First of all I just have to say that this report doesn't have any pretention what so ever to be subjective, not even to give a fair view of the match. This report is based on what I saw through my eyes, and my eyes only. I couldn't really see what was happening around me since I was playing my matches all the time. Enjoy.

Stockholm: feel free to write a report of your own. I can not be held responsible for what the pinheads of the worlds opinion of your pinball skills will be after this report. ;)

Both teams had one month to find five players for respective team and on the 25th of January it was finally time for the match to be played. The average age of the teams were something like a, so and so, veteran football team and the youths absence were really obvious. Both teams had been trying to "psych-each-other-out" on the Swedish Pinball Associations website for a long time. The hype was enormous (well) and we even made it to the cover on one of the biggest newspapers in Sweden. Where the match would be held was an easy choice to make: Laser Game, Stockholm, where the best maintained games in Sweden are residing. I am, still, an emotional wreck by the experience a perfect Cirqus Voltaire gave us all.

The players were...
Stockholm: Torbjörn Molander, Johan Småros, Tord Kortfitsen, Torbjörn Andersson and Henrik Andersson
Gävle: Jonas Höglund, Johan Eriksson, Reidar Spets, Helena Walter and yours truly.

The rules

We were using the rules from a competition that were held in Gävle, december 2002. With a few minor adjustments the rules were just perfect for this match. We made a system with the purpose that everyone in one team would be playing against everyone in the opponent team twice. I will not go into any details here and now. If you are interested in any details, send an email to info@whitehouse.gov, or, erm..someting like that. The system worked fine even though there were a lot of luck involved. Sometimes you had to face an expert on a certain game and sometimes you could just humiliate someone on one of your favorite games.
Other than that, normal tournament rules were applied:

   - Three Balls
   - No Extra Balls
   - Tournament Mode

The machines

At 14.00 we started to explain the rules and so forth. Both teams got to choose two games out of the five we were supposed to play. Gävle chose Theatre of Magic and Indiana Jones. Stockholms selection were Attack from Mars and Scared Stiff. The fifth and last game was chosen at random, faith gave us Cirqus Voltaire.

Round 1

At 14.30 it was time for the first round to be played. I felt a little bit stressed: I was facing a Cirqus Voltaire owner on Cirqus Voltaire itself, and he was the leader of the Stockholm team. Flip the coin, concentrate, feeling a bit dizzy, thinking of winning (and with a humiliating amount of points), the hands starts to shake a bit. And, bang, I'm the first player on the two-player round. Wow, this feels good: the ball is not in control of me, I am actually in control of the ball. I'm feeling very inspired and goes for the wizard mode. End of round and the final scores are a major defeat for the Stockholm team.

Gävle takes the lead by 4-1 in the first round and we just keep on winning. After the first half of the match the score is 19-6.

In the break in between the halves both teams are discussing slingshots, bumpers, superjackpots etc. with each other and no one is feeling miserable even though the match is virtually already won by Gävle.

Round 2

After a few cups of coffee and a numerous amount of cigarettes it is time for the second half to start. Gävle is feeling to relaxed now and Stockholm actually wins the second half with 13-12. Good work, after the humiliating defeat in the first half.





The full-time score is 31-19. Now it is time for the special competitions to start.

Specials

We are supposed to play Pair-pinball, Two-minute-drill and Tommy Mode (with our eyes covered). In this part Stockholm only loses (cor Blimey o Reily) with 5-4. Not bad, not bad. ;)

Doin' it for the fun

As a conclusion I would like to say that this match wasn't dead serious. To be honest I have to say that a few of the players in the Stockholm team are novice players and most of the Gävle players are semi-professionals, playing pinball way too much to even be able to take care of our daily life in a satisfactory way. The most important thing is that everyone had a nice day, and I am convinced that everyone had a great time.

Hopefully we'll have a rematch in a few months here in Gävle. So, you better practice, Stockholm.

Thanks for you attention.
Stefan Andersson
steanders@hotmail.com

All pictures were taken by Robert Eldrim.