Sport: Ear on the Ball

Charles W. Medick, one of the nation's top table-tennis referees, smiles tolerantly when he hears the cry familiar to his trade: "Whatsa matter, you got no eyes?" Medick is blind, from an accident in infancy. But Medick, a 36-year-old Los Angeles X-ray darkroom technician, has been policing table-tennis players for a dozen years. "I'm sure I've made a bad call or two in my career," he concedes. "But I can't recall when."

Last week Chuck Medick began tuning up at local tournaments for the National Table Tennis Championships at Inglewood, Calif, in March, where...

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