We’re back for another week of blogger hot takes! Last week we heard a passionate defense, visited our critic’s corner, attempted to treat some seasonal disappointment, & finally launched a ship to end all ships. What do we have for you this week? Check back to find out, but we begin Week II of Pumpkin Spice talking about tennis once again*. Enter D3RegNE/C…
RegNE/C TAKE/DEFENSE: Jonathan Jemison is a top-5 all time D3 great (men only)
NE: Woah, an actual tennis-related take! Of course that would come from NE/C. Jemison certainly has enough accomplishments to be in this conversation, but to me this is still recency bias. Without thinking too hard, Butorac, Seeberger, Watts and Pottish are my Mount Rushmore, but that does leave a 5th spot open. I’m sure CHB and AVZ will be able to come in with some other candidates, but to me the next and most recent contenders are Fritz and Wood. Both won a team title (Fritz won it twice) and have individual honors up the wazoo. Wood getting the Triple Crown and getting CMS its first NCAA title in any sport in 34 years ultimately pushes him above JJ. The recent graduate will have to somehow move on with his life and deal with the fact that he’s just one of the greatest DIII men’s tennis players of all time.
AVZ: NE basically hit the nail on the head with this. There’s really only one spot remaining and there are just too many other guys who are slightly above Jemison. Just at Emory alone I think you have to look at the Goodwins. But Wood and Skylar Butts are in consideration. I think JJ is a top 10 guy for sure after what he did the last season of his career, but top 5 is rarified air and I don’t believe he is quite there.
CHB: This is a garbage take. We can name three guys off the top of our heads who are clearly more accomplished. Seeberger: 3 doubles titles, 3 singles titles, 2 team titles. Butorac: singles and doubles title – eventual Australian open finalist (nbd). Pottish: singles and team title, singles finalist, 3 ITA cups, dominant #1 singles player for 3 seasons. I would argue Wood had a better career: 1 singles title, 1 doubles title, 1 team title, 2 more team finals, played #1 singles and #1 doubles for a top 5 team for four seasons. That’s four guys just in the past 15 years or so. Beyond that, there are several guys from the late 90’s/early 00’s with strong resumes (Thomas Oechel won 3 doubles titles, 1 singles title, and a team title for UCSC. Lewis Miller won two singles titles and 3 team titles for Kalamazoo). Basically, this is obviously wrong and just not a take.
newCentral: I disagree with the hot take but agree with D3NE’s Mt. Rushmore – Butorac, Seeberger, Pottish, and Watts, so Jemison has to be the next man up in order to be a top 5 d3 guy of all time. Sorry Mr. Jemison and Mr. Jemison, but The TripleCrown, The Talent, The Truth, Warren Wood rounds out my top 5.
DIIIWest: Not even close fellas. The bloggers above have pretty much exhausted all accurate talking points. JJ was a fantastic player who will probably land in the top 10, but top 5 might be pushing it with some extremely decorated DIII players out there (Seeberger, Wood, refer to CHB for more players). I mean JJ didn’t even play at the top of the lineup for half of his college career (behind Rafe year 1 and Manji year 2) so really an apples to oranges comparison from the REAL top 5 who played the best players on each team ALL 4 years of their careers.
NewRegional: No, JJ isn’t a top five player of all time. Blog Historian D3NE shows pretty clearly that while you can make an argument for Jemison as an all-timer, he’s a tier below Butorac, Seeberger, Pottish, Watts and Wood. Jemison leaves a Big Papi legacy – loved by the fanbase and a fantastic player, but not one of the best to ever do it.
RegAS: JJ was a great player, you can’t deny that, however everyone else seems to have already given their opinions on why he isn’t top 5, and they’re right. I’m going to have to go with Woods for my 5th spot and then Fritz after that. JJ has an argument for top 10 for sure, but top 5 is pushing it.
* Please note that we had three writers from the women’s side respond to this take, but none had any opinion on the matter. NEW blindly agreed with D3AS (who didn’t even respond to this prompt about the best player from his region in the past five years), and ASW referred to me as “Bluncle NE”. Somebody please tell me whether or not I should be offended?
Jonathan, what I want to know is who you’d pick btwn Emory’s 2017 vs. 2019 team? One match…who you got?
@ Jemison… Bold words coming from somebody as universally disliked as you. Take results for what you will but Parodi is widely considered a great dude on and off the court. Never heard the same about you. Coach Settles and CMS are known for their respect and culture, among being the most successful d3 program in the last 10 years. Emory is… *that* team nobody likes to associate with. Are you proud of being the leader of that culture for 4 years?
Chill out with Parodi bro, nobody is talking about you like that. Have a little respect
Also, I watched you bust a racquet against your tennis bag after Parodi beat you 2 and 2 at indoors 2018
I only read this blog my freshman and sophomore year but after that I kind of considered it a distraction. That being said, love the content and I think you guys are pretty funny. I can’t really argue with your reasoning against putting me inside the top 5. Pottish’s records in three years are something I don’t think we will see again. Even though I surpassed them, it still took me 4 years to get where he was in 3. I was also the beneficiary of a great team. Bouchet never got the love he deserved and if we were doing mount rushmores for 3s and 4s he has to be up there. Go look at his stats, it speaks for him. Also are we not going to consider Lubo for an honorable mention. I hated him, but I had more respect for him than anybody else by a mile. Another thing can we stop crowing Parodi like he has done something. I’ll tell you what he’s done, a lot of chocking. How are you going to be up a set and a break with everybody watching on the biggest stage and choke that match away. Sorry but it needs to be said. Every year it seemed like CMS was crowned as the best and every year they fell short. I still take my guys on the 2017 and the 2019 teams against any other national championship team EVER (even the 2012 team sorry Pottish but I got you in 3)