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| This interview with Alice Rim took place in late August, 2001. | |||
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Alice: It was very exciting for me. I had lost to all four of them in the past, so it was pretty gratifying to win against them, especially because they are such great players. AZB: What do you think contributed to such a great tournament in Charlotte in particular? Alice: I can't think of anything specifically except that my friends back home had given me a lot of moral support (which they do for all tournaments, actually). I guess I just played a little better and had some good luck with me. AZB: With the 5th place finish, you have moved up to 20th on the WPBA points list. How soon do you think you can break the top 16? Alice: Hopefully, it will be within the next year or sooner, but only time will tell. AZB: I think it was Prescott last year that you got your fourth point and became an official pro player on the WPBA tour. Can you tell us what that whole journey was like to get your pro status? Alice: To be honest, it was very difficult. I had put so much pressure on myself to finish in the top half of the field (for each pro point) until I realized that maybe that was the problem. As I learned to relax more, I seemed to perform better. I often joke with people saying that getting my pro status was more difficult than getting into college or graduate school! AZB: So, how long have you been playing and what got you into pool to begin with? Alice: I was introduced to pool by a friend of mine during my junior year at the University of Michigan. I played as much as I could until I realized that my grades were falling. I took a break from pool, and played only occasionally for the next several years. I got sucked back into the whole pool thing when I did my research for my master's thesis (at Michigan State University) on the poolroom subculture in 1996. I've been playing continuously ever since. So I guess you could say I've been playing about ten years, on and off. AZB: A master's thesis on pool? That sounds interesting. Alice: Actually, that paper was definitely the most enjoyable one I've ever written for school. It was a qualitative study on the subculture of one particular poolroom in Michigan. I found that the subculture served as an alternative community for the people in it. In other words, instead of having a religious or ethnic community that many others do, pool players together formed their own. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant for the general public to read so it's really quite dry and academically written. In fact, it probably makes great bed-time reading! AZB: Don't you have a sister that plays pool? Alice: Yes, my sister Connie, who quit playing two years ago, was quite an accomplished player (she won numerous National 9-Ball tournaments and played for a year on the Southern California Women's Tour). She had moved to San Diego four years ago, but before then, we had practiced together all the time. AZB: Did you play in any of the regional tours as you were climbing up the ranks and if so, which ones? Alice: I live in the Detroit area and unfortunately,there are no women's tours here in the Midwest. Before getting my pro status, I had played once on the Northeast Women's tour, and had played in several of the Amateur Nationals. AZB: How did you do when you played in the Amateur Nationals? Alice: Strangely, I had my best finish the first time I went. I believe it was in 1997 when I took 9-12th out of about 110 players. Then in 1998 I got in the money, though I'm not really sure where. Maybe it was 13-16th? In 2000, I finished 13th-16th. In fact, I was knocked out of that last tournament by Megan Smith, who now plays on the tour. AZB: I understand your sponsor at Hall of Fame Billiards has a pretty interesting story. Can you tell us about him and how you got into a sponsorship deal with him? Alice: My sponsor, Larry Ross, has been a pool player most of his life. He had owned a swimming pool installation company and then in May of 2000, he won the Big Game Lottery for $181 million (he received $64 million after taxes). Ironically, two weeks before he hit the lottery, I had been talking to him about trying to get on the WPBA tour and finding sponsorship. I felt that even though he was a business owner and could potentially sponsor me, there was not that much I could do as far as advertising for him. But after he had won the lottery, I approached him and reminded him of our previous conversation and asked him what he thought about sponsoring me now. He agreed, and just a few months later, he opened up Hall of Fame Billiards, in Warren, Michigan, which is where I play regularly. Larry and Cass (the manager of Hall of Fame Billiards) have been really great in helping me out, but I am currently looking for additional sponsorship. AZB: Do you get a chance to practice against any of the other players that frequent Hall of Fame? Alice: Once in a while I get to practice with the other locals, including the other house pro, Ronnie Wiseman, and my coach Kim Bennett. We have quite a few strong players around here and some very successful weekly tournaments, where I often get to play them competitively. Some of the great players that have come around are Alex Pagulayan, Jon Kucharo, Jayme Goodwin and Buddy Hall. It's really been great being able to play them! AZB: Is Larry Ross your only sponsor? Alice: No, I have been writing articles for Inside English Magazine (a new pool publication in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio) for the past year, and they have just decided to help me on the tour. It still costs quite a bit to get out there and play in the events and I am looking for additional sponsorship, but I don't know if I would be able to play out there without the help I am getting. AZB: What advice, if any, do you have for any players trying to claw their way on to the WPBA tour right now? Alice: Practice as much as possible, and don't put a ridiculous amount of pressure on yourself. Get to as many qualifiers as you can, and keep plugging away! |
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