman dad, I am amazed at the number of questionable calls being made and the number of overrules that look like "blind guesses". Despite some issues of cheating in the juniors, it never seemed to me to be as bad, or as consequential, as many exclaimed. In college tennis, with the stakes so much higher and the matches so much more evenly matched, bad calls can be decisive in a match. Take for instance the second set tiebreak between Frank and Kobelt: it is 2-2, kobelt serving. I was standing between the deuce sideline and the middle sideline. A pretty good view with a number of other Virginia fans. Kobelt's first serve down the T appeared to be in, clipping the inside of line. Frank, unable to reach it, called it out and most of the Virginia fans (but not all), and the chair agreed. Facing kobelt's second serve, frank was able to win the point for a mini-break. On the very next point a rally ensued, and kobelt hit a heavy topspin looper right by the deuce sideline that Frank called out. Again Kobelt questioned. This time Frank was overruled. He and the fans went nuts. Now this ball to my eyes may possibly have been in. I wasn't sure either way. One thing I have learned from being at hawkeye tournaments is that balls that may look out to the naked eye, may in fact have caught a sliver of line. You actually have to have seen out space clearly surrounding the ball to be 100% certain that the ball is indeed out (which by the way is how I was taught to call lines). Now the human eye is incapable of tracking such infitestimal degrees and bad calls will be made, but who made the second bad call? The chair who was sitting on that sideline or frank? I don't know, but instead of it being 4-2 Frank, it was back on serve. That call may have decided the entire UVA - OSU match. Frank keeps the break, wins the tiebreak, and givenhow tough a competitor he is, goes on to win the match. <br /><br />Two back to back calls: was it 4-2 Frank, 4-2 Kobelt, or 3-3? Who really knows? Is that just the vagaries of sport? Or haven't we already decided that if the technology is there it should be utilized?<br /><br />Besides eliminating uncertainity in the final result, i think hawkeye also would eliminate the issue of being branded a cheater. Players would again have to call giving the shot the benefit of the doubt; and there would be recourse if a contention arose. And many times the alleged cheater would be vindicated not by a chair making blind guesses, but by a technological system that has virtually eliminated mistaken line calls deciding matches on the ATP level. It's expensive, but I sure would love to see it.Russnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-64663995847439726182012-02-19T22:58:37.579-05:002012-02-19T22:58:37.579-05:00Controlling and persuading the chair umps has seem...Controlling and persuading the chair umps has seemingly become a part of the game in college tennis. They constantly look like they're making blind guesses. And today, in both semifinals, my 20:10 vision couldn't believe how wrong they frequently were. It's no longer about whether a ball is ACTUALLY in or out but more about if you came make the chair ump believe it was in or out.Sad but truenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-80029091107778530292012-02-19T21:41:45.178-05:002012-02-19T21:41:45.178-05:00I never heard of back to back overrules late in a ...I never heard of back to back overrules late in a match that has gone relatively smooth until that point. Knowing Zsiga I have a hard time believing he would make bad calls.ITa Officialnoreply@blogger.com