WTL...thy name is *drama*!

Oh, yesterday was a fun one!

First of all, WTL (Washington Tennis League) was a bit crazy, IMO, to schedule matches on the 4th of July. At Hains Point. During the parade! Though, we were lucky in that our team was scheduled to play at 9:30am. Well, I had thought that was lucky...it proved to be unlucky for others.

Fortunately, we had enough players in town for me to put together a decent line-up, with me at #2 singles and all excited about my new singles game plan (diamond drill! New serve! Coming in to net!). I left *really* early, not because I was worried about traffic (I395 was one route that didn't suffer from road closures due to the parade) but because I was worried about parking. I was thinking Hains Point would be a great place to park if you're coming in for the parade at 11:30!

But again, I was wayyy early, and even got a prime spot in the lot, right in front of the courts! Lucky!

Not so lucky was KO, who was coming in from Ashburn, and didn't stop to think or check the road closures. She got stuck twice, but finally got there with plenty of time to spare (mostly because she left at 7am for a 9:30am match!).

Eventually we all gathered except for RMcE, who ended up a bit stuck herself since she was coming from the city. I had her at #1 singles, so I switched her to #2 just in case she didn't make it in time (in accordance with the default rules).

While all of this was happening, CB comes up and tells me her team just got handed an entire *match* default by their opponents. Now, they are one of the teams in contention to win the league, and to get five courts without having to play is huge! And, well, kinda sucky for the other teams, but whatever...I went along my way.

The bell rings, we walk onto the courts, and our opponents were nowhere to be found! Lol! I sent everyone to their courts, and RMcE ran on just in time (we have 15 minutes before a default is declared), and finally the opponents trickle in. The captain finds me and tells me that they are defaulting #3 doubles (oh, poor KO was on #3 doubles...all that driving, and her opponents don't show!) and that #1 singles (my opponent) is on her way.

Only, she never showed up. I was generous, too...I stayed on the court for 20 minutes. So, right off the bat, we got two courts in a default. I grabbed Katy and Dawn and headed over to practice with CB's team, who is just hitting with themselves and practicing since their opponents threw in the towel for the day. The captain, who I know in passing from both DC and NOVA leagues, was very friendly and inviting. She is also the captain that I'm scheduling our make-up courts with, and she has been quite fair and accommodating. We ended up playing some doubles with another gal who was there early for her 11am match. It was fun!

When the whistle blew, I noticed all three of our active courts were still playing. Hmmm...I was thinking we would have won by now! Well, it turns out that all three courts were very, very close. Two of them went to sudden death points. Of those two, we won one and lost one (poor RMcE double faulted on her's...I hate the sudden death point!)...and we won on games on the other court. So we won 4-1. We're trucking right along, having fun, playing tennis, and doing well.

Another top team was there, ready to start their match, and having a shit storm about the match default, as it put the team that received it pretty much out of reach (at least for us, but there are two teams already out of our reach). I get it, I really do...but what are you going to do? I seriously doubt, for one moment, that if one of these other teams had gotten that default, that they wouldn't have gladly accepted it and skipped away into the sunset!

Well, later in the day (before I hit the pool), I got a call from one of these captains. They wanted to (and have since) filed a grievance against the team that defaulted. *sigh* Thing is, again, I get it. The league winner should not be decided by defaults. However, I don't know the defaulting captain or her team. I don't know the circumstances under which she decided to throw the entire match. Not cool, I know, but having a match on July 4 is tricky (and she has a small roster to being with). I got lucky with my team.

Word on the street, though, is that the defaulting captain actually had four players on site, and she didn't play them. Four players can give you three courts (singles, singles, and doubles), which is enough to win a team match. This is the thing that I really am more concerned about...if they were there, why didn't they play?

So, two other teams are really up in arms about this. They want me to sign onto the grievance and keep saying it hurts us, but it really doesn't. We already played the defaulting team, and swept all the courts. We lost to both of the 'complaining' teams, and have already lost two courts to the 'lucky' team. It is statistically impossible, even if we win every single court we have left to play, to win. However, if we win some more courts off of the 'lucky' team, it will benefit the 'complaining' teams. And that right there, I think, is the only reason they want my support.

And, to a point, they do have my support. It shouldn't be decided this way. But there is only so far I'm going to go with grievances and such...I just want to play tennis. I honestly don't think the 'lucky' team's captain arranged anything with the 'defaulting' team...and if they did, well, I think it is sad that they feel they have to do that. And as far as the 'complaining' teams...I find it ironic that they are shouting so loud, when both of them have some suspiciously rated singles players on their teams.

*sigh*

I just want to play tennis.