A group of Park Slope players is pushing a resurgence in the popularity of pinball with a competitive league at the Pacific Standard Bar.
"You don't really have to be an athlete to play pinball," says the bar's owner Ryan Kahl, who is also a pinball player. But players say they see competitive pinball as an underground sport.
Teams, of which there are 50 in Brooklyn alone, even wear matching T-shirts. They compete for Pinball NYC, a citywide championship.
But Park Slope is the city's only neighborhood that also has its own league.
Competitions are held at the bar every Tuesday, and players say they take the league very seriously.