August 2, 2017

Timmy Boggan’s Coming to Town! [Sung to the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”]
He’ll be here at 10AM, and when he says 10AM, he means exactly 10AM. Knowing Tim, at 10:01AM we’ll be working on Volume 20 (!) of his History of U.S. Table Tennis. As noted in previous blogs, I do the page layouts and photo work. Mal Anderson has already scanned the photos and sent them to me. We’ll be working from 7AM to 5PM for the next 10-12 days (working around my coaching schedule on weekends), with Tim looking over my shoulder and periodically saying things like, “That goes there, you fool!”

Tim keeps strange hours, going to bed every night around 7PM and getting up around 3AM. So he’ll be puttering around my house each morning, impatiently waiting for me so we can get started at 7AM. But he’s a USATT Hall of Famer and the USATT Historian, so who are we to judge?

This is a tricky time for me—or should I say exhausting? After I finish my work with Tim, I’ll be leaving nearly every day to the club for a few hours of coaching. And then, after getting home perhaps at 8 or 9PM, because I won’t have much time in the morning (those 7AM starting times), I’ll be up late getting the blog done mostly in advance, as well as other USATT and MDTTC stuff that can’t be put off. Basically, for the next 10-12 days I’ll be living off Mountain Dew.

In honor of Tim, let’s all sing together - and if you video yourself singing this and put it online, and either put it in the comments below or email the link to me, you'll be in my blog tomorrow!

You better play smart,
Don’t put the ball high,
Better have heart,
I'm telling you why,
Timmy Boggan’s coming to town!

He's making a list,
Of playing advice,
Gonna find out who's games aren’t nice,
Timmy Boggan’s coming to town!

He sees you when you're playing,
He knows all your mistakes,
He knows if you've played bad or good,
So play good for goodness sakes!

O! You better play smart,
Don’t put the ball high,
Better have heart,
I'm telling you why,
Timmy Boggan’s coming to town!

Ask the Coach
Questions answered at PingSkills.

Jake Duffy’s Seamaster ITTF Training Camp Experience
Here’s the article.

Will Shortz: A Profile of a Lifelong Puzzle Master
Here’s the article from the New York Times. He owns the full-time Westchester club in New York, one of the premier clubs in the country.

Pyongyang Open
Here’s the home page for the event, starting today in North Korea, Aug. 2-6, with articles, pictures, video, draws, and results.

Women Beating Men in Open Table Tennis Tournament
Here’s the article – about a London tournament in 1901!

Guinness World Record Recognizes Table Tennis Playing Robot
Here’s the article.

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 19 (1991-1992)
Here's chapter nineteen! Or order your own print copies at TimBogganTableTennis.com, as well as Volume 19!

Falcons TTC Outclass Shazé Challengers to Clinch the Inaugural CEAT UTT Title
Here’s the article from Ultimate Table Tennis in India.

2017 World Championships: Meet Your Idol
Here’s the ITTF video (2:09). “Two lucky fans met up with their idol Zhang Jike at the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships to interact with the Chinese superstar!”

Table Tennis Jigsaw Puzzles
Here’s where you can get them! (Make sure to click the “More Results” link.) But this Dinosaur Playing Table Tennis might be the best one – I have this one. I bring it to the club during some of our camps and the kids put it together during breaks. (It’s only 70 pieces – more for the younger ones.)

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