Slate article on banning of pinball in NYC

[invitro]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_ob...until_a_single_miraculous_shot_convinced.html

 

[Zaphod77]

Bad writing. it was actually a skill shot with the PLUNGER that he called and made. Anyone can make a shot with a flipper. by making his plunger shot he proved you had control of the game from the start, proved his point, and caused the ban to be repealed with a unanimous vote. the game was also changed at the last minute, to prove the machine wasn't tampered with.

And while Sharpe IS good... well he's not THAT good. There was totally no guarantee he was gonna make that plunge he called. Good thing for everyone he made it.

Or to put it another way... he's got balls of steel.

 

[Dedpop]

And if I'm correct he said later it was mostly luck.

 

[vikingerik]

That the court decision rested on one single skill shot is an urban legend. There was more to it than that. Sharpe played for several minutes, describing plays and strategies, convincingly showing that pinball is a game of skill. The skill shot helped, but Sharpe was fully ready to back up his case if he had missed. It's just very hard to find any writeup that describes the whole session fairly because "one shot saved pinball" is a much more sexy clickbait hook.

 

[Zaphod77]

Perhaps but it's difficult to prove that one shot did NOT save pinball.

Having control over the plunge is one of the major arguments that house balls don't prove it's not a game of skill. SO i do believe him making his called plunge did make a big difference.

 

[invitro]

I would like to have a transcription of the proceedings.