October 19, 2015

Tip of the Week

The Power of a Low, Short, No-Spin Serve.

Memory Lane

On Saturday night we had the second meeting of the Capital Area Team League, held at the Washington DC Table Tennis Center. (We'll have results up by tomorrow.) Afterwards, while driving home, I realized I was within a mile of the house where I grew up – 1967-1979, ages 7 to 19, plus a year from 1990-91, ages 30-31. And so, on the spur of the moment, I took a tour down memory lane. (It includes some table tennis.)

I made a quick plan as I drove down University Blvd. Rather than turn left and go directly to the house where I grew up, I went straight so that I could do a more logical circuit of all my old haunts. However, I was pretty hungry so I stopped first at an Arby's (intersection of University Blvd. and Riggs Rd.) for a sandwich. This wasn't there before. After taking my order, the guy at the counter, whose nametag said Hasim, asked if I played table tennis – he saw I was wearing a Butterfly warm-up suit. It turns out he was a student at University of Maryland and played at the University of MD Table Tennis Club! (Which, by the way, I founded in 1981 while living in a dormitory there.) He knew the top players there, such as Toby Kutler, Charlie Sun, and Vikash Sahu.

Next I continued down University Blvd. and went left on Adelphi Rd, passing University of Maryland along the way. I drove the same route I used to take my bicycle nearly every day from 1976-79 (when I was 16 to 19), to the Prince Georges Community Center, where I used to practice regularly with Brian Masters, Mike Shapiro, Jerry Goldman, Timothy Ang, and others. (I also played at the New Carrollton TTC on Tue, Fri, and Sun nights.) I hadn't been there since 1979. Sure enough, it was still there! I went inside, and while there were changes, it was almost the same. However, the table tennis area, where there used to be two tables plus a foozball game, had been replaced by an exercise area, with weight equipment, stationary bikes, and jogging machines.

Across the street was the Prince Georges Library, looking exactly as it had 36 years ago. I'd spent many long hours there, sometimes doing schoolwork (since it was conveniently close to where I practiced table tennis) and checking out science fiction novels.

A short interlude: I was alone for this journey, but I felt like I was on a tour, and so I found myself giving running commentary to an imaginary guest.

Next I drove back down Adelphi Rd., just as I had so many years ago. I turned left on Cool Spring Rd., passed the Fleming's house (where a friend of mine, Eric, grew up before he became a meteorologist). I did a quick detour and retraced my old paper route (which I inherited from my older brother), which I did for about three years, roughly age 11 to 14 or so. I found the spot where the stack of papers to be delivered was always left; the steep hill where I used to have to lug the wagon full of papers up; and found the various houses where I'd have to dodge dogs to deliver the papers.

Then I continued on and turned left on Cool Spring Lane, and there it was – on a hill at the intersection of that and Rosette Lane – my old house. As noted above, I'd lived in that house with my family from age 7 to 19 (1967-1979), plus a year during grad school (1990-91). (My parents retired and moved to Eugene, OR, a couple years later.) The first change I noticed was the Rosette sign. Back then the sign had always been misspelled "Rossette." But at some point it had been replaced with the correct spelling.

The bushes around our house were gone, as was the goldfish pond, but the greenhouse was still there. I circled the house – half expecting someone to call the police about a stalker (it was about 8PM at night) – and much of it looked the same. All the rooms seemed to be lit. I could see silhouettes of people in what used to be my room in the basement, as well as in the kitchen and dining room upstairs. I considered knocking on the door and asking if I could look around, but decided that would be too weird. Other than a large shed in the back someone had put up, much of it looked the same.

I walked around the neighborhood, naming the people that used to live in the various houses – the Densbergers, Talbots, Whites, Fanales, Appletons, and Allens. Then I went out to the fields where we used to play football, and had a shock: it was now all forest! It was amazing how fast the trees had grown. As I wandered in, I spooked a herd of about ten deer. That was surprising.

Finally I returned to my car, and did one more drive around the neighborhood. Then I went back to Cool Spring Rd., went left, and saw all the new developments. It had once been mostly forest, but now it was all housing, with streets going into new neighborhoods. I went right on Riggs Rd., noting that the old gas station there – originally an ESSO station, then an Exxon station (which a quick Google search showed me happened circa 1972) – was now a Limousine service.

And there it was, about a mile down the road: Adelphi Elementary, my old elementary school. I parked out front and walked about. The front seemed almost the same as before. I went out back, hoping I wouldn't get yelled at by some security guard, but no one was about. (It was about nine PM or so.) The big shock – the huge oak tree in the playground out back was gone! Half the playground had been paved over for a basketball court. That oak tree had been center to everything back then as kids played about it and used it for shade. Alas. I was tempted to jog around the entire field, as we had done back in PE class, but decided against it. But the old backstop for kickball, baseball, and softball games was still there. I remember playing on it, and went over and did a few imaginary kickball kicks. (I never was good at kickball – I never could hit the ball solidly back then.)

Then I was back in my car, left on Riggs Rd. again for about two miles. Along the way we passed the local rather small shopping center, and the only thing left from before was the Golden Bull Restaurant that we'd gone to a few times, and that my brother used to work at.

The then, there it was, Buck Lodge Junior High School. I'd gone there from 1972-75 (ages 12-15, grades 7-9). I walked about, and it looked about the same as before. I wonder what happened to George Zachariah? He and I used to study together and compare notes on science fiction novels.

Then I was off for another three miles or so on Riggs Rd., which turned into Powder Mill Rd., and there it was – High Point High School – I was class of '78. It looked like it had been expanded; it was HUGE. Unlike the other two schools, the parking lot was jammed, and all the lights were on, and there were people everywhere. It turned out that there was some huge Christian Revival meeting going on. I went inside with all the other people, and asked a janitor if it would be okay to look around. He was hesitant, but said it would be okay to look around the front area. And so I walked up and down the hallways for the first time in 37 years – and gradually began to recognize it. I was still giving a tour to my imaginary guest, and pointed out the front entrance, the main office, the auditorium, and other landmarks to him. On office wall was a big picture of Francis Tracy, the principal during my time there.

I have surprisingly few memories of high school. I didn't start playing table tennis until I was 16, and from there on, that's most of what I remembered. (I do remember rushing through my homework at the library mentioned earlier so I could practice TT!)

I finally went back to my car and went home. It was a long sleepless night as I couldn't help reminiscing about all those years ago.

Men's World Cup

Congrats to Ma Long, the 2015 World Men's Cup Champion! Here are a few links.

Brief Tactical Analysis of Stefan Fegerl (AUT) vs. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER)

Here's the new article by Han Xiao about this match in the European Men's Team Finals. Includes link to the match (14:17).

Ask the Coach Show

Episode #174 (20 min) – Elbow Position for Serving (and other segments).

Ma Long Sets Wheels in Motion to Equal Grand Slam Record

Here's the new article from Matt Hetherington.

Celebrity Battle: Chris Paul vs. LeBron James

Here's the USATT poll – who would win?

Ping-Pong Designs

Here's a plethora of table types.

Navin Kumar's New Parkinson's Medicine

Here's a video (3:03) from yesterday of Navin's first session with me after starting with his new medication – I'll let him explain: "My first table tennis training session after starting my new Parkinson's medication. My coach, Larry Hodges is hitting primarily to my forehand since my Parkinson's has negatively impacted that the most. Forehand feels MUCH looser and relaxed thanks to the reduced tremors and stiffness in my right hand and arms."

Division 2E Highlight: Gin and Donic vs. Megahurtz

Here's the video (39 sec) of a highlights point from the LA League where Jayson Vera Cruz blocks down Dominic Jun. You don't have to be world-class to have a nice point!

Why Actress Susan Sarandon Thinks Ping-Pong is Democratic

Here's the article.

Highlights Video

Here's a new ITTF highlights video (1:50).

North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un

Is this his new conference table? And why is he wearing gloves, to keep the table clean? (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Raving Bunny Pong

Here's the picture!

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