Author: dlockwood2@berklee.edu

Good day.

Thank you for another excellent summer of tennis and bitchiness. I loved it.

Here are the Winners of the 2022 Summer Challenge Ladder….

End of Season #1 Player: Scott Lee (living up to his 4.5 status, Scott Lee simply could not be touched)

TOP 2 Players for Point Accumulation: Jason Wu (101) and Marnin Romm (98) (exhausting)

Highest Climber from Starting Position to Final Position: Thomas Le  (from 29 t0 9!)

Congrats to the winners and everyone who participated this year. You will all be receiving glorious prizes in the mail.

Hope to see you all on the ladder next year.

-The Ladder Master is….out!

 

Greetings from a Sunday night Long Legs

One week from tonight, the Ladder shall close.

Our leaders on the Match Ladder are: Scott Lee, Ian Shank and Terry Epps at 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Will anyone sneak up on these three for a place at the top of the ladder?

Our leaders on the Points Ladder are: Jason Wu at 101 and Marnin Romm at 98. I don’t believe they can be caught.

One more week. What chaos can you bring down on the ladder? Whom can you usurp?

I will tell the final story one  week from tonight.

When the ladder Collapses.

-the ladder master has spoken

Greetings Summer Challenge Ladder!

We are in the final month now. September 25 is the last day of the summer Challenge Ladder. After that, the ladder disappears. Into thin air.

The US Open is happening, sure, I get it….but will anyone usurp Scott Lee from atop the Challenge Ladder? Well done, Scott. You remain ensconced up there. Ensconced.

Congrats to Terry Epps, who recently took over 2nd place on the ladder. Huge!

Special kudos to both Alan Gnani and Ian Shank who, on separate days and not against one another, played 2 matches in one day. I simply do not understand this feat but it was achieved by both of them. And this summer has been hot as….

On the points ladder, Jason Wu has just entered the 90s. Well done, Mr. Wu. Marnin Romm  is not far behind. The top 2 on the points ladder will receive spectacular prizes. Can anyone catch these guys? I think not.

I have removed myself from the ladder as a player as I am dealing with a left leg injury. Feeling optimistic now about playing in the Fall singles league but I’ve had a pretty awful time with sciatica and other left leg woes that are too boring to speak of,  so thought it best to take time off, lots of stretching and walking and just, ya know, watching the US Open.

But I am still here to record all of your matches and make the occasional catty report.

Enjoy the September temps!

Your ladder master…ensconced in all kinds of things…

longlegs

Well, well, well….some spicy news to report.

We have a new 4.5 arrival on the ladder this week in the form of one Ian Shank. Welcome aboard, Ian. There is only one other 4.5 on the ladder and that player sits on top. Will Ian make his way up for a 4.5 showdown with Mr. Lee? We shall see….there are some very talented 4.0s who might have something to say about it….

Speaking of making his way up, Mr. Mark McDonough defeated Mr. Terry Epps this past brutally hot weekend over at Tufts and took over the #3 spot. Well done, Mark:  only two players ahead of you now!

As Mark and Terry began to warm up, I was being soundly defeated by Mr. Alan Gnani. It has been 2 substantial losses to Mr Gnani this summer, and despite the fact that he’s just a super nice guy, I am FURIOUS!

On the points ladder, Mr. Jason Wu and Mr. Marnin Romm are starting to run away with things, entering the 70s now. You guys are astonishing!

Remember, fabulous prizes will be awarded to the top 2 on the points ladder, the number 1 of the challenge ladder itself and 1 prize for whomever rose the highest from beginning to end of summer. Hopefully, I have kept track of that….I totally have.

This weekend doesn’t look quite so brutal on the humidity-side of things. I look forward to reading about your scores from Block Island, where I will be competing in the Lockwood Family Olympics.

yours sincerely,

The Ladder Master

 

Your ladder master is impressed.

Despite scorching local temps, you continue to get out there and play tennis.

I got off the plane tonight coming home from Oakland and was overwhelmed by the wall of humidity.

But not you. The summer challenge ladder players cannot be stopped.

Mr. Wu, Mr. Romm and Mr. Le continue to battle it out on the Points ladder, all of them have entered the 50s, very well done to them!

Mr. Romm also continues to ascend the Ladder itself…some very impressive wins of late. Mr Jackson and Mr Smith are also putting together some nice victories of late. How high can they soar?

Mr. Lujares and Mr. Wu have had two EPIC matches already this season, both won by Mr. Lujares…perhaps third time’s the charm for Mr. Wu?

Mr. Lee continues to Lead the ladder in the #1 position, thwarting the valiant efforts of Mr. Epps most recently…(who now has a hold on the #3 spot, by the way.) Can anyone melt this man’s game down?

Keep hydrating. Keep reporting. Keep making sure I’m getting the scores and shit right.

-Ladder Master Lockwood

 

Well, the grass court season is done. Ms. Rybakina and Mr. Djokovic did fine I guess… but the real intrigue is here with the Summer Challenge Ladder!

Mr. Grosdidier and Mr. Lee had their first battle and Mr. Lee proved a worthy #1, prevailing 1 and 1. So many 1’s, so little time….

Will it be Mr. Krasikov or Mr. Epps who take on Mr. Lee next? Mr. Epps has been making his way slowly but surely up both the matches ladder AND the points ladder where he is currently #4 in both! How far can he go? Only time will tell….

Mr.Le, Mr. Wu and Mr. Romm remain the top 3 contenders on the points ladder but so much could change in these next few months: no rung is really secure. Some may in fact be on the wobbly side even as I type…

A few matters of business: if you know you’ll be traveling or have an injury that will keep you out for over a week, please let me know so I can ‘freeze’ you and so others don’t come after you with their challenges. Also, you may want to check your Spam folder once every couple of days. It is possible that some challenges are ending up there in that spammy wasteland. To that end, if you are a challenger and you don’t hear from the person you’ve challenged within a day or two, you may wish to try them via text/phone.

I’m doing a bit of traveling myself these next few weeks, hopefully my back will also have time to recover from chasing Mr. Poyar’s and Mr. Lee’s spin-balls all over the place (!)

I will have my lap top by my side however, ready to update your results during this beautiful spell of summer we are having. While many in the world turn their attention to the U.S. Open series, while players prepare for San Jose, for Cincinnati, for Washington DC and eventually for the U.S. Open itself, my focus remains GLUED to this page…to the 2022 Summer Challenge Ladder.

There is simply nothing else like it.

-Ladder master Longlegs

Hi Ladder!

Just wanted to remind everyone of one of the rules for the Challenge Ladder which is that when someone challenges, you have 2 weeks to try and make it work with them and if you cannot do that, it is a default win for the challenger. This is to ensure participation and movement on the ladder for everyone who is signed up.

It’s totally fine to say to them right off the bat, ‘I cannot play in tbe next 2 weeks so please take tbe default’

All that happens is that they replace you and you drop directly under them.

Happy 4th of July weekend and please let me know if you have any questions

Doug of night

It’s Grass Season, folks.

As things heat up at the All-England club, over here at the Challenge Ladder, things are just as Hot.

And I do mean that literally. Today, Mr Gnani served yours truly a hot bagel in the first set over at the steamy Northeastern Courts (butter, no cream cheese!) and there was not much improvement for me in set 2. Nice one Alan!

The top 3 on the ladder remain the same: Mr Lee, Mr. Grosdidier and Mr Krasikov. Will anyone attempt to usurp any of these masters? When will Mr. Lee face his first challenger? These are the questions that keep me up at night!

Over on the Points ladder, it’s a tight 3-way race between Mr Wu, Mr Le and Mr Romm….these guys really got out there in the month of June but….can they keep it going in July? We shall see…

I had the pleasure of losing to Mr McDonough last week over at Newton South. Nice plentiful courts in great condition over there by the way, if you’ve got transport. Nice to meet you Mark!

Good luck to everyone at Wimbledon this week (Vamos Rafa!!) and good luck to everyone on the Summer Challenge Ladder 2022.

Remind any friends that its not too late if they would like to join! We always have room.

Yours on ice,

Doug, the ladder master, LongLegs

As we all prepare for the grass court season leading up to Wimbledon, I have an update on the Summer Challenge Ladder:

We’ve had 17 total matches played this summer already, well done getting out there folks!

Mr Grosdidier has already risen to #2 on the ladder. He is #1 on the Points Ladder. Well done, John!

Scott Lee remains at the #1 rung…who will challenge him for the top spot? Will it be Mr Grosdidier or someone we don’t even suspect?

We’ve had several tie breaks, a few delicious bagels and even one default! Something for everyone!

I have also (recently) made a big mistake, giving one player credit for the win even though it was correctly communicated that the other player had won. So…make sure, even after you’ve submitted your scores, that it appears correctly on the web site. Because ya know what? I make mistakes.

Some lovely weather coming up this week: i look forward to receiving your scores and (hopefully) recording them correctly, lol

Now, lets go Celtics!

-The Ladder Master