2007 US OPEN Offcourt - Double Donut
Nothing starts off a long day of racquetball photography quite like a donut or two (thanks, Eddie!!):
Add comment February 29th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
Archive for February, 2008
2007 US OPEN - The Tennis Channel Broadcast #2
Last night’s broadcast of the 2007 US OPEN Racquetball Championships on The Tennis Channel featured a quarterfinal match between 2006 US OPEN Champion Jason Mannino and 2007 US National Champion Mitch Williams. Both players had a ton of great gets, and it was a fun match to watch. Part way through the second game, Shawn Royster and Mike Ceresia were joined in the announcers’ booth by none other than three-time US OPEN Champion, Kane Waselenchuk. Kane stated that he has been training hard, and will be ready to play at the first IRT stop of the 2008-2009 season. He likened his comeback to his first years on the tour, where he will have to battle his way through the qualifiers and into the main draw. Has anyone done the math to figure out if Kane can capture the year-end number ranking in his first year back? The draws are going to be VERY interesting with Kane coming in as a low seed for the first several events .. can’t wait!
Add comment February 28th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
2007 US OPEN Offcourt - Shawn Royster
Shawn Royster takes a moment to pose for a shot at the 2008 US OPEN Racquetball Championships:
Shawn is an avid racquetball enthusiast, and also heads up Royster Productions - who is responsible for the majority of racquetball related video coverage around today. He produces the US OPEN broadcasts for The Tennis Channel, DVDs for USA Racquetball, and a variety of other content for Ektelon, World Outdoor Racquetball, and others. When not filming on the court, Shawn is busy with everything from music videos to event hosting (speaking of which, you can check him out MC’ing the USA Racquetball banquet in Houston this year).
Add comment February 27th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
21st USA Racquetball National High School Championships Starts
After seeing some USA Racquetball staff members in town on Monday, I remembered that the USA Racquetball High School Nationals was happening this weekend. The draws are still unavailable (weird since matches are already concluding), but the the link to the tournament on R2Sports is here. When checking out the participants, I was quickly reminded of Oregon’s fantastic Junior / High School program. Out of 409 participants, Oregon has 297!!
Oregon - 297
Missouri - 73
New Mexico - 13
Utah - 8
Illinois - 4
Ohio - 3
Massachusetts - 2
Indiana - 1
Alaska - 1
Mississippi - 1
North Carolina - 1
Texas - 1
Washington - 1
Add comment February 27th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
Set your DVR! US OPEN on the Tennis Channel Tomorrow!
Anyone watch the first match aired last week on the Tennis Channel? It was the 2008 quarterfinal match between Alvaro Beltran and Shane Vanderson. IMO, it turned out great! I will admit the (non racquetball related) commercials got a little tiring, but it awesome to see our sport on TV. I know an HD broadcast is a little much to ask for at this point, but I have my fingers crossed if we ever make it on ESPN.
Tomorrow night, Wednesday Frebruary 27, 9:00PM EST, is the next match. I would HIGHLY recommend tuning in if you have the Tennis Channel!
Add comment February 26th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
Sunset Athletic Club Stadium Court Expansion - Grand Opening
Sunset Athletic Club, located in Portland, OR, hosted the grand opening of their stadium court expansion last night. To help kick things off, Shane Vanderson and Jason Thoerner were on hand for an exhibition match and “play the pro”. Also thanks to Mitch Williams for attending (and reffing), who made the trip despite being a little under the weather. We also got a special visit from some of the USA Racquetball staff, who are in town for this weekend’s USAR High School Nationals event.
Paul Maduell, the club’s racquetball director, ensured fun was had by all with free give-aways and refreshments courtesy of Widmer Brothers Brewing Company.
The new courts are SPECTACULAR, with tons of room for viewing matches, movable back walls to convert for squash, and my favorite - photos windows in both front walls! IMO, this will be THE premiere club in the Northwest for hosting big events (now all we need is some prize money for the IRT or WPRO!!).
If you’re ever in town, you’ll also want to take a look at the expansion’s featured artwork - Courtesy of Double Donut Studios! 
A few of featured photos were blown up to ~8′x8′ and mounted on the walls above the viewing area.
Check out the gallery for all the pics ..
Add comment February 26th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
2008 National Doubles - No Double Donut!
Hope all is well in Tempe, AZ this weekend. This tournament is the first National Event I’ve missed in over 4 years! I had too much going on with family, work, and school to make the trip. It looks like the “full crowd” is back in the US Team qualifier draws for men and women - I’m sure there will be some great matches. I’d encourage anyone else not in Tempe this weekend to check out http://www.racquetballonline.tv . They are doing live video streaming so everyone can watch some great doubles matches over the next few days.
Add comment February 14th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
Update
Lots of racquetball action coming up in the days and weeks ahead. First, the Choice Hotels US OPEN from November 2007 starts airing with Quarterfinal #1 tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb 6) at 9pm Eastern Time on the Tennis Channel. If you get the Tennis Channel, check it out!
Update: The Tennis Channel has revised their scheduling and the Choice Hotels US OPEN will not air tonight as previously reported. The first installment is now scheduled to air on Wed. Feb 20 at 9pm Eastern Time. Check out the following link to better track the schedule on the Tennis Channel.
http://tennischannel.com/schedule/index.aspx
Then the WPRO is in Tempe, AZ for the Ektelon Fireball Rollout this coming weekend Feb 7-10. You can follow the draws at the following link:
http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=3701
The following weekend will be the USAR National Doubles Championships also in Tempe, AZ. You can follow all the action at the following link:
http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=2459
Also, Racquetballonline.tv will be there showing all the best matches…check them out at:
http://www.racquetballonline.tv
As a reminder, Jacqueline Paraiso and Aimee Ruiz are the defending champions in the Women’s Qualifying Division and there is plenty of stiff competition as they try to repeat. Current WPRO #1 Rhonda Rajsich will team with Janel Tisinger once again, WPRO #2 Cheryl Gudinas Holmes will team with former Junior Team member, Shannon Inglesby, Kristin Walsh and Kim Russell-Walselenchuk will also be in the hunt.
The Men’s Qualifying Division has some interesting pairings as the defending champions, Ben Croft and Mitch Williams will split up and play with their usual partners, Woody Clouse and Jason Thoerner, respectively. It’ll be interesting to see how the seedings play out as 2006 champions, Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek return looking to regain the crown. Also in the fray will be John Ellis along with Junior Team Member Jose Rojas, fresh off his gold-silver performance at Junior Worlds in the 16s and 18s respectively.
Not playing in the Qualifying division, but still returning to competitive play will be one of the legends of the sport as Cliff Swain has entered the Men’s 40s and the Mixed Open.
Closing out a very busy February, the IRT will be at the Washington Athletic Club for the Seattle Open Feb 21-24, check out their website for further information at:
The USAR Junior Nationals will run June 25-29 at the Big C Athletic Club in Concord, CA. At the current time, I am uncertain of my attendance as I am trying to go to Beijing this coming August for the Summer Olympics.
Team Colorado will be raffling off a framed jersey autographed by one of the following Colorado sports players: Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, or Joe Sakic in order to help pay for the trip out to Junior Nationals. At the current time, I am not sure which jersey will be made for raffle as I won’t be getting those until early March during a dinner at the Pepsi Center. Once details are finalized I will let everyone know how they can obtain tickets.
That’s all for now.
Add comment February 5th, 2008 by Adam Katz
