greetings everyone of the auburn table tennis club  -

news in brief this week – vacations, out of towning, etc…, lots of regulars soaking up extracurricular activities.   it’s a fine time to do some hitting, of course.

round robin – wed. july 28 – three amongst us are scaling heights speedily.  doug vaughan – up 100 points since may, goes 4-0 to win group 3.   elan seagraves, also up 100 points in the last few months.  group 2 was taken by grant c., turning on a 3-2 victory over tyler spesick.   third “mover and shaker” is sam seo, who has not lost a match in several weeks, winning group 1 this past wednesday and now squeaking ahead on ratings as the #1 among active players.  well done sam.   sam credits jeff mason teachings at the old power inn road club in the 1980s.  looks to us like sam might be called on to do some teaching mighty soon …

hard bat round robin  -  on tap for september.  specific date to be determined.

cute photo  -  check out the photo taken for the winners for 1^st half 2010 “best record” and “most improved” in our “top players” area.   annie lebowitz would have been proud.  anonymous critics have noted not a single winner sported an auburn table tennis t shirt, and nobody is holding a paddle.  well, right on both points, but we do see sweat pouring off of doug vaughan, so we suspect at least one of those featured on the photo do play the sport.

for wed. night, - if you will be late (after 6:45 pm), be sure to call   tom at 530-613-0101 or bill at 916-275-0899 and let one of us know week.  if you reach us, we will get you on a table.

also for wednesdays, tables permitting, if you wish to come and hit for fun (i.e. not participate in the round robin), that is fine and the club will charge $2 per person for that.  summer time numbers for rr have been around 15, which means we have tables and also have been getting some open play in after the round robin.   this is on a “hit or miss” basis. 

bill kochenderfer

hello auburn table tennis club  -

welcome – new player this past wed. night – larry schools.  no coincidence larry is a teacher (no kidding …).  also making it to rr for the 1st time was jon saval.   fairly new but showing some impressive skill development, special mention here to tamara chappell, hitting the last couple of mondays.   nice to see dominic moon and 5 or 6 friends from phs check in monday as well. 

round robin – wed. july 21 – a night of upsets.  of 20 matches in groups 1 and 3, only 8 turned out as “seeded.”  this meant a number of so-called “underdogs” (or, as we sometimes call them “plants”) whipped up on the higher rated players.

among the players on the rise – elan seagraves, going 4-0 in group 3, showing the form that we note is also racing him along the ranks in sacramento.  elan, keep up the good work.  bring your rooting section anytime.

group 1 – in the spirit of presidential friendship – bill k. graciously lost to everyone, except tyler, for some reason, which may have been that tyler was on cloud nine having just beaten anson.  well group 1 saw the #4 seed sam seo sweep it 4-0.  his only close match was … you guessed it … tyler. 

group 2 – this went according to plan, except for chebu still trying to brush off some rust.  chebu, have faith, and maintain the hitting regimen.  tom s. takes table 2, without losing a game.  in fact, every match on table 2 was won 3 games to 0, for some reason.  maybe they know what they’re doing?  well, let’s not go overboard.

hard bat round robin !  ?  -  yes, you heard it right.  upon the return of our co-founder and current treasurer tim aquino (so in september, we hope), we will dedicate one wed. night to a round robin of “hardbat” only.   if you have not used one of these paddles before, get ready to do so.  we will invite scott gordon from sacramento (a world class hardbat player), plus a number of other specialists with this kind of paddle.    jz – this means you too!

equipment questions?   speaking of jz – if you are in the market for a paddle (or any kind of gear) – check out on our links page “table tennis only.”   jz (an early member of our club and great ambassador of the sport) sells tons of stuff – some fine beginner’s paddles at great prices, right on up to some spendy rubber straight from china.  also, jz runs a table tennis club in folsom, and occasionally visits us in auburn, so generally convenient to get a delivery of your purchases.

for wed. night, - if you will be late (after 6:45 pm), be sure to call   tom at 530-613-0101 and let him know.  bill k is gone this coming week, off for some emotional and spiritual therapy to recover from the beatings administered on him this week.  if you reach tom, he will get you on a table.

also for wednesdays, tables permitting, if you wish to come and hit for fun (i.e. not participate in the round robin), that is fine and the club will charge $2 per person for that.  summer time numbers for rr have been around 15, which means we have tables and also have been getting some open play in after the round robin.   this is on a “hit or miss” basis. 

bill kochenderfer

hello auburn table tennis club  -

cool air awaits you monday and wednesday evenings. 

round robin – wed. july 14 – group 3 – nicely done chuck feyh, picking up 66 rating points.  something in the water you all were drinking?   no clear winner in the group, with 3 players at 3-1, but a heck of a lot of points changing hands.   group 2 – tyler spesick edges dave ganguly, both with 3-1 records, but tyler gains a trip to table #1.    speaking of table #1 – it has been a long time since all matches played to “seed.”  this was one of those nights.  bill k. prevails but only after having to summon all the strength possible to edge anson 3-2.

monday – open play  - a quick note, as we have had a number of new players and 1^st timers in the last month – “old timers” in particular it is awfully helpful and we should all remember to offer (at a minimum) to provide some updates (or in some cases, just “new information”) on service rules, etc… even a tip or two on some hitting form, if appropriate.  it may or may not make sense to play a match, but even a 10 minute practice session can be fun and productive.  let’s be sure to generously share the wealth of our collective experience; it will of course come back 10 fold to the club.     

for wed. night, - if you will be late (after 6:45 pm), be sure to call   bill (916-275-0899) or tom at 530-613-0101 and let them know.  if you reach one of them, we will get you on a table.

also for wednesdays, tables permitting, if you wish to come and hit for fun (i.e. not participate in the round robin), that is fine and the club will charge $2 per person for that.  summer time numbers for rr have been around 15, which means we have tables and also have been getting some open play in after the round robin.   this is on a “hit or miss” basis. 

bill kochenderfer

hello auburn table tennis club and air conditioning fans  -

welcome – 4 new players this past monday -  papa sight,  jon stiles, lou stoetzer and jon saval.   sight and jon are from grass valley way, and we have let them know about our sister club to the north.  lou was apparently kidnapped by don moran, but he seemed to enjoy our den of punishment.  welcome all.

lessons, anyone?  certified (not to be confused with “certifiable”) coach larry scott can be contacted by e-mail at lgscott@hughes.net;  kids – youth coach john hanna is your ticket to fame, fortune, rewards beyond your wildest dreams.  catch him at the club most every monday and wednesday!  

t- shirts still available with attc logo.  $13 and guaranteed to improve your skills.  very attractive, we are told, by some new york fashion consultants.

giving new meaning to “pounding the pavement” – dave mead is recuperating from a decent bike wreck, threatening to use a bruised up face to scare table tennis opponents.  dave, come see us in auburn, we’re afraid of you no matter how you look!  get well soon.   

round robin – wed. july 7 – well you know the level of play is improving when grant connell is #9 on the ratings roster, near the bottom of table two.   grant made sure they remember him there, winning table two by defeating tom spesick, and edging out the 3-1 tiebreaker.   speaking of tom, you’d have to look to table #1 to find tyler spesick.  ah, “the student becomes the master,” according to an unnamed investigative reporter observing the festivities wed. night.

table 3 – matthew blom lost only one game in a 4-0 sweep and march to table 2 next week.   no winner on table #1, with 3 players at 3-1.  however, if awards were given for excessive nets and edges, there would have been a clear winner and it was bill k.     especially proud of points 10 and 11 in the final game with john, first off the edge, then a dribbler over the net, to win 11-9.  we may need to have a priest to hear confessions on site if this keeps up.  a “bad language” jar was started (25 cents to join, payable every time bad language is uttered), and bill and john are both charter members so far.  patrice would be in, except we aren’t quite sure what all those french words really mean.  they can’t all be bad.

“most improved” and “best record” awards – are on their way and we should have these for wed. july 14 to present.  comb your hair (or shine your head, as the case may be), and brush your teeth; there will be a group photo. 

for wed. night, - if you will be late (after 6:45 pm), be sure to call   bill (916-275-0899) or tom at 530-613-0101 and let them know.  if you reach one of them, we will get you on a table.

also for wednesdays, tables permitting, if you wish to come and hit for fun (i.e. not participate in the round robin), that is fine and the club will charge $2 per person for that.  summer time numbers for rr have been around 15, which means we have tables and also have been getting some open play in after the round robin.   this is on a “hit or miss” basis. 

bill kochenderfer