With the complete understanding that you guys are still learning commentary and that you guys did a huge number of hours of commentary during the Finals... and while also noting that my son and I watched every moment of the Finals broadcast and loved it...

...there were more than a few moments, almost all of them regarding the above mentioned style of sarcasm, that had myself and my son scratching our heads as to whether or not you meant what you were saying. The sandbagging comments were a perfect example of this. It was said so many times, in so many contexts, that some of the comments indicated very little sarcasm. It would be so easy for someone to hear only one or two of the exchanges and have no knowledge that you guys were referring to things said 15 minutes ago when they weren't watching.

One other thing that kept coming up was making personal comments about players. Yeah, you guys all know each other well in real life and feel free to throw a little trash talk out there, but on commentary we can't detect that. We don't know if a jibe about another player is within the bounds of your relationship or something that shouldn't have been said on the air.

Note that I'm not talking specifically about Josh here. All of the commentators were doing it to a certain extent. Also please take this as the respectfully constructive criticism I mean it to be.

Should a "casual player" expect to be competitive at a national tournament? At any level? The only thing even close to a problem I see here is a couple of sentences on the website. When we're talking national event the definition of casual is completely different than at an open tourney at a bowling alley.

You don't get into the top 20 without winning events such that you are ineligible for B under current PAPA rules. It's not the A/B split that is at issue here. It's the expectation that someone can come in without knowing pinball all that well and still be competitive in C.

Competition is not like playing in the home. League play is hard. Tournament play is harder. Major tournament play is harder still. PAPA is the world championship. Expect it to be the highest level of C division play the sport has to offer. Expect that even if you won the B division of your local league you're going to get slapped in the face with cold water at the level of C play at PAPA.

People should also note that you're *lucky* if you get grouped with a truly world class player. Yeah, you'll get spanked hard, but you'll learn more watching them play one game than you would in a year of playing in your own basement. I have had the privilege of playing with (getting destroyed by) some of the truly best in the world and the things I have learned in those games are priceless.

Z is too hard. I want a double-zed division. I want to go straight to the ZZ Top.

Sometimes you don't have to travel to be made humble old country style. Can't tell you how many times locally I've been in a foursome that consisted of two high level A players going back and forth while I stand off to the side wondering if I have enough time before my next ball to rebuild the transmission on my truck. I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm happy about it when it happens, because I have the opportunity to watch world class players do their thing up close and personal. I learn things and go home to practice them and become better myself. And it WORKS. That's the best part.