OOAK Table Tennis Forum

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomch ... atriotism/

The original posts in this thread are under review by the Mod Team. Please keep this thread on-topic.

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well it's always good to see positive News about table tennis

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This is honestly jaw-dropping!!! I've made two posts saying positive things about table-tennis - one in mnnb's blog and one here - and I've said them in a positive manner. Both of them have been removed!!!

Don't tell me to stay "on-topic" when you keep removing my on-topic posts.

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Is Bob on an online campaign against table tennis

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Blog owners have the right to remove posts from their blog, if they feel the posts are inappropriate or off topic for whatever reason. The same goes for every blog owner. I can see from the forum records that Tassie's post was removed from MNNB's thread, not this thread, although it may have during the transition when it was moved. PM me or another MOD if you want to discuss further.

So please lets keep comments in this thread on topic, not to discuss actions in another thread.

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Tom Chivers, writing for the English newspaper The Telegraph, believes

Who is Tom Chivers? Well, the only reliable information I have is “Tom Chivers is the Telegraph's assistant comment editor. He writes on science, culture and anything that crosses his mind.” Note, this says nothing about whether he is a regular player or not, but I think we can safely assume he’s not, given his statement:
Someone suggests that Chivers isn’t entitled to an opinion simply because he describes his experience at the Olympics this way:
But surely this is exactly what we would want from someone watching elite TT for the first time? Here is a world-weary, cynical journalist actually captivated by what he is seeing, and comparing it with the dreariness of tennis. Shouldn’t we be applauding Chivers rather than mocking him for his use of onomatopoeia?

Just recently we had the opportunity to read another newspaper article, this time from the Financial Times. The piece was entitled “Rise and fall of medal empires” and was written by Matthew Engel. Who is Matthew Engel? According to the all-knowing internet, he is “a British writer and editor who began his career in 1972. He worked on The Guardian newspaper for nearly 25 years, reporting on a wide range of political and sporting events including a stint as Washington correspondent beginning on 9/11. He now writes a column in the Financial Times.” Now, in case we think his reporting on “sporting events” makes him an expert on table tennis, it’s worth noting that his interest is actually cricket (and I’m sure our American friends will have plenty to say about the excitement levels involved in watching cricket).

So Engel writes:Should we seize upon the pronouncements of Engel and hail them as the definitive statement on the watchability or otherwise of our favourite sport? Or should we take Chivers as our hero and boo Engel from the media box?

Personally, I think Chivers offers us hope where Engel offers us despair. I know which I choose.

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Depends where Chivers was sat and whether he was there for the "atmosphere" or to enjoy the nuances of the game. If Chivers used a press pass and was sat near the table I could understand his sentiments - and note he was there when all four tables were in play, not when there was just one table stuck in the middle of a big hall. If he was sat in a back seat in row Z I'd struggle to understand how he could see the swerve and spin on the ball and if the hall was 80% empty I'd struggle to understand how he enjoyed the atmosphere.

It's not about hope or despair. It's about experiences of watching table tennis and learning from them to make watching the game a better experience. I like to watch table tennis close up and not too high. I don't like watching it from 100 feet away way up in the rafters.

What I would do is take the information Engel offers - free criticism or complaints are often the best and cheapest source of market research (namely, it's hard to see a table tennis ball in a large venue) - and then marry it with the reasons expressed by Chivers for his enthusiasm. I don't see it as simply either or.

But then that would being greeedy

Thanks, Debater - another great post. So much of what you say here is extremely helpful. But... (did you guess there was a "but" coming?)Your comment is very true when it's about reading two articles and taking something from them. But I don't think the same is true when we take a quote from one of those articles and adopt it as our mantra.

On my wall I have a number of quotes from extraordinary people - Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa, Churchill, Nikki Giovani, Sir John Betjeman, Michael Leunig, and others - and those quotes say something about my aspirations. It's hardly aspirational to put up for everyone to see "Table tennis might rival dressage as the least watchable of all Olympic sports." If that is the mindset of a TT player, surely that's despair?

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

If you think the ITTF placing table tennis fans vast distances from a tiny 5x9 foot table is a good spectator experience, I beg to differ. I will also add that the ITTF's standard behind the back camera angle is also a bad viewing experience for online spectators.

That's not despair, that's reality.

If you find aspiration in the comments of a non-sports reporter covering "some incredibly niche sport" taking place in "some of the bleaker wastelands of east London" who understands the game in terms of "pockpockpockpockpockpockpock," more power to you.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

I'll post a reply to this, as I think I am well qualified to do so, because ....

1: I am an (ex) East Londoner. I still work in London, but moved out of town 14 years ago.

2: I attended the games (table tennis men's quarter finals) - actually courtesy of tickets Adham kindly gave me for being first to respond to his post in the 'ask Adham' thread. I thought I'd mention that fact, even though it would not affect the impartiality of my reply.

3: I started my TT journey in Silvertown and Docklands - my first matches were in Silvertown Way just minutes from the Excel centre in maybe 1982.

I think I understand where the reporter is coming from when he talks about the "niche sport" thing being one of the best parts of the Olympics. Let's face it, as far as the UK is concerned we are niche. I also found myself watching hockey, diving, basketball, archery, weightlifting, gymnastics, velodrome cycling .....and probably more I've forgotten ..... and in UK terms I'd say all of these are niche ........ I thoroughly enjoyed watching them (on TV). Of course in other countries some would not be niche (e.g. Basketball in the US?). This is a positive thing and publicises those sports.

I take a little umbrage to the reporter's description of "some of the bleaker wastelands of East London". The Docklands have had an incredible transformation over the past 30 years. Look up "London Docklands" on Wikipedia for some history. True, there are some deprived communities near to the parts where huge investment has taken place, but I don't think any could be described as a wasteland by any stretch of the imagination. The land is very valuable, actually.

As I wrote above, I started my TT journey in that area some 30 years ago. The area was a lot grimmer back then (although I suspect the community spirit a lot stronger). I do wonder whether the reporter harbours memories from long ago, or perhaps even reported from in front of his TV !

Now, the actual LIVE experience at the EXCEL. When I went the 4 table setup had been reduced to 1, but the seating not drawn closer. I presume capacity had to stay at 5,000 (not 6,000 as reported) so in some cases spectators were far away. Also, cameras needed to be near to the table to record the TV images so this partially obscured the view for some spectators. I suppose this is an unavoidable problem. This happened to me on one session, but not the next.

The above is the negative. There are also numerous positives, mainly;
- The atmosphere was absolutely electric. It was, obviously, best when there was a close contest. For my sessions Otvachov vs Maze was by far the best game, both players had excellent support (very loud between points but respectful in play). You could not pick that up on TV.
- The lighting was amazing, so even at distance you can tune into the game really well; despite there being copious large screens around the place you'd only look at those for replays.
- You only get a concept of the real speed of the game live.
- It was pretty much a full house.

Frankly, If I'd bought the tickets it would have been quite an expensive luxury for me. But take that out of the equation and it was far better to be there than watch on TV!

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Not to lower opinions on certain group of people but..
I think those people of higher logic and mental acuity seems to be perplexed easier by our sport, I mean it awestruck their brain by seeing such number of information processed in such short amount of time..

Good article and thanks Sir MMNB

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