This weekend, the Smurfs will battle for supremacy in a rough-and-tumble world, where one simple misstep can mean total disaster. No, the little blue pixies won’t be having one last Battle Royal against Gargamel and Azreal. In this case, the Smurfs are one of the San Diego Tennis Federation’s (SDTF) Team Tennis teams, and their season is set to begin Sunday, Jan. 27.

The Smurfs will try to squeeze out a victory against The Juicers, while the Pec-ers try to pound the Transformers.

For Team Tennis, part of the tradition is to choose colorful names like the “Spice Girls,” and “The Holes,” which is partially sponsored by the bar. Individual players, too, chose to adopt pseudonyms for themselves to keep with the team theme – that explains player names like Optimus Prime (or, George Biagi) captain of The Transformers team.

Colorful team names are fun, but when it comes time to play, the competition is stiff.

A total of eight teams and 80 players will compete during a seven-week schedule, with matches starting as early as 9 a.m.

Teams are comprised of 10 players, each with an assigned number 1, 2, or 3, all the way down to 10. The numbers are usually commensurate with a player’s skill level, so a player in the No. 1 slot will be the most competitive, while the player in the No. 10 spot might be new to the game and still working on fundamentals. Players face off with other players of the same skill level.

When singles matches then give way to doubles matches, teams are comprised of players adjacent to each other in the pecking order. Players in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots will team up to play the same combination of players on their opposing teams. Every player on a team will play doubles matches.

When the singles and doubles matches finish, victory is determined by the total number of wins and losses of total matches played. Singles victories are worth one point each, and doubles victories are worth one-and-a-half points each.

Teams were created at a Draw Party at The Hole two weeks ago. Team captains chose from the 80 eligible players who signed up to play, and several alternates were also selected.

The event reunited at least two players from last year’s Team Tennis Champions, Ricco Espinoza and Peter Conneely, who last year were teammates on the 10 Fab Mos. Though these two are back together, this year they will be playing against former teammates.

For more information, visit www.sdtf.org.

It sounds like a pay-per-view event, but in reality, Live Wrestling III is the San Diego Wrestling Club (SDWC) warm-up event for the upcoming freestyle wrestling tournament season.

Formerly the San Diego Bulldogs Wrestling Club, the newly branded SDWC is holding the event Sunday, Jan. 27, at 4 p.m. in The Center’s auditorium in Hillcrest.

“It’s a mini-tournament,” said Greg Lines, SDWC coach. “Within our own club, the guys come in and wrestle full matches and we score it just like a tournament.” Lines said it’s great practice for the newer wrestlers who get an opportunity to see what a wrestling tournament is like.

“We make a great effort to make this just like a real tournament,” Lines said. “We bring in a scoreboard, the wrestlers have to wear their singlets, and we basically make it a real tournament.”

Lines said spectators are welcome, and for anyone curious about the club, it’s a great chance to watch and see how competitive the wrestling can be, and how friendly the team is.

This warm-up event is coming just a few weeks before the SDWC holds its “Bulldog Rumble,” a senior and veterans freestyle wrestling tournament held Saturday, Feb. 16. Social functions and events like Beach Wrestling comprise the tournament. The weekend-long events actually begin Thursday, Feb. 14, and continue through Sunday, Feb. 17.

Registration is still open and is available on the club’s new Web site. You can now find out about the SDWC, sign up for its newsletter and view pictures of the club’s members online at www.sdwrestling.org.

Last week, I attempted to eviscerate Vicki Oltean, the tournament director for the Palm Springs Winter Classic, an annual softball tournament that has steadily declined in quality during the years and was a complete disaster last year. Some thought I was too harsh. Simply put, friends who attended the tournament this year said it went off without a hitch, and it was very well organized. I am told that many teams even got to play on the jewel of the tournaments, The Fields of Dreams.

Congratulations to Vicki for getting it right this time around. I’m told the Sin City Shootout in Las Vegas was also a great time. It looks like there’s a choice of MLK-weekend softball tournaments now, and that is a good thing for the sport.