wizards of the sonic
you might be wondering why i posted the picture of the communist-era inspired image of china that includes a ping-pong paddel.
its because i am recognizing that china plays the game of ping-pong so that an american writer need not ever do it again.
i’ve seriously heard like fifty reports about the chinese ping-pong team in teh beijing olympics, and the general line goes something like this:
“”DID YOU KNOW THAT CHINA PLAYS PING PONG AS A SPORT???! WE ALL PLAYED IT IN A BASEMENT WHEN WE WERE KIDS IN THE USA HUH! DID U KNOW THAT HALF OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MEDAL TOURNAMENT ARE CHINESE? WHOAH! I GOT THE INSIDE SCOOP ON PING PONG AND DECIDED TO CHALLENGE LI MEI WI WHO PLAYED ON THE CHINESE OLYMPIC TEAM 20 YEARS AGO. SHE BEAT ME 21-0!!!! WHOOPS!!!! IS PINGPONG A REAL SPORT??? IS CHINA 4 REAL!?”“
goddamnit, yes pingpong is a sport, as much as dressage or pistol shooting or holding your breath is a sport.
the USA mens basketball team has won gold a whopping 13/16 times it participated. but they never talk about how the sport was invented in the US or how nearly all professional internaitonal players play in the US.
it’s cause they’re chumps.
also, ping pong is way funner to watch than a goddamn women’s marathon for an hour. thanks for nothing, NBC.
