Lansing Pinball League

All of our games are played in the dark at the Lansing Pinball League. It helps us feel more like Tommy.

The league continues to grow this season, as last league night – the third of Season 6 – saw three new players.  Kandus brought her husband Joe, who fortunately goes by the short form of the name while my own husband Joseph never does, so I’m sure that will prevent any confusion.  Chris brought his friend Janine, who also does not go by Joseph, so all is well.  And longtime friend of the league Cattie is now an actual member of the league.  Until recently, Cattie had tended bar during league nights, and so is very familiar to the league.  She no longer works Tuesdays, which has been a tough adjustment for everyone.  The up side of this, however, is that she is now free to play in the league.

Although on the balance the league is growing, we have had a few (possibly temporary) departures from the league.  Aaron and Amanda G. had a good time at their first visit to the league, but have decided it’s just too far for them to come out on a regular basis.  Alex, a fixture of the league for a few seasons, has been too busy with running tournaments and his own league (the Blind Squirrel League out in Fremont) so he hasn’t been able to attend on a regular basis this season.

The league hard at work.  That sound you hear is wood being chopped.

When I arrived, Chris, Sarah, Greg, and Janine were already playing their second game, as they had decided to start early.  Matt is now allowing people to start as soon as four people have arrived, supposedly to alleviate congestion now that the league has grown.  I can see the wisdom of this, but, dear reader, I hope that it does not work against the feeling of camaraderie that is the unique quality of our league.

I’m sorry to say that one of our games this time was Austin Powers, which unfortunately did not break.  I don’t get it; I keep sticking pins in my Austin Powers voodoo pinball machine.  Maybe I need to set it on fire.  I’m running out of time, since it’s one of the backup games for Tuesday so there is a nonzero chance we might have to endure it again.

Matt adds Mike to the naughty list.

On a brighter note, several people had very good games of Jack*Bot this time, including billion-plus scores for both Greg and Joseph.  At one point it did suffer a total reset during a game, a problem that has very occasionally happened in the past, but it didn’t recur.  That must be someone else’s voodoo; I like Jack*Bot.

Tuesday’s league night will bring us to the midway point of the season, and we probably will not have to play Austin Powers.  We will get to play Tales of the Arabian Nights, which has gotten its sound fixed at last!  I hope to see you all at 7 p.m. at the Avenue.

I got a new semi-fisheye adapter, so expect to see a lot of shots like this.

January 12 began Season 6 of the league.  Season 6!  It’s amazing to think back on the changes that have come to the league since Joseph and I first joined during the third meeting of Season 1.  At the time there were only four games (Medieval Madness, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, and Johnny Mnemonic) and we usually didn’t play Johnny because of the glove not being able to lock positions 7, 8, and 9.  The next week, the Avenue added Tales of the Arabian Nights.  With only five games, and Johnny usually avoided, we ended up playing a lot of Medieval Madness.  We also played only three games per night instead of the current four (or even, on rare and sweet occasions, five).

I think Chris is sending mixed messages by wearing his loser ribbon… backward.

Over the years we’ve lost Johnny (and I still miss his classic “go up the middle!”) and added a whole lot else.  We’ve kept most of the original core of players but added many more.  For my part, I’m now twice as good at pinball but still hovering around 10th or 11th in the league, because as I get better, so does the league.  Matt told me he started the league specifically to get Pete’s to put more games in the Avenue.  He probably could not have imagined how successful it would be.

Enough reminiscing; let’s talk about League Night #1.  We had several new faces including Aaron and Amanda G., who I know well from Marvin’s and other leagues and tournaments around the state, but who had never played in Lansing League before.  They had attended the Silver Balls in the City tournament and enjoyed the venue so much that they decided to make the long trek from the east side of the state to play with us again.  Aaron has already shown that he is going to be a serious threat to Chris’s undefeated record in the league, as he won the night with a massive 65 points.

Pinball row at the Avenue.

We also had two brand new faces, folks who had not previously played in any league that I know of: Steve and Gabe.  Both had good nights, but Gabe had a particularly blockbuster game of Jack*Bot, a game he said he was playing for only the second time ever.  I cannot remember his score exactly but it was several billion, I think in the vicinity of 6 billion.

The league also saw the return of Christine after a season-long absence when Haley was born.  Haley was also in attendance, generally minding her own business, as was Aaron and Amanda’s daughter.

The Lansing League has come a long way and continues to grow.  I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, with pinball in Michigan and around the country booming.  As usual you can view the results of the night and more photos.

Chris does his Ian Anderson impression.