Colorado Classic Recap

I know, it's been over a week since the tournament. Sorry! Real-life called and wanted me to come back. Everyone knows the outcome of the tournament. I finished tied for 9th after going into the redraw undefeated. Ga Young Kim won the tournament and Kelly fisher got second, Xiao-ting Pan and Jeanette Lee tied for 3rd. So now, you can hear it from my point of view!

First off, I have to say the Sky Ute Casino and Resort is absolutely beautiful! I did a post while I was there that showed my room and the view. Here is another look at the view from my hotel room...

I didn't get a chance to go see Durango or any of the surrounding area. I know I really missed out. Maybe next year I will get a chance to do all of that but for this year, I was pretty happy to still be focused on the tournament and in the tournament long enough to put off sightseeing!

My first match was rough. I played Dana Aft who I have known for a little while from the time I spent living in Atlanta. She has come such a long way! I think we will be seeing more of her in the future. I had a lot of trouble getting going but I finished well.

My second match was against Morgan Steinman. If you all remember, she is the one who eliminated me from the US Open in August. It was my turn to get revenge! Again, I was down in the match, 3-1 I believe. I came back and it was neck and neck until 6-6. Finally, I pulled away and won the match. I didn't feel real good about how I played. I knew I was making too many stupid, simple mistakes at the end of the rack. I was giving games away and that is not a good feeling. I felt very lucky to win that match.

My third match was against the number one seed Monica Webb. I think a lot of my readers got to watch the match since it was on the PoolDawg live-stream. I won the lag and looked to have a very easy run out. Then of course, I tried to get cute and show that I can play lefty instead of using the bridge. What did it get me? How about a miss on an easy six ball! I can't exactly remember what happened but Monica played a rail to rail safety on the nine. I looked at it for a minute or so then decided that the safety and going for it were equally tough so I went for it. Here is the shot:

Anyway, throughout the match I was getting a little fortunate but I was also playing well. Monica made some uncharacteristic mistakes that allowed me chances at the table. I felt pretty good about it and think I took advantage of about 90% of the opportunities I got. Not perfect, but not too shabby!

That win put me in a situation I have only been in once before...coming into the final 16 on the winners side! I had a whole day to not do much. I got to meet with the PoolDawg guys, Mike, Keven and Brent. We took care of some business matters. For example, the new promotion being run by PoolDawg. If you use the code SRCUEBALL and spend over $100 you can receive an autographed Sarah Rousey cue ball! I had to sign lots so please support them! Okay, back to the tournament. I went to witness the draw at 4:30 and my name was one of the last ones to be picked. The people coming out of the losers bracket were absolute killers, Kelly Fisher, Kim Shaw, Yu Ram Cha, Jeanette Lee and a four others (sorry I can't remember all 8). So it came down to Kelly Fisher and Jeanette left and my name hadn't been drawn. Of course, Jeanette draws my name. She yelled out "Oh but I wanted to draw Vivian!" in a kind of whiny voice. I couldn't help myself and in return yelled back "Oh darn, that's too bad." So our match was set to begin at 5:30.

I took my time getting ready and practiced and felt pretty good. I know playing Jeanette can be a task not only because she is a great player, but also because she puts on quite a show. I have said before, I respect what she does for the sport, but man, that is brutal! Jeanette really played great. I had a really slow start and only kicked for the first four games or so. The only games I won were games that she made a mistake. That only happened a handful of times. Her safety play, kicking, and shot-making were all working in unison that match. I lost 9-4 and my tournament run ended with only one loss. Jeanette went on to get her match with Vivian that she wanted and won convincingly, 9-3 I believe the score was. I guess you do get what you ask for!

The topic has come up before with the single elimination from the redraw and whether I like it or not. I have only experienced coming to the final sixteen from the winners side once before this event. Both times I have lost my first match. I have had a lot more success when coming from the losers side to the redraw. I think the person coming from the losers side gets a warm-up match. They are loose and awake and ready to go. Perhaps ready for their second chance. The person that comes from the winners side hasn't played a match in around 24 hours. I talked to one of the other players, a top player, about it. She felt the same way. It is nice to get a break, but very hard when your day isn't starting until 5:30 or 7:30 pm after playing your last match 24 hours earlier. Maybe we should go back to almost true double elimination. Who knows? For me, I have mixed emotions. I love it when I'm coming from the losers side and so far hate it coming from the winners side!

I spent a lot of time relaxing after I was done with the tournament. I did the last of the PoolDawg live-stream commentary along with Melissa Herndon, Jennifer Barretta and Michell Monk. Doing the commentary is always awesome. I love getting to chat with all of the fans and actually offer some insight into what is going on. After all of that, I just hung out. I wish I would have made it to Durango but the only shuttle service would have stranded me there for hours and hours. I got to catch a little bit of the finals by the time I got done being lazy. From what I heard Ga Young played incredibly well. She is making her mark as the real deal on the WPBA. I think it will last for years to come! Thanks Anne Craig and the WPBA website for the photo!

Here is were I would have some really cool pictures, but since Casino security was so tight, we couldn't take any pictures in the bar. I tried to sneak in one but the security person came over immediately and made us delete all pictures that were taken! Anyway, the really awesome part of this, which I would like to think is because we are all friends and like hanging out opposed to thinking that we were all stuck in the casino with nothing to do, but a big group of players got to hang out. It was nice to hear and tell stories of all of the different experiences we have all had. I will try to remember everyone in attendance and make a list...here it goes, Myself, Val Finnie, Kelly Fisher, Helena Thornfeldt, Julie Kelly, Karen Corr, Xiao-ting Pan, Ga Young Kim, Morgan Steinman, Anne Craig and Linda Pault. It was really so much fun. I wish I had pictures. It is nice to see that while we are all so competitive, we can all sit down, have a drink, share stories and just have good old fashion fun!

All-in-all, this was a great trip. Sure the altitude was a lot to get used to and we were kind of in the middle of nowhere, but hey, that's okay! I learned that sometimes a break from things is what you need. I didn't spend much, if any time practicing. I know that is not a good thing but I really needed a rest. I don't recommend doing it every time and I am going to try to squeeze in a bit more time on the table. I also learned from this trip that it is good to go in with no expectations. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I don't only want to make myself happy but I like to make others happy. I know that I have a huge support system out there and I thank everyone for that, Heartbackers and everyone else! I need to go in and expect to only give it my best. That could mean even if I am feeling like crap, maybe had a low blood sugar and don't feel like functioning, give it my best. Or if I am feeling great, give it my best. Just do what you can, the best that you can, no matter what the situation is!

I would like to thank my sponsors, MezzUSA, PoolDawg and the Heartbackers for the support. You guys are really awesome and thank you for your undying support! Thanks to my dad and sister for making the long drive from Phoenix to watch and to my mom for sweating it all from home! Thanks to everyone for watching the live-stream. I hope you guys thank the sponsors for making it available!

Finally, check out CueTable, the website that provided the diagram in this post. It is really a great way to communicate what you are thinking when it comes to shots and game situations! Support PoolDawg for providing the live-stream and me! And last but not least, keep checking out the live-stream and bracket updates live from the WPBA tournaments!

Since I am doing this post from work (sorry momboss) I will try to find some pictures when I get home to add to the post. Thank you all!

Winner!

The correct answer this week was Oklahoma. I had never won a state championship until August of this year! Above is the picture I posted after the tournament with myself and Bonnie Plowman. Jeff, if you would have just stopped at OK! I wish I had won a championship in my own state, but unfortunately, I have played pretty poorly when those used to come around! George, congrats to you for winning for the second time since the trivia started a few months ago!

I promise another post today on Colorado and answering the questions that have come in the comments! I really appreciate the questions and comments. Keep'em coming! Check back for another post in about two hours.

Thank you PoolDawg for your letting me do this awesome weekly trivia! Remember, everyone can benefit by visiting PoolDawg and using the discount code ROUSEY, all caps, to receive 5% off their purchase. If you spend over $100 and use the code SRCUEBALL, you can get an a Sarah Rousey autographed cue ball!

Monday Trivia!

It's that time again. Myself and PoolDawg bring you Monday Trivia! Remember, just answer in the comments and be sure to leave a way to contact you. I was informed that you should enter your email address using at instead of @ to avoid spammers. The first person with the correct answer gets a $10 gift code from the wonderful people at PoolDawg!

This weeks question: Where did I win my first state championship??

I was going to do a post this weekend but I was really caught up in the action going on. I watched pretty much the entire Oscar Dominguez/John Morra race to 100! That was some awesome playing and definitely and awesome production by The Action Report! The world of livestreaming has really come a long way. The TAR guys have definitely raised the bar! Way to go guys. If you didn't get to see it, you will have to support TAR and buy the dvd! Be sure to check out their store. They have a great variety of t-shirts, hats and dvd's. They do great things for pool so please try to support them!

As for me, I am headed to Houston on Friday for the Houston Open. I will post somethign again later in the week. If you are planning to attend please leave a comment or send me an email. I'd love to meet some players and fans from that area!

Good luck everyone!

Thanks PoolDawg!

I wanted to give a big thanks to one of my sponsors, PoolDawg. I know, I know, I plug them a lot but this time I want to let you all know about a promotion that they are running. Anytime you put together an order for $100 and up you will not only get free shipping, but also a free cueball autographed by yours truly! You have to use the code SRCUEBALL to take full advantage of the offer. Be sure to use all capital letters. Remember, you can also get a 5% discount by using the code ROUSEY.
I slaved over a couple boxes of cue balls at the WPBA Colorado Classic so you better hurry!

Read all about the special on the PoolDawg Blog

Keep in mind, PoolDawg is not only my sponsor but also the sponsor of the WPBA, Liz Fords blog, and various other things within the pool industry. I appreciate the chance that I am being given by them! Thank you so much PoolDawg!

Winner(s)!

Well, wasn't this week fun. I really thought that I had stumped you guys! Of course, I was wrong. Apparently you friends and fans are very resourceful. There was a bit of a discrepency in who won this week. Venom answered with the correct answer, but not the location. Then Chuck Peters added in every detail! I felt really bad since you both had the right answer in a way and since PoolDawg is such an extremely cool company...you both win this week! Check your email for your discount code.

Thank you everyone for playing. Those of you that are soooo close to winning, keep trying. Every monday there is a new question! You can only win once a month so who knows, everyone might get their chance! Thank you again to the awesome folks at PoolDawg who are so generous! Remember, if you didn't win you can still use the discount code ROUSEY (all caps) to get 5% off of your purchase.

Thanks for playing everyone. I'll be back tonight with a new post or two!

Monday Trivia!

It is that time again. In honor of having a decent finish last week at the WPBA Colorado Classic I figure I will make this weeks question about my past finishes.

Where did I have my first top 10 WPBA finish and what year was it?

I know, it might be a tough one! A big thanks to PoolDawg for letting me do the weekly trivia and giving me the awesome gift certificates to give to the winners! Please check them out and give them a little support! Remember to include your email address along with your answer down in the comment section! Good luck!!

I am on my long trip home and when I finally arrive, I will give a tournament recap. Thank you to everyone who checked out my blog, wished me luck, and showed a lot of support. I really appreciate it!

The Joys of Winning

This is a shock, prepare yourself. I won my second round match! If you have been following along you know that has been rare so far this year. The joy of that is that I don't have to play until 10pm tonight! So, I took some pictures. Warning, they may be graphic! just kidding.

Here is the view from my hotel room balcony. No, I am not a big spender, every room has a balcony! It is beautiful outside today. I'm no meteorologist, but I would say it is about 75 and sunny!


Next up, the hotel room I was raving about and the affect I have on it. I cleaned up a little bit!
As you can see, the room is quite roomie.

And now for my shameless sponsor plug. A close-up of the table which houses my goods and used patches and whatever else ends up there. Thanks so much again to PoolDawg, Mezz USA and of course, most importantly, The Heartbackers! As you can see, you each get a plug on my messy table.
Now on to my entertainment while I am here. I am pretty wild and crazy so be warned...That's right, not one, but two books! Two of my favorite authors, Dan Brown and Jodi Picoult.

Last but not least, the most graphic picture of all. Me waking up in the morning and realizing that I won and don't have to play an 11 am match. Conan O'Brien inspired the hair.
That is my trip in pictures so far. My dad and sister are arriving today so I will have a car to get around a bit more and take more pictures of the area. This is my first trip to Colorado so I need to see what it has to offer!

If you are wondering about that match I played last night, sorry I forget I actually play pool sometimes. I played Morgan Steinman. It was an okay match. I need to get started a bit earlier in the match and not make such silly mistakes at the end of the rack. I am taking things for granted and it is really kicking me in the butt. The final score was 9-6. I have to get it together tonight. I play Monica Webb who is the number 1 seed for this event. No more getting lazy for me! The match is not until 10pm mountain time and it could possibly be streamed. Be sure to check out the livestream provided by PoolDawg! You can get to the stream by clicking here.

Colorado Day 1

Well all of the doubts that people had about the Sky Ute Casino as a venue, were pretty wrong! This place is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it is beautiful. The rooms are great and the venue is very nice. So far, there has been a pretty good turnout and everyone is very appreciative of the WPBA being here!

As for me, my first match was against Dana Aft. She is someone that I have known for a few years and met when I was living in the Atlanta area. She has come such a long way and is playing well. I didn't play great in the beginning, but got it together in the end and won 9-3. My next match is somewhat of a revenge match against Morgan Steinman. She beat me at the last event! Hopefully I can pull it together and stay on the winners side!

You can watch the livestream here:

Monday Trivia!

Yep, that's right, not only is it Trivia time, but it is also my birthday!! For those of you that are wondering how old I am (I don't think it is much of a secret) the answer is: 18!! Oh wait, my age calculator is a bit off today...let me think, oh that's right. I'm 27 today! This weeks question is going to be pretty easy.

What did you get me for my birthday?? Fine, that is a joke

The real question, brought to you by Myself and PoolDawg:

Who else in my family celebrates their birthday today??

Good luck everyone! A big thanks to PoolDawg as always for being so kind. Remember you can shop at PoolDawg and use the discount code ROUSEY and get 5% off your purchase! Okay, that's my shameless sponsor plug, but hey, those guys rock!

As for me, tomorrow morning I am off to Ignacio, Colorado for the WPBA Colorado Classic. Check out the WPBA website for the live streaming that will begin Wednesday for the pro-am and Thursday for tournament play.

Along with that I would like to wish everyone that will be or is competing right now a kind of late Good luck in The World Classic. That tournament is being held in Galveston, TX. I wanted to go to that event but money and scheduling just weren't cooperating with me! Check out the website for nightly challenge matches and tournament results.

Have fun watching pool this week everyone!

Winner!

Way to go AndyB!! You were right in answering Elmhurst College. I went off to the big city of Chicago (well, the close suburbs) in 2000 when I was 17. This is where I tried to not be a pool player. Instead, just a short time later, I was playing in my first WPBA event! Justin and Jenny, you also had the correct answer, unfortunately, AndyB is an early riser and beat you to it. Venomus9s...good try. If I was schooled on the streets, I would fit in perfectly when I visit all of you crazy people in Brooklyn! Don't worry, next Monday is yet another chance to win.

Thanks to Pooldawg as always for letting this trivia game happen weekly. You guys are awesome! Everyone comeback and play again!

As a side note, I have decided to pass on Galveston and I'm off to Ignacio, Colorado for the WPBA Colorado Classic. I will be back with a new post soon!

News, Randoms and Trivia

I promised some posts this week and technically, it is not this week anymore. I have been kind of in my own world lately. Life has been making me think way too much. As John Mayer said in one of his songs, "It might be a quarter-life crisis". I go through these times often and this time, it's lasted a bit longer than usual. I question what I'm doing with my life and wonder what in the world is going to happen. I think this makes me human and everyone goes through the same thing. My birthday is coming up soon and this always gets me thinking. Pool is my life and my passion, but it is getting harder and harder to survive out there. My life has been consumed by pool for almost 17 years now. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have made great friends, met cool people, and traveled the world. Still, I wonder if I would know what to do without all of that. Would I know how to live a 'normal' life? I am not meaning to sound like I am sitting on the pity pot, just trying to rant. I know I am very lucky so please don't think I am not grateful.

Anyway...This week I decided to practice for the first time in a month. Mentally, I haven't had much desire to play and like I said above, haven't exactly been in a good place. Physically, my elbow is still hurting but I can't go without practice. Wednesday I headed to the local pool room, Ride the Nine and started hitting balls. I haven't really been to the pool room in months since I have been traveling and working. It usually isn't very busy during the week besides a few regulars. The pool room is essentially a bar that happens to have 18 pool tables. I spent about four hours practicing and catching up with everyone. It was really awesome to get to talk to a few people (you guys know who you are). I had no idea that people really follow along with everything I do and how grateful people are to get to hang out or talk with me. It was very flattering, but I still insist I am no different than anyone else in the world. Just another person who likes to play pool. Thank you guys for lifting my spirits Wednesday night. It really meant a lot.

That leads into the question that was posted when I asked what people wanted to know about. How and what do I practice? To be completely honest, practice has never been my strong point. I hate drills and I am not very good at staying focused for very long. I usually just hit balls for about half an hour, then end up playing the ghost. My boyfriend is a drill freak. He will do drills for hours on end. It makes him crazy that I won't do the same. When he is around, I am more structured. He is there to set stuff up or watch and tell me if something is off. Last year when I started playing well he was around for a few months and really helped me stay focused and practice drills and shots that come up often. I have been pretty lazy in my practice as of lately. Just playing the ghost and shooting shots that I have trouble with. I have also been practicing using spin more and controlling it better. My position play has never been a strong point! If you look back in previous posts I posted a drill. The post is called 'Not so simple'. It is a good drill to start with. As for me, I have to get to practicing a lot for the next few months!

That leads to the big news. I have been invited to represent the USA again on the world stage. I am going to China again to play in the WPA Women's World 9-Ball!! If you have followed along and remember the last trip to a "world championship" it didn't go so well. This event is run by a different promotion group that I got to experience on that trip as well. The same group that promoted the China Open is in charge of this event. I am really excited to play in my first Women's World 9-ball Championship! I am happy to say that all of the Heartbackers that have donated so far in 2009 will be represented on this trip as well. If you would like to become a Heartbacker you can do so by donating through paypal over on the right side of the blog or contacting me. Everyone that donates receives a Heartbacker patch and some other goodies. Thank you so much to everyone that has been involved in helping me this year. I cannot thank you enough! You have helped make my dreams come true! I will definitely be prepared for everything this time and I look forward to real Chinese food again! Now you see why I need to whip myself into shape!!

The next adventure for me is up in the air. I am definitely going to Ignacio, CO for the WPBA event. What happens the week before is in question. The big tournament in Galveston is there. The women's division ends the day before the WPBA event begins. What to do, what to do?? I will let everyone know what the final decision is.

I hope everyone has enjoyed all of the live-stream pool action from this weekend. I was really overwhelmed with the choices! All week I had been staying up late to watch the World Cup of Pool. Congrats to Efren and Bustamante for winning. There was also the match between Jeanette Lee and Vivian Villarreal, the Texas Open, a Predator Tour event from New York, and the NCS Championships from Vegas. I hope that this means the pool world is growing. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to show all of these tournaments!

Finally, I am posting this weeks trivia question early. I have to go to Chicago for the day tomorrow so I won't be able to post it tomorrow afternoon like I usually do. So in honor of me paying off my school loans this week, here is the question:

What college did I attend??

Good luck to everyone and thanks again to PoolDawg for everything! Be sure to include your email address in your comment below!

That's my rant! Sorry for the lack of pictures.

And the winner is...

Congrats to Alan Wong again! The first time I won a tournament was when I was 16. I had lots and lots of second and third place finishes prior to that but my win came in Schaumburg, IL at Cue-Can-Do. It was a National 9-ball Tour event. I can't remember how much I won, but I know I felt like I had a ton of weight lifted from my shoulders! I tried to find an embarrassing picture of myself at age 16, but then I realized that I look exactly the same. Just for the sake of adding a picture, I was somewhere between here..
and here...
Just picture me a little chubbier and with a bowl cut and you get me at 16!

Thank you for everyone that played. I'm glad to see some more participation. Be ready for a new question next week! And as always, thank you so much to PoolDawg! Coming up later on, answering your questions and maybe some big news!