September 5 was the completion of our first two-bank rotation, including the banks I have dubbed “Ophiuchus” and “Lepus,” as part of this season’s theme of constellations. Unfortunately, Scared Stiff ended up having a flipper issue and had to be substituted for its designated substitute game, The Addams Family.
This was our first time using a new league rule I have introduced this season: if a game goes down during the second night of a rotation, rather than scrap all the games people played on it in the previous league night, only the people scheduled to play it that night will play the substitute game, and their scores will only be compared against each other. This will cause the results on the two games involved to be slightly inflated, but I’ve decided that’s better than making everyone replay. In general, this was a somewhat cursed league night. I had to make as many rulings as I often make during an entire season.
That said, it was a night full of the usual hijinks too. At one point I overheard a conversation in which Shylia was declaring that we should all wear leotards. I have no idea what that was about, but Ethan was quite insistent that it should be put into the recap. Later, Josh broke out into a dance as he somehow managed (without activating the super skill shot) to have the ball bounce into the scoop and start Crank It Up on his plunged extra ball. Fortunately it was on Ball 3, as I don’t think he would be doing a happy dance if he had spoiled a Crank It Up earlier in the game. (That’s why the league rules permit someone to tilt out an extra ball if they choose.)
It was a hot night, with a lot of the relief coming from fans. During Joseph’s game on The Beatles, Derik pointed one of the big fans right at him, which blew his hair around so much that he had to play for a while with one eye covered.
Our Tuesday Night Smackdown game was on AC/DC, and the champ was Bryan J. I won the Undercard match on Avengers.
That’s it for last time’s recap. I’ll be seeing you all shortly to play banks 3 and 4, Corvus and Canis Minor!