If we had the chance to bring back anyone from the dead to play a quick game with Fela Kuti would be near the top of the list. The pioneer of the Afrobeat sound, humans right activist and all round good dude is a legend. Don’t let those underpants fool you. Not for one minute.
This Saturday we are stoked..(there is no other word) to be teaming up with Stoked at their Summer Beach Party. Stoked is a very cool not for profit that get kids surfing, skating and snowboarding – kids from the city that never had the chance before.
This summer Stoked set up a dope surf shack in Rockaway beach to give kids lessons all the way through summer. Saturday is the big party. There will be lessons, food, drink and now..ping pong. All the deets here. We will bring a table, hold a tournament. The winner will take home that table. Yeah, you heard, play a tournament, win a table. We’ll throw in some tees too of course.
Please come along it promises to be a great day out for a very very worthy cause. It starts at 10am but will be going on all day (ish). And is at Rockaway beach at 69th St. Come, what the fuck else are you going to do on Saturday?
It’s the Jubilee. Do what the Queen says.
Around 3 million people have misused anabolic steroids – or ‘roids’ – in the US. 2.7% of high school students who participate in sports use steroids.
That’s fucked up.
Why do people feel the need to mess with their bodies like this? Because the definition of an athlete has become more about how much you can bench-press rather than talent or actual athleticism.
We are not anti other sports. Jesus we love that shit. But we feel athletes should be able to express themselves in other ways rather than looking like some prick from Jersey Shore. With skill, speed, intelligence, guile and balls.
There is no Barry Bonds of ping pong. Bhuddist monks play our sport. And they will destroy most people over 11 points.
So that’s what we mean when we say we are ‘anti-jock but pro-pong’.
And that’s why #teampunke is looking for players not jocks.
It’s a little known fact that Hunter S. Thompson’s father was a devotee of ping pong and was inspired by Thompson Punke when thinking of names for his prodigal son. Sir, we are honored.
That captures the spirit of what we want #teampunke to feel like it would be this. Happy Weekend, go destroy some shit. Read more…
While we scour the country (for now, the planet later) for baddest ass elite players to join Team Punke we are making a little outing to the SXSW Film, Music and Interactive festival in Austin Texas. There is a little tournament on Friday afternoon. So we will be there. We might even have some swag. So come down if you are in Austin.
As for the tournament.
Remember. Go Big. Then Go Home.
Lets be honest the back catalogue of Ping Pong movies is not exactly bristling with Citizen Kanes. Balls of Fury and Ping Pong Playa were fun but did little to elevate the greatest sport on earth. So it is great to see TopSpin: The Movie, a documentary about the young American Olympic hopefuls get funded through the awesome Kickstarter. As backers we wish them all the well and look forward to seeing some footage of the young prodigy from New York, Michael Landers, ‘Lansanity’ as I believe his friends (frenemies?) call him. Read more…
I am often asked my opinion about Beer Pong. Am I a purist? Should a table tennis table only be used for the pure intentions of the game itself? I am not one to tell what other people to do. I will say this though, if I was to play Beer Pong then this would be the beer I choose to pong with.
Over the years I have seen some decidedly dandy tables. We have come a long way from the Victorian dinner table with a pile of Dickens novels for the net. This concept table from Sweden is pretty badass though. Hey guys, if you need someone to make this happen give me a shout. This table needs to be made. Remember we are only 3 years away from 2015, Back to the Future and all that.
Check out some of the other more fly tables that have been made over the last few years. Don’t worry, there will be a Thompson Punke coming out soon enough. Of course, it won’t be like any table you’ve ever seen before. That’s for sure.
