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Episode 296: Josh Sharpe Day 2021

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago27 min listen
From the creator

Some presidents refuse to step down no matter what the people want. But as we are into 2021, Josh remains the IFPA President. Let's find out what he has done (if anything), including IFPA...

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Highlights

  • The IFPA will not freeze or reset WPPR decay when the one-year anniversary of tournament shutdowns arrives in March 2021, instead allowing the formula to operate as designed with natural decay.
  • Stern Pinball agreed to allow players who previously qualified for the Stern Rewards program to re-qualify despite ranking decay caused by tournament inactivity.
  • The 2020 Stern Pro Circuit had only two events (InDisc and Pinmasters); a planned 20-event 2021 season is not feasible due to COVID-19 restrictions.
  • The ICR (International Competitive Remote) format is being restructured from a year-long ranking system to quarterly qualifying tournaments with playoff finals.
  • Josh Sharp personally uses high tournament participation volume rather than pure skill as the primary driver of his competitive success.
  • IFPA 17 (World Championship) is tentatively planned for November 2021 in Fort Myers, Florida, contingent on COVID-19 case decline.
  • The IFPA will not mandate masks at tournaments going forward; that decision will be left to individual tournament directors.

Notable quotes

“The formula does its job of calculating, based on a formula that we've been using that really hasn't changed much in the last five years, of the achievements of people in competitive pinball over a specific period of time. And it doesn't take into account anything that impacts that time.”
Josh Sharp
“Because if I can get people to be nervous about playing on a game that they should be super comfortable with because it's their own game, set up their own, you know, it's working because it means that the competition is relevant.”
Josh Sharp
“The system itself, the formula for how we calculate the ICR Whoppers is so easily exploitable that, you know, switching over to this sort of qualifying system with a playoff is the route that we've chosen.”
Josh Sharp
“I would have lost anyway the way Vinny played. So you had yourself, Kaylee, and Adam Lefkoff judging me. And I got to say, we were kind of streaming it on Discord, which you can see other matches, in fact. And I was extremely nervous, which is ridiculous.”
Josh Sharp
“I have no idea. I honestly have no idea. I don't know what's scheduled. The idea is for 20, but 20 isn't going to happen. That's just not going to be possible.”
Josh Sharp
“I'm going to take all my second place trophies off my trophy wall and I'm going to polish them.”
Josh Sharp

Entities

  • Stern Pinball· company
  • IFPA 17· event
  • International Competitive Remote· event
  • Stern Pro Circuit· event
  • International Flipper Pinball Association· organization
  • Pinball Profile· organization
  • Adam Lefkoff· person
  • Gary Stern· person
  • Jeff Teolis· person
  • Josh Sharp· person
  • Kaylee· person
  • Raymond· person
  • Ron Hallett· person
  • Vinny· person
  • Zach Sharp· person
  • Stern Rewards Program· product
  • WPPR· system

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