Well I started something it seems when I suggested Haggisv answer an interview for his 20,000th post. So now we begin down the path of finding out more about each other, starting with me. I guess its only fair. And I have just clocked up 12,000 posts (OMG how did I do that?
). I would really love to see other members doing this though as it makes for really interesting reading to read about other people. I doubt this will be too interesting being about me, and I hope you can manage to read through it all without having boredom tears, but here goes:
1. How involved have you been, or are you involved in organising or promoting table tennis. I know you play in a team in a local league but are you on any table tennis organising committees for a league. If you restrict yourself to organising your team only, why do you limit yourself to that when you obviously have a passion for the game.I started playing TT competitively when I was about 13 and played weekly throughout my teens. I also had a TT table atop a billiard table that my Dad built for me in a room at home. When I was about 18 I was the treasurer for my local club. That's about as much "office" as I have held in relation to TT. My current club does not really seem very open to members joining the committee, and for the most part that suits me as I really just want to play the game. I have encouraged a number of members to join the club on occasion through this forum though. And yes I am the captain of my team and I organise them when they let me!
2. Why do you use long pimples and how did you discover them.I use LP because its a real challenge to learn to play with a rubber that has inherent weaknesses yet so much potential. I always used dual-inverted prior to my return to TT about 4 years ago, and even for a while after then. As a kid I remember wondering why anyone would play with "pimple-out" rubber when you got much better spin from grippy inverted. It wasn't until I began reading this forum that I realised pips may actually suit my game. After trying them out I was hooked and began developing a whole new side to my game within the pip playing style. What I have achieved in the last 2 or 3 years using pips has taken my game far beyond the best dual inverted game I ever played.
3. Have you ever had any personal coaching on how to use LP'sI've pretty much never had any coaching full stop! As a junior I got the odd tip here and there from older players. The one I recall most clearly was someone adjusted my index finger position about a centimetre down the rubber and showed me how much more of a "hinge" it made when hitting a FH. That's about the extent of my "coaching"
The rest is self-taught/natural ability plus experience....call it what you like. I am a little unorthodox because of it, but no point changing now.
4. You come across as a friendly outgoing person on the forum but is that how you are when you're playing a match too?Pretty much. I try to always remember it is a game we are playing. I am in the game for enjoyment. Being unfriendly is not enjoyable to me. I will succumb to match pressure at times and yell at myself with a "Nooooo" when I do something I dislike, but that's the emotion in the moments heat. It goes away quick. And I am never angry at the person at the other end unless they have been obnoxious (and even then I will try to ignore that and be friendly if I can). I try to remember that without an opponent, there is no game. If they beat me, they played better, got more luck or got me on a bad day. There's always another day (I hope) and another time to win. There has to be a winner and a loser in each match. If you can't handle being a loser sometimes, don't play!
5. How much commission are you on for continually recommending Andro Roxon 450 Haha! I've switched from Roxon to Hexer+ now, but I will always love Roxon 450. No commissions, just a rubber that gave extreme power to my blade that blasted balls off the table. The Hexer+ is almost as fast, but has more control. I think Hexer HD is an itch I have to scratch very soon.
6. You seem to keep odd hours for reading the forum (looking at when you're logged on and what the Aussie time is). How much time would you say you spend on this forum and which is your favourtie section and why?Yep, ya got me. I'm an insomniac at times! Sometimes I wake soon after going to sleep and can't get back, so I get up and check the forum. I think the General Section used to be my favourite section because I stopped EJing and the equipment sections are boring (or perhaps tempting is a better word?
) once you do that.
Who is the best person you have played?Best person or best player? I take the second option, but that's still a hard question. I have played a LOT of people! In practice, I suppose it would have to be Edwin Cotter. In a match, maybe Case Debondt or Roy Cintolo when I filled in the A1 Masters a few years back.
As you are many self taught would you consider getting coaching even at this very very old age stage in your life? (I can't resist having a dig lol)No, I don't think a coach would help much now. I do feel very very old at times with the injuries I carry and I can't do what a coach may ask me to. I improvise a lot in my game and most coaches would see this as a bad thing (and for any youngster it is), but for me that's just the way I play and there are plenty of people who have found out the hard way that it works for me.
do you have any local or international hero's ?Case De Bondt has always been my local hero. He played the top grade of my local comp when I was a teenager and he still plays a high level today at age 75. He's a heck of a nice bloke with it too. Never really took a great deal of notice of the international scene. I do a bit more these days now you can see it on the internet. I guess I have to say The Joo.
What sport did you do when you were younger?What sport didn't I play is possibly a better question.
I played tennis (got to low A grade standard), golf (got down to 8 handicap), squash, TT of course
, badminton, footy, soccer, volleyball, basketball and cricket (both schoolyard stuff to a lesser extent than others), and a host of others (eg. hockey, softball, swimming) we did in school PE classes.
On the forum you always seem happy, friendly and easy to talk to and make friends. Do you think your personality in the forum is a good reflection of what you're like in real life, or perhaps how you'd like to be in real life?Pretty much what you see is what you get with me. I like to joke around with people, except when I am playing serious TT of course (and even then I sometimes can't help myself).
How strongly do you feel about the TT rules, and how strictly people should abide by them? What would you do if you played a player in a tournament who obviously tuned their rubber or treated their pips?I think the ITTF has boxed many players into a corner in this game. I dislike people asserting that I have cheated in any way and I dislike others doing it as well. However, I know there are many things within this sport that blur the lines and many people live in glass houses but still throw stones. So I try to keep within the rules as best I can and try not to get too bent out of shape over someone else breaking them. If someone had obviously tuned or treated their rubber in a tournament, I'd probably just play them to the best of my ability. If they want to win so badly then let them try.
Do you think your own game has improved from the knowledge you've gained from the forum and it's members?I'd have to say without doubt. Obviously practice and playing better players has a bit contribution to that, but without the forum there is a lot of things I may not have tried. Like Pogo for example!
Has the forum experience changed much for you since you became a moderator here? What the hardest thing about being a moderator? Do you feel more restricted in what you can post?Not a great deal. Being a mod has just given me a few extra chores to do when I come on the forum. Perhaps I feel more obliged to calm the waters when things get rough on the forum now, which happens infrequently anyway. But I did this before I was a mod out of concern for friends and peacefulness anyway.
How much potential do you think the forum has to affect changes in our sport that the majority of us feel are required? What do you think we need to do to more of to have a positive impact on our sport?Quite honestly, I don't think the forum has a huge impact on the sport in any other way than making readers more aware of issues in the sport and allowing members to vent their views. It may contribute in implicit ways through information and opinion disemmination, but these are hard things to guage. In the years I've been here I have been frustrated and witnessed frustration with the way things are in the sport, and I haven't seen it have any impact as such. It makes interesting reading though and having people like MNNB who are always researching and posting news on TT developments makes this a great place to learn about and keep abreast of the game.
How far do you think we've come along to make the forum appear (to members and outsiders) as an independent and unbiased TT forum where people can talk freely about any TT topics?I think most people on the forum realise its a fairly independent place where they can propose their opinions. Being a place of somewhat sanctuary for pip players, there is probably some bias in this direction. I don't feel it too strongly, but there may be others who disagree with that, depending on their own views and disposition. I think that most forums have some kind of bias depending on who the majority of members are and what their attitudes are, but I think OOAK members get along pretty well in general. Tolerance of others, and thinking from the other person's point of view before plowing ahead and posting is something I would encourage. Same applies in real life, but in that world there is no screen and distance between people so much, which makes it easier to forget to be tolerant and friendly in the internet world.
What changes / improvement would you like to see most in our forum?Very little. Its pretty good as it is. Of course there are always minor things that crop up as ideas to improve things, and I think its always good to see some fresh ideas from members. I always like to see a few kids on board because they have enthusiasm that we adults just can't muster. As long as the kids are well behaved and respectful, I think they add great contributions to the forum. Especially in the questions they ask and ideas they strike upon. The current kids we have are pretty good, but we've been lucky to have some good one's over the years. LehmanDaHero and Fishy are 2 that come to mind from days gone by. A lot of kids don't stick around here for too long though as they lose interest more quickly being kids I guess. So perhaps we need to foster and harness the youth of the forum more. Perhaps we need a "Juniors Section" that's driven by the kids....with proper adult moderation of course
One of the other things I enjoy with the forum is having fun with custom titles. Its no end of amusement to come up with them for members who have reached the criteria, but some people just don't join in the fun. So I'd love to see more members join in fun stuff like that and get around the forum more than just sticking with one section they go to. But of course, its better to have them in just that one section than not at all.
I guess a few acknowledgments are in order now:
Debater - for dobbing me in for this (and asking some questions)
Haggisv - for putting on this show (the forum) and for his dedication to keeping it going so well (and asking some questions too)
Rodderz - all he did was ask some questions
Robot Blocker - for sticking by me and making great comments in the Reb Report
Antipip - also a great friend who took over the Equipment Index I created but lost interest in when I stopped EJing. Unfortunately he has now lost interest in TT and forumming altogether, but hopefully we will see him back one day
There are a stack of other members on here, many who have come and gone, many who are here now that make forum discussion interesting. There are way too many to name them all and I would surely miss people if I did try, but I will just list some current active members who make discussions here fun who I have enjoyed conversing with: Hookshot, Dwruck, Der_Echte, JimWeiland, GrumpyJoe, Foam, Oskar, Tassie, Jix, Nathanso, Kees, GR, Silver, MNNB, Tat, Cyber1call, Dawg15, ShaolinTT, Decoy, Def-Attack, Lorre, So_Devo, Greggy, Magicshot, Debraj, Glennholder, Ian D, the Ilike-kids and Yosua. If you're not named here, it probably means you don't post enough or you're too new to have made a mark yet (or my memory is blocking you 
). To all of you, and those who have had past discussions, THANK-YOU. I look forward to many more!
And of course I must take the opportunity to plug the "Reb Report". For anyone who doesn't read it, please do. And feel free to make comments, its always great to discuss your game with others. That's one of the best things about the forum. So stop in and have a chat anytime!
And if you missed the question thread for this interview, feel free to ask questions in here. I might even answer them. 
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So at this point, I'd say probably not, but I rarely ever, say never.
