I can probably beat you at ping-pong
Published on July 28, 2004 By citahellion In Sports & Leisure
For most of my life I have specifically set myself apart from the mainstream, looking for unusual things and non-obvious choices. I never listened to top-40 music, I never played or watched any organized sport except soccer (when it was still a relative oddity), I was never interested in popular culture.

In the case of sports specifically, I abhor baseball and golf especially for their glacial pace and relative lack of excitement. I remain convinced that most of the time baseball fans cheer just because something--anything at all, doesn't matter what--happened. The pitcher spit? YAY! The coach scratched himself? WOO!

So in college, I did two main sporting activities: frisbee and ping-pong. It happens that my college, Carleton College in Minnesota, is a veritable mecca of frisbee activity; hardly an hour goes by without a game going on somewhere. And after I graduated, I eventually joined a summer frisbee league. Ping-pong took me longer to get back into after college, since it requires more than just a $10 disc and some open space, but eventually I discovered the local ping-pong clubs and became a decent tournament-level player. (Currently I have about an 1850 rating, which on a scale of 1 to 3000 (approximately, with 3000 being the best) means I can beat about 3/5 of other tournament players.) I travel to ping-pong tournaments all over the country, usually about 3 or 4 major tournaments a year.

If you love football, golf, basketball, or baseball, I don't want to hear it. What UNUSUAL sports do you like, or better yet, play? (And feel free to mention things that I as an American would consider unusual even though, for example, half or more of Great Britain loves cricket.)

Comments (Page 1)
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on Jul 28, 2004
I watch my husband play hockey. He's a goalie. He also plays paintball but that's harder to watch. I would like to play but its hard to find a babysitter for my three hooligans. And you definately could beat me at pingpong - : )

on Jul 28, 2004
I watch my husband play hockey. He's a goalie. He also plays paintball but that's harder to watch. I would like to play but its hard to find a babysitter for my three hooligans. And you definately could beat me at pingpong - : )

on Jul 28, 2004
I love watching Rugby--actually it's a love that was forced on me, but that I now enjoy, nonetheless. I worked at a pub during the Rugby world Cup and being a newcomer, I got most of the 4am game shifts--by default I watched every game! By the time the Six Nations came around, I was dying to see each match.

I also like watching the odd GAA (gaelic football) game, but they're harder to come by--and a little brutal!
on Jul 29, 2004
shades, how does one play Gaelic Football?
on Jul 29, 2004
The best way I can describe it is that it is a mixture of soccer, rugby and the odd volleyball serve. There's a soccer-esque goal, but also an upright like in American Football. You get different point amounts if you score a goal or if you kick it through the posts. There's this funky way that they have to dribble the ball (it's like continuously kicking the ball back to yourself). It's cool to watch, but near impossible to learn how to play. You might be able to find some pictures of it at http://www.gaa.ie/
on Jul 29, 2004

On my weblog I have written a few articles about Japanese sumo.  I have been following it pretty closely for nearly ten years.


I am even more of an avid follower now that I live in America.  (I watch the matches on Japanese satellite TV.)


By the way, Northfield is a nice place to live, isn't it?  Of course if it weren't for academics, there wouldn't be much reason to live there, right?

on Jul 29, 2004
Sounds very odd, shades.

Jamie, if you took away the colleges, you'd still have "Cows and Contentment"... but yeah, without them I certainly wouldn't bother to go to Northfield. After them the only thing it really has is Jesse James Day.
I have seen a bit of sumo wrestling. I liked Akebono and the hawaiian (?) guy whose name I can't recall at the moment.
on Jul 29, 2004
I would rather mow the lawn or dig a ditch than watch or participate in any sports event. Yawn...
on Jul 29, 2004
when I was young we used to go "Bunny bashing" a popular sport for horny pubescent youth in my country (Zimbabwe).

However, one of the popular leisure sports in China is off course pingpong. They actually have permanant tables set up in public parks and every convinient store is well stocked with gum, condoms and pingpong balls
on Jul 29, 2004
I have only played once but loved it-- paint ball!  You have running, crawling, crouching, aiming, shooting and heart pounding fun. 
on Aug 07, 2004
White water rafting is one of my favorite.
on Aug 07, 2004
Ya know, you COULD make this a non baseball bashing thread, but since ya didn't...lol

Some years back, I discovered bocce ball, which admittedly is slow paced, but is one of those games that is enjoyable because it relies a lot on skills that don't require you being the smartest and fastest. Being a skilled novice chess player (I can beat most novices handily, and have caused many a master to sweat), I appreciate sports that rely a lot on strategy.

I am also an avid hiker, the more intense the hike, the better. I am hoping to advance to some climbing (technical hikes), but still have about 30 pounds to lose before that's a safe possibility (the weight on the ropes is a concern).
on Aug 07, 2004
Hey, Gideon. I have played your basic backyard bocce ball occasionally. I agree, it's fun and low-impact. I don't think my yard would be very good for it right now, though, since it's almost all either downhill or trees.

My dad was the Maryland Amateur Chess Champion in 2000, got his USCF rating over 2000 briefly as a result, and had quite a few good results in a variety of tournaments. I got a few of his chess books (mostly the more basic ones since my own chess skills are relatively deficient), but my preferred strategy board game is Go.
on Aug 07, 2004
Well, I will admit, ego drove me back to chess after a 15 year absence.

2 years ago (at 32), I realized it was one of the few activities that I could realistically still develop to the point of being nationally ranked.
on Aug 08, 2004

Reply #10 By: JillUser - 7/29/2004 12:13:12 PM
I have only played once but loved it-- paint ball! You have running, crawling, crouching, aiming, shooting and heart pounding fun.


i'm with jill, citahellion. i thought i would hate paint ball, but there i was, scurrying through the bushes, crawling around in the dirt, having the time of my life. i even shot somebody in the butt !. (most unlike me).

vanessa XXX
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