Beating the Odds: My Pinball Skills Never Fade

In my youth, my friends and I played a lot of pinball. Pac-Man had just come out, but if I only had a few quarters, I'd stick them into the pinball machine because I was better at that than any video game. And it was very competitive between me and my friends.

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A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Montana State Fair in Great Falls with one of my old friends. As we were walking through the exhibits, we came upon two guys selling pinball machines, and they asked us if we wanted to play a couple of games. So both Mike and I grabbed a machine and pulled the plungers. We played for several minutes. I finally lost my last ball, so I was done. I looked over at one of the salesmen, and he had a great big smirk on his face. So I said, "Is something funny?" He looked at me and said, "You two are both REALLY good at pinball. We haven't had anybody even close to you this whole week." It was fun, but I didn't have $6,000 in the new toy budget, so I didn't buy my own Foo Fighters pinball machine.

I continue to amaze my daughter when we go out for dinner on daddy/daughter night. Sometimes we go to Godfather's, and they have a pinball game that I always beat her on.

I'm told that The Monte Carlo downtown has several machines. So if you're ever craving a little throwback entertainment, now you know where you can still be a Pinball Wizard.