Welcome to Green Acres - 2008!

[oploskoffie]

It's big, it's back, and it's still all about the green :D Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to TAT's Green Acres Fantasy Tennis competition!

Those who played (or followed) the contest in 2007 will soon find that not much has changed. No Roadmap maddness here; we prefer a bit of continuity ;)

So, not many changes, but two significant ones. The amount of trades is up from just the one to a whopping FOUR! Yeah, feel free to give the people behind the scenes a hug :p But, you will have to spread that wealth over one more week, as Green Acres will finish at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, NOT at the end of Wimbledon!

The rules, players and picks threads will all be online within the next two to three days, after which you can spend the time it's raining in Paris doing research and selecting the best damn team you can. Sounds like a plan? Good, spread the word. We had a great amount of people take part last year and we'd love to better that number this time around! Same goes for the tension, as last year's inaugural edition saw the numbers one and two separated by just four points after four weeks! :shocked:

Be seein' ya soon. Ciao for now,

Oploskoffie

[GVGirl]

and my lame song is back..drumroll....;)

(to the tune of the Green Acres television show intro)

Green Acres is the place to be
Grass tournaments love captain Wasabi
Rafa cannot move that far and wide
Save the red clay for him to slide!

Grass tournaments are here to stay
Roger's favorite surface to play
Give me that Wimby Trophy to view
Roger will win another few.

Wimbledon...the Grass
London you'll spend too much cash
Fresh Air...the square

It's all too short
Then it's on to hardcourts

Green Acres tennis we are there!

[Charlie02123]

Neato! :thumbsup:

[jjnow]

I love how you wrote that in the form of a personal letter, Mr. Koffie. I felt like you were talking just to me. :D

[oploskoffie]

I love how you wrote that in the form of a personal letter, Mr. Koffie. I felt like you were talking just to me. :D

Wink wink, nudge nudge...

:D

[oploskoffie]

Just under four days to pick your team! Don't get distracted by the gravel :p ;)

[missinandre]

I must be a sucker for losing....still....I can't help myself even after getting killed in EVERYTHING for this French Open!

I must be....a tennis fan! :)

Good luck with your teams everyone!

[oploskoffie]

Thank you, missinandre :)


Just a reminder: Ti-Amie posted the updated entry lists for Halle and Queens (and Sopot, but that's clay and doesn't count ;))

Follow this link!:

http://www.talkabouttennis.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10792

[tinamarie]

I have a question (even though it might be a little late): I dont understand what players we are allowed to trade. I thought it was just the injured ones. but reading suliso's post in the team thread in which he wondered if we knew maria, serena and venus would not be playing until wimbledon, left me wondering if we would have been allowed to trade them in later on...
so can we trade anyone we feel like? or only the ones who wont be playing a specific tournaments or who miserably failed?
thanks in advance:)

[suliso]

I have a question (even though it might be a little late): I dont understand what players we are allowed to trade. I thought it was just the injured ones. but reading suliso's post in the team thread in which he wondered if we knew maria, serena and venus would not be playing until wimbledon, left me wondering if we would have been allowed to trade them in later on...
so can we trade anyone we feel like? or only the ones who wont be playing a specific tournaments or who miserably failed?
thanks in advance:)

We can trade whoever we want. Smart trading is very important if you want to have any chance of winning :)

That's why I avoided Maria, Serena or Venus for now...

[tinamarie]

We can trade whoever we want. Smart trading is very important if you want to have any chance of winning :)

That's why I avoided Maria, Serena or Venus for now...


that's great, thank you suliso. ( I took the " The team you choose is supposed to last you the entire four weeks...You can use these to replace an injured player, or someone who's playing like they should be on the senior citizens tour." from the How its played- thread a bit too literally and actually thought Marion would have to catch a bad cold and/or lose in the first round next week for me to be allowed to trade her for Wimbledon.

[oohsalmon]

Four trades???? Didn't GA only have one trade last time?

That is sooooo many for such a short contest. And soooooo many for my short attention span...

[beaujarkko]

Four trades???? Didn't GA only have one trade last time?

That is sooooo many for such a short contest. And soooooo many for my short attention span...

Yes. That was one of the changes mentioned in the intro page for the contest.

[patrick]

Four trades???? Didn't GA only have one trade last time?

That is sooooo many for such a short contest. And soooooo many for my short attention span...


Like the 4 trades especially the ATP top guys playing this week and the WTA top ladies playing next week or in the case of Venus,Serena, and Maria until Wimbledon.

[Madame]

Like the 4 trades especially the ATP top guys playing this week and the WTA top ladies playing next week or in the case of Venus,Serena, and Maria until Wimbledon.

4 trades is great, but still difficult because you have to maintain the 6 men/ 6 woman and the category count.
So you can put Vee in just before Wimby, but you must have an equivalently ranked woman to exchange against ... That is where you need to plan ... :)

[shtexas]

I originally thought many of the four subs should be saved for Newport. But, then I thought most of the players at Newport are probably not among the players we can choose from anyway.

[oploskoffie]

that's great, thank you suliso. ( I took the " The team you choose is supposed to last you the entire four weeks...You can use these to replace an injured player, or someone who's playing like they should be on the senior citizens tour." from the How its played- thread a bit too literally and actually thought Marion would have to catch a bad cold and/or lose in the first round next week for me to be allowed to trade her for Wimbledon.

Yes, thx, suliso! :)

You can even, for instance, trade a C ATP player for a B WTA player and an E WTA player for an A ATP player. As long as the 6/6 ratio remains intact, you've got nothing to worry about.

[oploskoffie]

I originally thought many of the four subs should be saved for Newport. But, then I thought most of the players at Newport are probably not among the players we can choose from anyway.

There's gonna be quite a few category C, D and E players to choose from, if I've paid attention recently :o

[oploskoffie]

4 trades is great, but still difficult because you have to maintain the 6 men/ 6 woman and the category count.
So you can put Vee in just before Wimby, but you must have an equivalently ranked woman to exchange against ... That is where you need to plan ... :)

Agreed, of course. :)

While GA doesn't last as many weeks as The Slide it does, however, include a major, eight other tournaments and both tours. Add to that the fact that Wimby is not the final tournament this year, and suddenly four trades could be less than you need.

[lukeorion]

My question is can you trade at anytime? Meaning at the end of the week's tournament or is there going to be like a time frame when we have to trade?

[patrick]

My question is can you trade at anytime? Meaning at the end of the week's tournament or is there going to be like a time frame when we have to trade?

You can trade at anytime but the changes do not go into effect until the next tournament starts.

[Charlie02123]

Yes, thx, suliso! :)

You can even, for instance, trade a C ATP player for a B WTA player and an E WTA player for an A ATP player. As long as the 6/6 ratio remains intact, you've got nothing to worry about.

Wait, wouldn't that scenario not keep your A's, B's, etc ratios intact?

[suliso]

There's gonna be quite a few category C, D and E players to choose from, if I've paid attention recently :o

Unless you are Nostradamus, using subs on C, D or E category players is not very smart...

[Charlie02123]

Unless you are Nostradamus, using subs on C, D or E category players is not very smart...

Or maybe if someone has an extra one before Newport. Or thinks a low ranked player will go far at Wimbledon based partly on their draw. (Ancic, for example.)

[Jack]

If I recall correctly, the top seed has never won in Newport. So be careful about any trades you make for that event. ;)

[Mathieu Mateo]

would I still be able to enter this contest?

[GVGirl]

would I still be able to enter this contest?

Unfortunately, no. But the hard Road to New York contest begins after Wimbledon. Be sure to join in!

By the way, welcome to TAT Mathieu Mateo!:):welcome:

[oploskoffie]

Unless you are Nostradamus, using subs on C, D or E category players is not very smart...

So, suliso... Feeling lucky? ;)

[oploskoffie]

Wait, wouldn't that scenario not keep your A's, B's, etc ratios intact?

It would (should) keep the amount of players per category the same :yes:

[waylandboy-tw]

Wait, wouldn't that scenario not keep your A's, B's, etc ratios intact?

I haven't heard this one clarified yet but my understanding is that any trades must keep the ratio of 6/6 plus the correct ratio of A's, B's, C's, D's, and E's.

[oploskoffie]

I haven't heard this one clarified yet but my understanding is that any trades must keep the ratio of 6/6 plus the correct ratio of A's, B's, C's, D's, and E's.

Exactly! :yes:

makes note to integrate this into the "how it's played" thread :o

[oploskoffie]

Unfortunately, no. But the hard Road to New York contest begins after Wimbledon. Be sure to join in!

By the way, welcome to TAT Mathieu Mateo!:):welcome:

Well, actually, no :p GA still lasts for another week after Wimby when we move to Newport for the final run. ;)

And indeed: welcome, MM! :)

[Martini4me]

Given the way the top men's seeds have rolled this week, I wondered if anyone had loaded up with four men for the A category. There were two: MysterX and krutin. MysterX will be ridiculously in the lead after this week. Besides having four male semi-finalists, he has two WTA semi-finalists and three quarter-final losers. Well done!:notworthy:

[dryrunguy]

Given the way the top men's seeds have rolled this week, I wondered if anyone had loaded up with four men for the A category. There were two: MysterX and krutin. MysterX will be ridiculously in the lead after this week. Besides having four male semi-finalists, he has two WTA semi-finalists and three quarter-final losers. Well done!:notworthy:

Stop being nice. He should be damned to the deepest pit of hell.

Well done, MysterX! Good for you! No surprise about krutin, either! What a slug. :mad:

[suliso]

Given the way the top men's seeds have rolled this week, I wondered if anyone had loaded up with four men for the A category. There were two: MysterX and krutin. MysterX will be ridiculously in the lead after this week. Besides having four male semi-finalists, he has two WTA semi-finalists and three quarter-final losers. Well done!:notworthy:


Well done indeed, but can he make appropriate subs before Wimbledon to get some category A women on board?

P.S. I give up on this one - too many stupid choices made...

[ptmcmahon]

Still toying with the idea of whether or not to leave a trade in case there is a star playing the week after Wimby...looking like no...but...

[ptmcmahon]

Given the way the top men's seeds have rolled this week, I wondered if anyone had loaded up with four men for the A category. There were two: MysterX and krutin. MysterX will be ridiculously in the lead after this week. Besides having four male semi-finalists, he has two WTA semi-finalists and three quarter-final losers. Well done!:notworthy:

Hmmm...so it may already be too late to catch up, despite our trades!

[mysterX]

Given the way the top men's seeds have rolled this week, I wondered if anyone had loaded up with four men for the A category. There were two: MysterX and krutin. MysterX will be ridiculously in the lead after this week. Besides having four male semi-finalists, he has two WTA semi-finalists and three quarter-final losers. Well done!:notworthy:

Thanks.

My strategy in these multi-week contests is to load up on points as early as possible and then try to hang on. Since it didn't look like any of the top women were playing warmup tournaments, and most of the top guys were playing the first week, it made sense to go top-heavy on the men's side.

I can make two A/C A/D man for woman trades, but it's going to come down to the choices I make for those trades. If I choose wrong, I'll be left behind at Wimbledon.