Vivian Villarreal on ESPN2

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silver2k

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I was watching the match on at noon today with Vivian Villarreal. She shoots a good game, I am not questioning that...I was just embarassed by the way she acted! I was suprised they didn't put on werewolfs of london and have her start swinging her cue around. And then her comment that was somethign like "You all should be cheering for me...I'm the American here, not her."

At one point after she made a kind of hard bank to sink a hanging nine, she held her cue out and pointed it straight at her opponent, as a taunt!

It's things like this that make our game into a total circus. She was very unprofessional.

What's worse is the announcers think things like this are great and add flavor to the game, making the players 'fun'.


Am I alone in thinking this is ridiculous?
 
As far as I am concerned, you are alone.
VV brings life to a match. I like to see someone having a good time out there, much like McCready.
Parica and Corr are great to watch, if you are studying the game. But, if you want to be entertained, they are going to bore you to death.
The average semi-interested pool player needs to be pushed just a little to make them an enthusiast. Players like her give people that little push.
 
Yes I Think You Are Alone..

silver2k said:
I was watching the match on at noon today with Vivian Villarreal. She shoots a good game, I am not questioning that...I was just embarassed by the way she acted! I was suprised they didn't put on werewolfs of london and have her start swinging her cue around. And then her comment that was somethign like "You all should be cheering for me...I'm the American here, not her."

At one point after she made a kind of hard bank to sink a hanging nine, she held her cue out and pointed it straight at her opponent, as a taunt!

It's things like this that make our game into a total circus. She was very unprofessional.

What's worse is the announcers think things like this are great and add
YES YOU ARE ALONE.YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS IS A CLOSE GROUP OF PROS THEY KNEW ONE ANOTHER PRETTY WELL.THIS IS HER PERSONALITY.SHE ADDS A LITTLE FLAIR TO THE GAME..LIGHTEN UP A LITTLE..AND HAVE A GOOD TIME..
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i was walking through the Par-A-Dice casino last june in Peoria late sat night. Viv was in there, playing blackjack i believe.

she sees me, points at me so i'd notice her, and says:
"Can you believe i missed that 8 ball?"

she was referring to an 8 ball that was almost a gimme, that she missed, and pretty much cost her the match against allison.

she's pretty cool, most players accept her style. hope i get to chat with her again this June in Peoria.
 
billlaur said:
YES YOU ARE ALONE.YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS IS A CLOSE GROUP OF PROS THEY KNEW ONE ANOTHER PRETTY WELL.THIS IS HER PERSONALITY.SHE ADDS A LITTLE FLAIR TO THE GAME..LIGHTEN UP A LITTLE..AND HAVE A GOOD TIME..
Click to expand...

kbleft.jpg



I am not saying players should be robots without emotion. I am just saying she took it a little too far. I can see if you are just playing an exhibition game, but this was a real tournament game, and she is flat out taunting the other player.

And in a previous match, the one shown at 11, I saw she almost flipped out on jenneate for just waving her hand or something(it wasn't shown on camera) when she was sitting in her seat.
 
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I know the matches you're talking about. Flipped out? Are you on medication? If that was flipping out, I should've been arrested for the way I acted when they screwed up my order at Taco Bell. And I really think you're playing up the whole match with Ga Young Kim. You make it sound like she was sharking her. Lighten up
 
BazookaJoe said:
I know the matches you're talking about. Flipped out? Are you on medication? If that was flipping out, I should've been arrested for the way I acted when they screwed up my order at Taco Bell.
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I don't know the full extent of it, because it was an edited tape(could have easily removed any sort of argueing and not shown it), and the announcers were(for once) silent about what went on. She seemed mighty upset at Lee over whatever she was doing.
 
Vivian has always been full of passion when she plays. Ever notice that she usually is bopping along to music when she plays? She's got a CD player (or maybe MP3 these days) strapped to her back. What I've seen of her, she's usually playful and fun, and not a biatch. She's got style. I don't see why people have to be so up-tight when playing pool. No wonder it is dead as a TV sport.
 
silver2k said:
Am I alone in thinking this is ridiculous?
Click to expand...

I hope you are alone. If I wanted to see silent, robotic, automatons I would watch professional golf. I think Vivian (and Jeanette to a lesser extent) are very entertaining - they will show emotion, interact with the crowd, and try to make things a little more fun. When you play with friends, don't you enjoy the bantering and trash talking? Players like Vivian are the kind that bring new players and fans to the sport because of the entertainment value. Even Willie Mosconi (in his prime) would talk to the crowd during matches - it bothered some of his competitors (maybe a lot of his competitors), but he felt that he had an obligation to the fans to provide entertainment, not just skillful pool. I've seen a fair number of matches with both Jeanette and Vivian and I've never had the feeling they were trying to shark their opponents (though I'm not sure what the opponents thought, maybe Sarah and Melissa will weigh in on this one).
 
Personal Preference

Silver2K, I am with you on this one. I didnt say anything before because she has a great fan base and perhaps because I did not know her personally while many do. But her behavior at the National 14.1 tournament in New York was atrocious. She made a mockery of the game with her whining, talking while her opponent was at the table, moving into players space next to her and distracting them, etc. I guess all this was supposed to be cute and charming because she was smiling as she did this, but if she did this as a man she would get cautioned by the ref at the least. As a matter of fact some men were cautioned by the ref for behavior that was distracting.
Its fine acting like this in a bar league where drinks are served or when gambling with Ronnie Allen but if it bothers an opponent then she should stop. Though I can see why she is entertaining to some. I mean I get a kick when Keith or Ronnie starts with their stream of consciousness pool player rap that they do. It is hilarious. Lets just say that I prefer a more conservative approach when it comes to tournament play.
As far as Corr goes, when she got on the table top after a big win and started dancing I thought it was mind numbing. Riverdance it was not!
 
I agree Yoba.
One match I saw on tv, she was waving to the crowd while the other player was shooting. Definitely a shark move.
 
Coming from personal experience here, I have played Vivian.

During our match Karen Corr was playing a hometown girl and the crowd got really loud when the hometown girl would make a good shot.

Let me give you the scenario. I am down 8 - 1, race to 9. This is almost the very first WPBA tournament I played in, so you can imagine the intimidation & nerves that are going on in my head. I am at the table, my shot. Vivian decides that she needs to yell across the room to Karen. Glad to say, I did not hear the words just the noise. I was focused, I am down here, do or die time. She then apologizes to me about yelling across the room. I tell her that's ok. I will say that I, my opinion only here, felt that she was treating me like I chump since I haven't been on tour (as I probably deserve). Well, the "so called" sharking helped me. I managed to get it 6 - 8, played a safe that I missed by a hair and she made a good shot to win the match.

Ok, now my feelings about this, since I have been in the arena with the pros. One, if you are playing YOUR game then nothing else should matter. That is total focus and you as a professional should be able to maintain that kind of focus. Second, was she rude - yes. Did she recognize it and apologize to her opponent (me)- Yes. Did her yelling help me in wanting to come back due to the lack of respect I was receiving - yes. I personally don't think she was trying to shark me, she just wanted to get into Karen & Anna's business. That is her option.

For me personally, I love it when my opponents shark me. It only makes me bear down harder to beat them and usually I do (spiteful thing). Did I beat Vivian in that match - no. But, I did come back from 8-1 to 8-6. I was proud that I finally got in my game and did give her a run for her money. She told me after the match that it was a good comeback.

Vivian has personality. That is good for the sport. This subject could run into such a fine line. What is rude or competitive ? You personally have to decide. I love when they show some personality. It reminds us that they have the same thoughts, problems, as the rest of the world. Could you imagine a pool hall without the fun trash talking. If that is the case, I might as well go ahead and learn kniting. LOL

Just my thoughts.

Lisa Marr :D
 
I agree Yoba.
One match I saw on tv, she was waving to the crowd while the other player was shooting. Definitely a shark move.
 
silver2K i agree with you 100%! vivian is UNprofessional. she is my least favorite pro out of the women.
 
Her antics would be more tolerable if she had the skills to back them up. Imagine Earl languishing near the bottom rungs of men's pool, and acting the way he does.

That match made me a fan of Ga Young Kim. First, she's the only woman player that's sparked my interest in terms of pure skills on the table. She has by far the best break on the tour, and a huge, free-flowing stroke. She moved to Taiwan a few years ago, and have been practicing with the Taiwanese mens pros all this time. Ga Young is the only girl on the tour now that's capable of breaking into the men's arena, imho.

But noticed her stoic reserve throughout the match? She wasn't dead, she wasn't expressionless by any means, but her faces and smiles and feigned nervousness was not over the top. Vivian turned that place into a circus.

-Roger
 
addendum

Im going to add a little something about Vivian that I should have said. All in all I still respect her for making it to the pro ranks all these years. I do wish her my best.
 
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