Welcome to the start of another TOPL season!  First, a huge thanks to Luch for hosting this week, which is always one of the busiest weeks of the year.  We had a good number of regulars come out, as well as a couple of folks we hadn’, but what was unprecedented was the number of new players we had this week.  Usually, there are one or two new people in a week, and maybe a group of three or four, but this week we had eight new players out for their first TOPL week (although to be fair, Andrew made it to playoffs).  So welcome to Mike, Julian, Mario, Josh, Andrew, Jeff, Mandle, and Glen-it was great that you all made it out, and hopefully you had a good time.  Remember that your league fees cover you for the entire season, which runs from now until the playoffs in July (tentatively scheduled for July 19).  The only money you’re on the hook for week to week is the host fee ($10), so enjoy the season!

High scores this week went to:

Continue reading Scores and standings-Week 1 →

Thanks again to Adam and Denise for hosting everyone for the playoffs at their place this past weekend, and for keeping the food coming through the day.  It was a hard fought tournament with 20 rounds of match play, so everyone had a great day of pinball on a wide variety of really tough games.  The earlier start and time change didn’t seem to deter anyone, and we didn’t have any late arrivals who missed out on changing their clocks, so the 21 players who showed up were there for all 20 rounds.  At the end of qualifying, here’s how things stood:

Continue reading Playoff results-March 2015 →

Just to reiterate a post by Chris previously we are changing the start time of playoffs to 11 am with doors opening at 10:30.

Why this is important is because the clocks spring forward on Sunday, so make sure you keep that in mind for this Sunday!

I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Thus ends another season of the Toronto Pinball League!

Thanks as always to Jim for opening up his amazing collection of machines for the league to enjoy!

A small turn out for the final night, but not unexpected as most things are already firmed up before the final league night.

High scores this week went to:

Bringing the final totals for the season to:

In the most improved race Congratulations to Tim Sanderson for being the Most Improved player for this TOPL Season!  Tim will get possession of the most improved trophy for the entirety of next season as well as a “Replay” for the next season!

Here are the results from the final week and final standings:

Thanks to Nick for hosting everyone last night-it was a good league night, and despite the freezing cold, we still managed a decent turnout.  The season is almost in the books, with just one more week to solidify things before playoffs on March 8 at Adam’s. 

High scores this week went to:

Continue reading Scores and standings-week 14 →

Thanks to everyone who made it out this week!  It’s been a busy week for TOPL, with Adam taking over as president, and the announcement that we’ll be giving away a pinball machine to a league member at the end of 2015.  There’s still pinball to be played though, and despite the cold, we’re still playing week after week. 

High scores this week went to:

Continue reading Scores and Standings-week 13 →

As the only person to come forward to fill the vacant position (as detailed here), Adam Becker will now take over as TOPL president, and we will not need to hold an election.  Thanks to Adam for volunteering his time again-we’re all looking forward to seeing what you bring to this new role.

The location for the Provincials, and the pingolf open running alongside it, has changed to Luch’s place in Newmarket.  Contact Adam Becker if you need the address.

With Chris resigning as president, we need to fill the vacancy.  As per the rules, we’re opening up nominations to fill the position.  In this case, I will be acting as the CRO (Chief Returning Officer) for the byelection.  Any eligible member who wants to run for TOPL president should comment on this post announcing that they want to run.  You may also post announcements/updates to the mailing list, Facebook group, or any other place you wish, but the official list of candidates will be determined from the comments to this blog post.  Nominations are open immediately, and will close at 11 PM on Monday, February 9, 2015.  If, at that time, we have multiple candidates for President, then voting will open on Friday February 13, and close on Friday February 27.  The winning candidate will take over as league president until the end of 2015, which is when the next regular TOPL election is scheduled. 

We’ve discussed some updates to the TOPL rules to document process and procedures for electing SLOs, removing SLOs, and filling vacancies.  The rules page has been updated already, and the relevant sections are shown below.  If you have any feedback, or want to discuss these rules further, please use the comments on this post, or contact me directly if you’d rather do so in private. 

1.2.           Elections

Elections are carried out by secret ballot online every two calendar years, and correspond with the nearest end of season playoffs. The current SLOs are responsible for appointing a Chief Returning Officer (CRO) to oversee the election. The CRO may not run for an elected position, but may be a current elected SLO should they decide not to run for another elected position or term. The CRO will notify all league members that an election is due at least three weeks before the playoffs of the season the election is happening in. Potential candidates for President, Scorekeeper, or Treasurer will need to make their intent to run for an elected position known no later than one week before the election date, after which voting will be open for a minimum of four days before the playoffs. Members may choose to proxy their votes to another eligible member if they so choose.

1.3.           Eligibility

Any member who has a valid percentage for either of the two seasons directly preceding the election may vote, and may choose to run for any of the elected positions. Members may not run for more than one position in the same election. There are no limits on the number of terms one member may serve in a position, either consecutively or non-consecutively.

1.4.           Removal of an SLO

If a situation arises where an SLO is found to be grossly incompetent, corrupt, or otherwise unfit to continue to perform their function, league membership may force their early removal. A petition signed by 50% of the current or prior season’s active members (i.e. members with valid percentages) presented to the other SLOs will trigger an immediate referendum on removal of the SLO. This will be carried out in the same manner as a regular election, albeit with one of the other SLOs acting as the CRO. The SLO will be removed from their position in the case of a vote in favour of removal by 2/3 of the eligible voters. Should this occur, the remaining SLOs will take over the removed SLO’s duties until a suitable replacement can be found via a byelection. Byelections proceed in the same manner as a regular election, with the exception that the CRO may choose to condense the timeframes in the interest of filling the vacancy more quickly.

If there is less than three months remaining in the current term, the remaining SLOs may choose to appoint a league member to fill a vacancy instead of holding a byelection, however every effort should be made to keep three SLOs active at all times.

If a situation arises where an SLO voluntarily resigns, then the provisions above for a byelection will apply.