Some of this might be due to NBC’s coverage of the Olympics outside of basketball, soccer, and women’s gymnastics - which is atrocious - but a lot of it seems to be unfamiliarity with the game.

Perhaps reaching out to someone other than a fellow journalist who claims to enjoy the sport, one could have reached out to an actual athlete for insight or, even better, played a bit of the game itself before judging.

Yes, ping pong is not a particularly strong spectator sport - but this is a very weak article. NBC- level Olympic coverage.