I am proud of my first interviewee, my dear friend, Shayla Neris, from Austin, Texas, who just won the 2008 Houston Open the weekend of November 8th at Legend's Billiards in League City, Texas.
Shayla has been playing pool for 15 years, almost as long as I have known her, and is also a budding photographer. I caught up with her after her first-ever tournament win to ask her questions for a new section of my blog, dedicated to interviews, called "Trigger Talk":
How does it feel to win the Houston Open?
It feels pretty good, actually. I still can't believe it because there was so much talent at that tournament. I played some tough players and had three hill-hill matches. A couple of my opponents had some unfortunate rolls, and I felt bad about that, but I just reminded myself that I still had to work to be on the hill to take advantage of that.
Shayla in Austin 2007 where she placed 3rd at the Hunter event.Did you think about what was on the line during the finals?
Funny you should ask that. The Houston Open always gets a huge turn-out for the men's and the women's event. Because of all the people, its always jam packed around the tournament table. So, after I won my first couple of matches, all I could do was go up and report my win and score to the tournament director. I could never get close enough to see who I was playing next or what the payouts were. So, when I realized I was playing for the hot-seat, I decided I would just keep that going and not look to see what were the payouts. So, during the finals, I actually did wonder to myself how much 1st and 2nd place were because I was getting really tired. The other thing I was thinking about was how late it would be when I got home. I thought about that more and more with every game my opponent won in that final match. I really didn't want it to go two sets mostly because it would put me home that much later. I guess I was just so tired that I didn't even give much thought to the fact that I was actually playing in the finals of a big tournament! Thank goodness, too, because I'm sure I would have managed to psych myself out at that point.
You didn't sleep at all that night? Why?
I woke up about 9am on Sunday and made it to the pool hall at 11am. Play didn't start until about 1pm and I wasn't done until right around 3am! I had to work Monday morning, so we made the 3 hour and 15 minute drive in a little over 2 and a half hours! Since my husband, Corey, was up all day too, there was no way I could sleep in the car on the way home knowing he was just as tired as I was. So, I stayed awake while he drove. I got home with enough time to hop in the shower, and be at work by 7am. I think it was all the excitement that was keeping me awake. I was pretty delirious at work because my officemate kept commenting on all the goofy things I was saying. I don't really like to talk about pool much at work, but I had to tell my coworkers I won the tournament and hadn't slept so they'd know why I was acting weird. I also told my manager. They were all genuinely happy for me and my manager was nice enough to let me go home at 1pm. I stopped to get something to eat on the way home and took a nap. I had been up for almost 30 hours! I hadn't done that in almost 10 years! And, if anyone really knows me, knows that my normal bedtime is 9pm.
Where are you going to place your trophy?
Well, I didn't get a trophy, but if I had, it would go in my office next to my other BCA trophies.
Has it sunk in yet that you won?
Its just now sinking in almost 2 weeks later. I'm still getting congratulations from my friends. An announcement was made at G-Cue Billiards on our league night since both winners of the Houston Open play in the same league. That truly was awesome. All of my friends have been great. I think my friends have way more confidence in my game than I do. Its like they all knew I was capable of winning, except for me.
Who did you tell first (that wasn't at the tournament)?
Well, since Corey and my good friend, Heather Lloyd were actually there to witness the win, two of the three people I would call already knew. My other good friend, Melinda (hey! thats you!), would have been the other person I wanted to tell right away, but since it was 3am, I waited anxiously until the next morning. I called my mom that afternoon, and she was happy for me, but she just doesn't quite get it, I don't think. She always asks how many people were in the tournament, and this time she asked me if Heather wasn't there. Once she knew Heather played in the tournament, too, she understood the importance of the win. If only she knew of all the other tough players that were also in the tournament. She cracks me up!
How did you prepare for the tournament?
I haven't prepared for a tournament in way over a year. I lost interest in playing pool back in mid-2007. I had just gotten engaged and was starting to plan a wedding and my other hobbies were really taking up a lot of my time. The only time I was playing pool was at the OB Tour stops. I would just go from tournament to tournament, and sometimes I'd actually have to remind myself not to forget my cue. But the Wednesday before the Houston Open, I received my brand new OB-2 shaft. Friday night we arrived at the Houston Open and I played the most pool at one time than I had the whole year before for about 3 hours or so. It was the first time playing with the OB-2 shaft and I was in love. Its like I couldn't miss a ball. So those 3 hours was really the only preparation I had done. Oh, and Sunday morning I played a few games on the Megatouch with James Davis, Sr. We both felt like we were half asleep, so we decided the Megatouch would be a good way to wake up our brains. Turns out James Davis, Sr. ended up winning the men's side of the tournament, too. :)
Do you have any pool goals you'd like to share?
I didn't have any goals this year since I really wasn't in the mood to play pool. I haven't really set any goals for next year, yet, but I would like to play more pool. I'm thinking about giving my home table a tune-up so to speak, so maybe I'll get back in to taking my game a little more seriously.
I heard you almost didn't play in the tournament? Can you tell us about that?
I had been fighting off a sinus infection the week before and was on anti-biotics and taking 4 other medications at the same time. I also had a terrible cough and Saturday night I wasn't feeling too hot, so I went to bed early. I got up Sunday morning and still felt crappy and couldn't decide if I wanted to play or not. We had to go back to the pool hall because Corey was still in the main event. It wasn't until I walked in the door that I decided to play. The deciding factor was the entry fee. It was $25, which was much lower than I expected it to be, so I figured for $25, I could forfeit without feeling guilty if I started to feel worse throughout the tournament. Well, after the player auction, the possibility of forfeiting went out the window since someone bought me for $70. The highest I've ever gone for, I think. I couldn't possibly forfeit when someone else's money was at stake. So, I just played one match at a time.
- Interview conducted November 18, 2008 -
Congratulations, Shayla!
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