Pro Mixed Doubles Day
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Here are some awesome courtside photos from pro mixed doubles day on Sunday.
Kasandra Gehrke and partner John Cincola
Lindsey and Riley Newman
Jocelyn Devilliers and Michelle Esquivel
Ben Johns and Simone Jardim
Kyle Yates and Anna Leigh Waters
Yes, we were really this close to the players.
Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova
Had so much fun watching pro mixed doubles on Sunday.
We wore our “I Love Lucy” shirts and got a pic the woman herself.
Sunday was so much fun but also bittersweet because it was our last day in Phoenix. The entire weekend was a blast and it was the most amazing first tournament experience ever. I can’t wait until the next one!
Comment on This
Pro Doubles Day
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Saturday was men’s and women’s pro doubles day. It was a really long day. The guys started playing at 8 AM and didn’t finish until almost 10 o’clock in the evening. Saturday was also the day that I played mixed and even though I didn’t do well in my event I had a lot of fun spectating. We also got a ton of great pics.
Here are a couple of pics from my mandatory player orientation for mixed doubles on Saturday. This is how they start all of the events.
Karen, Chandi, Krista, and I with our #1 female pickleball idol, Lucy Kovalova.
Karen and I also got pics with Dayne Gingrich (left) and Dave Weinbach (right).
And also with our favorite men’s doubles team, the #WichitaBoys aka #TeamModel aka #TeamEurope — Patrick Smith (in white) and Jocelyn Devilliers (in blue).
I also got some awesome pics courtside. This is team Waters, Leigh (left) and daughter Anna Leigh (right).
Kyle Yates and Matt Wright — this is the first time I’ve seen them play together again since the Franklin Pickleball Masters pickleball invitational tournament at Chicken N Pickle almost two years ago.
Lucy and Simone, who I like to call team #Lucimone, are the most dominant women’s doubles team and super fun to watch.
#TeamSelkirk’s Tyson McGuffin and Riley Newman.
The #CaliforniaBoys DJ Young and Callan Dawson pictured below both play for #TeamProkennex.
#TeamUtah’s Tyler Loong and Spencer Smith were so much fun to watch.
Our #WichitaBoys in action — Pat in white and Jocelyn in blue.
Chandi and Krista made a Jocelyn sandwich to keep him warm.
Arizona gets really cold at night. Pat was nice enough to let us borrow his clothes to keep warm. Karen got his pants and I got his pullover jacket. Jocelyn also let Karen borrow his hoodie. Our boys are the sweetest.
Though I didn’t do well, it was a very successful tournament day for the Wichita crew. Lucy and Simone took gold in women’s pro doubles and Jocelyn and Pat took silver in men’s pro doubles. It was totally worth sitting in the freezing cold to watch.
More from the PPA Arizona tournament next time. Until then GNG.
Comment on This
Late Night Practice
Posted on February 28, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Dylan Frazier and Chris Heck arrived in Phoenix on Friday night and went straight to the pickleball courts. We got to watch their practice session with Matt Wright and Kyle Yates.
The funny part about this is that I think Chris only told me where they would be so I would take pictures but the best part is I got to meet a little chess master and had a fun little game of chess.
I have to say, she’s the cutest opponent I’ve ever played chess against.
Here’s a pretty picture of palm trees on the way back to our room.
Until next time. GNG.
Comment on This
Women’s Doubles Day
Posted on February 27, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Friday was women’s doubles day. Karen and I didn’t do so hot in the tournament but we had a lot of fun watching Jocelyn Devilliers (aka Jay, the French half of #TeamModel) play singles and cheering from the sidelines.
Here are some pics from that day.
Ben Johns is always all smiles because he is the undisputed #1 pickleball player in the world. We were lucky enough to be courtside for some epic matches.
Our pal Jocelyn took bronze and Ben and Zane (Navratil) battled it out for first and second, with Ben victorious in the end.
As for the women, Simone Jardim and Michelle Esquivel played for first and second. Simone came out on top. Michelle took second and Vivienne David took third. The level of play was out of this world and it was so much fun to watch.
Win or lose, Jocelyn always has a lot of fun and I like that about him.
Here are some of my favorite photos of Jocelyn from pro singles day.
Later that day, Karen and I hit Roy’s for happy hour.
And then it was off to the pool.
We had a great time hanging out at the pool but we couldn’t stay long because once the sun was gone it quickly got cold. That’s the crazy thing about Arizona weather. The weather is wonderful during the day but early in the morning and late at night, it still feels like winter. I’d been to Arizona before and should have known this but it had been over ten years and I’d forgotten how drastic the temperature difference is between midday and night. I was completely unprepared for it.
That’s pretty much all for now. More on the trip next time. GNG.
Comment on This
Dinner at the Desert Ridge Yard House
Posted on February 26, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Here are some pictures from our dinner on Thursday night at Yard House.
I usually prefer to eat local when I’m out of town so I stay away from chains but Karen had never been to a Yard House before, I knew they had an extensive menu that would not disappoint, and the restaurant was literally just a mile away from our hotel (about 3 minutes by car or 15 minutes on foot). The crazy thing about dinner that night is the whole Uber situation in Phoenix. Because of the pandemic, a bunch of Uber drivers quit because they weren’t making any money (because everyone was staying home and people weren’t traveling) so there’s a shortage of cars available. Anyway, it took us almost 45 minutes to get from our hotel to the restaurant because, after waiting 20 minutes, our first driver canceled our trip and so we got another driver who we also had to wait a long time for. We seriously could have walked to the restaurant in less time. However, Karen was nursing her heel and, after playing singles all afternoon, I really didn’t feel like walking anywhere so we were stuck waiting on the Uber I ordered. I didn’t have to order the Uber back because Matt had his Uber drop Karen and I off at our hotel on his way home.
The whole Uber situation in Phoenix is horrendous. On our last day, I saw on Facebook that Melissa McCurley gave her Uber to Simone Jardim because Simone had the same situation with her Uber driver canceling the trip and waiting on another Uber would have made her late for her flight. Thankfully, Melissa’s Uber was already there and I think she had more flexibility so she gave up her car to Simone. Both of these experiences (our dinner one and Simone’s trip to the airport) made me grateful that I had prearranged a car service with Execucar. Granted it cost over $200 just for two rides — from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel back — but the guarantee of having a car available at the scheduled time (our ride to the airport was actually early) is totally worth it.
Anyway, more about the trip on my next post. Until then, GNG.
Comment on This
