All the reasons why table tennis rules
Sport Review #199
Sport Review Campus was recently blessed with the family table tennis table, the scene of many torrid battles and occasional bat-throwing incidents. It’s a bit rickety, and spent some time as a garage workbench, but goddam it, it works perfectly. It’s my new favourite thing, I highly recommend accessing a table and getting involved immediately, because:
It comes back in an instant - if you’ve ever played in a garage at the beach or at school, you’ll be back in top form in no time
The rhythmic sounds of the hollow plastic ball pinging off plywood are deeply, deeply satisfying - if anyone has a table tennis ASMR playlist, fire it through
Of course the first step of any new hobby is looking it up on YouTube - my new heroes are Pongfinity, the extremely wholesome Finnish trick shot masters - Sensei Otto is my favourite
You have a regulation beer pong table all set to go
You don’t actually have to move - OK, this isn’t darts or pétanque, where you can play with a beer in one hand, but it’s close. Proper table tennis athletes are extremely fit and agile, but don’t let that put you off
It’s a great leveller - everyone from very young children to grandparents fancies themselves a baller on the table tennis table - if intense family battles are your thing, this is a perfect area
There’s exciting stuff happening here in NZ - the new Waitemata Table Tennis stadium looks awesome
Thanks for reading - Richard
This week's best NZ sport content
Tim Wigmore on a happier NZ cricket tour of England, the famous Coney / Hadlee / Crowe series win in 1986 [Telegraph / NZ Herald]
…and Dylan Cleaver on the underwhelming series, and the Ajaz Patel conundrum [The Bounce]
A rambling FAQ on all the so-far failed efforts to build a new stadium in Christchurch, with all the infighting and dead ends covered - in happier news, Lancaster Park is now a kick-arse community sport facility, super work all around [Spinoff / Stuff]
All the players we’ve tried to do a reverse-Richardson on, or batsmen we’ve tried to turn into spinning all-rounders [Sportsfreak]
Friend of Sport Review Jamie Bell with a lovely tribute to the great man Don Neely, doyen of DB Cricket annuals and so much more.
Jamie Wall reckons Scott Robertson should backspin from the Crusaders to the Warriors, and it’s hard to argue with [Spinoff]
Great content.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup roadshow took the ferry to Waiheke Island, home to many of the tournament team, Graham Henry and a cool grassroots club [Locker Room]
The Detail looks at latest developments in Sports Washing [RNZ]
Video nasty
Look at my eyes Bob.
Long read
A white hat CIA hacker betrays his colleagues, and exposes the agency’s undercover operation [New Yorker]
Recommendation
Spiderhead from Maverick director Joseph Kosinski is a trip, it’s on Netflix.
Bring back the gif
When the weather goes from weirdly humid to artic in a few hours.
