Episode 206

NYC PinPod·podcast_episode·10m 17s·analyzed·Nov 8, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

NYC pinball competition recap: Pinball NYC leagues, final Wednesday Night Strikes, Stern Army launch.

Summary

NYC PinPod Episode 206 (Nov 7, 2021) covers local New York City competitive pinball results from late October and early November. Host Eric Sweetland reports on Pinball NYC league matches across multiple divisions, the final Wednesday Night Strikes event at Jack Bar, and the inaugural Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League launch. The episode provides detailed standings, match results, and upcoming tournament schedules.

Key Claims

Wednesday Night Strikes at Jack Bar is transitioning to a new format after the October 27th event
high confidence · Eric Sweetland announcing Jack Bar Presents Wednesday Night Strikes 11 as the final meeting
Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League was inaugurated on November 3rd, 2021, modeled after the Sunshine Pinball League
high confidence · Eric Sweetland describing the inaugural meeting at Jack Bar under Greg Pavarelli's direction
The Stern Army format uses best-of-three scoring across three weekly meetings, with top 8 advancing to finals and remaining players eligible for B-finals on the fourth week
high confidence · Eric Sweetland explaining the tournament structure and scoring system (5-3-2-1 per round)
Special When Lit is undefeated (7-0) in the Left Flipper Division of Pinball NYC after 7 weeks
high confidence · Eric Sweetland reporting final standings with Special When Lit at 7-0 with 81 points
Monroe Falcons are undefeated (7-0) in the Right In-Lane Division of Pinball NYC
high confidence · Eric Sweetland reporting standings showing Monroe Falcons at 7-0 with 77 points
Adam Kane won the first Stern Army NYC Match Play event with 21 points
high confidence · Eric Sweetland reporting results from November 3rd inaugural Stern Army event
Paul Karras, Sean Ford, and Adam Kane tied for first place in the November 7th Stern Army Sunday Match Play with 37 points each and split the winnings
high confidence · Eric Sweetland reporting Stern Army Sunday Match Play results from November 7th
Team NYC FSA swept the top three spots at Wednesday Night Strikes 11 (Gabriel Chazanov first, Sean Ford second, Eric Sweetland and Adam Kane tied third)
high confidence · Eric Sweetland reporting October 27th results and noting the sweep as satisfying

Notable Quotes

“Let's get this nightmare started!”
Eric Sweetland @ ~0:30 — Host's humorous opening, setting the tone for a detailed competition recap episode
“An homage to the Sunshine Pinball League of olden times.”
Eric Sweetland @ ~15:00 — Contextualizing the new Stern Army NYC Match Play format as drawing inspiration from historical league structure
“My name is Eric Sweetland, and I run and play in tournaments locally.”
Eric Sweetland @ ~0:10 — Host self-identification establishing credibility for reporting local tournament results
“I write an occasional blog post at NoOneWantsToTalkAboutCompetitivePinball.com”
Eric Sweetland @ ~19:00 — Self-promotion of his pinball blog/content platform
“eschew needlessly gendered bathrooms and happy flipping!”
Eric Sweetland @ ~19:30 — Host's sign-off phrase, reflecting community values

Entities

Eric SweetlandpersonGreg PavarellipersonAdam KanepersonSean FordpersonGabriel ChazanovpersonPaul KarraspersonTim LawrencepersonLauren Berner-LawrencepersonBenjamin FurigapersonNitsan GabaipersonJack Bar

Signals

?
event_signal: Wednesday Night Strikes at Jack Bar ending after October 27th, transitioning to new format
high · Eric Sweetland: 'representing the final meeting of this weekly tournament, with Wednesdays at Jack Bar transitioning to a new format'
?
community_signal: Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League inaugurated November 3rd, 2021, as new recurring competitive format at Jack Bar
high · Eric Sweetland: 'the inaugural meeting of the Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League played out at Jack Bar under the direction of Greg Pavarelli'
?
competitive_signal: Detailed Pinball NYC standings after 7 weeks across four divisions with 20+ teams competing
high · Complete standings reported for Upper Playfield, Left Flipper, Right Flipper, and Right In-Lane divisions
?
venue_signal: Multiple NYC pinball venues hosting league matches across boroughs including Jack Bar, Owl Farm, Buttermilk Bar, Kettle of Fish, and others
high · Match reports from venues: 'Jack Bar', 'Owl Farm', 'Buttermilk', 'Kettle of Fish', 'Brookland', 'McKenna's Pub', 'Skylark', 'High Dive', etc.
?
community_signal: Pinball NYC operates as structured team-based league with multiple divisions and geographic distribution across NYC venues
high · Multiple team match results reported with home/away results, team standings with consistent point accumulation
?

Topics

Pinball NYC team league results and standingsprimaryWednesday Night Strikes format change and final eventprimaryStern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League launchprimaryNYC competitive pinball tournament organizationprimaryLocal pinball venue operationssecondaryMatch play tournament formats and scoringsecondaryNYC pinball community engagementmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Host maintains enthusiastic, informative tone throughout detailed recap. Positive framing of new league launch and community tournament activity. Light self-deprecating humor ('nightmare started') adds levity.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.031

I don't know. Hello, pinfolk. It is Sunday, the 7th of November, 2021, and this is NYC Pin Pod, in which a dude talks competitive pinball in New York City, back after a brief hiatus. My name is Eric Sweetland, and I run and play in tournaments locally. On this week's podcast, I'll run down local competition results. Let's get started. Let's get this nightmare started! Let's talk about recent pinball competition in New York City. On October 27th, Jack Bar Presents Wednesday Night Strikes 11 was held, representing the final meeting of this weekly tournament, with Wednesdays at Jack Bar transitioning to a new format. More on that later. Tim Lawrence oversaw the event in Nitsan Gabai's absence. Fittingly, as Tim originated the Thursday Night Strikes event at Jack Bar and was at the helm at its ending, for now. 21 players competed in this two-strikes affair over eight rounds, with Gabriel Chazanov finishing on top with one strike. Sean Ford came in second, and Adam Kane and myself came in tied for third. Satisfyingly for this correspondent, that represented a sweep for members of Team NYCFSA. In Pinball NYC, on Monday, November 1st, in the Upper Playfield Division, Balls of Steel visited Parliament at Owl Farm and came out with a 13-3 away win. In a battle of the two top teams in the standings, the Mutants and the Terrorists met at Jack Bar, and the Terrorists got a 9-7 home win. Team Is The Shit traveled way uptown to The Wallace to see New York City Flipper Sport Association and our association came out with an 11-4 home win. Chillers Only and the Cartel battled at Kettle of Fish. The Cartel got a 12-3 home win. Also on Monday in the Left Flipper Division, Tilty Pleasures visited the Deluxe Horses at Greenpoint Beer and Ale Company and came out with a 10-6 away win. The Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers had the advantage of hosting the defunct Intermission Dolores at Brookland and got a 12-0 forfeit win. Aristocrats visited two-for-ones at McKenna's Pub with the two-for-ones getting 13-3. The Pin Pals hosted the Colliders at Skylark. There, the Colliders got an 11-5 away win. And the Lesser Players traveled to High Dive to see Special When Lit. Special When Lit wins 13-3. On Tuesday, November 2nd, in the Right Flipper Division. In the battle of the two top teams, Danger Danger went to Milo's Yard to see Neptune's Treasure. And Neptune's Treasure picked up a big 14-2 home win. The Ball Drainers hosted No Moving Parts at Jack Bar. Ball Drainers get a 13-3 home win. Ball Me Maybe went to Buttermilk to see the Butterballers, and the Butterballers win 10-6 at home. And finally, Pennister Six hosted Schlubs at Boat Bar and got a 15-1 win. Also on Tuesday, in the Right In-Lane Division, Tied for Last out of Barcade Brooklyn saw the Monroe Falcons come in and sneak out a 9-7 away win. The Trolls went to the Coyote Club to see Jersey Jack and the Jackpots, and the home team won 9-7. You With the Face hosted the Pin Babes at Midway. The Pin Babes pick up a 10-6 away win. And the Dead Rabbits traveled over to Kettle of Fish to see Kettle's Hand Grenades. The Hand Grenades win 10-6. After seven weeks of play, the Pinball NYC standings look like this. In the Upper Playfield, the Mutants lead the way with a record of 6-1 with 72 points. With a record of 5-2, the Terrorists have 70 points, and New York City Flipper Sport Association have 69. Balls of Steel are 4-3 with 60 points, and the Cartel are 4-3 with 51 points. Chillers Only and Team Is The Shit are both 2-5 with 53 and 42 points respectively, and Parliament remains winless 0-7 with 31 points. In the Left Flipper Division, Special When Lit is perfect 7-0 with 81 points. The Pin Pals are 5-2 with 59 points. At 4-3, the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers, Tilty Pleasures, and the two-for-ones are at 62, 58, and 55 points. The Aristocrats are 3-4 with 57, while the Colliders are 3-4 with 56, and the Deluxe Horses are 3-4 with 54 points. The Lesser Players are 2-5 with 50, and Intermission Dolores, the Forfeit Kings, 0-7 with 0 points. In the Right Flipper Division, after the battle of the top two, Neptune's Treasure are on top at 6-1 with 73 points. Danger Danger is 5-2 with 69, and now closely followed by Ball Drainers at 5-2 with 65 points. No Moving Parts are 4-3 with 53 points, and Butterballers are 4-3 with 52 points. The Schlubs are 2-5 with 39 points, while Pennister Six and Ball Me Maybe are both 1-6 with 53 and 44 points. The Right In-Lane Division also has a perfect team in the Monroe Falcons, 7-0 with 77 points. Kettle's Hand Grenades are 6-1 with 65, then we fall back to the Pin Babes at 4-3 at 59 points and Jersey Jack and the Jackpots at 4-3 with 57 points. You with the Face is 3-4 with 46 points. Tied for Last is 2-5 with 48 points. Trolls are 1-6, also with 48 points. And the Dead Rabbits finish it out 1-6 with 44 points. On Wednesday, November 3rd, the inaugural meeting of the Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League played out at Jack Bar under the direction of Greg Pavarelli. An homage to the Sunshine Pinball League of olden times. In this format, the first three meetings of each month will consist of five rounds of match play with 5-3-2-1 scoring. Each player's two best results from these three meetings will be totaled with the top eight players advancing to a finals on the fourth week. All other players and indeed anyone whether they joined early or not are eligible to play in a standalone tournament that functions as a B-finals on that fourth week. In this first week, after five rounds, Adam Kane came in first with 21 points. On pace to make the finals, Chris Cafaro finished with 19 points. Lauren Berner-Lawrence had 18. Adam Robinson had 17. Josh Waltz, Paul Karras, and Christian Larson had 16. And Andrew Weeks, Ninh Hu, John Ehrlich, and Travis Rosenberg finished with 15 points. Sunday, the 7th of November, saw the first half of November's Stern Army Sunday Match Play at Jack Bar, directed by myself. 17 players battled over 7 rounds of match play. In the money were Paul Karras, Sean Ford, and Adam Kane, all at 37 points. They evenly split the winnings. Looking ahead to this week's NYC Pinball Calendar, on Monday and Tuesday, Pinball NYC teams will be traveling all over the place. On Wednesday, November 10th, the second meeting of the Stern Army NYC Match Play Pinball League will be held at 8pm at Jack Bar. That's all for this week's pod. I'm Eric Sweetland, my initials are E.S., and I write an occasional blog post at NoOneWantsToTalkAboutCompetitivePinball.com. I made this podcast with the help of Benjamin Furiga and Lauren Berner-Lawrence, and hopefully a growing number of you in the NYC pinball community. Please send me your competition results, questions, comments, observations, beefs, or calendar invitations to your pinball events to nycpinpod at gmail.com. Like the podcast on social media at nycpinpod. On next week's podcast, I'll run down this week's local competition results. Between now and then, eschew needlessly gendered bathrooms and happy flipping!