Yikes, that shirt is bad. Not only is it just flat out juvenile, it's a major wrong turn for where we should be driving this hobby. It's a bad look, and I was hoping we would be getting better about leaving this sort of art in pinball's past rather than keeping it around.

Oh, come on guys. The shirt was in poor taste. Don't make Rich into a victim here. It was really shortsighted to have a t-shirt design like that in the first place.

Here, you can see the image that was being used for the shirt.

Yes, this is a terrible shirt too.

The only version of the image I could find had the photoshopped joke. But seriously, that art is far more along the lines of BDSM than pinball. That's the issue. It's not the type of art we should really be pushing. It's distasteful and it's not welcoming to all people.

If you're that shortsighted, I can't help you. You can either choose to educate yourself on why these things matter or continue to not see the problem. That's really your choice. But these sorts of things are problems. It's for the better of the show if that type of art isn't representing the show.

If you are a parent and happen to see that shirt being promoted on Facebook, are you likely to be more or less encouraged to take your kids to the show? If you're a woman just barely getting into pinball, and you think this might be a good first show for you, would that shirt encourage or discourage you from going? Think about it a bit.

We're trying to grow the hobby and make it more comfortable for everyone. Everybody knows that pinball used to be filled with art and themes that were aimed at appeasing straight, white male interests, but pinball is bigger than that. We're trying to move forward. The more welcoming we can make the hobby, the more healthy it will be for all involved.

It's the same hobby. Oh, and hey, people from other states travel to these things. Listening to Nick Baldridge talk about his multi-bingo and the bingo and woodrail rows on a podcast this morning makes me want to go to the White Rose show. It's been on my radar for years, it's just bad timing for me this year, so I'm hoping to make it happen next year. I have NOTHING against the show nor its organizers. I just don't like the shirt that was presented and I know a lot of others that didn't either. It wasn't "just a few" as others keep saying.

Right vs. wrong is not confined by state lines. The shirt was in poor taste, and living in a different state has absolutely nothing to do with that.

Do you guys even listen to people who are affected by these sorts of things? If a woman says, "hey, thing X makes me uncomfortable," do you think it's a good idea to tell her to just accept it because "that's the way it is!" or is it a better idea to find out what's offensive and work to fix it? There's nothing inherently male about pinball, so the skewed demographics should cause people to question why they're skewed, not used as an excuse to just keep painting up events and promo materials to look like a trucker's lounge from the '70s.

If people are made uncomfortable, let's ask why. Let's not tell them they're wrong. Let's make the hobby better. Let's certainly not make some ridiculous idea up about opinions being confined to state lines when we constantly travel across them to attend shows and events. I've been out state for several this year already. Heck, our last local tournament top ten had people from Utah, Nevada, Massachusetts, Texas, and Michigan.

Forget it. Enjoy your bubble. The rest of the world will move forward and not run good people off. Want to know why places like Seattle, Portland, Denver, or San Francisco have such strong pinball scenes? It's because they include everyone and their communities continue to grow. They're inclusive, and we should all be trying to emulate that. If we want pinball on every corner in our cities, we need people on every corner to feel comfortable with pinball in their cities. It's simple, really.

None of this should be tied to liberal nor conservative thought. It's not political at all. It's not anything other than just being welcoming to all people.

Ok, so I didn't realize I was dealing with tough guys! What have I waded into here?! That's a great way to deal with things, by the way. It's obvious that you guys don't actually care why people got upset by the shirt. If you don't care, then there's no point discussing it.

IT. IS. NOT. ABOUT. YOU.

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The shirt thing is over. They pulled the post, which was the right thing to do. People wanted to know why there was a negative reaction to the shirt, so some of us tried to explain. You can't ask for an explanation and then tell people that you don't want to hear it. I won't say anything more on it, but I would suggest opening your eyes to the world a bit more. It's changing, and while you don't have to, you need to realize that most others are.