Well I was about 5 years old when it all started.  My great uncle Eddie took me to an arcade for my birthday with rolls of quarters in his pockets and let me do as I pleased.  I don't recall any of the pinball titles, but I do remember playing Sea Wolf repeatedly.  According to my mother, I was a changed kid.  I'm sure I received plenty of discipline every time we walked by a pinball machine and I was begging to play it.  Well one day in Abilene, Texas my mom ran into the local Colonial Foodstore to grab whatever was needed.  (I'm sure it doesn't exist any more, but was a local convenience store. I guess I could search for it...fat chance.)  I did my usual groveling for a quarter, hell it might have been a dime to play and started slapping away barely able to see the playfield.  Mom purchased her things and watched, momentarily stating, "Bayless, it's time to go!"  She even went out to the car and waited for some time before coming back in the store to haul me out, anticipating some kicking and screaming.  (I could be seen through the front window, so it's not like she was abandoning me.)  After uttering, "Bayless, get in the car NOW!!!" to my saving grace, the woman working the cash register mentions to my mother that I had the high score on the machine and there was a contest on-going.  I was allowed to finish playing and my score was recorded.  We were told by the cashier that if my score was the highest by the end of the tournament, I should get a phone call in about two weeks.  Well I received that call and was told to come down to the Colonial Foodstore office to pick up my prize.  My nice shiny plastic trophy had a mylar '78 sticker in the middle of it, with that generic half-naked man holding his arms up high like a football umpire signaling "Touchdown" grasping a wreath in one hand. (I'm sure you've seen him.)  The plaque stuck on the bottom read "Colonial Foodstore Pinball Champion - 1978".  Needless to say I was the coolest kid at Show 'n' Tell in my first grade class.   Quite possibly the best 25 cents I ever spent. 

    I've played off and on over the years, bars in college, arcades here and there, and then several weeks ago I went to the Heaven and Hell concert in Columbia, MD at Merriweather Post.  (Yes Heaven and Hell - What's left of Black Sabbath and Dio :-p)  At the amphitheater, they had 7 or 8 pinball machines all themed after rock bands for concert-goers to play.  This rekindled my interest in a hobby I have long left behind, and I have purchased my first pin for my home last week.  It didn't cost 25 cents, but I have the feeling this again was money well spent.  I'm already looking for another one.

VT8man - Bayless Rutherford - Colonial Foodstore Pinball Champion - 1978