September 14: Balls, Paddles, and Expectations

A $30 Stiga ping pong paddle with zippered case. A personalized bowling ball with bag, shoes, see-saw, and rosin bag. An unbelievable amount of expectations.

I love ping pong. Check that. I love ping pong. I've never owned a table growing up, but I spent hours upon hours playing with my roommate during my freshman year of college. It got to the point where we went to the local K-Mart and bought the cheapest paddles we could find so we didn't have to worry about the recreational center's office being open on weekends and during late night visits. It could be four o'clock in the morning and both of us were always willing to go to the residence hall's basement and play.

He was much better than I was and he consistently beat me nine out of ten times. How he was able to maintain the energy needed to play a less qualified player is beyond me. Because of his superior skills, I only got better and better. Eventually our one-sided games became more evenly matched. We would sometimes find ourselves in rallies that were so extreme that we both would start laughing uncontrollably until he slammed one past me.

I had kept that two dollar paddle beyond college and took it with me whenever I was going anywhere with a table. It was nothing more than wood and a thin layer of nubby rubber. As time went by, the rubber became more and more weathered and fragile until it shattered off the wood after an accidental drop. I was forced to go out and get a new paddle so I went extreme and bought the best one available at Big-5 Sporting Goods. I didn't want the more expensive one to weather like my old one so I purchased a nice case to keep it in when it wasn't in use.

During my Junior year of college, I moved on to bowling. Instead of playing ping pong at four in the morning, I was at the 24-hour bowling alley throwing strikes. Just like my last recreational obsession, I went out and collected my own equipment. People always laugh when I take out my own bowling shoes, but at three dollars per rental, they have more than paid for themselves. With a specially designed core, my ball has the hook I need that house balls don't possess. I still used the house's equipment to pick up spares, but having my own ball has had a huge impact on my game.

I don't mean to brag, but I'm probably better than the average player in both sports. I'm only better because I played both so much, but when I go to a friend's house for a casual ping pong tournament I still have my own equipment. When a group wants to go bowling, I bring my ball. When I show up in both scenarios with a possession that not many people have, I am automatically the butt of jokes in addition to having the expectations to perform resting on my shoulders. People expect me to crush them.

The problem with having these expectations placed on me is that I'm not still active in either sport. I haven't used my ball for a few years and I'm sure it would take a while to get back into the swing of things. Trust me when I say it's beyond embarrassing to throw a gutter after pulling out a ball with my initials on it. I can get back into ping pong a little easier, but I don't like being expected to skunk my opponent right away.

A person doesn't get made fun of for having his own skis or tennis racket. Is it different for ping pong and bowling because few people take the sports seriously? I suppose a person with his own pool cue would experience the same reaction as me in a pool hall. He would be expected to sink every shot. I just think it's interesting that different sports have different rules for owning your own equipment.