on ping-pong

I woke up abruptly at 5am today, my heart racing, my mind pregnant with anticipation. Tonight, after four months of training, playing and winning losing, I finally get my shot at the LES Cup, the inaugural table tennis tournament held by Pong, a one-table ping-pong club in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Pong has been my home away from home for these months, making friends, learning and obsessing over the game, putting in eight hours a week playing against new buddies like Ben, proprietor of the establishment, Pupa, the young Latino dude who lives upstairs, my best friend Perry, Nick, Bill, Jonathan, Kevin and on and on. It’s a tremendous crew of people, and Pong culminates its four-month run with this tournament featuring the top twenty players tomorrow night. Anyone that’s in NYC should come.

Heading into the tournament, I am ranked a heady #7, a ranking that was earned but is not deserved. My first step is a round robin tournament against four other players, one of whom includes Pupa, arguably the best player at Pong (I have never beaten him). The top two from each of the round robins advance to the official LES Cup, which will be held in a theater in the neighborhood, the green and white table splayed out on stage under lights, with amphitheater seating, loud music and lots of drunken people surrounding them. I have my concerns about whether I can make tomorrow night’s elite eight, but I want more than anything for it to happen. (Peep last night’s first round action here.)

The New York ping-pong scene is a weird one. It’s a collection of pro players — three of whom, including a 78-year-old former champ, will be playing exhibition matches tomorrow — hipsters, locals, and folks who are either really good at tennis or grew up with ping-pong tables in their basements (the latter two groups are the ones to look out for). For me, it’s a hobby that has turned into an obsession that Pong, in its infinite, one-table, bizarre glory, has fostered. Across town in Tribeca, there’s Naked Ping Pong (just the club name; not a way of life), which is run by three sweetheart dudes who are training for the 2012 London Olympics. Their Friday night tournaments in their beee-yoooo-ti-full loft space are heavenly. Free booze, great play, amazing times.

None of this has anything to do with eMusic, of course, except that I’ve been sitting here awake for the past two hours doing nothing but thinking about tonight — how I should play, what my chances are — and had no real outlet for it (I’ve already bored my friends and girlfriend to death about it). And so here it goes. Furthermore, I wanted to take this opportunity to invite all of you who are in NYC to come out to the tournament. It will be an amazing time, I promise, and one you will not easily forget. It will also, perhaps least of all, feature “DJing” by me (aka they asked me to program an iPod), so expect some 17 Dots favorites to come pouring from the speakers. For full details, check the flyer below. Hope to see you out!

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