I am a man of many temper tantrums:
The Chewbacca: Which can be seen preformed by me in the CBS news clip about the pinball gangs of Portland at about 2:37. NEWS STORY
The Stand Up Comic: Where you repeatedly ask the machine “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” over and over again.
The Magnus Ver Magnusson: Wherein you, with your hands still in the flipper postion, push the machine across the room as if your were competing in some sort of “World’s Strongest Man” Competition.
The Dial “Ohhhh!” for Operator: (This only works if the operator is there at the time.) Simply turn to them and say "It would be great if you could fix (insert whatever shot you bricked six hundred times) so the game played right!"
The Witnesses: When then ball drains two hundred points from the GC and you start spewing obscenities so vile that it would make Red Foxx blush. Only to turn and remember you are in a coffee shop, every person in the place is staring at you, and has been for a while. Because you weren’t only swearing when the ball drained, but at every close shot and inlane bounce since you hit the start button.
When I am playing in a tournament with @MCS, I like to try to identify the drain jumping at the machine from celebration jumping at the machine by the cadence of the jump.
great thread. I do most of these things mentioned. Not all at once mind you. Can’t say I’ve ever done the mule kick or picked up a game. Not really much of a rage tilter either.
I’d say my go to is throwing my hands in the air and strangling the air while growling. Then I look for a heavy bag near me to punch. Have not found one yet.
I also frequently do the drop, where it’s like your legs quit working. I’ll dip down until my chin is on the lockdown bar and pop back up. Or more recently I’ve started to hop a couple time to get rid of the bad mojo energy after a bad drain.
Once in a while I will do the lockdown bar punch, but usually in slow motion. Same with kicking a leg. More like a tap.
I’ve also been known to do the spin and bolt. I’ve almost knocked people over with that one.
The more invested I am in my ball, the more dramatic my drain becomes. I’ve sunk to the floor, hands still holding onto the lockdown bar. I frequently do the spin and bolt myself, and have more than once run straight into someone.
I have done things as simple as hang my head and walk away meekly, but my favorite is when I can’t help but laugh.
Yup. I’ve seen him shove one hard enough on location that I’d be pissed if I owned the game. Or maybe DQ him if I ran the tourney. Funny, but totally unnecessary game abuse.
(TL;DR: I apologize for that behavior from years ago. My past actions are what motivates me now to prioritize professionalism.)
I’ve matured a lot since that tournament. But even if this was years ago, I’ll still take responsibility and apologize for that. Why? Because I believe that’s what truly makes a great player.
You don’t even have to be PAPA World Champion to be held in that regard. Yes, your skills are involved. But there’s also your ability to acknowledge regretful actions like this, and honestly that mature self-awareness can really help you not only as a player, but also as an individual. And at the heart of that is a humble, thankless respect for both your opponents, the tournament staff, and games.
Here’s another “defeat celebration”: my 11-year-old self slamming a water bottle on the ground and crying after a loss at Lyon’s Classic Pinball. Now forever part of a Denver Post article. I’ve got THAT haunting me for the rest of my life. That’s the kind of person I DON’T want to be, nor the type of behavior I’d wish for others to emulate.
Then one day Bowen chastised me for hitting the glass, yet in subsequent tournaments I watched him hit the glass, swear, and kick a chair on occasion. Nobody’s perfect – and he’s an exceptional player – but I still found it disappointing and (no matter how unintentional it was) extremely hypocritical. I decided to learn from it and try to be a better example, despite my track record from childhood being less than stellar.
I’m not proud of the things that I’ve done. I’m not making a list because it’ll just clutter things, but I apologize for each and every one of them. I’m above this type of behavior and honestly think I’ve improved a lot since then. What matters the most to me now is being as positive of an influence as possible. I’m flawed, I’ve done things I regret, but it’s acknowledging both that truly empowers me.
I used to do an abrupt push back, (not enough to shove the game but enough to move me away from it suddenly) quick spin and walk away. This was fine as pinball tantrums go until one game I pushed back and never got as far as the spin and walk away because my friend’s girlfriend was standing right behind me, wearing a white sweater with a glass of red wine held out in front of her.
