Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Red Devil Fiasco
At work, we are having a ping-pong tournament. We were randomly seeded into double elimination brackets and the tournament began the first week of March. The championship match is scheduled for March 17, Saint Patricks Day. When the tournament was announced, I misunderstood it and thought that the entire tournament would take place on March 17th. At my office, I would consider myself a good player, but not a great player. I can consistently beat just about everyone except my boss and 3 or 4 of my coworkers. In order to give myself an "edge" (10% motivation for purchase) and for showmanship purposes (90% motivation for purchase) I purchased some ping-pong paddles on ebay. These paddles, called Red Devils, come from the company which is the official supplier for the Chinese national team and the Chinese Olympic team. They were coming from China. I assumed that they would arrive by March 17th. Unfortunately, and probably because shipping was free, they have not yet arrived. It might not have made much of a difference anyway, because the tournament actually started the week before last but I lost my edge, and more importantly, my chance for showmanship. I won my first two matches, then played James, who I have not beaten in some time. He beat me. I went to the losers bracket where I can still play into the championship, and where I am slated to play Moj. I have a good chance of beating her. I sure would like my Red Devils though! Maybe they will come on Monday. Maybe they will come in late April. Who knows. I will post the results next week.
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7 comments:
This is actually dad. I am quite fearful of you ever receiving those Red Devil things from China. I am sure that you are aware that things are not going well in China. First there is the global economic issue. Then there are the many ecological and natural calamities that have befallen that poor nation. They have painted toys with lead paint and they have produced baby formula that is tainted with foul chemicals and they have built schools with substandard materials. Now I understand that their ping pong division has been found to use bamboo in their paddles instead of good solid hard woods. You may need to look for some green devils from say Thailand or some other nation. Love, Dad
Go to Walmart where all things from China are sold and buy yourself some red devil paddles.
You know the Springville High School mascot is Red Devils. Perhaps you could get some kid from your old SS class to endorse your current set of paddles and sign them...there may even be a Chinese kid attending the school that could do the job.
I will look into some Thai paddles. They have to come from China, and not Wal-mart, for the showmanship thing to work, though it may ultimately fail if they don't arrive today or tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the Red Devils have still not arrived, and I was knocked out of the tournament yesterday. Who knows what difference it might have made.
The red devils arrived yesterday. They are great paddles, but a little late.
Okay, then, organize your own tournament. You could insist on everyone using paddles from China (including those sold at Wal-Mart) and devise other rules that would showcase your new acquisitions, such as players wearing red, players talking in Chinese, players bowing before and after each game...
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