Classic news clip.  Looks like it’s from the late 70s or early 80s.

Stephen Kleckner of the EBPL put on another great tournament in association with Phoenix Games of Concord.  Phoenix Games went the extra mile by renting the vacant storefront next store and insuring all games brought by players!  Wow!  I really respect their commitment.

This time it was a 2-man team tournament with tons of great games. There were a lot of fierce battles and it was a ton of fun!

Team Smooth Operators, TJ Beyer and Jim Vierra took top honors with some super smooth play to go the distance.  Nice work, guys!

Darren sizes up on Cactus Canyon

Pre-tournament rules overview in the back alley. Hey, it was a rumble. That’s where it goes down, right?

Cactus Canyon demands maximum intensity.

Chris Heilig making a big save. Would the game be nice and stay up?

Tournament Organizer Stephen Kleckner hands out the game assignments.

Stephen fashioned some nice baller trophies for the top 3.

How did I do?  I played with Mark Birching, one of the honchos at CA Extreme, and Mark played great and we had a lot of fun.  Mark isn’t a competitive player per se, but he’s played pretty much everything under the sun and we worked his rules knowledge advantage on Surf ‘n Safari several times to get a few wins.

Neither of us was looking to win the whole thing but…

And it’s a big BUT

On game three of our final match we played Wizard of Oz.  I had ONE shot to multi, backhanded Tin Man off the plunge to light the last lock.  If I got multi it basically would have secured us the victory.  The ball went into the slings and drained down the left side.  Since my ball saver was on, I didn’t try to save it and risk a tilt.

Then WOZ, instead of giving me my ball back, gives me “no place like home” mode, meaning, my ball was done, cause that mode is terrible.  And we lost the match.

Stupid.

I don’t mind losing, but losing like that is whack as hell.  It wasn’t skill.  It wasn’t pinball.

Oh well.  Shake it off, play some casuals and hang out with pinball folks.  That’s all you can do, right?

Thanks to Stephen and Phoenix games for hosting a solid and well-run tournament.  See you at the next one!

A full list of participants is here: http://www.eastbaypinball.org/rumble/roster.html

Full Double-Elim bracket here: http://challonge.com/ebcr2013

http://nikealaska.org/summit/SiteSUMMIT.html

B battery was one of three Nike-Hercules missile firing batteries that were the last to provide a defensive ring of fire around a North American area defense during the Cold War. While operating from 1959 until 1979, it was the home and place of business for hundreds of US servicemen and civilian engineers that, together with Alpha, Charlie, and Headquarters batterys, provided an alert eye and a protective shield over the airspace of the Anchorage area. In the event of Soviet aggression in the form of massive airborne attack, or even ground assault, the men and missiles of the 43rd Air Defense Artillery stood ready to neutralize the threat.

Hey flipper fiends!  Below is the list of tournaments I’ll be running through the end of the year.  There’s a chance I might cram one more in after Dec. 10.  All five of these events are worth 1/3 regular WPPR value and entry is $5 plus coin drop.

Please no outside food at Hi-Life Pizza.  Food is okay at Legionnaire.  See you soon for some STAR TREK!

Oct 16: Star Trek Launch Party – “One Shot” Format
Oct 29: Hi-Life – Pin Golf
Nov 12: Legionnaires – Time Attack cancelled.
Nov 26: Hi-Life – TBD
Dec 10: Legionnaires – Time Attack

I’ve recently confirmed with the IFPA, our local Operator, the Distributor and Hi-Life Pizza, that YES, we’ll be holding an Official STERN Launch Party on October 16.  I’ll be putting together details for this one soon.

That will be followed by Mystic Pinball 2 on October 29.  Lots of tourney action coming your way my friends!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night!  Fun times.  Congrats to Joey Springer on the win, who drove all the way up from Monterey!  Hey Damien, he drove even further than you (and showed up on time cough cough) :-) Thanks to Hi-Life Pizza for donating drinks and slices.

See you next time on 10-16 for the STAR TREK PINBALL Launch Party!  Early word is Trumer Pilsner Ale will sponsor the event with some freebies.

See you tomorrow at Hi-Life for some Tuesday Tourney Action.  7PM start time.  $5 plus coin drop.

This format requires all players to be present at the start so if you’re going to be a few minutes late hit me up on the private bat line.

Tourney Details here.

Also, remember the East Bay City Rumble is going down in Concord this weekend!

You’re runnin’ around in the gamblin’ hall
Every night it’s the same
You’re lookin’ for something new to play
To win and have fun is your aim
A pinball speaks to you
His metal voice is knockin’ in your head
You can’t resist you’ll have to play
You’re just another victim caught in the trap
Chorus
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar – man you’ll never win – hey
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar – but you keep on playin’ – hey
Your blood is boilin’ your eyes grow wide –
Advance – too late
Gamblin’ fever has taken your mind – this fuckin’ machine of hate
You spend all your money but you’ll never win
You’re always the loser and the robot’s voice keeps hammering
Chorus
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar – man you’ll never win – hey
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar
– but you keep on playin’ – hey
Wastin’ money for fun every night
Livin’ for today no thoughts for tomorrow
Man you are dead don’t you realize
Wake up and live before it’s too late
Solo:
M/K
Chorus
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar – man you’ll never win – he
Y
Gorgar will eat you, Gorgar – but you keep on playin’ – hey
TILT