Erik Wolk
Sports literature
Mr. Brocato
11.29.2008

IS TENNIS BETTER THAN TABLE TENNIS?

What’s random
Hello people, so this is the second weekly column for SI and, the last time I talked about running competitions, this time I will talk about the things that you can see in the headline, obviously. So, the only thing I can say is, you can either love it or you can hate it, and if you hate it, I can just say: grow up.

You know, I am a busy man and if someone else tells me I can’t afford to play tennis, I can’t do anything. I am talking about money, ladies and gentlemen. It is too expensive to play tennis in winter. But I write this article to compare table tennis and tennis in terms of expensiveness and how some people like it or not.

“I like playing tennis especially and sometimes play ping pong, too. But I hate when people say it is the same. It is not. It is different about the grip. In tennis you have to hold the racket hard, but in table tennis it is easy,” said Nikol Kovarova, a student in the Czech republic. I can just fully agree with that quote. It is obvious that some people think about it as a stereotype. Know what I mean? Every sport is different, every single one, in its way.

Tennis is much more famous than table tennis and I wonder why. More people like to talk about professional tennis in America, Europe, Asia, just everywhere. It is also more played, it is more watched on television, for instance in the Olympics. But no one tells why it is more famous or better. Why are people more interested in Nadal than the Chinese players which can play table tennis on an extremely high level?

If you look at the very professional table tennis players, like Lin Ma or Timo Boll, who is a German ping pong champion, who learned how to play “Chinese” table tennis in China, you would see why I am writing about ping pong. They stay like a mile behind the table and hit the small white ball so hard and fast that nobody can even see it. So fast it is and you know that people, I am sure you already saw table tennis many times in the Olympics, which is just once in four years, but who cares? I want you to understand that table tennis is an awesome and unique game, exactly as tennis is too.

I am a huge fan of tennis and table tennis too, I actually love every sport, but these two sports are my favorite and sometimes it is really a pain for the wrist to change these two games. It is to be considered that people maybe like tennis more because of more movement. Some people think that ping pong is boring, because they just stand on the spot. But the joke is, you have to move a lot at the table if you really understand how to play it competitively. I know that, because I paly both games competitively.

I admit that I like tennis better as many people in other countries in the world, but not because people talk about it more, but because I do what I want, right? The best Czech tennis player is Tomas Berdych right now, in table tennis I have no idea who the favorite Czech is. Maybe me? Kidding. But if I am considered to represent my country, I stand behind the opinions I say in this article.

Do you know Marat Safin, the Russian tennis hero? He is actually a big party man too, nobody knew it, huh? He said at ESPN he wants to retire after the loss in Paris, what a bummer. He is not allowed to give up,ok? Just tell him that, if you can. I appreciate it.

Tennis and ping pong are both games where professional players use their mind a lot, too. If you look at Nadal, who looks on the court as a Rambo killer with the strength of Schwarznegger and on the street he is a shy girl. What I mean, tennis is deceptive overall. The players sometimes too.

So, I hope you rather liked it today because if not…. Whatever. I can’t do anything except writing so it is the way it is. Another article will obviously appear next week, otherwise it wouldn’t be a weekly column, right?

Randomness of sports

Erik WolkSports literature
Mr. Brocato
11.17.2008

SPORSTS CAN BE FUN

What’s random-So, ladies and gentlemen, you should get ready for the hot stuff today. I remind you that we are actually talking about sports and basically all what is included in it, clear enough?This presents you the weekly column, which obviously will be humorous and also about sports in general, so you better like it, otherwise we are not going to be very good friends, ladies and gentlemen. Just kidding.How much do you think about different sports? They occur every day in television, we can read about them in magazines and books. I’m telling you, you should worry about your sport knowledge, otherwise the devil’s going to get you. And don’t beg me for help when you are in trouble with him, hopefully it is clear to everybody.-If you have a question, raise your hand.Now check this out. Today we will talk about the running competitions, ok? Which means generally running in the Olympics, for instance, but we can also take a discussion on running at schools.The first very interesting thing you should think about this, is that running looks deceptive. I’m sure everybody sometimes watches the Olympics, which are once in four years. Ha! I bet nobody knew that before.If you look closely, the runners in distance usually look like like they would run a baby jog, but they are actually the fastest in the world.By the way the Olympic record for a 5000 metres is 12:36, which means that the man who managed this was probably flying over the track. It is cheating! Put him into jail! He had a rocket in his butt!Anyways, you can never see the real effort of people only by watching it. You have to try it with your own body. And that is exactly what I am talking about , ladies and gentlemen, you have to try! That is what everybody appreciates.The fastest man in the world for the 26 miles is Samuel Wansiru from Kenya, who won the marathon in Beijing 2008.He didn’t cheat at all. The world could see it on his face: The loyalty and the braveness. YES! The fact is, you have to train a lot for being really good at it, according to Peter Dion, the coach on EGHS. The other bad true is, you can get hurt if you are not careful on hills and you run without good stretching. It is a good example of me. I had a very good ranking in the EG High school cross country team, but I got hurt, because I wasn’t stretched in one race and I lost my spot. Is it easy to believe? I thought someone was kidding me. Before the race, I could hear that little quiet voice in my head, which said:” The pain will come, Erik. The pain will almost definitely come. You didn’t stretch, you will suck it up.”-Ladies and gentlemen, I am hopefully not boring you and if yes, be patient, that’s what counts in sports too. The attitude!Now it is a difference when you look at sprinting. It is a totally different type of running. While distance running is about endurance, sprint is about strength. Isn’t that awesome? Not really, I know. But when you look at the sprinters in Beijing, it’s really impressive what they show. Hopefully they are not on steroids. That would be the most disappointing thing.-Indoor track is a good thing too, I do sprints and trust me, it is fun until the point you start sweating.And when you think about high jump, what do you think? Don’t you think it’s kind of boring? In the Olympics they usually look awesome, but you have to be either very tall or very lucky to get over the line in the air, right?A thing you should know about cross country though is that you actually can do drafting, which makes you faster. It is kind of cheating, but still better than to ridiculously have attached invisible wings and fly over the track. I know I have to be right. It is just the cross country feeling.Ladies and gentlemen, it was a pleasure to talk to you and bore you, but I will give you an advice for the next week column: The next time raise your hands, so that I get at least the fake feeling that you have the interest, bye.
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• Erik Wolk
  Sports literature
  Mr. Brocato
  11.17.2008
  
  SPORTS CAN BE FUN
  
  What’s unique
  So, ladies and gentlemen, you should get ready for the hot stuff today. I remind you that we are actually talking about sports and basically all what is included in it, clear enough?
  
  This presents you the weekly column, which obviously will be humorous and also about sports in general, so you better like it, otherwise we are not going to be very good friends, ladies and gentlemen. Just kidding.
  
  How much do you think about different sports? They occur every day in television, we can read about them in magazines and books. I’m telling you, you should worry about your sport knowledge, otherwise the devil’s going to get you. And don’t beg me for help when you are in trouble with him, hopefully it is clear to everybody.
  
  -If you have a question, raise your hand.
  
  Now check this out. Today we will talk about the running competitions, ok? Which means generally running in the Olympics, for instance, but we can also take a discussion on running at schools.
  The first very interesting thing you should think about this, is that running looks deceptive. I’m sure everybody sometimes watches the Olympics, which are once in four years. Ha! I bet nobody knew that before.
  If you look closely, the runners in distance usually look like like they would run a baby jog, but they are actually the fastest in the world.
  
  By the way the Olympic record for a 5000 metres is 12:36, which means that the man who managed this was probably flying over the track. It is cheating! Put him into jail! He had a rocket in his butt!
  
  Anyways, you can never see the real effort of people only by watching it. You have to try it with your own body. And that is exactly what I am talking about , ladies and gentlemen, you have to try! That is what everybody appreciates.
  The fastest man in the world for the 26 miles is Samuel Wansiru from Kenya, who won the marathon in Beijing 2008.He didn’t cheat at all. The world could see it on his face: The loyalty and the braveness. YES! The fact is, you have to train a lot for being really good at it, according to Peter Dion, the coach on EGHS. The other bad true is, you can get hurt if you are not careful on hills and you run without good stretching. It is a good example of me. I had a very good ranking in the EG High school cross country team, but I got hurt, because I wasn’t stretched in one race and I lost my spot. Is it easy to believe? I thought someone was kidding me. Before the race, I could hear that little quiet voice in my head, which said:” The pain will come, Erik. The pain will almost definitely come. You didn’t stretch, you will suck it up.”
  
  -Ladies and gentlemen, I am hopefully not boring you and if yes, be patient, that’s what counts in sports too. The attitude!
  
  
  Now it is a difference when you look at sprinting. It is a totally different type of running. While distance running is about endurance, sprint is about strength. Isn’t that awesome? Not really, I know. But when you look at the sprinters in Beijing, it’s really impressive what they show. Hopefully they are not on steroids. That would be the most disappointing thing.
  
  -Indoor track is a good thing too, I do sprints and trust me, it is fun until the point you start sweating.
  
  And when you think about high jump, what do you think? Don’t you think it’s kind of boring? In the Olympics they usually look awesome, but you have to be either very tall or very lucky to get over the line in the air, right?
  
  A thing you should know about cross country though is that you actually can do drafting, which makes you faster. It is kind of cheating, but still better than to ridiculously have attached invisible wings and fly over the track. I know I have to be right. It is just the cross country feeling.
  
  Ladies and gentlemen, it was a pleasure to talk to you and bore you, but I will give you an advice for the next week column: The next time raise your hands, so that I get at least the fake feeling that you have the interest, bye.