The Case for Case Western: 5 Reasons for Pool C

Well I have had some time free up and some words of encouragement from the blog team to do some work so I figured I would take a stand for a team that I rarely back. With the Pool C conversation in the mind of everyone, I thought Case Western needed an advocate and today that advocate is me. I wanted to discuss why Case Western deserve to be in the tournament and will discuss the many different reasons that I believe they will make the tournament better. So here we go!

1. Resume: It was unfortunate that Case lost to Carnegie in the first round at UAAs because it meant they they didn’t get much in the way of more matches to prove that they are a team that should be included. The bottom line is, you have to win the first round at UAAs to guarantee yourself two more national level opponents. Brandeis is a good win, but not a top 20 team. Let us not forget what Case has done this year. They have wins over Wash U, Carnegie Mellon, Gustavus and Chicago. They obviously have split the matches between the UAA opponents and really should have rescheduled the Kenyon match as they need it to bolster their overall schedule, but all four of the teams they have beaten will be in the tournament (Gustavus through Pool A and Chicago through Pool C likely). I typically hate the close loss argument, but I am just going to suggest it here. Emory is the top seed without question, but Case was one of four teams to take a full strength Emory to 6-3 (CMU, Wash U, and Pomona). This was also without a win from their stud Chris Krimbill winning either singles or doubles. Just something to note.
2. Players: Do you ever watch the NCAA basketball tournament march madness pre selection talk about how the committee gives a bit of favor to teams who have players on the roster that people want to see play? This year it was LSU with Ben Simmons and sadly his team was too far gone to get in, but the example is there. Chris Krimbill deserves to play in this tournament. As he does with his partner Louis Stuerke in doubles. They will be forces in the individual tournament so why not the team tourney?
3. Coach: Love or hate him, Coach Todd has done an incredible job with this program. He doesn’t care how many feather he ruffles and all he does is will his team to win. And boy do they win. Each season has been a a step further than the previous and they reached a high ranking of 5 or 6 this year. I always get a kick out of watching him on the live stream coaching between every point, take copious notes on who knows what on his notepad, and do an extreme overreaction of dropping to his knees after his team does the unthinkable beating the likes of Chicago and Wash U this season.
4. Reputation/Villain: This team is full of lower rated junior tennis players (except for a few) that have bought into the Case system, worked their tails off, and in the process became great assets to the team. You won’t see any 5 stars in their lineup and in fact only have one four star in James Fojtasek. All-American Stuerke was a 1 star player. They have 8 players in the recruiting class of 2016 committed, none of those above a 3-star, and half of those probably will transfer or quit the team because they can cut it. While doing so, they play with a passion unmatched by most. Now I will be the first to admit that their passion at times goes a bit overboard with how they support their team and a few instances of misguided cheering have stained what they have done on the court. Typically I would argue that there is no place for such behavior in a sport of gentleman, but who doesn’t love a good villain to cheer against? Also, if there is a team out there that can give teams unable to get the top recruits some hope for the future, it’s Case Western. So whether it’s hatred or hope you want to hold onto, Case supplies it.
5. Upset Potential: I think out of any team in the potential field, Case has the biggest potential to be involved in an upset. That is both on the positive and negative end of the spectrum. With a tournament that is likely going to be chalk until the Elite 8, we need Case to come in and make some fireworks. If Krimbill goes 2-0, they can beat anyone. If he falters and Case is down after doubles, parts of the singles lineup has shown some weakness that could cause problems. Yes, both scenarios are perfect storms, but boy would it be fun to watch this team make a deep run? Or fall to a team like Whitewater or Kenyon?

All in all, I think this tournament would be rather boring without Case Western. We will have to split hairs as to whether we should pick Wilkes or Grove City to win their first round. Or will Juniata take down Messiah in a repeat of last year’s match? And who can forget that epic match Yeshiva had last season with Colby Sawyer? Please NCAA tournament committee, make this a bit more exciting and add Case Western to the Pool C selection.

Yours Truly,

D3Central