The kinda cool, yet kind of awkward thing that happened right away was the rental car. Since I got in so late I was about the last person going to the rental car place. I forgot that in San Diego they are not at the airport. The lots are really small so they have less cars. Being the cost-effective person that I am, I only made reservations for a small car. But lucky me, all they had left was a Ford Mustang. Well, it was cool until I walked outside and saw a bright red Mustang. Nothing like that to attract some unneeded attention!
You are probably wondering why I went to San Diego so many days early. That is a good question. The tournament doesn't start until Wednesday. In March, fellow WPBA player Melissa Little asked me if I would be interesting in doing a clinic at On Cue Billiards in La Mesa. Considering I am always looking for opportunities like that, I said of course! The clinic was scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st. So that left me with a day to find something to do in sunny San Diego. I had a few options...wander around, go to the beach, go to Sea World or go to the Zoo. I opted for the San Diego Zoo.
I must admit, the place is not all hype! I had about 5 hours to spare and this took 4 of them. And that was a very quick tour of the Zoo. They had a pretty cool skytram or at least I thought it was pretty cool until I was riding in it! Wow, that was high and shakey!! Here are a few of the cooler things (make that awake things) that I saw at the zoo...
After the zoo and a little sun and a ton of walking it was time for the pool clinic at On Cue. It wasn't a huge turnout but I was pretty happy with it. This was a much shorter clinic than others that I have put on. It was only about two and a half hours of talking and playing. Thanks to the six people that came to hang out with us for awhile. It was really great to meet and hang out with all of you! If you are visiting the San Diego area be sure to check out On Cue Billiards, 8303 Parkway Dr., La Mesa, CA. They have a pretty good weekly tournament on Mondays!
Now it was time to focus on the tournament. Tuesday night I headed to Alpine, CA and got ready to relax and get ready for the first WPBA event of the year. Todays geography lesson is on where Alpine is in relation to San Diego. It is about 35 miles east of San Diego. I have to say it is really awesome going from sea level to a mountainous region. The scenery is beautiful and of course totally interesting to me considering I am from Illinois. Here is a view from the car when we were approaching Alpine...
Wednesday I started the day by going to lunch with the Asian Invasion as I call them consisting of pretty much all of the asian girls on tour, Caroline, Supadra, My Hanh, Xiao Ting and Ga Young and the manager from On Cue, Clyde. Then we all piled in the Mustang and headed to Viejas Casino to the players meeting. Viejas Casino...
It was the usual occurances, sit around and talk about new stuff, old stuff and the future, pay our entry fees and catch up with everyone. After that the top 12 players got to play in a Pro-Am. Since a couple people dropped out of the event and I was right on that top 12 bubble...I got to play! I'm sure that this task kind of wears on some of the players that have been a Pro-Am staple for years. Me on the other hand, I love it! It's a time to just hang out, have some fun and meet some people. My team didn't do all that hot, but we had fun! I believe Vivian Villiarreals team won.
So the next day I got the top 16 player perk of not having to play too early...that is always a bonus and something I am not used to! My first match was against Suzanne Smith from Arizona I believe. This was her first WPBA event and Suzanne, I'm sorry we had to play but I know you had fun! She had the coolest idea to remember her first event by having everyone sign a book for her. I wish I would have thought of that! I won the match 9-3. My next match was scheduled for Thursday night against Liz Cole from Washington. She had a great first round win against Melissa Little and I wasn't really sure what to think going into the match. I started out a bit shakey but eventually started playing better. I think the final score was 9-5. I have to give a big congrats to Liz for doing well in the tournament. She is a very nice person and I hope she continues to win some big matches in the WPBA events! The perk for winning my first two matches...not having to play until late Friday night!
The bracket begins to look a bit tougher on Friday. There is also some big added pressure..win that third match and you are done until Saturday and guaranteed a top 16 finish. Just a little pressure. My match was a rematch from Florida except this time it wasn't on ESPN it was on the WPBA livestream...myself and Gerda Hofstatter. I wasn't sure going into this match. I was just hoping to play well and make it a good match. I watched one of Gerdas earlier matches and she was playing incredibly well. I have to say I was surprised at how Gerda played. I got a few rolls and she couldn't get anything going. I won the match 9-4. From that match you never would have guessed that Gerda would come back playing like burning hell and take out Allison Fisher and Xiao Ting Pan to make it to the semi-finals! Now that I had my secured spot in the Final 16...I was off until 7pm Saturday! Here is a glimpse into hanging out after the matches....and yes, Debbie was trying to cure me of my eye closing problem!
Saturday came and I spent the day kind of being lazy (go figure) and went to the mall with my pal Tracie Hines. Thanks to the WPBA webcast I could sit in the room resting and find out who I had to play. Unfortunately I heard the news that I would have to play one of my best friends in the world, Helena Thornfeldt. I hate to see one of us have to go but we are both competitive people. We have a pretty equal record when it comes to playing each other in WPBA events going back over the years. This time I played well and Helena played average. I got ahead 8-2 and just couldn't close it out. Then it went to 8-4, then 8-6. The last game was pretty brutal. We both missed the 5-ball, then we both missed the 7-ball. Eventually I made the final three balls and finished off the match. Next I had the task of playing Jeanette Lee with the pressure of making it to the semi-final, ESPN match. This match was also broadcast on the live stream. The outcome was not so great for me..I lost 9-2 and it was a drama filled loss! My post-match post kind of gave away my feelings about that match. Sorry, I'm not going to recap that one.
Like I said before, I'm very happy with how I finished in this event, 5-8th but I was unhappy with how it ended. But it is pretty cool to look at the rankings and see my name in the top 10! Now I just need to play well and keep it there!
Sunday I went to watch...I had to see Monica, one of my other best friends play. It's great to have an American to root for on the final day! I'm not going to give it away, well at least not the details but I have to say congrats to Monica for winning her second event. You have to watch all of the ESPN matches when they air on May 3rd. I guarantee they will be the most exciting matche you have ever seen! Here you go...the top 3 and the celebration dinner after the finals...
The first WPBA event is now in the books. Our next event isn't until mid-June in Michigan City, Indiana.
I got a little bit of a vacation in San Diego. I didn't make arrangements to leave until Tuesday. So I got a chance to go to the beach and Sea World. I have to say that the beautiful warm weather can be deceiving. I went to the beach....not wearing a swimsuit (sorry, maybe when I get a new body I will take pics at the beach). Despite the lack of a swimsuit, I had to put my feet in. I had heard rumors before that the Pacific Ocean doesn't get very warm but it was so nice and warm and sunny and the beach was packed so I figured it was okay...I put my feet in (the smaller feet in the picture are mine). WOW...that was freaking COLD! Maybe I should try that again sometime in July!
After about thirty minutes at the beach, I had enough..off to Sea World. In my opinion Sea World was better than the Zoo. I liked the different shows and the stuff that I can't see at any Zoo. Beware, that is also a HUGE place. It took about five hours to see all of the shows. It is definitely a must see if you are in San Diego! Here are a few pictures from Sea World...
Well, that is my San Diego adventure. Next up...Toronto and my first trip overseas!! Until tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment