<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1902236&fullscreen=1" width="480" height="360" ><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="true"/><param name="movie" quality="best" value="http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1902236&fullscreen=1"/><embed src="http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1902236&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="480" height="360" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><div style="padding:5px 0; text-align:center; width:480px;">See more <a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/videos">funny videos</a> and <a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/pictures">funny pictures</a> at <a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/">CollegeHumor</a>.</div>
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Li Jiawei is leaving - and there’s nothing the STTA and SSC can do about it
Li, Left, Leaving Singapore TT team.
Red Sports, 15 Oct 2008, Singapore Sports Fan
A member of the public, Edmund Lin, wrote to a local newspaper (see full letter below) about Li Jiawei’s probable departure for Beijing to get married and pursue her studies.
I couldn’t help being amused by Edmund Lin’s last paragraph in which he wondered whether the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) will pull out all the stops to encourage Li to stay on and contribute to the local sports scene.
Let’s be realistic.
There is NOTHING that the STTA and the SSC can do to keep Li in Singapore simply because she does not have a sense of belonging to the country beyond table tennis.
In fact, I wonder whether Li has ever felt a sense of belonging to Singapore in the first place.
Source: http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2008/10/li-jiawei-is-leaving-and-theres-nothing.html
The Famous Wang Hao
Friday, October 17, 2008
BEIJING: Chinese Olympic table tennis champion Wang Hao has been ordered to undergo ritual self-humiliation after a confrontation with a parking attendant who reportedly caught him urinating outside a karaoke hall.
Wang, who won a team gold and individual silver at the Beijing Games, will have to confess his sins in front of the national team after allegedly scuffling with the attendant in the karaoke hall’s parking lot last Thursday.
“He needs to examine himself in front of the team, talk about his feelings and the lessons he’s learned and sound a warning for his other teammates,” Liu said.
Wang was taken to a police station after he reportedly kicked the attendant, but was not charged and has denied striking the man or being drunk. However, he has apologised for verbally abusing him and reportedly paid him 2,000 yuan to settle the matter.
Table tennis is often referred to as China’s national past time and the country’s top competitors are subject to enormous public scrutiny. Four Olympic hopefuls were dismissed for having romantic affairs which affected their training for the Athens Games.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
$50, Ping Pong Table - Used - Diego's Thrift Store
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Good condition ping pong table. Folds up for easy storage. Comes with net. Only $50. Check this item and plenty more out at Diego’s Thrift Store, 9935 Campo Road. Spring Valley, Ca 91977, we have directions on our website http://www.diegosthrift.com
We are new and ready to Deal, open 7-days a week!
See all our ad by searching “Diegos Thrift Store”
We Deliver!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Inventors of ping-pong say Mayor Boris Johnson is wrong
Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent
The claim, made on the world’s biggest stage about one of its most popular games, was a challenging one: that ping-pong was less a part of Chinese sporting history than of Victorian England’s.
Now Boris Johnson’s assertion in Beijing that the game started life as “whiff-whaff”, played on the dining tables of the upper classes, has drawn indignation of another kind — from game-makers and historians who accuse the Mayor of London of rewriting a small chapter of social history.
Joe Jaques, the commercial director of Jaques of London, the world’s oldest sporting and games manufacturer, told The Times that Mr Johnson had his facts “completely wrong”. He accused the mayor of doing his family a disservice by failing to acknowledge that they had been first to codify the game and had invented the name ping-pong years before whiff-whaff — devised by a business rival — was even thought of.
“I was quite outraged that he could get it so wrong and not give us the appropriate credit for it,” Mr Jaques said. “You would think that if he is going to be so proud of the sport, and tell the world that ping-pong is coming home, he could get his facts straight.”
Times Archive, 1901: Table tennis
In typically flamboyant fashion, Mr Johnson declared at the Olympics that it was a common misconception that table tennis had been invented in China. In comments broadcast widely across the world, the mayor said: “Ping-pong was invented on the dining tables of England in the 19th century and it was called whiff-whaff.
“The French might look at a dining table and see an opportunity to eat. We looked at it and saw the opportunity to play whiff-whaff. And I say to the Chinese, and I say to the world, ping-pong is coming home.”
However, according to Mr Jaques, whiff-whaff was a poor imitation of a game invented by John Jaques, his great-grandfather, and which was manufactured many years earlier.
There is much speculation about the origins of ping-pong. Some historians believe that the game was derived from outdoor tennis. Others say that it was originally played by British soldiers in India.
However, the Jaques family claim that they commercialised the game, providing nets, balls, bats and formal rules. Mr Jaques said that the game was originally called gossima and was produced by Jaques of London from 1891, using a cork ball and bats coated with pigskin.
“The story about India was an old wives’ tale because it was only played there with cigarette boxes and cork balls,” Mr Jaques said. “It was not until we patented gossima that the game was properly invented, because it actually had rules.”
While Mr Johnson’s performance drew hilarity from most of the world, Mr Jaques said that his family was extremely upset. “It’s very clear that we invented the game. It’s absolute rubbish to say that whiff-whaff came first. It was basically the same thing, but we were definitely first.”
Mr Johnson, who prides himself on his historical knowledge, was unrepentant yesterday. He said: “I stand by my assertion that whiff-waff and ping-pong are one and the same thing, with the ‘whiffs’ predating the ‘pongs’. Regardless of semantics though, it is a sport of which we should be proud and I look forward to watching it in 2012.”
Gerald Gurney, a sports historian and author of Table Tennis: the Early Years, said that Mr Jaques was right. “I have researched table tennis for 50 years, and you can only say that it was gossima and ping-pong first, whiff-whaff later.”
The Jaques game plan
— Established in 1795 by Thomas Jaques
— Despite numerous offers, is still family-owned and run
— Was the first manufacturer to make the Staunton chess set, made available in 1849. The style, named after the English chess master Howard Staunton, became the universal standard
— Introduced croquet into England in 1851
— Invented classic games such as happy families, tiddlywinks, ludo and snakes and ladders
— Still produces ping-pong bats and tables
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4657126.ece
Grip for Beer Pong!
When playing beirut (beer pong), there is no correct way to grip the ball. However, if you are having difficulty aiming your shot, or maintaining consistency, you might want to consider one of these grip alternatives.
Basic Overhand Grip
The vast majority of beirut (beer pong) players grip the ball with the one finger or two finger basic overhand grips. The ball is held between the tip of the thumb, and the tip of the index finger or the tips of the index and middle fingers. When shooting the ball, the ball is released quickly and smoothly with a slight snap of the wrist.
Hooked Overhand Grip (The Trigger)
A much less frequently used beirut (beer pong) grip is the hooked overhand grip, sometimes called the trigger because it is similar to the grip used when holding a gun. The ball is held between the first phalange of the thumb and the entire index finger. The ball can be aimed by lining up the tip of the thumb and the first knuckle of the index finger with a cup. When shooting the ball, the ball is released with a quick snap of the wrist that imparts a small amount of topspin to the ball.
Reverse Overhand Grip (The Web Slinger)
Another seldom used beirut (beer pong) grip is the reverse overhand grip. This grip is also called the web slinger, because the motion used when shooting the ball resembles the motion used by Spider Man when he shoots webs out of his arms. The ball is held between the tip of the thumb and the tips of two or three fingers, with the back of the hand facing the cups. When shooting the ball, the hand is pulled away from the body with a flick of the wrist at release.
Split Finger Overhand Grip (Peace Grip)
The most rare and unusual beirut (beer pong) grip is the split finger overhand grip. This grip is known by many names including: the peace grip, the rock-paper-scissors grip, and the kung fu action grip. The ball is held between the first phalange of the index and middle fingers with the side of the hand facing the cups. When shooting the ball, the ball is released quickly and smoothly with a slight snap of the wrist.
Ping Pong Playa
C-dub (Jimmy Tsai) must take his brother's place in the big ping pong tournament in "Ping Pong Playa."
By this point, we’ve seen so many movies about the underdog, the Big Game and the rescue of the family honor, that it’s almost impossible to tell that kind of story with a straight face. Which is what makes “Ping Pong Playa” such a surprising treat — this low-budget comedy keeps its tongue in cheek while simultaneously making us actually care about who wins the tournament.
With the sport being table tennis, of course, the tournament isn’t exactly the last five minutes of “Rocky.” But when the characters are this charming and the dialogue is this smart, you won’t mind watching a little white ball clonk its way from paddle to tabletop and back again.
Christopher Wang (Jimmy Tsai), or “C-Dub” to his friends, is a loudmouth slacker who speaks almost entirely in a b-ball patois and laments the genetic failings that have kept him from being an NBA star. His laziness alone would make him a disappointment in his parents’ Asian-American community — their friends all brag about their kids being doctors and lawyers — but C-Dub has also turned his back on his family’s legacy of ping pong domination.
Starring: Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan, Elizabeth Sung, Peter Paige
Director: Jessica Yu
Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
C-dub’s older brother Michael (Roger Fan) has won the annual ping pong tournament for years, which has in turn benefited the table-tennis-supplies store that the Wangs manage. But when Mrs. Wang (Elizabeth Sung) and Michael get into a car accident, C-dub must take over his mother’s ping pong class at the community center and, ultimately, play for the family in the tournament.
This year, winning the National Golden Cock Tournament means more than a date with Miss Chinatown — C-dub has to defend the sport from Gerald (Peter Paige), a snotty interloper who wants to open up his own Anglo-centric table tennis academy.
You may be able to guess the ultimate destination of “Ping Pong Playa,” but the film chooses an interestingly circuitous route in getting there. From C-dub’s embrace of his athletic destiny to his relationship with the kids in his mom’s class — not to mention his flirtation with Jennifer (Smith Cho), the older sister of one of his students — the film finds a way to tell its story and embellish its characters while poking gentle fun at Asian overachievers and white people’s obliviousness about Asian culture.
Documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu (“In the Realms of the Unreal,” “Breathing Lessons”) makes an assured narrative debut here, even though it’s clear she’s working from a limited budget. (Full disclosure: I’ve known Yu for years from when her films screened at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, where I was once artistic director.) “Ping Pong Playa” has a sweet shagginess to it that matches C-dub’s lackadaisical nature. The idea of using basketball sound effects to cover up profanities is an awkward choice — it would work better for the film’s eventual ABC Family debut than for a theatrical movie — but beyond that, the script (by Tsai and Yu) keep the laughs consistently in play.
“Ping Pong Playa” doesn’t have the angry edge of other groundbreaking comedies about race, but perhaps its amiability makes it even more subversive. Whether or not Asian-Americans embrace its unique sense of humor, table tennis fans will no doubt be elated to be able to cleanse “Balls of Fury” from their collective palates.
© 2008 MSNBC Interactive
the mrbrown show: beat it (the singapore ping pong song) music video!
A jibe at STTA Chief for the mistiming of announcing the dismissal of Singapore's Table Tennis Manager Anthony LEe
'I've breastfed four children so basically my breasts look like ping pong balls in a couple of bin liners"
Ulrika Jonsson is having a breast reduction after her chest grew to a 34I cup during her fourth pregnancy.
The 41-year-old, who gave birth to her fourth child Malcolm 10 weeks ago, says she's also having a lift because they look like 'ping pong balls in bin liners'.
She told GMTV today: 'I've been endowed with a rather large bosom, and when I'm pregnant and breastfeeding I go up to a 34I cup, I'm wearing a G cup at the moment.'I've been thinking about it for a number of years, it's not something I've just thought of in the last couple of weeks.
'All other women are having augmentations, but I'm having what I call corrective surgery - I feel that I've done my bit for my babies.
'I've breastfed four children so basically my breasts look like ping pong balls in a couple of bin liners - they need a bit of help!'
But the TV presenter, who says she's put on five stone while pregnant, insists she won't be having any surgery on her face.
She said: 'I'm going to wait for my body to get back to normal, then I'm going to find the best surgeon in the country.
