September 8, 2016

Final Proofing - "Revelations of a Champion"
Yesterday I did the absolutely final proofing of Dan Seemiller’s autobiography, “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion.” The book is really coming around! I did 4.5 hours of proofing at Ledo’s (noon to 4:30PM, lots of pizza and large Mountain Dew, two refills), did a 90-minute coaching session, and then did another 2.5 hours of proofing at Wendy’s (7:30-10PM, large chili with cheese and onion, and a large Dr. Pepper). And then it was done! Except – I needed another three hours to input all the changes, making sure to keep all the layouts lined up. (Plus some USATT stuff took up over an hour.) I also had 19 questions for Dan, which I emailed to him a little after 2:30AM. As soon as he gets back to me on those, I’ll be able to finalize the interior. (It’s 3:23AM as I write this – I’d rather get the blog done now then have to do it when I get up.)

Meanwhile, today I need to pretty much finalize the front and back cover (plus the spine in between). That was turning into a headache as the cover picture is a great shot of Danny, but it’s in black and white. I colorized it, and added the title and a sub-title, but so far the fonts and colors just aren’t working. I’d like to get this done by Friday, since I’m running the MDTTC September Open this Saturday, and coaching all day Sunday.

There are some nice quotes from Dan in the book – I may blog about some of them later on, after the book is out.

I had an interesting time at both Ledo’s and Wendy’s, with an interesting event at each. At Ledo’s, three old white men – all at least 75 or 80 – spent over an hour very loudly discussing what a great person Donald Trump was, while ripping into Clinton. (They actually spent most of the time talking about the virtues of Trump, with anti-Clinton interjections thrown in.) I had to restrain myself from correcting some of their statements. Next time I need to bring earplugs, or perhaps a tranquilizer dart gun. Or maybe a hard-hit ping-pong ball to the head.

At Wendy’s, a family of eight people got there just before me – apparently a grandmother, a mom and dad, and five kids. The kids were excitedly talking about getting Happy Meals, which was strange since those are from McDonalds. Then the mom told the cashier that there was a special on Happy Meals after 4PM, and that they should cost only $1.99. The cashier was very confused, and kept trying to explain that they don’t have Happy Meals at Wendy’s. The mom then changed her order to Chicken McNuggets – again, a McDonald’s menu item. When the cashier again tried to explain, the woman got very agitated, and asked for the manager. When the manager explained that this wasn’t a McDonalds, the woman insisted that they had been coming regularly to this Wendy’s and getting Happy Meals for $1.99 after 4PM. This went on for a time, and I was getting pretty impatient. The woman finally said, “Well then, we’ll just go somewhere else.” The kids were very disappointed at not getting their Happy Meals. What’s funny is there was a McDonalds almost next door – and that’s where they went next. (I saw them to there through the window.) Presumably they got their Happy Meals. Or perhaps they tried to order a Frosty.

Liu Guoliang - Table Tennis Tactics Genius
Here’s the video (19:52) from July, but this is the first I’ve seen it. It’s in English.

Table Tennis Tips for Racketlon Players
Here’s the new coaching article from Expert Table Tennis.

As You Think, So Shall You Become
Here’s the Bruce Lee/Table Tennis graphic – and it very much applies to table tennis.

Two Little Japanese Kids Playing Ping-Pong
Here’s the video (10:47). And they say the Chinese are even better.

TRex vs. Brontosaurus
Here’s the cartoon!

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