Public Speaking and the BEF Junior Nationals

As I said in a previous post, the BEF Junior National 9-ball tournament was being held in my hometown of Bloomington/Normal, IL. I got a chance to attend the banquet and give a speech. It was a packed house! The banquet was really awesome. I wish there would have been something like that when I was playing! There were prizes and different awards given out...most of them directed toward good students. Everything was fun, then it was time for the speech. I wrote my speech a couple days ago and practiced here and there. Once I got up there, I was so freaked out and nervous, I couldn't see the words on my notes! I had to wing it and my voice was super shaky...but hopefully I got my point across. First a picture, then the video of my speech at the bottom of the post. Are politics in my future?? I think not!

After the banquet, Dr. Cue, Tom Rossman put on an exhibition. If you haven't seen his show before, it is definitely one of the best when it comes to trick shots. He put on a show for over an hour and could have kept going! To end the first night, Laura Smith, Dawn Hopkins, and myself did challenge games. I was determined to not quit until everyone had a chance to play.

I went to watch as much as I could. Saturday night I got to do some more challenge matches and meet a lot of the players. Sunday, the finals were pretty exciting. Landon Shuffett moved up a division but still came out the winner. Brianna Miller defended her title as the 14 and under division. Liz Lovely won the 19 and under girls and Brendan Crockett won the 14 and under boys division. All of these kids are really amazing talents. We all have to watch out for them soon!

I have to give a big thanks to all of the kids and parents. I had a great time and I got to go back to having a good feeling about pool. Everyone was so friendly and appreciative. Thank you for the opportunity to be around that!

Here it is...in two parts, the speech. Part of it was cut out in order to take some pictures. The camera is a little shaky so you might want to close your eyes! My opening line was cut out. I said "I was really worried about what to wear tonight, but I guess I didn't need to worry since you can't even see me behind this podium!"

Part 1

Part 2 (on YouTube since blogger wouldn't let me load it)


Thanks for watching! Next up is the WPBA US Open. The live stream sponsored by PoolDawg isn't going to be running for this one but you can find the brackets on the WPBA website.

PoolDawg Rocks!

I would like to give a big thanks to PoolDawg! They have decided to add me to the team for the rest of 2009. In case you didn't know, PoolDawg is located in Colorado. In honor of that, all employees and players have to have a South Park character. What do you think? Is it me?
On a serious note, I have a link to PoolDawg over to the right of this article, but now you can also go to the site and use the promotion code ROUSEY to receive a 5% discount. There is a huge variety of things all pool related. The people that work there are awesome and easy to get along with. I'm sure they would be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Just don't talk about baseball...they have some questionable favorite teams!

From now on, and for the past couple tournaments, you have and will see me carrying around Frank the PoolDawg. He looks pretty real, but don't worry, he doesn't bite. He does like to have a good time though, so if there is a party, he will find it and probably make me go! If you see us, please come up and meet us both or if you have already met me, meet Frank. Everyone gets a picture taken. He got kicked off of myspace because he is just too cool so now he has his own blog that you can follow along with and see the pictures and hear what he has to say about our trips. I hope he likes his new home in Bloomington, IL!
Now, I know, everyone, including me, are really missing Debbie Schjodt! She is so busy working at a new pool room that she is going to take some time off. I believe I have mentioned before that Debbie is my roommate on tour...so I really miss her! Debbie, you are awesome and thank you for passing the responsibility on to me. I hope I can fill your spot well and I hope Frank is comfortable with me. Luckily, we have already had some good times together!Come back soon Debbie!

Look out for trivia questions, contests, and whatever else I can come up with (that could be scary) to win some cool prizes from PoolDawg. If you haven't already checked them out, please do!

Thank you again PoolDawg!!!

P.S. The speech is tomorrow! I had a post started that is going to be a long one, with lots of pictures. I will post it after the Junior stuff is finished. Then we will be all up-to-date. I had to give PoolDawg some much needed attention first!!

What a Jerk!!!!!

I know, that is what all of you have been thinking of me for the past month or so. Sorry. I needed a break from all things pool related. For a couple weeks, I didn't even read the forums, answer emails, or check blogs. That is something I have never done before...NEVER!

When I got home from overseas, I was exhausted and had to go right to the WPBA event in Michigan City. I know, quit complaining, I wasn't the only one that had to do that. I did however, think I was getting a cold. It got worse and worse and I really didn't play all that well. I didn't even stick around to watch much of the tournament. I left as soon as I was knocked out...by Helena, who played great. When I got home, I kept getting more and more sick and gave in, finally, I went to the doctor. Let me tell you, that swine flu test is not cool! A big swab, stuck up your nose, not just in your nose, but tickling your brain practically!! Ten minutes later, no swine flu, but a nice case of pneumonia. Nothing like a couple weeks of coughing up a lung or two. With some breathing treatments and antibiotics...I was alive and well again, kinda.

I went to the tournament in Bristol, played awful, but had a good time. I will have pictures and stuff later. I am at work and I was feeling really guilty about not doing this in so long...so no pics right now. I can say Janet's pool room is awesome. If you get a chance to go to Bristol, TN, definitely visit Borderline Billiards.

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you saw that I am pretty nervous about giving a speech. Well, here in my hometown (Bloomington/Normal, IL) the Junior Nationals and ACUI championships are being held at Illinois State University. Laura Smith, a fellow WPBA player and head of the Billiard Education Foundation, asked if I would be the guest speaker at this years opening banquet. This is really an honor, but I am not the greatest public speaker. In fact, I passed out once in speech class and haven't given a speech since! That was twelve years ago!! I have the speech written and after I give the speech tomorrow night, I will post it here. I don't want to ruin the excitement of all the kids getting to hear my shaky voice give the speech. I sure hope video cameras are prohibited!

Again, I'm sorry about the break. I have had a lot going on personally, just trying to figure things out with myself and I didn't want to rain my gloom upon all of you. I will put pictures and everything else up tonight when I get home from work.

Thanks for sticking with me and checking up on me. Thanks to my friends that sent emails making sure I was still alive. I appreciate it....and I am alive!!