OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Are you seriously comparing Susan Sarandon playing bad table tennis in China with drug murders in Mexico? Seriously?

MNNB, this is fun! This is Susan Sarandon playing bad table tennis! It's comedy! It's table tennis in the news! In the news, for crying out loud! Table tennis in the news!

And if Susan Sarandon is prepared to go to China to make a goose of herself, we should be cheering her all the way. It's free publicity for the game we love! And in the USA, TT needs all the publicity it can get.

And why have you conveniently ignored that fact? TT in the USA is such a joke that it needs the help of an ageing actress who is prepared to make a fool of herself for the cause. Why aren't you cheering?

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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

Sarandon is like the celebrity mascot here and is helping raise the profile of TT in America. In other sports, the athletes are usually the celebrities and there is no need for a "substitute" celeb. However, I don't see TT having any "household names" to promote it. She may not cast the perfect image from a skill perspective, but at least she is well recognised and she is putting a positive message out there. She certainly isn't bagging the game.

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No, I'm just refuting your ridiculous insinuation that all publicity is good.


Thanks to publicity like this, people get the impression that all of American table tennis is a joke. You are obviously convinced.

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I have congratulated Susan on promoting table tennis as much as anyone... But yeah this video is kind of embarrassing that probably does more harm than good for US table tennis... Bad publicity can further strengthen unwanted stereotyping, definitely.

Here is what waz accomplished by that event...

1) USA has a real bad rep about its citizens being arrogent, clueless, demanding, disrespectful when traveling aboad. This reputation is very well deserved. It does not help that a few members of our nation's armed forces stationed oversees have done some terrible things over the decades near their camps.

That team, especially the notable "Bad Boy" Wally Green showed a HUGE audience that Americans can love, appreciate, enjoy, and MAYBE SOMETIMES play half-ass OK in a sport that most of Asia holds in high esteem. That team did nothing but enjoy, be a good sport, and be very respectful in doing it. There are few who can over time see the value of this. These little things like trying to do things the host country's way (or at least make a sincere effort and be respectful) carry a lot more weight in the court of public and personal opinion.

I am a caucasian American in Korea and people of my age have burned into them all the negative things USA peoples have done. This was well established by the 70s and 80s. I was here in the 80s and saw it firsthand. USA people did a real poor job and shot themselves in the foot over and over with their conduct. Those many who made zero attempt at learning language/culture, were demanding/demeaning, and acted haughty/criminally really setback relations. Since then, in the following few decades, a lot has changed. It did NOT change, just because the Koreans liked some movies. There was a shift in culture and more importantly, a LOT of individuals have shown Koreans that they are not the above mentioned bad boyz. These were students and modern members of our military, plus a LOT of foreign travel by Koreans in the last 20 years. Usually, it takes hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of individual acts and also on a continuing basis, showing people true character and being respectful. This event counted for a few hundred thousand of them.

2) In war, if the enemy knows that your military forces will kill or seriously mistreat them after capture, then those enemies will not be likely to surrender, even if it will not help their Army or nation to continue to fight. They will keep on and in the end, inflict a LOT more casualties on our forces, even if the end result of the war/battle is the same. Our nation's long standing POW policy of safeguarding and treating humanely the POWs is known to our enemies and has often been a deciding factor in surrender. This policy has saved countless lives. Although the China vs World is not a war or military operation, it has some parallels. It is much to our nation's advantage to deal with countries that are not hostile to the end in matters of economics and politics. The difference between those is immense and the cost involved in the first case too much. The SPiN crew accomplished (at least in my worthless opinion) the same level as a few hundred thousand individuals who visited China over the weekend and acted in a respectful manner in the tea houses and streets. That event alone is like a fraction of a percent of what is needed to get there, but it should not be discounted.

People from China already know about TT is USA. There are thousands of Chinese, many not registered with USATT, who play in USA and communicate home. The state of TT in America is not a national secret. They already know we suck. They already know TT isn't very strong in our culture. Still, they know, and now even more so now, that there is change and USA peoples are not the stereotype, well at least not all of them anyway. That carries more weight than many realize.

I don't want to make friction or a long debate. I share a lot in common (in opinion) with everyone involved in this thread and forum. (Otherwise, I wouldn't post here more than once a year)

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Yes, I am convinced. And you should be convinced as well. Why no comment on the facts and figures I presented above? Don't they tell you that TT in the US is not the serious sport that you and I both dream it should be?

The fact that you and I both take TT very seriously does not make it a serious sport in the general public's mind. Somewhere along the line we need to lighten up and celebrate whenever TT makes it into the news. Then we need to use that news as an opportunity to provide some real education about our sport. When someone says, "I saw Susan Sarandon playing ping pong", instead of weeping over the "negative impression", we need to say, "She's terrible. But have you seen this instead?" And then use the opportunity to really sell the game by demonstrating what it really looks like.

Use lemons to make lemonade.


Wow! What a fabulous post!

This is a lucid, rational and non-reactive response from someone who obviously understands what it means to be a US American seeing things that 99.9% of US Americans have no awareness of. Perhaps we all need to stop and reflect a little before we get too carried away with Susan Sarandon's lack of a killer forehand loop.

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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

I don't think table tennis is the USA is a joke. This is a false stereotype that sad spectacles like Sarandon's perpetuate.

It has been a problem that the USATT has largely failed in recent years as a useful national association. However, hard working people at independent TT centers in California, Maryland, Florida, New York and other hot spots across the country have largely been fueling the preservation and development of TT as a serious sport here. Because of their efforts, young players like Ariel Hsing have a shot at putting American players back among the world's elite in the next few years.

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

What this probably was... Susan probably got a chance to go to China or where ever it was and just asked some people at her club (SpinCity) to go with her. Not even thinking about if she should get some "good players". She just asked who has the money to go?
Its painfully obvious the USA does not think TT is a worth while sport. There are too many other sports in the US that already has a strong foothold. So for anybody to think the USA will ever be a top contender in the world? I can't see it in the near future. And I'm ok with that. Because I don't see anyone from Germany coming over to the US and getting paid several million dollars to pitch for the Cincinnati Reds. (that's for you Der) Some sports are more popular than others. It just so happens TT is not that popular in the US. Is football (USA version) popular in Japan? I doubt it. What about Hockey in China? Does Basketball get the same attention in Australia? What about Golf? Do they play Golf in Belarus? Maybe. But do they get paid Millions of Dollars like in the USA? I don't think so.
See where I'm going with this?

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No he pitches for the Chicago White Sox (Edwin Jackson). Then there is that guy from Germany named Dirk Nowitski making millions and winning the MVP in the NBA Finals.

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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

Yeah Grumpy, there are not a lot of German Baseball players playing in Germany. Schlagball is NOT a school sport nor is it popular as a club sport. Team Handball is much huger than Baseball by far, for example.

Thanks for nice words Tass, but it will take another few million of Hookshot's recent adventures in China to get it halfway "There" in China in terms of changing their view a lot.

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Der,
Next adventure starts in 10 days! I will work on the Chinese.
I will have two of Ross's blades with me.

We're talking about two different things here: 1. You think TT is not a joke. I think TT is not a joke. 30,000 players in the US think it's not a joke. 2. 300,000,000+ USAmericans think TT is a joke. The USA is a democracy. You're outvoted.


This is horrendously wide of the mark. The USA has zero chance of being "back among the world's elite" any time in the next 10 years. If Ariel Hsing won the WTTC next year (not going to happen ), she may inspire others to follow in her footsteps, but it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a champion. Which means 10 years before enough young players became good enough to make US an "elite" TT nation. Remember, currently ranked 45 in the world! US still has to catch up to Nigeria, Egypt and Portugal yet.

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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

It seems a lot people here, as well as the USATT, are fine with that image being perpetuated.


We will be on the women's side. The men have problems. You can think what you want.

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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 liked her in the Rocky Horror picture show

I would have thought that with her likeing of Table Tennis she should be at least moving and putting in some effort to improve her game, rather than be standing and smileing ( nice smile but) I just thought she would have some basic skills by now

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