Episode 274: Thank you to The Silverball Saloon

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·19m 50s·analyzed·Aug 9, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Tribute to The Silverball Saloon, closing after 3 years; pandemic impact on location operators.

Summary

Jeff Teolis dedicates this Pinball Profile episode to The Silverball Saloon in East Rochester, New York, which is closing its doors after three years of operation. The episode features reflections on the venue's impact on the local pinball community and highlights from the Pinball Profile World Tour event held there in December, including interviews with tournament players and organizers. The closure is attributed to pandemic-related financial pressures, compounded by personal losses suffered by owners Bruce and Kat Nightingale.

Key Claims

The Silverball Saloon in East Rochester, New York is closing this weekend after three years of operation
high confidence · Jeff Teolis opens the episode announcing the closure as definitive news
Bruce and Kat Nightingale both lost parents earlier in 2020
high confidence · Jeff states: 'earlier this year, Bruce and Kat both lost parents'
The Silverball Saloon maintained 26 pinball machines and hosted Stern Army tournaments
high confidence · Bruce confirms '26 games in the bar right now' and venue hosted Stern Army events
The Pinball Profile World Tour event at Silverball Saloon drew players from five states and Canada
high confidence · Jeff mentions 'five states' and references multiple Canadian attendees; specific mentions of New Jersey, Ottawa, Syracuse
Ashley Ludwig won the Women's Championship in Houston with 44-45 players competing
high confidence · Ashley Ludwig interview: 'I did [get first]. Yeah. I got first. That pretty cool. Yeah that was my biggest win 44 or 45 players'
Craig Morris traveled 4+ hours from Ottawa to attend the Silverball Saloon tournament
high confidence · Craig confirms: 'Four hours [to get here]' and attended from Ottawa
Knox Amusement is a third-generation family operation with 70+ years in business
high confidence · Todd Roach states: 'It's been a family operation. I'm third generation. We've been doing it about 70-plus years'
Andy Cushman won the Pinball Profile World Tour championship at Silverball Saloon, beating Phil Birnbaum in the finals
high confidence · Jeff announces: 'you destroyed in the finals, won all three games' and mentions beating Phil Birnbaum and others

Notable Quotes

“not only that, you think of the hundreds of games that Bruce has purchased and sold, refurbished. I don't know anybody who can say that any of Bruce's games were clunkers.”
Jeff Teolis @ ~5:30 — Establishes Bruce Nightingale's reputation for high-quality game refurbishment and curation
“Easily one of my favorite places to play pinball has decided to close its doors this weekend.”
Jeff Teolis @ ~0:45 — Opening statement announcing the closure; sets emotional tone for the episode
“I was really surprised that I won it. There are 43 women in Texas right now going, 'you should have sat it out.'”
Ashley Ludwig @ ~12:45 — Reflects on her unexpected Women's Championship win and the competitive field in Houston
“Bruce keeps this place in amazing shape. Great lineup. Games are always in amazing condition.”
Craig Morris @ ~23:15 — Player testament to venue maintenance standards and game quality
“I try to come out here at least once or twice a month, just to support Bruce and his place. Unfortunately, the scene in Syracuse, there's not much going on.”
Andy Cushman @ ~31:00 — Illustrates Silverball Saloon's regional importance as a hub for pinball activity
“In closing, thank you for the amazing memories at Silver Ball Saloon. That is something that COVID-19 or anyone else can never take away from you.”
Jeff Teolis @ ~46:30 — Closing tribute acknowledging the venue's lasting impact despite closure

Entities

The Silverball SaloonorganizationBruce NightingalepersonKat NightingalepersonJeff TeolispersonAshley LudwigpersonCraig MorrispersonAndy CushmanpersonPhil Birnbaumperson

Signals

?
business_signal: Pandemic-driven financial pressures causing closure of established pinball venues despite strong community support and quality operations
high · Jeff states: 'then COVID-19 hits and the pandemic. And we've seen many companies, businesses, individuals be hurt by the crippling effects of this pandemic. Sadly, now we can add Silver Ball Saloon to that list.'
?
business_signal: The Silverball Saloon, a prominent pinball location in East Rochester, New York, is closing after 3 years of operation
high · Jeff Teolis opens the episode: 'Sad news today. Easily one of my favorite places to play pinball has decided to close its doors this weekend.'
?
community_signal: Successful community tournament format (Swiss-format Pinball Profile World Tour) drawing players from five states and Canada to regional venue
high · Event drew 44 players; players traveled 4-6 hours from New Jersey, Ottawa, Syracuse; Jeff mentions 'five states' and multiple Canadian attendees
?
community_signal: Pinball community rallying around struggling venues through tournament participation, multi-state travel, and expressed emotional investment
medium · Multiple players mention traveling 4-6 hours monthly to support the venue; Jeff emphasizes importance of supporting favorite establishments: 'If you have a favorite pinball arcade, bar location, If you're able to support them in their time of need, any little bit will help'
?
competitive_signal: Female competitive pinball players gaining visibility and achievement in mainstream tournaments; Bells and Chimes organization supporting women's participation

Transcript

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0:00

It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teolas. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com, all your subscriptions and past episodes. Check us out on Facebook. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at pinballprofile. You can email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. Sad news today. Easily one of my favorite places to play pinball has decided to close its doors this weekend. The Silver Ball Saloon in East Rochester, New York, run by Bruce and Kat Nightingale. They were in their third year of existence and had really turned a corner almost half a year ago. It's not easy running a bar in normal times. A lot of money put out. There's the big build-out. There's getting the public to know that you're there, building a clientele, being competitive. The cards are stacked against you. But the Nightingales did a great job in making it one of the most popular places to play pinball in New York State. Before there was the Silver Ball Saloon, before the Slam Tilt podcast, before Pinball Profile, I met Bruce years and years ago through different events in Buffalo at places like Pocketeer Billiards. My first impression of Bruce was, who is this loud guy? But then I got to talk to Bruce, and I realized his heart was as big as his voice, and he's become a great friend. I've stayed at Bruce and Kat's home during the Buffalo Pinball Summer Open tournament years ago, so I saw the many machines in the basement at their old home, and when they decided to do the Silver Ball Saloon, it was a long-time dream in the making. A lot of risks, but if anybody could make it happen, it could be Bruce and Kat. Anyone who had ever played at the Silver Ball Saloon knew the machines were pristine. Not only that, you think of the hundreds of games that Bruce has purchased and sold, refurbished. I don't know anybody who can say that any of Bruce's games were clunkers. I've purchased a couple often myself and have never had a problem with them, even years later. So fast forward to late 2017 when the Silver Bowl Saloon opened up. My first time walking in there was, wow, look at this place. Look at all those machines. There's not just machines, but a great bar, wonderful restaurant. Everyone raves about the food and just a great atmosphere. I was hoping it would be a little closer to home because that would have been a place where you would have found me many times. But it was always a thrill to go there. Even though it's a few hours away and crossing a border, I enjoyed every single time I went there. Played in a bunch of tournaments. Was happy to see the Stern Army was a big success. Their trivia, their poker nights. But then COVID-19 hits and the pandemic. And we've seen many companies, businesses, individuals be hurt by the crippling effects of this pandemic. Sadly, now we can add Silver Ball Saloon to that list. I'm sure Bruce will sadly talk about it on the next upcoming episode of Slam Tilt Podcast with Ron Howlett. It's too bad because that would have been a nice milestone show and a celebration too as they reach number 150. Add to the fact that earlier this year, Bruce and Kat both lost parents. This has not been a fun year. Can hardly wait to turn the calendar. But when we lose people and things, I like to reflect on the positives and the good memories. And I had many at Silver Ball Saloon. In fact, almost a year ago when I decided to do the Pinball Profile World Tour, the first place I secured was the Silver Ball Saloon. Bruce said, anytime you want, let me know. And it was an absolute pleasure. We had more people than I thought we were going to get, especially since it was in December of last year. Not exactly the greatest weather in Upper New York. Didn't matter. A great turnout, good support from Knox Amusements, and of course, fun times had by all. Bruce didn't have to, but he decided to give every single player that played food and drink vouchers, making the experience that much better for everyone. What you're about to hear is something I was saving for September, because that would have been the one anniversary of the Pinball Profile World Tour, and I had a bunch of events and a bunch of clips that I was going to play to kind of remember what it was like to play location pinball, be amongst your friends, enjoy this wonderful hobby. I think, unfortunately, the time is now to play the clips from last December recorded at the Pinball Profile World Tour at the Silver Ball Saloon. The tournament hasn't even started, but it is over because we are in Ashley Ludwig's neck of the woods here in East Rochester, New York. And I already saw your first game on Stars. You already won. Yeah, I got first on it, which was surprising because that machine was really not nice to me last night, or really ever. Stars can be tough, no question about it, but I saw what you did in the Women's Championship in Houston at their Arcade Expo. Tell us what happened there. Well, I had to play Stars, I think, three or four times in tournament there. Stars, it's your new game. Yeah, I mean, it was great to me in Houston, but that machine in particular was very nice to me. But what happened? Who won the tournament? I did Yay Yeah I got first That pretty cool Yeah that was my biggest win 44 or 45 players Wow Yeah And a lot of Bells and Chimes Houston players there Yeah. They're going, what is this girl from East Rochester, New York doing? Yeah. She's supposed to be working at Marco's. This is garbage. Yeah. It was like I knew a lot of the players from online. I've seen their picture, know that they're good players. So, like, walking into the tournament, I expected to just get one, two, three strikes and you're out sort of thing. Do you know what's funny? Sometimes when you kind of not let your guard down, but you're more relaxed, sometimes you can be a great player. Yeah, actually, right before the tournament started, I was like, you know what? I signed up. Like, I don't even think I want to do this. Like, I just want to, like, drink beer and, like, hang out. And I was like, you know what? Screw it. I'll just do it. And, like, I'll get thrown out real quick and, like, go back to whatever I'm doing. So I was really surprised that I won it. There are 43 women in Texas right now going, you should have sat it out. Yeah, yeah, I know. That's not the spirit, actually. That's the great thing. I saw the women get together before the tournament in a real good way, especially with bells and chimes, for people to be introduced to pinball, to feel comfortable, to feel safe. And bells and chimes does that. And so many women's leagues are like that. So that was very nice. Yeah, and, I mean, they were amazing. really good, strong group of women that just wanted to play pinball and do it. Shout out to Elizabeth. You did a great job there in Houston. Congratulations, Ashley. Try to let some of us have a win here in East Rochester at the Silver Ball Saloon. Would you mind? Yeah, no. There's a lot of really great players here today, so that won't be a problem. Thanks very much. Yes, thank you. This is one of many Pinball Profile World Tour events for Phil Birnbaum. Feel the burn. Phil, you know what? If this was like the Stern Pro Circuit, you'd be like the champ. You won the event at the Sanctum. Yes. You beat Steve Bowden. That was pretty exciting. That was all right. And now you're here again. You've done other ones too, haven't you? I think I did one more, but I don't remember which one. That's your job. Chicago? I can't remember. Me neither. Player one? No. I thought you've done three. Maybe Chicago. Maybe Chicago. Anyway. Yes, I did Chicago. Yeah, so we need to have a circuit of Pinball Profile World Tour. You'd be like... We do. Maybe there'd be one I could win.

7:48

I usually ignore most of the stuff until I actually see the machine, and then I get all excited to go play it. But following the news and waiting months until I actually get my hands on it, not that much fun for me. I was just going to tell you about Haggis Pinball, but forget it now. Okay. No, but I'm like you, too. You know, I can watch videos, I can hear the rules, but until I'm playing it, it's all kind of Greek to me. Yep, and I mean, I might like the theme, but I've got to play the game before I decide if I like it or I love it. I'm sure you'll love it, but Phil, best of luck here at the Super Bowl. I love you, man. Thanks for having me. I actually see this player quite a bit, and he's outstanding. Craig Morris joins us from Ottawa. Hey, Craig, how are you? Hey, good, thank you. Good, thank you. What, four hours to get here or so? Four hours. It's beautiful. One of my favorite barcades. Bruce keeps this place in amazing shape. Great lineup. Games are always in amazing condition. And there's a few from Ottawa that made the trek. Yeah, well, there's a big pinball scene in Ottawa. And three carloads came down. We like pinball and friendly tournament fun. And I saw you playing Countdown. You got a win earlier in a round. Yeah. And you just picked up a Countdown. Just picked up a Countdown. It's a fun game. Played that as a kid. I have a friend back in Ottawa who's going to do some restoration work for me. I like picking tournament games. I like having people over to my house. I like pinball. Pinball's a lot more fun when it's competitive. I appreciate you coming to the Pinball Profile World Tour here at the Silver Wall Saloon. I saw you at the Sanctum as well. Yeah, first time. Crazy. Up and down. First time playing with Bowen Kearns. I actually beat him once on Stern Pinball. I'll remember that. The highlight of my pinball career. It is exciting. I mean, everybody can do something on any given day, and you're a great player, so that doesn't surprise me. So you've been really into the pinball scene over the last few years. I know you're great at classics, but you're good at newer games as well, too. What's your favorite format? Well, I think that this format that you're running is my favorite. You get to play the Swiss league. The match play? The match play and the Swiss pairing. You get to play with some good players. I really learn a lot watching the better players play, and it's a long haul. This is my favorite format you're running. Okay mental note if you playing Craig tell him to back off because he watching how you play He getting tips Always learn Thanks buddy Thank you You know her from the Riptide podcast and she a regular here at the Silver Ball Saloon because long-time friends with Bruce and Zach and everybody here. Steph Guy. Hi, Steph. How are you? Hey, I'm good. How are you, Jeff? Royalty in the house. The pinball princess. I saw you play an amazing game of Star Trek. The nice LE, one of the fine games here at the Silver Ball Saloon. You put up your name on a high score and you only got third. Three of you, Sanjay and Zach, blew it up, but that's pretty sad when you get a high score at a place with a volume like this, where it's a stern Army location, and you still get third. Yeah, I'm pretty surprised. I didn't think I would do that well on Star Trek. It usually doesn't agree with me, but I was able to trap it up and actually think about my shots for once and got 44 million. It looks like Sanjay passed me with 47, and Zach just happened. He does that. I had to tap Zach on his shoulder for the first game of Pirates of the Caribbean. and I looked at the player three and four. He was player two. I'm like, can you beat that? No, no, no. All right, beat it. Zach's good. Yeah, he's got some skills. Maybe some luck. He's got some skills. So I assume the next one, two, three Riptide podcasts are so close to being released. Okay, so here's the thing. We had an episode in the bag. Okay, in the can. Right after Pemberg. We decided, because I was distracted because my work did a fantasy football draft. I was doing the draft while we were recording, so it's just like an hour of us tangenting and getting distracted and forgetting to talk about pinball. So we were like, you know what, let's scrap that, let's re-record. And then autumn con season happened, and, you know, Crystal's with Marco, so she's traveling every weekend. And we just have not been able to get together to record. Things just keep happening. You're doing well so far. Yeah, I'm surprised. I'm rather pleased with myself. My base thing was eight rounds. Okay, I tried to get more than eight points. I think I did that in two rounds, which is, I'll take it. You're cutting yourself short. You're an excellent player and a great podcaster, too. Great to talk to the pinball princess. Thanks, Stephanie. Thanks, Jeff. There's a lot of things to like here at the Super Bowl Saloon, but, boy, I'm really proud to meet Todd Roach here, who's with Knox Amusement, and you've really stepped up and made this tournament a lot better. Thanks very much. Well, we appreciate being involved, Jeff. Thank you so much. Look at that step and repeat sign. That thing is, what, 10 feet tall? 10 by 10, maybe? It might be. 10 by 10. Yes, sir. We were happy to put our logo, Silver Balls logo, and the Pinball Profile World Tour logo on there. But you do a lot not only here in East Rochester, but other places. Tell us what Knox Amusement's all about. We're a full-service amusement company about an hour around Rochester, New York. We have pinballs, pool tables, jukeboxes, arcade games. You have a big toy room. We do. You just never take your work home with you, right? Oh, no, absolutely not. No, because, you know, that's research. You have to bring it home. The kids enjoy it as well. I bet, too. Now, how long have you been doing this? It's been a family operation. I'm third generation. We've been doing it about 70-plus years. Wow. Any stock in Fort Knox? All the bullying you can get.

14:40

Sorry Andy No no It's fine It is Crushman You just kicked butt here At the Pinball Profile World Tour event Here at the Silver Ball Saloon The Grand Champ And you just kind of Squeaked into the playoffs I did I did I kind of backdoored that But I had a pretty good night after that Bruce said watch out for Andy He always clutch and you destroyed in the finals, won all three games. Yep. I did alright. Beating Phil Birnbaum, myself, and another local player named Jeff. I know you like this. You're in Syracuse. You play with Central New York, but you've been here many times. Yeah, I try to come out here at least once or twice a month, just to support Bruce and his place. Unfortunately, the scene in Syracuse, there's not much going on. This is the closest thing we've got to it, and it's a great spot. And 44 players. That's a pretty big win. Yeah. I was just here for the Whoppers. Just here for the Whoppers. It's a nice little bonus. And you get a nice trophy from the Ulex store? I do. Very nice. We had a good time here with Knox Museum at the Silver Ball Saloon. Congratulations, Andy. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. This tournament wasn't possible here at Silver Ball Saloon, and everything that is so great here, the Stern Army, the wonderful bar, the restaurant, the games, if it wasn't for two people. and you know the one, but you don't know Kat Nightingale. Kathy, this is fantastic. Congratulations on the second anniversary. Thank you very much. It was a hard road, but we're there, finally. Two years. You wanted this for years, though. You wanted a bar for years, if I recall. Yes, I did. I always wanted a bar. Not so much a restaurant, but I wanted a bar. And it's fun. Great packed crowd tonight. A lot of people having fun, as everyone. And you know what? I don't know if you know this, but do you know how many people traveled four, five, six hours to come here today? Oh, I know. I heard. How many states? You said five states, and how many Canadians came? There were a lot of Canadians. I just wanted to say thank you. Congratulations on your second anniversary. Thank you so much, Jeff. It couldn't have been possible today without you. Thank you so much. Thanks, Kathy. All right, Bruce, Mr. Nightingale. Now the good one's out of the way. Now it's me. Listen, buddy, you know we go back a long way. We do. Love Slam Tilt Podcast. Love what you've done here at Silver Ball Saloon. We've got a new rule here at Silver Ball Saloon. Now, before we start the tournament, you have a lot of games. How many games? 24 games or something? I have 26 in the bar right now. 26 games. So, you know, we kind of, in TDing, we kind of take out games we think might be a problem or maybe long playing. Yep. You know, when you have so many games, you have that option. So we took a few games out. We took Lord of the Rings out. Not that there's anything wrong with a great game. I took out Ghostbusters because I didn't want to drive three hours and play Ghostbusters and whatever else came out. There's a new game that you will never play in a tournament at Super Bowl Saloon. What is it? Adam's family is gone forever here. It will always be broken when it comes to tournament time. Always. I guarantee it. You've been saying that for years. I hate it. Are we still going to be friends? Oh, yeah. I got to pick the bank of games.