Just a steel-town James on a Saturday night

It's snap-decision travel time! This weekend, I'm making a quick getaway from Washington and heading for Pittsburgh, home of PAPA. PAPA, of course, being the Professional Amateur Pinball Association's World Pinball Championships.

Yes! This year, after a six-year absence, the annual Pinburgh contest has become PAPA 7, and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of people will flock to the Steel City to compete in three divisions, as well as in mini-tournaments such as One-Handed and Split-Flipper. Fun!

I, oddly enough, seem to be on a pinball roll lately. First I won the P3 Tournament in Earlington, Pa last July. Then, a couple weeks ago, I shocked the local pinball community (and myself) by taking home first place in the John's Place League of the Free State Pinball Association. (I don't think it made the papers.)

Improbably, I somehow managed to squeak out a victory against my good friend Sgt. Chris Newsom, who not only owns all the machines we played in the playoffs, but is a top A-division player in his own right. Previously, I had finished second or third to Chris in the playoffs four times. In fact, I think Chris had finished as the top champion in every season he's played in any league, until I pulled off the upset.

My victory does have a bit of an asterisk to it, because in our first game of Star Trek:TNG, Chris was well on his way to crushing me on the first ball when the machine power-cycled for no reason. That meant the game didn't count and we had to play again; I still played lousy, but Chris somehow managed to undercut me. I had taken first on the first two games I played, both on old favorite World Cup Soccer, and finished just well enough on the last game, Addams Family, to hold on for the victory.

So why all the en fuegoness? I have to attribute it to better catching, which I've been working on more lately. By trapping the ball, rather than just trying to hit it on-the-fly all the time, I've been able to more easily set up good shots and keep the ball under control. Plus, by playing in leagues, I've also gotten a lot better at adapting to the nuances of different machines. It's kind of like sight reading music; the more you work in unfamiliar territory, the quicker you become to adapt.

So anyway, the plan is to try to ride my recent wave of success into the B Division playoffs at PAPA 7. I plan on arriving in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning; you should be able to track my scores via the PAPA web page. Last time I played Pinburgh, in 2002, I finished about in the middle of the pack in the B division, and didn't qualify. This time I'm hoping to at least make the playoff round.

Will James make the playoffs? (And, if not, will he be able to scalp a ticket to the Steelers-Raiders game on Sunday afternoon?) Stay tuned!!!