Pinball Wizards

by Denise Dowling
(Page 2)

Some people might laugh to hear pinball called a sport, but its aficionados say it requires physical strength and endurance.

"There's an element of upper body strength," explains Kahn. "That's why there aren't as many women in the sport and why they tend to score lower."

Australian player Cameron Silver has a different theory on why there are so few female players. "I think it's because most women have a life."

In addition to being in shape, players need a scientific mind to triumph at pinball.

"There's a literacy of pinball skills," says Ken Dickson, who helped develop a computer pinball game. "It's the same as a pitcher - he knows where to stand, he puts a different spin on the ball - it's a matter of timing and eye-hand coordination.

"It's like chess," he adds. "Three moves ahead, you have to know what you're doing. "

"People who play pinball have always been outside the mainstream," Dickson continues. "The image from the 50's was the rebel, the outlaw. The Fonz played pinball."

My grandmother looks like an outlaw in comparison to the tournament players.

I expected beer bellies and Harley handlebar mustaches but found computer hackers instead. As one observer put it, "you'd have to go to a lot of Star Trek conventions to find that many overbites in one room."

"We're just a bunch of geeks," admits Silver.

The criminal association with pinball harkens to the '30s. Back then, pinball was essentially a gambling machine that rewarded players with money. Flippers had not been invented yet, so there was no real skill involved. In the late 1930s, New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia started a moral crusade to ban pinball, ceremoniously pushing the machines into the East River. The machines remained illegal in New York until 1976.

The players did rebel in their own way during the weekend. A doubles competition was still raging around five a.m. Sunday morning when there was a small fire at the hotel. The players refused to leave their machines until firefighters forced them to evacuate.

That outlaw gesture is testimony to the players' passion. Pinballologists admit that all the strength and expertise would add up to nothing without determination. The 1992 international champion, Rick Stetta, summed it up best. When asked by CNN how he captured the crown, Stetta answered, "I wanted it badder."