LOS ANGELES — The last time Mark Dye lost a game of ping-pong, he proudly proclaims, was back in 1987, years before his sons were born and his prowess became a point of family contention. Each of the Dye boys, all five of who would go on to play college football, eventually got their swings at the king, spending hour after hour testing each other at their house in Norco.
The competition intensified as the boys grew older. Paddles were thrown. Fights broke out. Still, none of the five boys — not Tony, Jordan, Thierry, Troy nor Travis — nor their younger sister, Jamie, ever managed to beat their dad, he claims.
"They all tried to knock me off of my ping-pong perch," Mark says, with a laugh.
