Press Junket, Vermont Style

Even though all it really takes to get press coverage in Vermont is a three-legged cow or a new flavor of ice-cream, I'm very, very thankful to the folks in the Vermont media who helped me get the word out about the Green Mountain APA.

Thank you: Mike McCune from WCAX, Kristian Read from Fox 44 and Lauren Ober from Seven Days for profiling me. (Lauren, girl, if you want to see HEELS, go to Barre!)


Here is the FOX 44 interview.
Here is Lauren Ober's blog previewing her article.
Lauren Ober's article.

In other news, I have 16 of my desired 18 teams up and running for the Summer Session - those last two are proving tricky to pin down, but I'll get there!

My office space/pool room is coming along quite nicely. I have two days of solo practice under my belt for the U.S. Open, though the recent pool surge in Vermont has brought a lot of the good players out of the woodwork so I've been playing a lot of practice matches.

Everything has been a lot of work but it beats "the real world" by a mile!

Easy Come, Easy Go

This is my new motto now that I'm in the "Bidness World."

Alas, seems as though my office deal fell through and I need to go back to stalking craiglist for suitable spaces.

I'm not sure which state I'm in or what day is, but I do know that I'll be getting on another plane today. Maybe my new motto should be, "Another day, another plane."

I'm heading to NYC to teach for four days at Eastside Billiards.  I love teaching - especially students who are guinea pigs... um, I mean barter/trade partners.  I get to polish up new material to get it ready for everyone else. Yes, James, I'm talking about you!

I had such a super response to building my first Green Mountain APA 8-Ball division (starting Wednesday, May 4th at Van Phan Sports in Burlington, VT) that I'm aiming to start three six-team divisions that week: Tuesday, May 3rd at 7PM, Wednesday, May 4th at 7PM and Thursday, May 5th at 7PM.  Lots of team-building work for me when I get back from my teaching trip, but I'm very excited!

Email lford@apaleagues.com for more info on getting your team signed up for some carousing, socializing and maybe even a little pool :)

The Green Mountain APA!

This picture of me with American Poolplayers Association co-founder, Terry Bell, will serve as my official coming out as the owner/operator of the Green Mountain APA in Vermont.

I'm now building 8-Ball teams to start the week of May 2nd at Van Phan Sports in Burlington, VT.

My area consists of Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille and Washington counties.

Much, much, much more info will be forthcoming, but I'm very proud of this venture and wanted to get the word out ASAP.

While my website and email are being setting up, please contact me at lizford@lizford.net to get yourself, your team or your location set-up to start playing some pool!

Dreams Really Do Come True...

If I told you that this room was my idea of heaven, you might urge me to dream a little bigger.

Not so fast...

This is my new office space and that conference table there will soon be replaced by a different kind of table.

[Heavenly music plays; A ray of golden sunlight beams through the clouds.]

Yes, after 18 years as a player I'm finally realizing my dream of having a pool table to call my own.

And Liz Ford was never seen again...

I'm Back and I Have a Secret

Oh, where to start?
The last year has seen me move to and fro, not just geographically but philosophically.
The geographic story is long and boring... so let's just leave it at: my home base is Vermont now, for good!

The philosophical story goes something like this:

Girl meets pool and the two fall in love.

Girl remains loyal and dedicated to pool for years.

Stuff happens to girl and girl decides that it's all pool's fault, pool is evil, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

Girl spends year trying to return to "The Real World" (the horrifying episodes of reality, not the horrifying episodes of reality TV.)

Girl manages to remain ambivalent about pool, all the while kicking major pool ass and taking major pool names.

Girl decides that "The Real World" is extremely over-rated.

Girl comes to senses and realizes that if you become an expert at something you love, you don't try to start over with something you don't.

Girl is in process of buying profitable, pool-related business that must remain secret until it is finalized (unless you're one of the 1,000 people I've told about it already.)


In the meantime...



My site, lizford.net, has had an awesomeness make-over.

Check it out, and stay tuned for my three-lettered secret.

My Snappy Answers to PCN-Guy's Stupid Questions

Hey folks,
I'm back from Norman, Oklahoma - site of the 2010 WPBA U.S. Open.
I finished in the top half there and if I'm not mistaken that bumps me up into the Top 20 of the WPBA's rankings. I would love to finish the year in the Top 16 (who wouldn't?) so stay tuned for more 2010 results. For now, this is an interview I did recently with Pool Cue News and Review (avaible here courtesy of the sexy PCN-dude):

 This month, we travel to the fine state of Vermont to check in with the lovely, talented and generally effervescent Liz Ford:

1. I understand you recently moved to Vermont. Is there any truth to the rumor that when you become a resident you are forced to stop washing your hair and listen to Phish all day?

No, but they do pass out fire arms and pints of Ben and Jerry’s with your tax returns.

The fire arms bit is a joke, barely, but the ice-cream part is true. As a Vermont resident, the only condiment or toiletry item I’m only allowed is maple syrup; My hair has never been shinier.


2. The glove. Please explain.

It’s pretty common knowledge that I’m a self-hating glove-wearer. It ruins all my outfits but makes me play better. I have skinny fingers with knobby knuckles (SEXY!) and the glove helps me make a tighter bridge.


3. I’ve been told that after you beat that dude in the US Open 10 Ball event, he broke all his cues. Satisfying, insulting or just some stuff that happened?

I always ask someone who is about to break their cues to donate them to me to sell on eBay: so far I’ve had no takers. He said he just wanted to start fresh. Apparently, he came down to the bar later using a splinter from one as a toothpick.


4. A long time ago, you mentioned on your blog that Eliot Smith is your favorite artist (who I happen to dig as well). Is there anyone else you listen to that’s, oh I don’t know, a little more upbeat?

Let’s give some respect to the dead and at least spell his name correctly: Elliott Smith. I try not to wallow in such angsty music anymore (paging Adams? Ryan Adams?) I could listen to nothing but the Beatles everyday for the rest of my life and feel perfectly content.


5. My latest obsession is pool in the mainstream. How did you score that spot on Time Warp?

Um, they scored me?! Actually, they did come to me after finding my website online. I have a background in science and research so it was a good fit. The guy who hosts the show, Jeff Lieberman, has two PhDs and teaches at MIT, so I was proud to help apply some legit science to pool.


6. Gambling and action. Good or bad for pool?

Ask me again when anybody cares about pool. Oh, I’m sorry, did that sound bitter?


7. Please rank the following Frank Zappa albums in order of importance:

Apostrophe

One Size Fits All

We’re Only In It For The Money

Freak Out

You Are What You Is

I’m just going to pretend that you asked me which FZ albums are my favorites: Live from the Fillmore East and Just Another Band from L.A.


8. Thanks for playing Liz. Anyone deserving of big pimpin’ before you go?

My booth buds over at PoolDawg and of course the irrepressible Dr. Gary C. Borge, DDS.

Back by popular demand!

I'm not dead. I've been living in Vermont for a while taking a much-needed breather from pool - my first since I started 15 years ago!

Thank you to those of you who've urged me to continue writing, I've listened and now I'm refreshed and ready to continue where I left off.

A few of the highlights from "my time away from pool"
- A 9th place finish at the 2010 WPBA San Diego Classic
- A first-round win at the 2010 Men's US Open 10-Ball

My success during my hiatus has been instructive in and of itself. It seems as though a lot of the chatter in my mind went away and left me with an essential core of my abilities. I'm not saying that I won't be practicing hard again soon, but having perspective and being fresh and full of energy are not without their own merits.

I'll be re-entering the scene with this month's WPBA US Open in Norman, OK. ESPN will begin filming during the quarterfinals, and I'd love to make an appearance!

Of course, I'll be bringing you along in spirit with updates right here...