by John Pahl

The woman on the other end of the line identified herself as a producer
from the upcoming WB series Beauty and the Geek. The bandwagon this reality
show jumped on spins the fish out of water scenerio to include geeky, nerdy
guys vying for beautiful but vacant women. She contacted me through the usatt
website looking for nerds in Charlotte, NC, assuming guys who play ping pong
would most certainly qualify. Since there was a $100,000.00 cash prize for
the winner, I relayed the message to some of our single 21-30 yr old members
to let them decide for themselves. Most didn't give it a second thought,
but one did. He wore glasses. He was an accountant. He played ping pong.
They were salivating. Let's get this straight from the start: "Joe" may have
qualified on paper in these people's minds, but in real life he was a typical
young man, personable, fit, hard working and hard playing. At our club he was
very competetive, climbing up the rating list. An adventurous streak and sense
of humor surely prompted considering the offer at all.
After meeting with casting agents and submitting a video of himself including
his very own table tennis highlight reel, he was deemed unworthy to be a geek.
They expected to see someone pity pat the ball back and forth, not loop a ball
full force at 70 mph or so. Fictional Forest Gump got everyone to see an unlikely
candidate not only as an athlete, but gained respect for the sport as well.
"Joe" may have done the same. That's not very geeky. Not what they were looking
for at all. As a matter of fact the indignation I felt when they first called
melted away as we single finger saluted "Beauty and the Geek" over beverages.
Adult, manly beverages. Hold the umbrellas.
Lesson #1: Don't celebrate too much the day before a tournament.
(another story for another day)
Lesson #2: Video is the #1 way to promote table tennis, attract new players,
and change the old tired mindset that this is just a pity pat recreational game.
Every 4 years the olympics kick start interest in our sport, but after that there
is little to be seen on tv or even the internet with the exception of Killerspin's
efforts. It is a virtual crime there are no table tennis videos On the usatt website.
Tape your tournaments. Tape your practice sessions. Put them on your website.
If you don't have a website, get moving on it. Contact our webhost at the bottom
of every page if you like what we have done. http://www.charlottetabletennis.org/
This is the information age, and if we are not offering what potential players
want or need to see, we are all dropping the ball and have no one else to blame
for the general public thinking table tennis is a geek game.