Yeah, that's right. In New York City, no less.
The American print media strikes again with their description of pool: "losing money to pool hall hustlers" and "running from pool hustlers and bullets."
The latest trend, it would seem, is that pool is taking a back burner to ping-pong. The headline in The New York Times reads: "Back-and-Forth Sport Back Again." In other words, table tennis.
Susan Sarandon, the actress, discovered the game through her son Miles, 16. Wally Green, 29, from the Marlboro Houses in Coney Island, picked up the game after losing money to pool hall hustlers. "There was no table tennis over there," Mr. Green said of the Marlboro Houses. "There was a lot of bullets going over, but no table tennis."
GEESH! :angry: :angry: :angry:
Continuing: Ms. Sarandon was not running from pool hustlers or bullets when she became interested in the game.
Thank the good Lord! :embarrassed2:
Continuing: "I started finding out that there was this subculture of Ping-Pong and all these people that you wouldn't expect are serious about it,' she said.
"I just worked with Ed Norton, and he's so committed that he trained in China while he was shooting a film there."
And I thought Ed Norton would be GREAT in a pool movie, but now I read he's training as a champion ping-pong player.
Continuing: Now, it seems, this secret society may soon emerge from behind unmarked doors: the trickle of places in the city that serve up the sport is becoming a flow.
Here's the killer: Some billiards halls are removing pool tables to make way for the sport. Fat Cat, a sprawling shabby chic spot featuring jazz and games in the West Village, added three table tennis tables over the summer, and plans to add more to the 10 it now has.
Continuing: "We just have a lot more people who want to play," said Noah Sapir, 32, the owner. "Every night of the week we have a waiting list."
I've heard it all now, a waiting list for ping-pong.
Continuing: Slate, a hall with 16 pool tables near Madison Square Park, reports waiting times of an hour for its six table tennis tables. Ocean's 8 at Brownstone, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, added its first five tables this year because customers using its 33 pool tables kept asking to play.
Soon the corporate sponsors will come forth, and we'll be seeing more ping-pong on ESPN: A tournament in the spring in Brooklyn, at the Powerhouse Arena, a gallery, attracted 32 corporate teams representing entities like Google, MTV, Red Bull and Comedy Central. There were lines out the door, said Khairi Mdnor, the organizer.
Now there's an increase in the sport of ping-pong:
USA Table Tennis, the sport's national organizing body in the United States, said it has had a steady increase in membership of just below 10 percent since 2006. There are 457 Yahoo groups related to the sport, including ones for collegiate players (almost 2,000 members, 53 new ones in a recent week) and regional groups of about 500 members.
Three filmmakers, Jonathan Bricklin, Bill Mack and Franck Raharinosy, have teamed with Andrew Gordon, a former investment banker, to open a 12,800-square-foot table tennis and social club on Park Avenue near Madison Square Park. The filmmakers became accidental promoters when they put a table in their loft office for their own amusement a couple of years ago.
"People would come over all the time to play us," said Mr. Mack, 35. "Our then-girlfriends got tired of it and made us limit it to one night."
That night became an unexpected hit, attracting the likes of Owen Wilson, Salman Rushdie, 50 Cent, the Beastie Boys, Jimmy Buffett and as many attractive people as there were lightweight hollow balls.
They decided to build on that success and convert a former Mattress King into a large club. Spin New York will open in March.
"It's the sport of the future," said Mr. Bricklin, 31.
Say it isn't so! The future of the sport?
"It's so simple that there's no barrier to entry. And it has a carnival game-esque mind trick that makes you think that you could win at any possible moment. On any given Sunday you could beat someone who is potentially much, much better than you. That element is very exciting and addictive."
Other theories on the appeal of the game, which started in England at the end of the 19th century as an after-dinner amusement, include its fast pace, the unique sounds of the game, its health benefits and, paradoxically, the fact that you can play while drinking or smoking.
Well, there it is. "Exciting and addictive," as well as the fact that "you can play while drinking or smoking."
Sounds like pool to me! :thumbup: I can see the new movie tagline now: The ping-pong hustler isn't what he used to be, but he has the next best thing: a kid who is. Be on the lookout the Academy Award-winning movie coming to a theater near you: "SMASH!"
Movie Star Susan Sarandon enjoying the sport of table tennis. :grin-square:
The American print media strikes again with their description of pool: "losing money to pool hall hustlers" and "running from pool hustlers and bullets."
The latest trend, it would seem, is that pool is taking a back burner to ping-pong. The headline in The New York Times reads: "Back-and-Forth Sport Back Again." In other words, table tennis.
Susan Sarandon, the actress, discovered the game through her son Miles, 16. Wally Green, 29, from the Marlboro Houses in Coney Island, picked up the game after losing money to pool hall hustlers. "There was no table tennis over there," Mr. Green said of the Marlboro Houses. "There was a lot of bullets going over, but no table tennis."
GEESH! :angry: :angry: :angry:
Continuing: Ms. Sarandon was not running from pool hustlers or bullets when she became interested in the game.
Thank the good Lord! :embarrassed2:
Continuing: "I started finding out that there was this subculture of Ping-Pong and all these people that you wouldn't expect are serious about it,' she said.
"I just worked with Ed Norton, and he's so committed that he trained in China while he was shooting a film there."
And I thought Ed Norton would be GREAT in a pool movie, but now I read he's training as a champion ping-pong player.
Continuing: Now, it seems, this secret society may soon emerge from behind unmarked doors: the trickle of places in the city that serve up the sport is becoming a flow.
Here's the killer: Some billiards halls are removing pool tables to make way for the sport. Fat Cat, a sprawling shabby chic spot featuring jazz and games in the West Village, added three table tennis tables over the summer, and plans to add more to the 10 it now has.
Continuing: "We just have a lot more people who want to play," said Noah Sapir, 32, the owner. "Every night of the week we have a waiting list."
I've heard it all now, a waiting list for ping-pong.
Continuing: Slate, a hall with 16 pool tables near Madison Square Park, reports waiting times of an hour for its six table tennis tables. Ocean's 8 at Brownstone, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, added its first five tables this year because customers using its 33 pool tables kept asking to play.
Soon the corporate sponsors will come forth, and we'll be seeing more ping-pong on ESPN: A tournament in the spring in Brooklyn, at the Powerhouse Arena, a gallery, attracted 32 corporate teams representing entities like Google, MTV, Red Bull and Comedy Central. There were lines out the door, said Khairi Mdnor, the organizer.
Now there's an increase in the sport of ping-pong:
USA Table Tennis, the sport's national organizing body in the United States, said it has had a steady increase in membership of just below 10 percent since 2006. There are 457 Yahoo groups related to the sport, including ones for collegiate players (almost 2,000 members, 53 new ones in a recent week) and regional groups of about 500 members.
Three filmmakers, Jonathan Bricklin, Bill Mack and Franck Raharinosy, have teamed with Andrew Gordon, a former investment banker, to open a 12,800-square-foot table tennis and social club on Park Avenue near Madison Square Park. The filmmakers became accidental promoters when they put a table in their loft office for their own amusement a couple of years ago.
"People would come over all the time to play us," said Mr. Mack, 35. "Our then-girlfriends got tired of it and made us limit it to one night."
That night became an unexpected hit, attracting the likes of Owen Wilson, Salman Rushdie, 50 Cent, the Beastie Boys, Jimmy Buffett and as many attractive people as there were lightweight hollow balls.
They decided to build on that success and convert a former Mattress King into a large club. Spin New York will open in March.
"It's the sport of the future," said Mr. Bricklin, 31.
Say it isn't so! The future of the sport?
"It's so simple that there's no barrier to entry. And it has a carnival game-esque mind trick that makes you think that you could win at any possible moment. On any given Sunday you could beat someone who is potentially much, much better than you. That element is very exciting and addictive."
Other theories on the appeal of the game, which started in England at the end of the 19th century as an after-dinner amusement, include its fast pace, the unique sounds of the game, its health benefits and, paradoxically, the fact that you can play while drinking or smoking.
Well, there it is. "Exciting and addictive," as well as the fact that "you can play while drinking or smoking."
Sounds like pool to me! :thumbup: I can see the new movie tagline now: The ping-pong hustler isn't what he used to be, but he has the next best thing: a kid who is. Be on the lookout the Academy Award-winning movie coming to a theater near you: "SMASH!"
Movie Star Susan Sarandon enjoying the sport of table tennis. :grin-square:
Attachments
Last edited:
There is a poolroom in Atalnta that took out about 4 Gold Crown IVs and put in 10 fooseball games.....what the hell??????
