JackAscii

Inverted rubber – Rubber that contacts the ball with its smooth surface, and is glued to the rest of the bat with its pimpled surface. With a larger contact area, this type of rubber generally produces more spin than pimpled rubber, although some rubbers are designed to have the opposite effect.

JackAscii’s Comment: It’s no surprise that table tennis is not often discussed in public. I feel uncomfortable typing the phrase “inverted rubber”.

Pimples – Rubber that contacts the ball with its pimpled surface. Produces different effects on the spin compared with inverted rubber due of the reduced contact area and flexibility of the pimples.

JackAscii’s Comment: Terrible term, equally terrible definition. As a group, ping pong players are not the most attractive assemblage of folks*. So why throw gas on the fire with this term? Couldn’t it have been called Spinners or Bespeckles (found this using the ole thesaurus – in your faces!)?

* For perspective, ping pong players are not as narly as those guys from Best Buy’s Geek Squad, but still a little more trollish than your average Chess enthusiast.

Third ball – The stroke hit by the server after the opponent’s return of the serve. Because the serve can be used to make attacking difficult for the opponent, the third ball is frequently the first strong attacking stroke in any table tennis rally.

JackAscii’s Comment: Third Ball. It’s two more than my buddies college roomate.

It is widely accepted that the Etruscan civilization was the most mighty in Italy prior to the rise of Rome. The Etruscans were recognized as a strong maritime power whose conquests lead to the establishment of colonies in Corsica, Elba, Sardinia, and Carthage. Additionally, the Etruscan people have been credited with being scholars, expert potters and master craftsmen. Although most of what we know about the Etruscans was published in the 1970’s, more information was uncovered last month during a dig in Tuscany. The picture above, which was found in cache of artifacts, has sparked renewed interest in the field of anthropology concerning the contributions of early Etruscans. Dr. Dave Levlins, team lead for the Tuscany dig, said “there is no doubt that this is in fact a 7th century B.C. Etruscan playing what appears to be Ping Pong. The low cranial brow and elongated arms were common traits found in Etruscan men.”

Clint came over this past Wednesday to play a little pong and I gotta tell ya, he’s quite a character. Before each serve he would say crap like “Do you feel lucky punk?” or “Go ahead, make my day”. Hell, one time he said something like “Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius”, which I had no idea what he meant or how it was applicable to our table tennis match. Oh well, the dudes like 95 so you gotta just let some of that crap slide.

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This evening I got to play some ping pong with the ex Russian President Vladamir Putin. I have to say that having Vladmir over for some pong was pretty damn cool. I had heard he was pretty good, but wasn’t sure if it was true or just the Soviet propaganda machine at work. I didn’t care one way or another because having him over was enough as it was – besides, he had some Cuban Cohiba’s in tow.

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