Street Dismisses Choppy

Choppy kept a secret from most of his friends and colleagues through the years. Like Forest Gump before him, Choppy is/was obsessed with Ping Pong. "I do this better than anything else I do," Choppy confided one day to me. "I sort of define myself by my ping pong game – it's who I am."

Choppy was so in love with his abilities that he constantly talked smack to his Asian co-workers in the lab. They, in turn, ridiculed his side burns and his grumpy demeanor, in Mandarin.

Flash forward, Chops comes to SC and lays down the same sort of smack talk to the VBs. "I can play ping pong," Street volunteered one day. "I'd kill you," Choppy replied. "It would be ugly, real ugly." The same conversation took place regularly over the years.

Finally, Street could take the verbal abuse no longer, and on Saturday, he tested the young Chopper out. Ever confident, Chops took the first game in a squeeker, as Street committed unforced error after unforced error.

But as the second game unfolded, Street's timing started to return, and he crushed the Chopster. In the rubber match, Street finally unleashed a full assault, hammering backhands and smashing forehand winners. As he put away the final point, Street looked across the table at a clearly crushed Choppy, and felt remorse.

Perhaps I should have let him win, Street thought – clearly this means more to him than to me. Ever the gracious winner, Street congratulated Choppy on his effort and sportsmanship, "you gave it your best, and that's all anybody can ask, Tom."

Dejected, Choppy has apparently left his job, put his home on the market and is contemplating an immediate move back to California.

Street feels a little guilty. "I wasn't trying to drive him out of town – I liked him, he was a really, really nice guy. I guess I'll just have to go back to letting him win."