Archive for the year 2022
The Best of 2022
Posted on December 23, 2022 by Ching under Life, Pickleball.
Each year I take time to reflect on the best parts of the year and recall all of my favorite moments. This year it seems all of my best memories revolve around pickleball, which is not surprising considering I spent New Year’s Day playing pickleball. We always believed that whatever you are doing on New Year’s Day is what you will be doing all year long and so I ended up playing in a ton of tournaments this year, starting with the Vetta Dink in the New Year tournament.
I guess we can just start this recap with my most favorite tournaments this year (listed somewhat chronologically).
- Dink in the New Year – I played 3.5/4.0 singles, 4.0 mixed doubles with Devon Fuller, and 3.5 women’s doubles with Tiffany Lesperance. We traveled with Tiffany and Donnie to that tournament and had such a great time spending the weekend with them.
- Oak Tree – I played 3.5 singles, 4.0 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 4.0 women’s with Jen Reifshneider. Even though this tournament was a complete shit show, it was a ton of fun. Not only did a learn so much, but I also met some people at that tournament that are really good friends now. I played against Katie Merrill and now we are thick as thieves. Also, I was going through some old tournament footage and found a Tanner Rice cameo. It’s so wild that he was in one of my YouTube videos before we actually knew each other.
- US Open – I played women’s doubles with my friend Erica Case and we won our first US Open gold medal. I only got to play in one event but Brian and I stayed the entire week and it was amazing. I can’t wait to try again next year!
- WPT Kansas City Classic – I played 3.5 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ryan Kellenbarger and 3.5 women’s with Kimberly Howe. This was a money tournament so I was hoping (and had a real shot at getting gold medals at both events). Kimberly and I finished in 3rd place and Ryan and I won gold and actually made money. One of best memories is getting stuck with some people during the rain delay who are good friends of mine now.
- ICT Classic – I played 3.5 singles, 5.0 mixed with Matt Nola, and 4.0 women’s with Jenny Corley. This is worth a mention because it was my first time playing 5.0 level and, even though we went 0-2, I actually didn’t suck and I didn’t feel out of place. Looking back, I feel like I was actually a lot better than some of the other players, as crazy as that sounds. This is the beginning of me realizing I can absolutely play any level I want to play.
- Middle States – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s with Kendra Wicks. This is only my second time playing in this tournament (the first time I played with my friend Chris Wilson) and my first time winning triple gold. This tournament qualified me for the Diamond Amateur Championships (DAC) earlier this month in Florida.
- USAP Newport Beach – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s doubles with Nancy Kaplan (blind date). I agreed to play in this tournament at the beginning of the year thinking I was going to try to qualify for Nationals but then, once I qualified for the DAC, I realized I couldn’t swing both trips so I was completely unmotivated. I couldn’t say no to Ramon, though. Around this time of the year, he was my #1 favorite mixed doubles partner. He could have asked me to play on Jupiter and I probably would’ve figured out a way to make it work. Anyway, it was a fun trip. Brian and I had a great time vacationing in California and it was nice to meet Ramon’s family.
- Tulsa Pickleball Classic – I played Intermediate 50/50 with Robert Mansfield, 4.5 mixed with Tanner Rice, and 4.0 women’s with Huyen Nguyen. This was my first tournament team up with my fake daughter who everyone thinks is my real daughter. Also, I ended up teaming up with Tanner completely by accident when I meant to send a message to Tanner Blaske on Facebook. Tanner and I chatted and, even though we didn’t really know each other in person at the time, we agreed to play a couple of tournaments together. This was our first one. I actually felt pretty special that Robert agreed to play with me because 50/50 was the same day as singles and he normally prefers to play singles over doubles.
- Bartlesville Pickleball Classic – I played Advanced 50/50 with Chris Wilson, 4.0 mixed with Michael Douglas, and 4.0 women’s with Jenny Corley. It felt so good to team up with Chris Wilson again. We actually did really well together. Fourth was not too shabby considering that draw. My other events didn’t go so well but it was my first time playing Bartlesville and I had an amazing time.
- PPA Championships – I played 3.5 mixed with Zach Nguyen and 4.0 women’s with Jen Reifschneider. This was actually not on the list for the year so it was a last minute addition. This format was double elimination with a consolation bracket (not an opportunity bracket) which means once you lose the best you can do is bronze. We lost in the semis in both events. Zach and I came so close to playing for gold and silver too. We were literally up 10-6 in the third game of our semi-final match. We ended up losing 10-12. It was a heart-breaker!
- Shangri-la Pickleball Open – I played 4.5 mixed with Devon Fuller and 3.5 women’s with Molly Sager. This was another tournament that wasn’t on the list but my friend Kumar Krishnan told me about it and offered to host me and Brian at his lake house so I couldn’t pass it up. I’d never been to this part of Oklahoma before so it was a great adventure for me and Brian and I’m actually looking forward to playing in this again next year.
- ICT Fall-out – I played 4.0 singles, 4.5 mixed with Tanner Rice, and 4.0 women’s doubles with Jenny Corley. The funny part of this is, I was originally signed up for 3.5 singles but then moved myself up to 4.0 singles when I only saw two players signed up but then apparently Chanell Nguyen and Fong Witte had the same idea and signed up for 4.0 singles also. Instead of getting a bronze medal handed to me, I actually had to work for it. Also, this is the tournament that Tanner took over as my #1 favorite mixed doubles partner.
- SMASH 5 – I played 4.5 mixed with Isaiah McAllister and 4.0 women’s with Nicole Mathis. I was originally signed up for 4.0 35+ with Jason Doll but then ended up grabbing another partner for mixed so he wouldn’t have to play on both days because he’s still nursing his knees. It worked out great because I ended up moving up to 4.5 19+ with Isaiah who I had such an amazing time playing with. Also, 4.0 35+ might have been too easy for Jason because he is so dang good! I think my most favorite part of this tournament is finally winning a match against Ramon who I always end up playing in the first round whenever we are signed up for the same division.
- Diamond Amateur Championships – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s with Kendra Wicks. I qualified, played, and medaled in the first ever DAC. And, I punched my singles and women’s doubles tickets to 2023 USAP National Championships. I actually thought this was going to be my final tournament of the year but I ended up tacking on a couple of last minute team events at the end of the year.
- Mother’s Day Tournament – I played in a Mother’s Day pickleball tournament at Chicken N Pickle with Huyen. It was one of several little tournaments (most of them charity tournaments benefiting local non-profits) that I played this year.
Besides playing in tournaments, I actually organized and helped with several events this year. Here’s a few of them:
- It’s a Big Dill – This was my second time helping with this event and I feel like everything went so perfectly this year. We were right on schedule.
- Dream Team Doubles – We actually did two of them this year. So much fun!
- Picklemania MMXXII – Second tournament for my Rotary club. We made it a team event this time and it made the event so much for fun. I feel like team events are the way to go.
- Picklepalooza – I didn’t have much to do for this tournament actually other than help spread the board but I did join the Senior Services of Wichita board this year so I will probably have a lot more to do this next year.
- One Last Dink – This one isn’t until next weekend. I pitched the idea to the Pickle Club owners and they came up with the name for the event. I’m super excited for this team tournament, not just because it will my final event for the year, but because I’m part of a super awesome team. Also, it means that I’ve basically started and ended the entire year with pickleball.
This was also the year of the DUPRs. I started a digital club on DUPR so that I could help our local rec players (those who don’t normally play in tournaments) get official ratings. I hosted a bunch of DUPR match sessions over the summer and entered scores so everyone could get ratings.
Besides organizing DUPR play, I also participated in DUPR events myself — a couple in Oklahoma during my DUPR double dip weekend and a couple in Kansas City hosted by iPickleNation. I also brought back the Queen of Courts but beefed up because now they are DUPR QoCs.
Other notable things that happened this year… Nahola sold and then re-opened a few months later. It is now the Pickle Club. Other than being limited to two courts, it’s still hands down the best place to play in town. Except when the weather is nice, then my favorite spot is Wichita State where they have four lighted courts that you can use free of charge. The county also converted two of the tennis courts at Sedgwick County Park into pickleball courts this fall and it’s been quite popular with the players. We even had a couple of cookouts there already.
In terms of travel, we didn’t get to do much but we did go to Mexico in August to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary slash crash Erica’s wedding. LOL. It was fun. I always enjoy and appreciate any time I can spend with my girlfriends. Brian and I stayed in our first Airbnb during Middle States Regional and now he’s not anti Airbnbs anymore.
And, finally, in non-pickleball news, grandma turned 100 this year. That pretty much sums up 2022 in a nutshell (or long post). Can’t wait to see what the new year will bring. Until then, GNG.
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DUPR 16 at Northland Racquet Club
Posted on December 22, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
These are the pictures of the teams that competed in iPickle Nation‘s DUPR 16 team event at Northland Racquet Club on Sunday.
Net Assets: Randy and Jeana Shumate, Tamara Cowell, and Duane Rice
Dink and Fireball: Maddy Beasley, Sharon Vanderberg, Michael Cobb, and Pete Petrovic – These guys are really funny. Maddy and Mike told me about their tradition of taking a shot of Fireball at the beginning of the tournament and then another shot at the end. Mind you, this tournament started at 9 AM!
Pickleholics: Michael Ross, Sharon Steimel, Michelle Dreiling, and Jeff Mehaffey
The Law Firm of Batesons, Johnson & Peel: Isaiah Peel, Becky Johnson, Tiffany and Jacob Bateson (Third Place)
Will Smith’s Backhand: Jordan Sparks, Vi Dang, Fernando Martinez, and Amanda Ades (Second Place)
4 Skinnee Js: Jonathan Freeman, Jason Walker, Ali Jorn, and Jenny Schmidt (Champions) – I actually met Jenny at the WPT Kansas City Classic pickleball tournament at Elite this summer. I played against her in both doubles and singles. This woman is a beast and truly lives up to her “The Legend” nickname. I met Jason at the Shangri-la tournament. I had not met their other teammates before this weekend.
I just love going to tournaments seeing people I’ve met before, hanging out with friends, and making new ones. This year has been full of experiences like this one. I’m hoping next year brings even more of these moments but, before that, we are going to end the year with a bang at the One Last Dink pickleball team event at the Pickle Club. Check back for an update next weekend. GNG.
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Succotash with Ramon and Katie
Posted on December 21, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Staying in the same house as Ramon and Katie was so much fun. I feel like we took the whole “team bonding” concept to the next level. Firstly, Katie and I are both morning people so we are early risers. I feel like we had the best heart-to-heart conversations in the morning when first waking up.
Both days we ended up laying in my bed and just talking about things before we started getting ready. It’s so funny because I always thought the guys were exaggerating about Ramon’s snoring. Well, we put him in the basement and I could hear him snore all the way up in my room. The first morning Katie was like, “Are you sure it wasn’t me?” I said, “I’m pretty sure because it was coming from that direction [while pointing to Ramon’s side of the house].” Anyway, as we were chatting, she heard it too so that confirmed it was him because we were both awake at that point. LOL.
The next morning, she peeks in my room around 6:00 AM as I’m laying in bed. I’m wide awake because I always wake up around 5:30-ish, with or without my alarm. I’m like, “Come on in. I want to hear about last night.” After our dinner at El Canelo, Ramon and Katie went out with Ramon’s Kansas City pals while I stayed in to catch up with Brian.
She cracked me up because she was just laying on top of the covers at first and then started to get cold so before she got under the covers with me she asked, “Are you naked?” She knows I prefer to sleep naked and, when we were together in Tulsa, I just slept in my underwear and a t-shirt. Since I thought I was sharing a house with three other people, I did invest in some modest pajamas.
So we are laying there chitchatting when Ramon comes up from the basement. Now the three of us are laying around in my room trying to figure out plans for the day. Katie had some Christmas shopping on her agenda. Ramon wanted to watch the FIFA World Cup championships and was waiting for a text from his friends. As we were hanging out, chatting and waiting, Katie decided she wanted to have breakfast at this place called Succotash that Ryan (one of Ramon’s friends) suggested when they were out the previous night. I got super excited because Brian and I had been to Succotash twice before and loved it. The first time was in 2012 and then the second time was in 2017. Although, I went without Brian this time around, I feel like I’m right on schedule (visiting every five years or so). Ramon hadn’t heard from his friends (who were more than likely still hung over from the night before) and, since they have WiFi at the restaurant, he agreed to go with us and just watch the soccer championship on Katie’s iPad.
Succotash hasn’t changed much since Brian and I were there last. I think the most notable difference was that you now ordered at the counter, instead of having a server come to your table, and you pretty much had to fend for yourself on drink refills. I didn’t look at the fresh juice options but I think the menu might have changed slightly but everything else was pretty much the same for the most part.
Here are some pictures of our food:
The serve my most favorite corned beef hash there which is what I got.
Katie got these giant pancakes.
Ramon got French toast with both bacon and sausage. I have to say, I was a little jealous of his French toast and partially wished that I would have gotten it instead. Their corned beef hash is really good though, so I couldn’t pass it up. Katie wanted Ramon’s sausage and thought about taking one of the links when he got up to order some regular toast for his eggs but there were only two left and I told her he would notice if one was missing. Anyway, before we remembered to ask him for it, he had already eaten them both but he said he wouldn’t have minded if she ate one of them. So that was a missed opportunity.
Anyway, here’s a video of Katie demonstrating the best way to eat pancakes.
After our delicious breakfast, Ramon and I went back to Northland Racquet Club to watch some of our friends compete in DUPR 16. It’s basically the same as the team event that we played in the day before, just a different division. For this division the sum of the team members’ DUPR ratings could not exceed 16. In ours the cap is 18. Katie went on to the Lego place which was conveniently just steps away from Succotash. It’s like she planned the whole thing! LOL.
I’ll share pictures of the DUPR 16 teams in a separate post. This whole weekend has been fabulous. Well, except for my flat tire in the middle of I-35 while trying to leave Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. This would be my second tire blowout this year. The first time was in the middle of Kellogg traffic and I actually called 911 because I pulled over on the shoulder but the cars were whizzing by so fast that I was too scared to get out. Brian came to rescue me and replaced my tire in the middle of that mess.
I knew I did not want to be in the middle of Kansas City traffic so rather than pulling over on the shoulder, I took the very next exit. Luckily, there was a Phillips 66 right there. As another stroke of good luck, a man who works for Mopar just happened to park one stall over from me. As I was on the phone with Brian, telling him about my predicament, the man caught my eye as he came out of the convenience store. He asked if I needed help and I emphatically said, “Yes!” Anyway, he replaced my tire so fast it was like a NASCAR pit crew. I think it took longer for me to take all my crap (luggage, portable net, folding chair, umbrella, windshield sunshade, etc.) and dig out the spare tire, jack, and tools from the trunk than it took for him to replace the tire. This dude as amazing and I was ever so grateful. Brian was fully prepared to drive the three hours to Kansas City to rescue me but we were both relieved that he did not have to because it would have meant getting home super late. Three hours for him to get to me, another half hour to replace the tire, and then another three hours for us to drive home.
As it were, my three-hour drive home took nearly four hours because I couldn’t go faster than 60 mph on the donut. At least, that’s what the Mopar guy told me. Brian says there’s a reason that they call them 55-mph tires so going 60 was probably pushing it. Anyway, I made it home safely and while it was still daylight outside, thanks to the help of that nice man. I probably need to start seriously thinking about getting AAA, though. Or so my friends are telling me. ‘Til next time, GNG.
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Dinner at El Canelo
Posted on December 20, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
After the DUPR Teams event, which was an all-day affair, a bunch of us went to El Canelo for dinner. By a bunch, I mean Silly Gooses team members Parker Ward, Nicole Mathis, Megan White, and Megan’s son Miles plus me, Ramon, and Katie from DUPR Troopers, and then Tyson Steele, who although he didn’t play that day was super awesome in coming out to watch and support his friends.
Here are some pictures of our food:
I got the pollo blanco (pictured below) per Tyson’s recommendation. I didn’t take a picture of his plate because he got the same thing.
People who are dining with me for the first time always think it strange that I’m taking pictures of everyone’s food. They often ask me what I do with all the food pictures. Well, they end up here and also on our FLIP + CHING Facebook page.
And, I also create an album of all the restaurants (well, most of them, because there are some I have missed) I’ve visited in my Flickr.
Anyway, it’s fun to look back and see all of the delicious food I’ve enjoyed over the years. Pictures of food is a weird thing to collect but I’m kind of a weirdo, so there is that. Until next time, GNG.
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My First DUPR Teams Event
Posted on December 19, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
iPickle Nation started piloting team events using the MLPLay format (the same rules that Major League Pickleball follows). One of the organizers, Michael Cobb, reached out to me last month about putting together a team but it was too short notice so we missed the first event. I did commit to putting together a team with enough notice. He told me about the December event and I recruited my favorite people to be part of our team. Ramon Lozano (Hays, KS), Tanner Rice (Oklahoma City, OK), and Katie Merrill (Tulsa, OK) were all equally eager to participate and together we formed DUPR Troopers.
I found us a fabulous Cozy in KC house within five minutes of both the Kansas City Chicken N Pickle (aka OG CNP) and Northland Racquet Club (the tournament venue). We were all set to go with our awesome team shirts (we actually have several matching ones now) until, two weeks before the tournament, Tanner gets injured at another team event. We scrambled to find a replacement and, as luck would have it, were able to land Kyle Rinck (Independence, KS).
This actually worked out for us because we were originally going to have four people in a three bedroom house so one of us would have had to sleep on the couch. Ramon and I talked at Smash and agreed that the youngest person should have the couch. Except the youngest person is Tanner and the couch is not a pullout. Out of all of us, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who could have fit in it and I wasn’t going to give up a bedroom. LOL. Brian and I joked that we should make Ramon be the one without a bedroom to force him to bunk with Katie. I have been desperately trying to bring the two of them together because I think they’d make a cute couple. Anyway, in the end, the three of us agreed that the baby of the group gets to be without a room but because we love Tanner we would hook him up with an air mattress to at least make him more comfortable. I didn’t know that Katie already borrowed one from our friend Deana and so I actually ordered an air mattress and a sleeping bag from Amazon.
We ended up not needing any of these because Tanner had to pull out of the event due to his injury but I didn’t bother returning my stuff. Brian and I figured, at some point in the coming months, I’ll probably have to crash at a friend’s house and, instead of sleeping on the floor, I’ll at least have an air mattress and a sleeping bag to make my stay more comfortable.
We didn’t have to house our fourth team member, Kyle, because he lives just 30 minutes away (unlike the rest of us who had to drive 3-5 hours). Not only did we find a great substitute with Kyle, but he also solved our housing situation.
Anyway, since we were all arriving on Friday night, Ramon had the brilliant idea to have us play in the Friday night Super DUPR at NRC. It was perfect because (a) then we got to see the venue (and play there) before the event the next day, and (b) I’ve been wanting to check out DUPR events everywhere to learn how different groups are running their events so I kind of treated it as field research. Additionally, our friends Michelle Dreiling, Sharon Steimel, Tyson Steele, Nicole Mathis, and Megan White were able to play that night too which made it even more fun. It’s really nice to save several familiar faces, specially when playing somewhere for the first time.
The Friday night event had an awesome turnout. They broke us out into three groups: 2.00 to 3.19, 3.20 to 3.89, and 3.90 and above. We all ended up in the last group but were split up in different pools (except Ramon and I ended up in the same one). The way iPN does their Friday night Super DUPR is similar to their iPN round robin events. After the round robin, you get paired with someone and then you play in a single elimination bracket. It was interesting how after the round robin was tallied, Tyson and I got teamed up; Katie and Nicole got teamed up; and Ramon and Sharon got teamed up.
There were things that I liked about it but there were also things that I didn’t like. For instance, I’m not a fan of the Wilson ball but I do understand that they need something more durable because they run these events all the time. The balls they use pretty much last forever and don’t have to be replaced as frequently as Duras or Franklins. Not even close. Also, I’m not a fan of splitting the top players between the different pools instead of putting them all together. I’m sure there’s a reason behind this because you get paired up for bracket play but I think the games with be far more competitive if they grouped players by DUPR. Personally, I really like how Ryan and Caroline Luelf run theirs in Tulsa. It is similar to how Tanner does his DUPRs but he recently made a change so that his DUPR are now by team instead of individual sign ups. I’ll have to make another field trip to OKC to check out this new method of doing things.
Anyway, we met up with Tyson and Nicole at the OG CNP before heading to Northland for the DUPR thing but, after that playing for almost 4 hours, Katie and Ramon decided they were hungry again and we ended up getting some Hawaiian Bros to go. It’s one of Ramon’s most favorite places to eat in KC.
Tyson and I weren’t that hungry so we both just got some Spam musubi.
We played Poetry by Neanderthals (NSFW version) until amost midnight while Katie and Ramon had their dinner. I have to say, the guys absolutely sucked at this game while Katie was amazing at it. LOL.
The next day, we played in the DUPR Teams event. There were 4 teams in DUPR 18 (our division) and 6 teams in DUPR 16. I totally think they could have held both on the same day because there was enough room at the venue but they opted to run DUPR 18 on Saturday and DUPR 16 on Sunday. Anyway, here are some pictures of our team in our awesome shirts.
I originally ordered Medium shirts for myself which were a tad big so, when we got Kyle to replace Tanner, I decided to give Kyle the Medium shirts and order Small shirts for myself. Except my new shirts didn’t arrive in time so I had to use the white shirt so I could be in uniform. Ramon hates white anyway so he has a white shirt but I doubt he’ll ever wear it. LOL. The guys wore the gray shirts and the girls wore white so we still kinda sorta coordinated, even though we weren’t perfectly matching. I guess I’ll just have three of these shirts when my Small shirts finally arrive (hopefully, someday soon).
I would have liked to have gotten first place but there were some really good teams/players in our division. Overall I’m happy with how we performed.
You can watch most of our matches in the above video. I couldn’t film the championship though, because my phone ran out of battery.
The MLP format is so fun. Our team had to go to a Dreambreaker with All 4 One (Devon Fuller’s team) twice. He had Josh Hardy, Suzanne Gehrke, and Nikhila Suraneni on his team. However, we had Kyle who really helped us in the singles round. I’m not sure we could have won those Dreambreakers without him.
I’m really glad that I was able to participate in this team event. Not only was it a ton of fun, but I also got some ideas for the “One Last Dink” team tournament we are hosting at the Pickle Club at the end of the month. I can’t wait to tell you all about it in a couple of weeks. Until then, GNG.
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