A return to the table

After 4 years of enjoying my retirement in the sport of table tennis, I have been pulled back in. It all started in December when I went to Las Vegas and I was seen shooting instructional videos for my sponsor on one of the outside courts. I was later seen given interviews, and videotaping the highlights of the tournament.

I'm now featured on the middle of the butterfly website, and will be there for at least 20 weeks, as I shot 20 different clips on basic textbook table tennis. I did the animation, the video, the editing, and the voice over. Man, I'm about to take my ass to Hollywood.

Here is the page that will show my clips, and they already have a couple of there.

http://www.butterflyonline.com/coaching/08BPVC_BL.asp

Then the rumors went around that I was making a comeback, which were untrue at the time. And at the tournament, with me in street clothes I started getting invited to Invitational tournaments. I looked at Mrs. P and said, "Where do you want to go", as I had 4 offers on the table in a matter of 3 days.

Look, you wanna know how serious I was about retirement? I let my passport expired, and didn't even make an attempt to wipe the mold off it, look.

Mrs. P. chose Haiti, as it is her home country and she has not been there since she was a kid. So I told Mozart Francois, that I would like to play in the Haiti Masters Invitational Tournament, and I would consider the others if it didn't conflict with anything else.

I was asked to invite 2 other players to come along, so I chose my boys Rocky and Ragu from Maryland, as they have been loyal to me, even in my retirment and I'm very good friends with them both.

We worked out the deal by Jan 15th, and I got this in the mail soon after, so it's on for Sept 5th-7th



"Cot toe might know" (OK, the Dirty South way of saying "Oh, my God". These organizations work fast. It's a little bit scary to be the player that is given "Top Billing", because people will come based on my status. So I might have to hit the table pretty hard to keep up my undefeated record at this tournament in 3 years. We'll be going early, to spend 2 days at this resort in Cap-Haitian that is 5 Star to the max, even for International standards.

So it looks like I won't get a chance to put the smack down at 13 hrs of Santos as I'll be preparing for this event.

My first actual event is in March in Cary NC(Suburb of Raleigh) in front of my home crowd since my hometown is 45 minutes away. I officially started my training program last past week, and I only need about 6 weeks, to work off 4 years of calcification. The great things is I stayed in mediocre form by giving private lessons, and would put down the "Real training Session" a couple of times a month to let the up and coming know that I'm really a "Sleeping Elephant", and to let me stay sleep.

I think I'm up now, but I'm going to transition myself out of racing on the bike a little and see if I can "Pong it Up" once more to get some free trips over the world with the wife.

Of course, I'll keep you posted. I'm still gonna hit singletrack and the road, so this won't turn into a "Ping Pong" blog. I already had one of those in 2001.

Pacer Out!