Brian K. is the new Lansing Pinball League champion after dethroning two-season champ Danny in a late-night final bout on December 5. This is Brian’s first time as LPL champion. The tournament went only one round in finals, with Danny fighting from the second-chance bracket. While a two-round final match is more dramatic, it would have been very inconvenient in this case, as it was nearing closing for The Avenue and the staff were already going around shutting off the pinball games. Third place went to Josh.
In the B division bracket, dark horse Biff defeated Grant for the top trophy. Ann-Marie got third. Many league players don’t even know who Biff is, because he makes liberal use of the rule that allows players to start the night late as long as they are present by 10 pm. He often comes in around 9:30 and runs through his games on his own. His final match with Grant was very exciting and after it was over, Biff declared that it was the most fun he had ever had playing pinball.
There was also a very small Tuesday Night Smackdown tournament on The Simpsons Pinball Party, which was not being used in finals due to recent issues with it (though Derik tells me they are now fixed). Tim won the Smackdown and Dan won the Undercard.
There was no chance of a Double Dan-ger finish again this season, as both Dans were in the A bracket this time. Instead, the Double Dan-ger was all mine, since I got knocked from the winner bracket to the second-chance bracket by Dan N., and then knocked out of the tournament by Danny.
We also gave out the Best Game, Worst Game, and Most Improved awards for the season. Pat won Best Game for a blowup on Ghostbusters that was way above the night’s mean. After some comparison of candidates based on Joseph’s statistical analysis, the Most Improved award was presented to Dan N. Joseph noted that Brian K. had also been a strong contender for Most Improved, meaning that somehow, as good as he was, he managed to get even better.
The league’s post-season tournament, Super-Ball XIX, also called the Zen Tournament, is tonight, and the next season will start on January 9.
First place Brian and second place Danny.