[FSPA] Updates, and welcome back

Fri Jun 4 15:45:12 EDT 2021

Also thanks to the original VUK league official, the one and only (thank
goodness, because one of him is barely tolerable as is) Rob Wintler-Cox!

On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 12:46 AM Joe Schober via FSPA <fspa at fspazone.org>
wrote:

> Hello, league pinball fans!  Sorry, this wound up being a long mail, hope
> I don't make too many of you fall asleep.  (Or if I do, save a copy for the
> next time you have insomnia!)
>
> It's certainly been a crazy couple years.  The FSPA was all prepared to
> cruise triumphantly into our 25th Anniversary (!) with stronger than ever
> locations, games, and player base, and ... wham!  Stupid virus.  Of course,
> there have been all sorts of changes since we all last met, and I just
> wanted to run down some of the details...
>
> *CarPool* has unfortunately been booted from its Fairfax location...
> quite a shame, as it was a great location, great staff, and steadily grew
> to have the most players of any FSPA league.  Its illustrious leader, *Bob
> Johnson*, was also booted from his own Fairfax location, and is now
> having fun in the sun down in Florida.  Many thanks for keeping that huge
> location running well, Bob!  There are rumors that CarPool may come back to
> life in a new, exciting location... we'll be waiting for more details on
> that.
>
> *VÜK* has unfortunately been booted from its Bethesda location... that
> too was a great location, with surely the best pizza and ice cream in
> FSPA-land.  Thanks very much to *Alex Jeffrey*, *Max Baskin*, and *John
> Locke* for their efforts there.  I'm afraid I'm not aware of a
> replacement for VÜK itself, although its sister location lives on:
>
> *MOM's* is alive and well in College Park, with a terrific lineup of (I
> believe) all organic-grocery themed pins.  You're not gonna find that
> anywhere else.  *Rob Wintler-Cox* and *John Locke* are keeping on as the
> torch-bearers there, now joined by *Stephanie Traub*... welcome to the
> crew, Steph, and thanks for helping.  In a shocking turn of events, MOM's
> league has jumped from Monday evenings to Wednesday evenings, so please
> make note of the new day.
>
> We have a new location -- sort of a spiritual successor to CarPool -- at *Mustang
> Sally Brewery* in Chantilly, VA.  Many of you have visited there to play
> some beers and drink some games... wait a minute, strike that, reverse it.
> MSB is just a few minutes down Rt. 50 from CarPool, so hopefully former
> CarPool players can find a new home at MSB for some Tuesday night league
> fun.  *Edan Grossman* and *Rich Wickersham* will be keeping things
> running smoothly.
>
> Edan's new gig there left an opening at the venerable *Lost Rhino* in
> Ashburn, VA, which *Bryan Henson* has kindly offered to take over...
> thank you very much, Bryan!  Lost Rhino has a nice lineup of games, along
> with good food and beer, and the house root beer really is legit.  Lost
> Rhino is the place to be for Virginian league fans on Wednesday evenings.
>
> Keeping with the "beer in Virginia" theme, *Ocelot* in Sterling, VA
> really got run through the ringer during COVID, but all's well that ends
> well: *Matt Wycoff*, *Steve Kapinos*, and the crew there are back to
> serve up some excellent pints and pinball during Monday night league play.
>
> And up north in Frederick, MD, *Spinners* is also back with Thursday
> night pinball league action.  *Sergio Johnson* has decided to take a
> break from league administrivia (thanks for your great work over the years,
> Serg!), so *Joe Said* -- who runs the location -- will now also be
> running the league for this season... thanks for your help, Joe.
>
> Last, but certainly not least, at the FSPA Association level: *Stephanie
> Traub* has offered to lend a hand with social media outreach.  And *Deb
> Kapke* Is, long overdue, officially claiming the title of FSPA artist and
> graphic designer, a role she has generously and skillfully performed for us
> for a long time, doing most of the designs for our logos, shirts, flyers,
> posters, and more.  Ladies, thank you both very much!
>
> When you see any of these fine people, please give them a hug, buy them a
> beer, and thank them for volunteering their time and energy to help make
> FSPA the best league pinball anywhere!
>
>
> All of our leagues have some changes for this season only:
>
> - There will not be an end-of-season party for the Summer 2021 season.
> League dues are reduced to $30 to compensate.
>
> - The giveaway machine (Jungle Lord) remains on pause.  All the drawing
> tickets earned in the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 seasons remain valid, and
> the current plan is to resume the giveaway cycle with one more season of
> ticket-earning in the Fall 2021 season, and then give the machine away to a
> lucky winner in early 2022... so it should wind up working like a normal
> machine giveaway, just stttrreeetttccchhheedd ouuuutttt over a couple years.
>
> - No WPPR (IFPA) points will be earned for the Summer 2021 season because
> WPPR has not yet reactivated post-COVID.  Should that status change during
> our the Summer season, we'll figure out what's going on and update everyone.
>
> - Leagues are only playing 8 regular-season weeks, instead of the usual
> 10.  Playoff week will follow the last regular-season week, as usual.
>
> - There are no preplays this season.  Instead, each player's worst 2 weeks
> will be discarded when tallying your league point totals... this will show
> up as "Adjusted (Adj) Points" on the scoresheets.  What this means is that
> you take a 0 for a week you're absent, which will obviously be one of your
> worst weeks, so it'll be ignored in the standings (as long as you don't
> miss more than 2 weeks!).  This also means that players who attend every
> week will get to drop their worst 2 actual weeks of play, which is
> certainly a competitive advantage, so you'll still want to play every week
> of league live and in person if at all possible.
>
> - The FSPA is not in the business of epidemiology, so we have no special
> guidance regarding COVID-19... but of course, please follow any guidance at
> your league location, stock up on Purell, and just as a personal request
> from me: if you haven't already gotten the vaccine, please get it ASAP if
> you can.  Let's not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
>
>
> Lots of changes all around, indeed.  Please make note of your favorite
> league(s) days and hours on fspazone.org ... don't forget that each
> league has a public Google Calendar available for it, so you can subscribe
> to it in the Calendar app on your phone or computer, and always have the
> latest league schedule conveniently available.
>
>
> I always get a little twitchy writing an update like this, especially with
> *so* many things going on... chances are good that I've inadvertently
> omitted someone or something... my apologies if I have done so, and please
> don't hesitate to tell me what I did wrong.   :D
>
> Finally, but perhaps most importantly: thanks, as always, to every one of
> you for being part of the FSPA.  None of this happens without players, and
> you all are the best.  If I or any of the people mentioned above can do
> anything to make your league experience better, please let us know.  Stay
> safe and healthy, and have a super fun Summer season.  Yay pinball!
>
> --Joe
>
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