The final results for Season 8, based on the final playoffs, are as follows:
A Division
1. Chris
2. Mike S.
3. Adam
4. Matt
5. Joseph
6. Heather
B Division
7. Kristen
8. Russell
9. Dan
10. Mike B.
Not Attending Finals
11. Danny
12. Alex
13. Parker
14. Jimmy
15. Tim
16. Jake
17. Sam
18. Aaron
The Rocket Robin charity pinball tournament is returning for 2017 with a different format. This time we will be doing a Swiss style “pseudo-round-robin” tournament with head-to-head matches. It will cost $10 plus coin drop with all entry fees benefiting the Capital Area Humane Society. The tournament is tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on June 20 at The Avenue Café in Lansing. There will be trophies, prizes, and probably a return of the popular “closest to the pin” charity side tournament. For more information, join our Facebook event page or email heather@lansingpinleague.com.
League Night #8 of 8
Games played: Star Trek, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Junk Yard, Theatre of Magic, Getaway
Russell looks rather disheartened at the prospect of playing Star Trek.
This was the last league night of the regular season, so the results after this would determine seeding for the final playoff tournament, and (of special interest to me) who made A division playoffs. I was in ninth place going in, only one point behind Parker, so I needed to do better than he did to finish eighth and qualify for A division. Alas, I didn’t do quite enough; I ended up with one more point than Parker for the night (because he had a bad night, not because I had a good one) and so tied rather than passing him as I’d hoped. (It turns out he isn’t going to make it to finals tonight, so I’m safe after all. This is some very good luck for me, as I’d not looked forward to a tiebreaker game against him.)
I think we were originally going to have Demo Man in the lineup, but in typical Lansing fashion, it went out of commission just prior to league play starting. This was our first league night using the new Star Trek LE, but it still wasn’t on its best behavior. It would sometimes auto-launch before players got to choose a mode, and at least in my frustrating experience, tended to reject lock shots to the center fairly often.
Notable in his absence was Adam, who apparently decided that since he was qualified for A no matter what, he didn’t need to come. Jake was somewhat grumpy about having to solo drive from Grand Rapids (Sam has more or less dropped out, at least for the rest of this season).
Mike at the league field trip to The Grid.
The big event of the night was a trip to the new barcade, The Grid, in Old Town. Several of us went there after league finished up. The biggest appeal of the place for several of us is that the games they have are very uncommon, and they have several EMs and early solid states, eras that are almost totally unrepresented in metro Lansing. One of the first things I did was play a game on Big Guns, a game I’ve played only a few times ever, and put the #1 high score on it. I shrieked “I’m the Grand Champion!” at an embarrassing volume (the place sure does echo) and got a high five from the owner. I talked to him a bit and he asked me to get in contact about starting a league there, which I have subsequently done and looks like it is probably going to be a thing. Stay tuned for more information on that as it develops.
After we left The Grid, Mike S. decided to head back home, so that left Jake, Joseph, and me to go to Theio’s together. It wasn’t strictly the smallest Theio’s crowd ever (since Joseph, Mike, and I have occasionally been the only people there) but it was the only time we’ve had that particular configuration of people.
Tonight – in just a few hours – we will be having the final tournament, which will determine how everyone finishes for the season. Will Chris remain undefeated? Will we see a new champion crowned at last? Will Star Trek break, saving me from having to play Chris on it? Will we have more people playing in B division than trophies? Come at 7 p.m. and find out.
| Player | Points this week | Season-to-date |
|---|---|---|
| Chris | 47 | 440 |
| Mike S. | 46 | 389 |
| Danny | 44 | 328 |
| Dan | 43 | 234 |
| Kristen | 38 | 190 |
| Matt | 33 | 335 |
| Joseph | 33 | 391 |
| Heather | 25 | 278 |
| Parker | 24 | 278 |
| Jimmy | 23 | 267 |
| Jake | 21 | 205 |
| Russell | 12 | 191 |
| Aaron | 0 | 51 |
| Adam | 0 | 359 |
| Alex | 0 | 299 |
| Mike B. | 0 | 143 |
| Sam | 0 | 88 |
| Tim | 0 | 246 |
These results are final for Season 8 and will determine seeding and divisions for the final playoff tournament.
| Player | Points this week | Season-to-date |
|---|---|---|
| Chris | 61 | 392 |
| Danny | 53 | 284 |
| Adam | 59 | 359 |
| Matt | 49 | 301 |
| Joseph | 47 | 357 |
| Mike S. | 40 | 342 |
| Heather | 36 | 252 |
| Jimmy | 33 | 243 |
| Parker | 33 | 253 |
| Russell | 29 | 178 |
| Kristen | 26 | 152 |
| Jake | 24 | 183 |
| Mike B. | 23 | 142 |
| Aaron | 0 | 51 |
| Alex | 0 | 299 |
| Dan | 22 | 190 |
| Sam | 0 | 88 |
| Tim | 0 | 246 |
Results may change due to makeup games.
League night #7 of 8
Games played: Jack-Bot, Indiana Jones, The Addams Family, Fish Tales, Austin Powers.
Russell endures a game of Austin Powers.
The penultimate league night was the first one since a Stern Star Trek LE appeared at the Avenue (adding to, rather than replacing any of, the current games), but we were not able to play it for this league night. I don’t actually know why; I just know that by the time I came running in breathlessly after my mad rush from work, it had already been stricken and replaced with, er, Austin Powers. Ghostbusters was also on the originally-announced game list, but it’s still suffering from Wandering Lockdown Bar Syndrome not to mention wonky flipper action (whoops, I did mention it, didn’t I?).
This league night seemed somewhat better attended than a lot of them have been this season.
I did my usual lousy play that I’ve done all season. I blame work. Thanks, work! Screw you and your paychecks… that keep me in pinball quarters… erm. Anyway, since I came late I once again played with fellow latecomer Russell and otherwise was a bit out of the loop about the night’s activities which has left me without much to report on. Mike’s birthday had been the previous night so Joseph and I brought him a card and some flavored popcorn from Horrocks (ranch flavor; credit Joseph with that brilliant idea, since the Theio’s crowd all knows that Mike is obsessed with ranch).
Poor Russell, all alone with Austin Powers.
Also speaking of the Theio’s crowd, Mike used his birthday leverage to insist that we go to the Fleetwood Diner instead this time. Joseph and I had previously taken him to the Fleetwood and he decided it totally blew away Theio’s in terms of menu choices, so he really wanted a repeat visit. Adam and Jake were fine with the change to our routine so we all went over Cedar Street for our midnight breakfast, minus former Theio’s regular Sam, who has been conspicuously absent from recent league nights. Come back, Sam!
We’re just two and a half hours from our final league night of the season as I write this. I know that I’m currently in B division range but within range of making A, so the pressure is really on. I’m sure others are in a similar position. That will be settled tonight. The question of whether we will eat at Theio’s or the Fleetwood from now on may remain unsettled, since there is some talk about going to The Grid (the new barcade in Old Town) after league night instead of having a diner visit. That will probably be my vote, since despite living two miles away I somehow still haven’t gotten out there to check out their oddball game selection.
| Player | Points this week | Season-to-date |
|---|---|---|
| Parker | 58 | 219 |
| Chris | 53 | 330 |
| Tim | 52 | 246 |
| Mike S. | 51 | 301 |
| Joseph | 48 | 309 |
| Adam | 46 | 309 |
| Russell | 37 | 148 |
| Danny | 35 | 229 |
| Jimmy | 32 | 210 |
| Dan | 31 | 167 |
| Matt | 30 | 251 |
| Kristen | 29 | 125 |
| Jake | 23 | 158 |
| Heather | 18 | 215 |
| Aaron | 0 | 51 |
| Alex | 0 | 299 |
| Mike B. | 0 | 119 |
| Sam | 0 | 88 |
Results may change due to makeup games.
League night #6 of 8
Games played: Iron Man, Metallica, Lord of the Rings, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash
Your intrepid blogger is, as always, reliable in her lateness. It has been a good while since our last update, since we had one of those months that resulted in two off weeks instead of one. During that time we also had the March Hare Madness charity tournament, so I will update you on both at once.
First, league night. For a change of pace, all of the games chosen by Matt for league were in fact used. I must say I was not exactly pleased with how Monster Bash was playing (it was back to shooting down the middle out of the scoop, so some people were just plain avoiding the scoop) but I suppose it technically worked. I had a really bad night actually, having one acceptable game and the rest awful (I did something like a 4 million Medieval Madness, if that gives you an idea of how bad I mean by “bad”), so I admit I’ve wiped most of this league night out of my memory banks. If someone remembers something notable about the night please feel free to throw it in the comments because I’ve got nothin’. (I forgot to take any notes, in other words… or any photos, for that matter.)
Matt S. shows off the removable lockdown bar from Ghostbusters at March Hare Madness.
Another development of note is that Pete’s has delivered a Stern Star Trek LE to the Avenue, which is now in the downstairs alcove. It seemed to have some odd behavior at first, according to Matt (auto-plunging Player 2 before he/she could choose a mode), but it wasn’t happening by the time I played it. Other than that it seems to play fine. Unfortunately, last time I was over there, Ghostbusters was in bad shape, with the lockdown bar becoming more of a “hold down bar” and a noticeable delay between releasing the flippers and having them drop. As a result we did use Star Trek in the March Hare Madness tournament, but did not use Ghostbusters.
The March Hare Madness finalists. (Danny had to leave before it was over, so he is not pictured.)
So I guess that brings me to March Hare Madness. This was the second annual MHM, held around the same time as last year, and with the same “amazing race” format. This is a format in which everyone plays a set of games in order and the lowest scoring player on each game is eliminated. Last year Aaron G. suffered the agony of being knocked out first; this time it was me. That may have been for the best as it allowed me to put my full attention into running things. Come to think of it, I didn’t have to make a single ruling or deal with a single major malfunction during the whole tournament, which I think is a first for my tournaments.
Mike with his trophies for the main and side tournaments.
March Hare Madness officially became the Stephen Memorial Tournament this year (and will probably continue to be so named in future years), so the proceeds went to the Rabbit and Small Animal Rescue of Westland (where I adopted Stephen). Although attendance was noticeably lower than last year, I did run a “closest to the pin” side tournament on three games (Tales of the Arabian Nights, Attack from Mars, and Indiana Jones) for 50 cents per try, and that helped make up some of the difference in fundraising. Mike S. won on all three games, and took home all three prizes (two Klassic Arcade passes and one $5 Schuler Books gift card). I got some stick from Chris for accidentally putting the target score for TotAN at 75,000,000. “If I may make a suggestion,” he said, “this seems a little high.” It was, of course, an error; I had accidentally carried over the target score from Indiana Jones. The target score for TotAN was actually 3,500,000, and the target score for AfM was 1,000,000,000. Mike’s winning scores were Indiana Jones, 74,753,920; TotAN, 3,484,660; and AfM, 992,248,050.
Meanwhile, in the main tournament, the final four ended up being (in order of finish) Chris, Joseph, Mike, and Danny. Joseph and Mike ended up having a playoff for 2nd and 3rd, and Joseph won the randomly chosen playoff game on Medieval Madness. This was the first time either Joseph or I have taken home a trophy at one of our own tournaments (not counting Fear and Trembling, where everyone who attended took one home).
In total the tournament earned $161 for RASA Rescue. Thank you to all participants for helping me memorialize Stephen. Thanks also to the prize donors. My friend Alesia Tom donated a pair of earrings and a bunch of movie posters for prizes, one of which (La La Land) was highly coveted by Adam, resulting in some bargaining between him and the finalists. Adam also donated a Game of Thrones translite for one of the finalist prizes.
Tonight, after a long dry spell, league is back in action, so I will see you all at 7 p.m. Actually, you’ll see each other at 7 p.m. and I’ll see you whenever I manage to get out of the philosophy mines.
| Player | Points this week | Season-to-date |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph | 63 | 261 |
| Adam | 61 | 263 |
| Alex | 58 | 299 |
| Parker | 56 | 161 |
| Chris | 54 | 277 |
| Russell | 48 | 111 |
| Heather | 43 | 197 |
| Matt | 38 | 221 |
| Mike S. | 38 | 250 |
| Mike B. | 37 | 119 |
| Kristen | 33 | 96 |
| Dan | 31 | 136 |
| Tim | 31 | 194 |
| Jimmy | 30 | 178 |
| Jake | 29 | 135 |
| Aaron | 0 | 51 |
| Danny | 0 | 194 |
| Sam | 0 | 88 |
Results may change due to makeup games.
League night #5 of 8
Games played: Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, The Simpsons, Getaway, The Addams Family
I can get away with taking pictures like this only because Joseph is not bothered at all by me being in his peripheral (or is it periphe-real?) vision.
This league night took place during my spring break, which meant that I could be on time for once this season. I also got more photos than usual thanks to being less rushed. We were originally scheduled to play South Park among others (we have not yet played South Park for league, not that anyone’s crying over it), but when we arrived several of them malfunctioned or started eating quarters, so Mike S. asked Matt on Facebook if we could reshuffle the games and perhaps consider playing something we hadn’t done yet this season, such as Indiana Jones. Matt rather testily told Mike he should go ahead and just tell us what we’re going to play. Then Matt showed up in person carrying the league’s lightbulbs (yes, we are a BYOB league: bring your own bulbs). Mike gave him a bit of a ribbing about how he had forgotten to take one of them home after league last time. Matt responded by staring at Mike and dropping the bag of bulbs on the floor where he stood, causing a tell-tale glass tinkling noise, before walking away to get a drink. Casualties: one of the two remaining league-owned LED bulbs, and Matt’s patience.
Everyone’s two favorite things are in this picture, am I right? (I mean hats, and stairs.)
Prior to league play beginning, Danny was putting in some serious work on one of his favorite games, Getaway. He had a parade of extra balls and got very nearly to the grand champion score before having a couple of virtual house balls. Still, he was looking good for playing Getaway in league. Thus we were all surprised by the turn of fate: Danny slam tilted Getaway. This puts him in an elite group of people who have slam tilted games in the league and I think it’s the first slam of the season. We were all surprised, because although he gave it a pretty hard shove, it didn’t seem hard enough to warrant a slam. Unfortunately, the league’s rules on it are clear, so Danny went from the pinnacle to the pit on Getaway in the space of an hour.
The only good thing I can say about the new placement of games by the pool tables is that it allows for new photo angles.
With Addams Family on the slate, we once again saw Chris using his shoes to block the strobe lights. I guess that works well for him and I’m wondering if we’re going to start seeing more of it.
League members Joseph, Adam, and I – plus Sarah who has often played in the league in the past – all competed in one or more of the tournaments held by the IFPA in Dallas over the weekend (Sarah and I in the Women’s World Championship, Adam in the Nationals as the Michigan state champion, and Adam, Joseph, and I in the Pin-Masters pingolf tournament). Adam did especially well, finishing in the top eight of both tournaments, so be sure to congratulate him on his excellent representation of Michigan when you come to league tonight. As for the rest of us, well, at least I’ll have some stories to tell.
