Watching My Table (tennis) Manners

The South Bend Table Tennis Club has been on hiatus for the summer, so I've been making the drive over to Elkhart to play at their club. Much smaller, but you get a lot of play time in, so I enjoy going there.

In table tennis, you occasionally have those times where you hit the ball and it hits the top of the net and drops over for an easy point. Or, you hit the ball and it richochets off the side or back of the table, again for an easy point. When those instances occur, you are supposed to do one of two things: 1) say "I'm sorry" or 2) raise your hand to acknowledge you were lucky on that point. In other words, you're supposed to apologize for making those points.

So, when I make points in that fashion, I do the sportsmanlike thing and say I'm sorry or wave my hand. The thing is, I'M NOT SORRY! Hey, deal with it. Sometimes you get lucky breaks, sometimes not. Why should I apologize for scoring a point like that? If LeBron James gets a lucky bounce off the rim and makes a basket, does he stop and say, "You know, I'm really sorry about that, I hope next time it gets nothing but net. Please accept my apologies and I'll try better next time not to get so lucky." No way.

But, that's the way of table tennis. So, for all you players out there, if I ever play you and I score a point with a drop over the net or a bounce off the side, I'll follow protocol, but deep down, I ain't feelin' it!