The USATT Hall of Fame, as President Jimmy McClure has often made clear, was established to recognize those players, officials, and contributors who, in the now 70 years of organized Table Tennis in the U.S., have distinguished themselves through their love of our Sport.

On Dec. 16, 1999, at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, the 17th Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet was held, and two new inductees were honored – Ying Chow ("Y.C.") Lee and Dr. Michael Scott, both of whom I’ll tell you a bit about in a moment.

In addition, the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award was offered for the first time – a large, perpetual traveling trophy, to be kept at USATT Headquarters when not being displayed, and a smaller, permanent one to be kept by the annual recipient. The Hall of Fame Board of Directors wants to again thank Mark Matthews (formerly Marcus Schussheim), our first (1931) U.S. National Champion for donating these beautiful trophies. Also our thanks again to Hall of Fame founder Steve Isaacson for working hand-in-glove with Mark, in a labor of love, to painstakingly select the trophies and see that they were carefully shipped to Vegas. It was wonderful that Mark, perpetually young, could come cross-country to personally present this Award, and that our first recipient – Bobby Gusikoff – whom I’ll also tell you a bit about in a moment, could courageously, after his debilitating stroke, accept it in person.

The Hall of Fame matters to people who’ve given much of their lives to our Sport, and to many more – witness the readership we have for the Profiles of the inductees going up on the USATT Web site (www.usatt.org), and the capacity crowds we’ve recently had at the Awards Banquets. If you’d like to show your support, join our Boosters Club. Since the Hall receives no money from the USATT, and there are yearly expenses, incurred especially in the presentations at the Banquet, we’d appreciate any contribution at all, no matter how small. Send it to Jimmy McClure, 4226 Country Club Blvd., Cape Coral, FL 33904.

Now, in the short space I have, first a word, as it were, about the inductees, Y.C. and Michael, then a little about Bobby.

Though pretty much invisible, nationally, at the beginning of the 1990’s, Y.C. Lee, with the help of USATT Executive Committeeman Terry Timmins, quickly rose to positions of considerable responsibility in the Association, so that, remarkably, by 1999 he was inducted into both the California and USATT Hall of Fame.

At the prestigious, Timmins-chaired Mar., 1992 Chinese New Year International, with its sponsor Accurate Tax (a firm Lee was a Vice President of), ITTF Rules Committee Chair Colin Clemett observed Y.C. and pronounced him qualified to be an International Referee. (Said Y.C., who promptly became the Referee for the ‘92 Closed/World Doubles Cup, "Being an umpire and referee is most challenging and fun, and it makes me very proud and satisfied.") Six months later, he was the very permanent Chair of the USATT’s new Officials Committee – its purpose (carried out to the letter in the ‘90’s): "to recruit, develop, and compensate tournament officials."

After the ‘94 Anaheim, CA U.S. Open, Tournament Director Timmins acknowledged publicly that the major criticisms were "too many mistakes in the draw, an unrealistic playing schedule and some shortcomings in communication and presentation. These problems and others Lee, a tireless worker, would have to address – he was also Chair of the USATT Organizational Committee (his duties to "Oversee and develop recommendations on nominations, elections, ethics, disciplinary, and legislative matters"). Indeed, as the oft-burdened Tournament Chair/Tournament Director of both the U.S. Open and Closed, he’d have the rest of the millennium to try to solve the inevitable difficulties. Successful, all in all, he was – but also vulnerable to criticism, particularly when the U.S. Open became part of the ITTF’s new Pro Tour, and he had the problem of recognizing, and presenting the matches of, the world’s elite players.

At an age when most men retire (he was born in 1924), Y.C. was winning the first of four U.S. Doubles Championships for his age group, and since the ITTF had rightly rescinded its attempt at age discrimination, he was also seeing his way clear to doing a little globe-trotting – as, for example, an Umpire at the ‘95 World Championships in Tianjin, as the Deputy Referee at the ‘97 World’s in Manchester. Also, from Dr. Jiing Wang he drew public praise for the help he’d been to U.S. players and parents at the ‘94 Youth Championships in Taipei.

Add to all this his term as a USATT Vice President, and you can understand that he has undergone, and successfully endured, as former USATT President Timmins once put it, a "trial by fire."

Michael is not only a doctor (Who’s Who in the West") and a sportsman, but a leprechaunish one at that. At a World Alpine Skiing Championships, when two male doctors demurred, Michael agreed to do sex tests on 57 female athletes. Of course the women loved him – he’d handled the matter with just the right touch. Afterwards, some of them, even when he passed them on the slopes, "flashed" him or, rather, with a playful smile, pretended to.

To become a Who’s Who in Table Tennis took him some time. In 1970 he became the Director of the Washington State TTA that was affiliated with Seattle University, and with Tyra Parkins’ help put on the biggest tournaments in the state. At this time he was the best Senior player in the Northwest, and later he would win several age group U.S. Open and Closed Championships. So he had, as you might have expected, a very serious side. In fact, he had strong views, and far-seeing ones at that – he advocated the abolition of the Volley Rule and refused to enforce it at his Club; and he urged the standardization of equipment.

In 1982, Michael became the first USATT Sports Medicine and Science Committee Chair and has held that post ever since. Inevitably he became more and more valuable to the ITTF Sports Science and USOC Substance Abuse Committees. Formally, he’s often been in charge of Drug-Testing or Doping Control at the world’s major tournaments. Informally, he’s always been available for any player or official who’s needed him – and a good many, some near panic, myself included, have needed him.

The Michael we’ve honored is recognized everywhere as a fun-loving, engaging fellow – a real cosmopolite, a citizen of the world. At the ‘91 Chiba World’s, where the North and South Koreans uniquely combined to field a so-called "unified" Team, he actually got a Korean cheerleader to join him in a spirited chorus of "USA-YAY!" Crazy, huh? Or how about that time in Borneo when he gave the Dyak headhunter a USTTA emblem. But the topper had to be at the ‘97 Manchester World’s, where even Deng Yaping herself couldn’t resist his mischievous wiles. On coming down from the dais, she was seen to present him with the very bouquet of flowers that had just been given her as World Singles Champion. After that, why talk any more about any Award we were to give him!

In 1953 and ‘54 Bobby Gusikoff won the U.S. Open Junior’s – first over Dave Krizman, then over Erwin Klein. But it was at the ‘55 White Plains, N.Y. Eastern’s that Bobby might be said to have come of age. He beat 4-time U.S. Champion Lou Pagliaro in the quarters, and then, up 2-0 against Dick Miles (who was about to win his 8th U.S. Open), he got a leg cramp, and, "with Dick’s permission, was allowed to rest while the other semifinal match was being played." He then returned to hit through Miles before defeating in the final the ever-dangerous Harry Hershkowitz. Gusikoff’s showing here led to his being added to the U.S. World Team, and vaulted him into being ranked U.S. #3. From 1955 through 1969 he’d be ranked in the Top Ten 13 times.

He was "cat-quick" said the AP man covering Bobby’s U.S. Men’s Singles win at the 1959 Inglewood, CA National’s where he beat Marty Reisman in the final. He also won Men’s Doubles with Sol Schiff, who said he enjoyed playing with Gusikoff because "Bobby took the shots I would have. He went for the point."

By now Gusikoff was at his unyielding best. Reisman says Bobby would play "3-and Stop or 5-and Stop" games against some of New York’s best. In other words, Bobby, with his flurrying, windmill forehand, would have to score on his 3rd or 5th ball, or give up the point.

At the ‘59 Dortmund World’s in Swaythling Cup play, Bobby had his best win ever – over Ferenc Sido, the 1953 World Champion, and ‘59 runner-up.

In 1960, Gusikoff and Reisman were again in the U.S. Open final. Marty, playing with a hardbat, had just a couple of days before lost a few hundred dollars to Bobby in a match, so he thought, what the hell, what have I got to lose, and, after warming up for a minute and a half with a Johnny Leach pimpled-sponge bat, went out and beat Bobby for the Championship. However, here in Washington, D.C., Gusikoff and Sharon Acton did win the first of their back-to-back Mixed Doubles titles.

In the fall of 1960, Bobby opened his own Club on 73rd St. off Broadway. Then became President of the NYTTA. Then was given the Barna Award for his contributions to the Sport. In 1967 he played his last hurrah – lost a final at Toronto against the visiting Englishman Dennis Neale. But, after Bobby had won the first at 13, let the 2nd get away from 20-17 up, and won the 3rd at 10, everyone agreed that his furious and unrelenting assault on one of Europe’s Top 10 players, falling just short of a straight-game victory, was the best sustained attack they’d ever seen.

Gusikoff’s service to the Sport would continue long after his playing days. For Bobby was never afraid to make the Grand Gesture – take on a challenge, go for it, even though limited success might be his only reward. He opened a Club in California (unfortunately short-lived), put on a U.S. Open, and ambitiously began a project, not yet finished, of resurrecting as many old film clips of the famous Hardbat players of the 1930’s through ‘60’s he could find, then collating them into a world-wide popular video he called "Legends." Appropriately, there’s a glimpse of Bobby at play in his work – himself a legend.