ittf president's policies...?

Hans Regenkurt wrote: Unfortunately it is not the sport of those who just like to switch their brains off just staring at the tv and sometimes drink in the sight of short female skirts. Taking the sport in this direction i fear will make TT the Britney Spears of sports.

Now, this is the second or third time I ve seen this about the skirts and sorry for asking, but when have Adham or ITTF ever proposed such a thing? I know the girls are allowed to play in skirts, like they are in most sports, so I really can t see why Adham is to blame for this.

While I do not agree with all the changes ITTF have made lately, I still respect them and the effort they put in to make the sport better, according to their view.

Even in a forum like this, it is hard to get all members to agree, so why do we expect Adham and ITTF to come up with solutions that fits everyone?

I ve noticed very few complaints here about the frictionless ban, perhaps because people here are happy with it? Lot s of people think this is even worse then the speed glue and booster ban. So, we all feel different about the sport and how it should evolve, but I for one am happy that we have a president with such dedication to the sport so he takes time to visit forums like this, OOAK, Noppenteste and the rest of them. To me, this shows he wants to do what he thinks is best for the sport. It might not be what you and I think, but have no doubts, Adham and ITTF makes decision based on their beliefs and for this we should respect them.

Nothing wrong with letting them know that we aren t happy with their rule changes, as we are entitled to our opinion, but we could do this while still showing them respect.

icontek wrote: [ That s a logical fallacy. Adam is clearly trying to make changes that make it more TV friendly. It follows that he believes that good television coverage will help popularize the sport.

soccer is exciting? to watch guys kick a ball to each other for an hour. 

sprite wrote: Please explain why it is a logical fallacy, and why thinking tt can be made a spectator sport is not a logical fallacy.

It s disenginious to argue that because TT is currently not a spectator sport that it cannot be a spectator sport.

TT has already been a vastly more popular sport in the US. During the depression and through the hardbat era, TT was embraced by the US, with much more activity in clubs and much more national attention.

In the past, TT was one of those bedeviling "easy to learn, difficult to master" games that drew people in and created local rivalries. It certainly didn t hurt that equipment costs (and the resulting performance difference between low end and high end equipment) was marginal.

It was also much more comprehensible to the average viewer.

It hasn t been a popular spectator sport since tv has brought better spectator sports into the public eye, and has not fallen in popularity simply because of 3rd ball kills.

The lack of drama associated with third ball kills, short rallies, and unforced errors certainly helped cause TT s decline. In all, it s probable that increase in the complexity of spin and the increase in the pace of the game may have had a lot to do with the falloff in spectatorship from the game s peak.

I don t disagree that people have found other, more dramatic sports to watch. People don t watch NASCAR to watch drivers turn left, they watch for the rivalries and the potential crashes. Drama and competition make sport palatable to spectators.

bozbrisvegas wrote: soccer is exciting? to watch guys kick a ball to each other for an hour.    i think it is incredibly boring unless there are 2 very attacking teams.

The majority of the world (spectators) would disagree. Soccer is accessible, because everyone has played it at some point (because a ball and a field are cheap, so no barrier to entry there, and it s played throughout school ages, so again no barrier.

"It s disenginious to argue that because TT is currently not a spectator sport that it cannot be a spectator sport."

No more disingenuous than to argue that rule changes will increase the popularity of tt.

Anyway, that is not my argument, and it is disingenuous to say that it is, just as it is disingenuous to argue that it is 3rd ball kills and short rallies that have led to tt s lack of popularity. Further, the rule changes have not done much to lead to longer rallies for the Chinese, just for players like Boll who had no power to begin with. Wang Hao and Ma Lim are ending rallies quickly enough, Wang Hao s fh is better than ever. The powerless are just weaker now when facing the power players. Whoopee!

My argument is that tt was only popular to spectators when there was a poverty of choices, and that as soon as a larger menu to select from was available tt quickly bid adieu.
When ESPN first began broadcasting racquetball and Australian Rules Football dominated their air waves. What happened to these sports?   Why doesn t ESPN show them? As soon as ESPN acquired the rights to more popular sporting events these 2 went into the trash as quickly as used Huggies. It wasn t the advent of the 3rd ball attack that sent handball to the showers, it was the availability of something better.

TT as a spectator sport for the non-player ranks somewhere above watching water boil and somewhere below taking a nap and dreaming of what will never be.

Would you mind stating your playing level, and more importantly your style and strengths, so that I might more clearly assess your tt biases?


"p.s.
There are reasons that major league baseball uses wood bats and not composites..."

Yeah, there is. They would be forced to change the baseball, AGAIN!

LOL

http://cid-24f6379bfb938a54.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/table%20tennis/dansmashed.wmv

I have decided to accept the presidents position and have made a more internet/tv friendly version of me playing table tennis. 

 

theman wrote: those fireballs are awesome!

+1 xD

those slow mo fireballs are kooool!

I just saw the video. Great!

Why does it matter if Adham is Jew, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Canadian, or Vulcan? SELF EDITED!!!

Let s stay away from Race, Religion, etc. We re about table tennis here!

haggisv wrote: I don t see how Adham s racial/religious background has any relevance to this discussions, and I strongly feel we should stop discussing this, as it often leads to racial/religious slurring...

HAGGISV, I m with you 100% and strongly feel we should have ZERO tolerance in this area. We re a table tennis forum. I ll be the first to fess-up and admit that I ve crossed the line a zillion times with absurd comments, but bringing race into the mix is BU HAO!! Let s at least keep it about the game and not about the name. That would be a shame, and that s lame. So, who s to blame?

haggisv wrote: I don t see how Adham s racial/religious background has any relevance to this discussions, and I strongly feel we should stop discussing this, as it often leads to racial/religious slurring... EDIT: Well said Tommy, we posted at the same time, but tommyzai is too quick for me

I don t think redbull meant anything racial by it (and I hope he didn t) - discussion on Adham s origin started at the beginning of the thread, and he simply commented (probably being an expert, or being from Middle East himself) that Adham is not an Egyptian but rather Jewish name. Let s not bring any more unneeded attention to this issue...

Well, I apologize to Redbull if he didn t mean anything by his comment and I jumped all over him. I m not saying he s a hater, but it sure looks like we have many on this site who are. I m becoming a hater of the haters. I just don t think it matters what Adham is and shouldn t be confused with the BIGGER issue . . . What s up with the rule changes?

Please accept my apology if I fueled the fire. My only defense is . . . I didn t light it. :-).

I wonder why those who have replied with condemnation of the statement have made a bigger deal of it that the original poster did.  Very reactionary.

Mods talking about buying a plane ticket to "discuss" the issue is more provocative and central to the concerns of this forum, imo. 

tommyzai wrote: . . . I didn t light it. :-).

But you threw fuel on the fire, not very mod like. 

Brotherhood, community etc.

tommyzai wrote: Hey, where do you live?

I m not telling.