Category Archives: Sports

An amusing discussion over at Andrew Sullivan’s blog on John Amaechi noting that in NBA locker rooms guys "check each other out" all the time. One reader writes Andrew:

I don’t get this whole "taking a shower with your gay team-mates thing." I am straight.  Straight as an arrow. I like women. I like boobs. I do not find the penis sexy. Very, very straight …

And I check out guys in the shower. I am always curious what other guys look like. I am always comparing and contrasting. Any guy who tells you he does not sneak a peak is full of crap. If you shower in a gym, it does not matter if you are showering with gay guys, straight guys, Chippendale dancers or the Dalai Lama himself … everyone is checking everyone else out.

I work out at the Flatiron Athletic Club, which was last year named the best gym in America, and my routine is workout, shower, hot tub. I now hot-tub about six days a week, and it’s awesome.

The spacious locker room dynamics are fascinating. You have some guys who are all-towel (minority). Some guys who are towel-less but comfortable (majority). Some guys who are towel-less but slightly uncomfortable (they just happen to hold the towel in a certain location). And some guys who are totally brash and aggressive in their flaunting (minority).

Regardless of the category, I can vouch for the emailer’s observation above: everyone is sneaking a peek while maintaining a base level of maturity and professionalism. And as Andrew says, if you’re someone who, a) feels "violated" if someone else gets aroused in your presence or, b) you’d feel uncomfortable showering with gay people, it’s your own insecurity that’s the problem, not anyone’s orientation.

Saturday Night Live showed a hilarious two minute skit with some tough questions for quarterback Michael Vick about his supposed attempt to bring marijuana on an airplane (he was later cleared, it wasn’t weed). You’ll laugh — really.

(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)

After my post last week on my Epic Ping Pong Match I received several emails from local Boulderites who wanted to challenge me on my home court.

This morning, David Cohen, a local angel investor, entrepreneur, and executive director of TechStars, walked into my condominium. I’ve been working with David on TechStars and we gave a joint speech at the University of Denver the other week on entrepreneurship. He’s a confident guy. But this morning, when I stared deeply into David’s wondrous eyes, I saw fear. I saw the look of a scared child. “David,” I wanted to say to him, “Don’t be scared. I may be good at ping-pong — but fear not. I’m not Jack Bauer. I’m not even Jack Bauer’s father.”

Instead of smack talk, however, I merely suggested in a few terse words that we get to it. We played six competitive games. It was a lot of fun. David shares his thoughts on his blog:

Playing against Ben is tough, because he can reach literally anything. If you challenge him, my advice is twofold. First, hit into his body and let his wingspan work against him as much as you can. Second, when you really need a point, float an easy serve to his forehand once in a while and he’ll sometimes overhit. His backhand is too good, and he’s expecting it on most serves.

For the first time in months today I played Ping-Pong, one of my noblest passions, and almost immediately felt at one with the paddle, and discovered a sense of focus on the ball that I apply to few other pursuits. The person on the other side of the table was Jonah Spear, a member of the cast of STOMP, the musical / theater production. His brother Josh lives here in Boulder and connected us. Thanks guys!

What I love about ping-pong is everyone seems to play on some cruddy table in their attic or basement, or once a year at a summer camp. Don’t be misled, however: Ping-Pong is the world’s largest participation sport, according to the International Olympic Committee, with hundreds of millions casual players and some 40 million competitive players. Below is a picture of me in action and below the picture is a heated email exchange Jonah and I had leading up the match. Who said you can’t talk dirty before a game of ping-pong?

To: Ben
From: Jonah
Subject: Ping Pong Buddies?

Hi Ben,

Enjoyed learning a bit about you in your blog- fascinating indeed. My brother Josh tells me you like to play ping pong. I also like to play ping pong.  Actually, I love it.  Funny thing is, the table at the summer camp I’ve been playing at for the past 10 years is home made, a bit wider than normal ones and 6 inches higher… and we have old old beat up paddles. And I play with 12 year olds.

But I can hold my own.

Anyways, Josh showed me you wrote something about tomorrow or sunday. anytime sounds good to me. 

Look forward to it,

Jonah

To: Jonah
From: Ben
Re: Ping Pong Buddies

Jonah,

We have a shared passion….and I like you have played on shitty tables against poor opponents. But I have the mental ferocity of a tiger. 🙂

My condo at [address redacted] has a table and paddles.

How about we get together Sunday? I have a 6 PM dinner and am otherwise free. How about we get a sandwich at noon somewhere on the Pearl Street Mall (I need to buy the paper anyway) and then walk back and get a few games in?

To: Ben
From: Jonah
Re: Ping Pong Buddies

Hi Ben,

Sunday sounds great. Sounds like I’ll have to carb up Saturday night and grab a protein shake on Sunday morning on the way to P-St. Mall… I’ll let Josh get back to you with a place but I reckon the Kitchen makes good grub.

See you Sunday,

Champ

To: Jonah
From: Ben
Re: Ping Pong Buddies

Jonah,

Sounds good, I’ll wait to hear from Josh. If you’re carboloading, I guess I’ll have to do 10 extra triceps pulldowns at the gym today.

Regards,

The Dominator

To: Ben
From: Jonah
Re: Ping Pong Rivals

Dear Friend,

Be careful at the gym- I don’t want you to be worn out for the match.  I can’t bear excuses like, "my triceps are sore from doing 10 extra pulldowns."  I on the other hand will spend the day in meditation- and I’m also calling my friend in the Caribbean, the witch doctor.  We have extra sharp needles for punks like you.

If you find yourself doubled over in pain at the gym, it could be one of three things: butterflies in your stomach about the match, too many pulldowns, or my good friend Doctah Priscilla.

Going to get a blood transfusion and hang at the oxygen bar now. Enjoy your pride while you still have it intact 🙂

Second to none,

Spear

To: Jonah
From: Ben
Re: Ping Pong Rivals

Jonah,

When I look at you I see such a scared man. I see a child. I see a boy who has wandered into a darkened movie theater, late, looking for his mommy.

6′ 4" 220 lbs,

Ben

To: Ben
From: Jonah
Re: Ping Pong Rivals

I am the middle aged man, you are the little girl.  I am the wolf and you are a cute little bunny.  I have facial hair and chest hair and you have peach fuzz and pimples.  And the movie my mommy took me to was called Terminator.

High Noon it is.

5′ 4" 150 lbs,

Big Bad

So said Joyce. How right he was: we yearn for stories, and the best stories (in a sales pitch, email, or novel) describe a slice, not the whole pie.

My good bud Ramit Sethi pointed me to this excellent 37Signals blog post with three excerpts from some of the most talented writers alive (Bill Simmons, David Foster Wallace, and Michael Lewis) who describe an amazing basketball, tennis, and football athlete. Instead of resorting to bland cliches — "he’s really, really good" — they focus on a specific moment. Wallace, after describing an Aggasi winner, writes:

And there’s that familiar little second of shocked silence from the New York crowd before it erupts, and John McEnroe with his color man’s headset on TV says (mostly to himself, it sounds like), "How do you hit a winner from that position?" And he’s right: given Agassi’s position and world-class quickness, Federer had to send that ball down a two-inch pipe of space in order to pass him, which he did, moving backwards, with no setup time and none of his weight behind the shot. It was impossible. It was like something out of The Matrix. I don’t know what-all sounds were involved, but my spouse says she hurried in and there was popcorn all over the couch and I was down on one knee and my eyeballs looked like novelty-shop eyeballs.