Well it's Sunday and I am now back in NJ. I got home early this afternoon and am just SOOOOO happy to be home. The Team Competition ended on Sunday and Team USA swept everything. The Ladies Team played Bolivia in the finals and won 3 games to zero. In the Men's finals the US was up against Mexico. Jack was up first and just dominated against Polo Guitierrez (I think I butchered his last name, sorry). Next up was Thoerner/Williams against the Mexico's Javier Moreno/Gil Mejia. Today was just not a good day for the US Boys...Mitch has been sick with a bad cold and was just not himself and Jason was doing his best to cover the court for Mitch, but things just weren't working for either of them. The Mexican Team won in two. This means that USA and Mexico were tied 1-1. This would lead to the tiebreak between Rocky/Alvaro. The winner of this match would clinch the Men's Team Title for their country. The stands were packed and the guys did not disappoint. Rocky won the first game, but in the 2nd game he started skipping some forehands due to Alvaro's extreme pressure he had put on him. Alvaro was diving and getting to everything and won the 2nd game. The tiebreaker went back and forth for quite some time, and there were numerous dives in every single rally. In the end Rocky won in a LONG tiebreak and clinched the mens team title for the US Team.  SO - The US swept everything, Mens, Women's and Overall.

It was pretty special for all of us. The Awards Ceromony was nice. The winners of the individual awards received crystal trophies in addition to their medals which are aweome. It is really nice and something I will cherish. Last night was the Banquet Dinner. We all had a good time. It was a long night since we didn't get back to the hotel from closing ceromonies till after 9pm, and we had a quick team celebration and then by the time we all showered and changed it was after 10pm. So by the time the dinner was over we had to get some packing done. This morning was our departure from Ireland and we are now HOME...It is just great to be home..I was getting homesick and missing my little Casper (my dog). Below are pictures from our final day.

In closing I want to thank the US Team for being great friends and teammates this whole trip. Jackie for playing awesome, Dave Ellis for being a great coach, my trainer Terrance for pushing me back home and getting me in great shape, and my "bubie" Felix for being YOU. I wouldn't want you any other way...

Thanks everyone for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed reading my writeups and pictures.
Aimee~

Right before the decisive match.


















Banquet

So today is Friday and Team USA is in the finals of the Team Competition for the both the men and women.  We have all advanced thru each round pretty much with ease. The ladies team division played two rounds today, Venezuela in the morning and then Chili in the evening. It kinda stinks since we played both these teams already in the individual competition and we had to play them again instead of a different team (Germany, Korea, Japan, etc.), but a win is a win. Tomorrow in the finals the women play Bolivia (Congrats to them, they are a young team and have a ton of potential), and the men play Mexico. I am pretty sure that we have clinched the overall title but nothing is certain. I am sure the men's doubles match will be exciting tomorrow as it was in the individual.

It is 12:30 am here and I am pooped. We were up at 7 this morning and on the 8 am bus to the club and were there until we got the 9pm shuttle back home. A lot of racquetball going on but it gets tiring. There is no internet access at the club nor is there really anywhere to hang out..There are bleachers for 3 of the 5 courts to sit and watch but other than that, nothing else. So it's been a tiring day and week and I am ready to get home to my CJ (Casper Jones, my dog)...Below are some pictures from our day off in Dublin and our team dinner.


Dublin


Dublin


Guinness Factory


Isn't he cute???


Team Dinner


Team Dinner


Team Dinner


Bonus Picture: Who is this masked lefty?

Coach Dave Ellis, reflecting on the individual competition, said that things could not have gone better. Rocky, Jack, Rhonda, and Cheryl came through in great style and all were excellent representatives of USA Racquetball. Rocky Carson was trying to complete one of the best seasons ever, having finished first on the IRT, and having won the US Open, the Motorola grand slam, and the US National Championship. Jack Huczek was trying to complete a "four-peat", having won the world championship in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Rhonda Rajsich was on the comeback trail as a result of the assault and operation that took place nearly two months ago. Cheryl Gudinas Holmes had dedicated her tournament to her father who is now recovering from a heart attack. Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso continue to get better and better, winning their final while giving up a total of 14 points. Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams won the revenge match over Javier Moreno and Gil Mejia who came in very confident after their gold medal in Costa Rica. It was a total effort with the results being an 11 -7 win in the tiebreaker.

Dave said, "The pros are enjoying the time they are spending together. Usually, they are themselves against the world at the IRT and WPRO stops. Here they have the support of each other and that is certainly a refreshing feeling. Also, I believe that they are proud to be part of this delegation, one of the best that has ever represented the USAR. "Now it's on to the team competition where anything can happen." The men defeated Ireland today and will probably play Japan and then either Bolivia or Venezuela. The women will play Venezuela and then probably a strong Mexican Team. More news coming soon.

Well today was a GREAT day for team USA. We swept all divisions. Rhonda beat Cheryl in two straight games today. This was pretty emotional at the end as both players were playing for something meaningful. Both were in tears when they were giving their speeches. Next up was the Men's Singles finals.. All I can say is WOW. This was the most exciting match all week by far and went down to the end. 11-10 with Rocky just edging out. There was some controversy at match point if Rock's shot skipped or not, but the ref and linesman ALL thought it was good so that was the end to that. Felix said it was the best match he ever watched. Next up was ladies doubles and we won pretty convincingly against Canada 6 and 8. Since the men's singles match took so long we went on an hour late so they had to start the mens doubles match on the court next to ours. The guys squeaked it out against Mexico 11-6..And of course Thornball was trash talking like crazy!!

Today is our day off and we are going back in to Dublin...Today is FELIX DAY...He has been supportive and great and stuck in a racquetball club all day every day since we got here so the day off is all about him!!! I have a feeling we are going to the Guiness Factory today...



Our finals against Team Canada


Jack and Vincent (Canada), Quarterfinal match.


Jen and Cheryl. The semifinal match. They both battled to the end.


Rocky is the BEST. I had this great photo of Felix, Rocky and myself but whoever took the darn picture has their finger in the corner of it!!



At the pub later on that night...Me and Javier Moreno


What a crazy group....

So, I'm going to start making my blogs a little shorter and will TRY to ramble less. Let's see how long that lasts. hahahaha...Yesterdary, Friday was the 2nd day of practice which went really well. Jackie and I played some doubles and then I played some singles with Rhonda. All in all I am playing pretty good, and look forward to finally starting to play in the competition.  A few hours after practice was Opening Ceremonies...Which was very cool. All the teams walked thru downtown Kingscourt in a parade. There was even a marching band and everything. It was pretty cool and something I've never done before. There were tons of people from all over town that came to see all the countries and attend opening ceromonies.

Today, Saturday is the first day of competition. The doubles teams both had the day off. Although I didn't go to the club today I know all of the singles players advanced pretty easily in all of their matches. Today, Felix, Jackie and I took a bus to downtown Dublin today. It was fun. Dublin is kinda like New York in a way with all of the shops and what not, just a little more spread out and not as conjested...So that's all. It's 9:30 and I am back at my room, just hanging out. We play Venezuela tomorrow at 12:45 so wish us luck!!

Oh, something else cool I forgot to mention? We had to nominate a male and female team captian, Jack Huczek was nominated to be the mens' and somehow I was nominated to be the ladies! I was pretty shocked and frankly wasn't expecting it, but I take it as a compliment from my other teammates...BUT, I also take it that this is their way (JASON....MITCH..) to harass me too! :-) And now everything that needs to be done, is the "captains job"....

So that's all for today...This was supposed to be short, but it didn't seem to turn out that way... Here are some pics from the past day.


The Two Lefties.



Coach Dave Ellis and Rhonda.


Team Picture


Walking in the parade. Got there a tad late....


Opening Ceromonies


Trinity College in Dublin.


Downtown Dublin.


Myself, Mitch Williams, Jackie and Jason Thoerner aka Thornball.

Okay, so I'm a little tired right now, so I'm not going to post much, but I did want to upload some pictures from practice for everyone to see...Practice went well for everyone. We only had an hour of practice but I think everyone was happy with how they played. Now, the bus ride to the club.....That's a different story. It's a 45-50 minute ride and it is BUMBY... But oh well, we all have 11 more days of this..

I slept SOO good last night and feel really well rested so practice should be good today. The club is located in Kingscort which is about 45 minutes from the club. I hear Kingscourt is really nice and there is lots of shopping to do. It's raining and cold here..Go figure, but hey we'll make the best of it.