Chicago entrepreneur Robert Blackwell Jr. paid Obama an $8,000-a-month retainer to give legal advice to his growing technology firm, Electronic Knowledge Interchange. It allowed Obama to supplement his $58,000 part-time state Senate salary for more than a year with regular payments from Blackwell's firm that totaled $112,000.

A few months after receiving his final payment from EKI, Obama sent a request on state Senate letterhead urging Illinois officials to provide a $50,000 tourism promotion grant to another Blackwell company, Killerspin.

Killerspin specializes in table tennis, running tournaments nationwide and selling its own line of equipment and apparel and DVD recordings of the competitions. With support from Obama, other state officials and an Obama aide who went to work part time for Blackwell's firms, the company eventually obtained $320,000 in state grants between 2002 and 2004 to subsidize its tournaments. . . .

When Blackwell sought backing for his table tennis tournament in 2002, other politicians including U.S. Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley offered support for the event. But Obama was the only one who provided a letter that became part of the initial application for state funds, state records show. In addition, he wrote a state Senate proclamation heralding the first tournament and an official letter welcoming "table tennis friends" to the 2004 contest, thanking spectators for helping to "make Chicago the table tennis capital of this nation."

When I read this my mind jumped immediately to a recent cinematic classic.  It stars Christopher Walken.  It is about Ping Pong.  It is called, BALLS OF FURY.  Now you tell me?  Was this Barack's inspiration?

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Maybe Barack can star in Balls of Fury, The Return.