Lansing Pinball League

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.

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.