I'm just going to give you a couple links to where the rumors are coming from, I'll provide my commentary if the rumor turns out to be fact.
I think they just had a large layoff and someone is blowing it out of proportion.
Original source:
Ballers Cafe
Secondary sources:
View From the Deadbox
ProPaintball.com
Paintball X3
Forum posts:
PBNation - Impulse forum
PBNation- News forum
MCaterBrown
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Somethings never change
Earlier this year I posed the problem of politics, and what do you know? - The problem still prevails. Call it logic unknown to me, or lack of complete logic.
Background:
I play on a local team, a team that has only played Cup last year in D4 5-man. Other than that, we've only played local events. In these local events we've won the series championship in two of the three offered divisions. Sounds pretty good right?
Problem:
We plan on playing D3 Race to 4 at World Cup this year, and possibly Phoenix, (or whatever the first PSP event of the year is) if we play well this year at Cup. In order to prepare for World Cup, we plan on practicing a local D2 and D3 team that has been playing PSP events for the past 2 years. We are planning to play at their field, because the logistics of them coming to play at our field is just impossible. The big problem here is one of our sponsors. The sponsorship is simple, discounted paint and use of the field for practices. Our side of the sponsorship was to support the field and win. Both of which have been fulfilled.
Our sponsor doesn't want us to go to the field and scrimmage that team because of past events, and is likely to pull the sponsorship (as awesome of a deal as it is *sarcasm*) if we do scrimmage. We've completed our side of the sponsorship, we've done considerably more than any of the field's other sponsored teams. But we can't simply go to a certain field to practice a certain team.
The other thing is that we're not able to draw teams because of the lack of good teams in the area.
Choices:
Go to the scrimmage, let the field decide what (he) it wants to do, either drop us, or keep us on.
Don't attend the scrimmage, be unprepared for Cup, and not move on to National events.
Questions, and my opinion
If it was my decision to take the chance and scrimmage, what would I choose?
I have no clue, and I'm glad I don't have to be the one to make that decision. With my current situation and relationship with the field, I probably wouldn't go. If I was in any other relationship with the field I would go and risk it.
What will happen if the field decides to drop the sponsorship?
We'll find another field to play for.
What do you think will happen?
My team will probably end up going to the scrimmage, our field will drop the sponsorship, and the team will find another field. I'll probably end up leaving the team because of the relationship I have with the field, and I'll probably play with another team for World Cup
Only time will tell, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!
Background:
I play on a local team, a team that has only played Cup last year in D4 5-man. Other than that, we've only played local events. In these local events we've won the series championship in two of the three offered divisions. Sounds pretty good right?
Problem:
We plan on playing D3 Race to 4 at World Cup this year, and possibly Phoenix, (or whatever the first PSP event of the year is) if we play well this year at Cup. In order to prepare for World Cup, we plan on practicing a local D2 and D3 team that has been playing PSP events for the past 2 years. We are planning to play at their field, because the logistics of them coming to play at our field is just impossible. The big problem here is one of our sponsors. The sponsorship is simple, discounted paint and use of the field for practices. Our side of the sponsorship was to support the field and win. Both of which have been fulfilled.
Our sponsor doesn't want us to go to the field and scrimmage that team because of past events, and is likely to pull the sponsorship (as awesome of a deal as it is *sarcasm*) if we do scrimmage. We've completed our side of the sponsorship, we've done considerably more than any of the field's other sponsored teams. But we can't simply go to a certain field to practice a certain team.
The other thing is that we're not able to draw teams because of the lack of good teams in the area.
Choices:
Go to the scrimmage, let the field decide what (he) it wants to do, either drop us, or keep us on.
Don't attend the scrimmage, be unprepared for Cup, and not move on to National events.
Questions, and my opinion
If it was my decision to take the chance and scrimmage, what would I choose?
I have no clue, and I'm glad I don't have to be the one to make that decision. With my current situation and relationship with the field, I probably wouldn't go. If I was in any other relationship with the field I would go and risk it.
What will happen if the field decides to drop the sponsorship?
We'll find another field to play for.
What do you think will happen?
My team will probably end up going to the scrimmage, our field will drop the sponsorship, and the team will find another field. I'll probably end up leaving the team because of the relationship I have with the field, and I'll probably play with another team for World Cup
Only time will tell, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Politics- "The Sinister Agenda"
I have a conflict, both internally and externally-
Why can't players be, just players?
Why must it matter what league we play in?
Is there really a 'Sinister Agenda' brewing under our noses?
Ok, now lets put this rhetorical and philosophical, meaningless questions into practice. (All of the following is hypothetical)
Say we have a tournament series- call it the APPL and we have the NPL. My team plays the APPL as a serious, competitive team. However, I organize a team to play an event in the NPL, with a group of people from another team. Now, say that there is no conflict with any of the previous mentioned scenario. Still with me?
Lets throw in your variable-
the team captains and paint suppliers. Half of the team captains are fine with it, the other team captains are not. Then your paint suppliers tell you "hey, don't bite the hand that feeds. If you play that event (not even the whole series, just one event for fun) we're gonna cut you off."
Ok, now here's your reasons, the supplier doesn't like, even so much as hates, the people who run the NPL, because of past occurrences, and they told the team captains the same. So the team captains lock-down on the players.
It becomes a bad situation all around.
But the supplier doesn't understand, my team that I'm putting in has no 'sinister agenda', all that we want to do is play and have fun with the players that aren't on our same team. It's not about supporting a league they don't like. We don't care. It's all about fun.
But their hate, or dislike has blinded them, made them closed-minded, only lead them to see the negative and see the bad side of things.
Leave the politics, I'm just a player.
Why can't players be, just players?
Why must it matter what league we play in?
Is there really a 'Sinister Agenda' brewing under our noses?
Ok, now lets put this rhetorical and philosophical, meaningless questions into practice. (All of the following is hypothetical)
Say we have a tournament series- call it the APPL and we have the NPL. My team plays the APPL as a serious, competitive team. However, I organize a team to play an event in the NPL, with a group of people from another team. Now, say that there is no conflict with any of the previous mentioned scenario. Still with me?
Lets throw in your variable-
the team captains and paint suppliers. Half of the team captains are fine with it, the other team captains are not. Then your paint suppliers tell you "hey, don't bite the hand that feeds. If you play that event (not even the whole series, just one event for fun) we're gonna cut you off."
Ok, now here's your reasons, the supplier doesn't like, even so much as hates, the people who run the NPL, because of past occurrences, and they told the team captains the same. So the team captains lock-down on the players.
It becomes a bad situation all around.
But the supplier doesn't understand, my team that I'm putting in has no 'sinister agenda', all that we want to do is play and have fun with the players that aren't on our same team. It's not about supporting a league they don't like. We don't care. It's all about fun.
But their hate, or dislike has blinded them, made them closed-minded, only lead them to see the negative and see the bad side of things.
Leave the politics, I'm just a player.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Divisional Team Showcase #1: Orlando DOOM
You might have heard of the team Doom Troopers, formed in 1986, but you might not have heard of a team called Orlando DOOM.
Orlando DOOM is the divisional, "Race to" team of the Doom Troopers. Although, they are two different teams. DOOM currently consists of 3 divisions, D3, D4 and D5. Orlando Doom plays in the CFPS Series and is based out of HyperSports Park in Orlando. They began playing as DOOM in 2006 at World Cup, playing D4. In 2007 and 2008 they played many local series events, but only once making it past the preliminaries. Link to DOOM APPA History
But this year there is a clear difference from the past. Early this year DOOM has clearly improved and expanded. Currently a D3 team is in the works for a future CFPS event, and will most likely be a strong force to be reckoned with. DOOM did not enter a D4 team in the past CFPS Event 4, but will more than likely play the next event for the series.
The most suprising of all was Orlando DOOM Black, the D5 team. The D5 team's first event was CFPS #3, they had a strong showing, but could not move past the prelims and finished 10th. Link to DOOM Black scores (CFPS 3- click here) At CFPS 4, however, it was a much stronger team, they moved past prelims in 6th seed and moved past Semi-finals in second seed. Link to DOOM Black scores (CFPS 4- click here) Moving on to finals they seemed to easily defeat South Florida Bulls Green and TU Stealth Black, but ran into trouble with Fatality Blue, losing the game. At the end of the day they did make the podium in second spot.
CFPS 4 Finals Scores (click here)
They are definitely a team to look out for, in all divisions, and teams that underestimate them usually lose. DOOM is soon becoming a team to look out for on the podium every event.
DOOM has a bright future ahead of them with coaching from team leader "NY" Joe Gamb
The D4 team is comprised of:
Joe Gamb -Captain
Trent Slater
Drake Terrell
Fred Tupper
Ron Terrell
Jason Hall
The D5 team is comprised of:
Matt Cliett
Jordan Conomos
Dalton Crews
Julio Hernandez
Luis Sanchez
Josh Rogachesky
Roman Scarlato
But this year there is a clear difference from the past. Early this year DOOM has clearly improved and expanded. Currently a D3 team is in the works for a future CFPS event, and will most likely be a strong force to be reckoned with. DOOM did not enter a D4 team in the past CFPS Event 4, but will more than likely play the next event for the series.
The most suprising of all was Orlando DOOM Black, the D5 team. The D5 team's first event was CFPS #3, they had a strong showing, but could not move past the prelims and finished 10th. Link to DOOM Black scores (CFPS 3- click here) At CFPS 4, however, it was a much stronger team, they moved past prelims in 6th seed and moved past Semi-finals in second seed. Link to DOOM Black scores (CFPS 4- click here) Moving on to finals they seemed to easily defeat South Florida Bulls Green and TU Stealth Black, but ran into trouble with Fatality Blue, losing the game. At the end of the day they did make the podium in second spot.
CFPS 4 Finals Scores (click here)
They are definitely a team to look out for, in all divisions, and teams that underestimate them usually lose. DOOM is soon becoming a team to look out for on the podium every event.
DOOM has a bright future ahead of them with coaching from team leader "NY" Joe Gamb
The D4 team is comprised of:
Joe Gamb -Captain
Trent Slater
Drake Terrell
Fred Tupper
Ron Terrell
Jason Hall
The D5 team is comprised of:
Matt Cliett
Jordan Conomos
Dalton Crews
Julio Hernandez
Luis Sanchez
Josh Rogachesky
Roman Scarlato
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Big Team VS Small Team
Florida seems to be constantly growing teams, more than most states, but there are a few places that are growing, and mainly keeping on pace. Southern California, Northern California, the Carolinas, Omaha, Central Texas and New York seem to have the most progression of players and teams.
This is the common Florida team structure, whether for CFPS, (the now dwindling) SPCS, and other other tournaments.
Most local, divisional paintball teams normally consist of about 5-9 players. This would qualify you as a "small team". This team usually plays for fun, or to build experience and usually plays whatever tournament fits their schedules. They sometimes practice when they're all off work, or have free time. Rarely do they have scheduled or set practices. Some teams of this size that have field or factory support, but that is rare.
Then you have larger teams, these teams consist of between 10-30 players. These teams are usually based out of a home field and might have one or two sponsors. They normally receive support from the field by reduced field fees, reduced paint, or reduced merchandise. The sponsors normally supply the teams with slightly above dealer pricing, or dealer pricing. These teams usually play a tournament series, not just single events. They might attend one national event over a year. This event might be a PSP event or USPL event that is within driving distance for them.
The largest of all is the "super-team". These teams are more like an organization. There is normally an owner, a head coach, and sometimes lesser coaches. They normally consist of 30-70+ players. It's normally like a farm of feeder team. The lower division team supports the higher divison team by building players. These teams usually have a field sponsorship much like the "large team" sponsorship, and usually have multiple sponsors. Granted these are not "free stuff" or "full factory support" sponsorships, they normally give the teams everything they need without breaking the bank. These teams might have a gun sponsorship, gear sponsorship, or playing apparel sponsorship. These teams usually play all the local or regional events they can find, and might play multiple PSP or USPL events, or sometimes play the whole series. The “super teams” are geared for progressing players up quickly through the ranks, playing local, progressing to regional, then national, from D5 to D2 in a short amout of time. Those players who can’t keep up with the grueling pace are weeded out.
Larger teams can make things much easier, or in some cases much more difficult. Players on large teams need to be just that, players. The coach or team owner needs to be able to make decisions for the team with minimal input from players. Normally upstart “large” or “super-teams” usually have issues. New sponsors can cause some problems.
With smaller teams if one person cancels last minute, the team is put in a really bad situation trying to find someone to fill in. With a larger team, given the same situation, they’ll easily fill the spot due to the size of the roster. Smaller teams do have an advantage; the players have normally been playing with each other for a while and can gel better with each other than with a larger team, where you may play with different people every week.
"Large" or "super-teams" usually end up on the podiums. One reason is, they have squads to practice with, in their own team. They can also have a better feel for layouts. If you have your whole team, (let's say 30 people and each person) is playing a different specific position, that means you'll have 6 different perceptions on how to play that layout, for that specific spot. These teams also give the player a better chance to move up in the rankings. You can easily shine playing on a D4 team, and if you want to move up, you'll have the players necessary.
Each kind of team, whether it be a "super-team" such as Firece-Damage, or Total Karnage has their own advantages and downfalls compared to large teams such as Fatality, or Tampa United; besides playing on the national level versus the local.
This is the common Florida team structure, whether for CFPS, (the now dwindling) SPCS, and other other tournaments.
Most local, divisional paintball teams normally consist of about 5-9 players. This would qualify you as a "small team". This team usually plays for fun, or to build experience and usually plays whatever tournament fits their schedules. They sometimes practice when they're all off work, or have free time. Rarely do they have scheduled or set practices. Some teams of this size that have field or factory support, but that is rare.
Then you have larger teams, these teams consist of between 10-30 players. These teams are usually based out of a home field and might have one or two sponsors. They normally receive support from the field by reduced field fees, reduced paint, or reduced merchandise. The sponsors normally supply the teams with slightly above dealer pricing, or dealer pricing. These teams usually play a tournament series, not just single events. They might attend one national event over a year. This event might be a PSP event or USPL event that is within driving distance for them.
The largest of all is the "super-team". These teams are more like an organization. There is normally an owner, a head coach, and sometimes lesser coaches. They normally consist of 30-70+ players. It's normally like a farm of feeder team. The lower division team supports the higher divison team by building players. These teams usually have a field sponsorship much like the "large team" sponsorship, and usually have multiple sponsors. Granted these are not "free stuff" or "full factory support" sponsorships, they normally give the teams everything they need without breaking the bank. These teams might have a gun sponsorship, gear sponsorship, or playing apparel sponsorship. These teams usually play all the local or regional events they can find, and might play multiple PSP or USPL events, or sometimes play the whole series. The “super teams” are geared for progressing players up quickly through the ranks, playing local, progressing to regional, then national, from D5 to D2 in a short amout of time. Those players who can’t keep up with the grueling pace are weeded out.
Larger teams can make things much easier, or in some cases much more difficult. Players on large teams need to be just that, players. The coach or team owner needs to be able to make decisions for the team with minimal input from players. Normally upstart “large” or “super-teams” usually have issues. New sponsors can cause some problems.
With smaller teams if one person cancels last minute, the team is put in a really bad situation trying to find someone to fill in. With a larger team, given the same situation, they’ll easily fill the spot due to the size of the roster. Smaller teams do have an advantage; the players have normally been playing with each other for a while and can gel better with each other than with a larger team, where you may play with different people every week.
"Large" or "super-teams" usually end up on the podiums. One reason is, they have squads to practice with, in their own team. They can also have a better feel for layouts. If you have your whole team, (let's say 30 people and each person) is playing a different specific position, that means you'll have 6 different perceptions on how to play that layout, for that specific spot. These teams also give the player a better chance to move up in the rankings. You can easily shine playing on a D4 team, and if you want to move up, you'll have the players necessary.
Each kind of team, whether it be a "super-team" such as Firece-Damage, or Total Karnage has their own advantages and downfalls compared to large teams such as Fatality, or Tampa United; besides playing on the national level versus the local.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The National League... (of paintball). MAO part 3
Saturday morning, round 2 for all Xball teams, and the beginning of Race to 2 games. Saturday also brings more spectators and a certain group of people. There seems to be a distinct difference between Thursday and Friday, when the Xball prelims are played, and Saturday and Sunday, where all the spectators and 5-man teams arrive. On Thursday and Friday you have the serious players, the guys who have usually played for about 2 or 3 years, and have usually have played multiple National events, the Xball players. Most of the Xball players tend not be very flashy, they all wear proper paintball apparel (such as C9 or Eclipse name-brand playing pants, jerseys or long sleeves). Then you have the 5-man or Race to 2 teams, they are by far a different crowd, whether it be a younger crowd, or less experienced what seems to be the resounding explanation, they are the "agglets".
I've usually had a problem with this group of the paintball community, they focus on clothing, "rare" gear, custom anno'd guns, and bad playing habits, not progression of the sport, or even playing well. I tend to be a traditional player, I wear actual playing pants, I where a normal mask, (granted I put a flashy lens on it, it's a factory part, it's not custom or home-made), a normal jersey, and cleats. I focus on progressing the sport and playing the best I can. I don't care if people take pictures of me, (but it is nice sometimes) or whether my shoes match my gun. But these kids try to look "good", to me it's a joke. I would probably think differently if these kids were actually good and actually played well, but the fact is they don't.
Saturday morning the Semi-Pro team played, and I did as much as I did as much as I could, without being staff on the roster. I drove guys to the field, carried paint to the pits and coached on the spectator side. RNT did well and moved on to Sunday.
In the meantime I was able to check out the trade show and Pro games.
Trade show
Dye booth-
Dye had the largest display of the event, a full tractor trailer with tent. The usual Dye display with pounding music, flat screen TVs, and large product displays. On Thursday and Friday the large flat screen played promo videos and for the weekend played the PSP Webcast. Dye really didn't have a new products except for the Multi-tool, which was on my "buy it" list, but I was too distracted by the $25 Aftershock C9 Jerseys.
Luxe-
DLX had the usual "Luxe Manor" display, with Luxes lining the perimeter and at table in the back. Color kits, grips, batteries, chargers, Raza lazer engraved Dynasty Luxes, and other bits and pieces were for sale. Also a TV displaying the webcast was up, a nice touch. The tech tables were set up outside on right of the tent. I was having bolt stick issues with my Luxe from the last practice and I brought it to them on Thursday, they had it ready in 20 minutes, no charge, awesome customer service. On Saturday at noon Luxe had a Dynasty poster signing without a hitch.
Planet Eclipse-
The gentlemen from across the pond brought all the new stuff, the SL94, the gem studded Argyle Ego9, Etek2 and Geo. They also had a large flat screen displaying the webcast. Egos and Geos were displayed on the wall behind the counter and product such as hoodies, shirts, playing pants, jerseys, and gear bags lined the walls of the tent. Eclipse also had their tech tables set up, working on Egos and Geos all weekend.
Virtue-
Virtue, with licencing from the PSP had all the event apparel and I had to stop by to get an event t-shirt. They had all the OLED and other boards on display, as well as casual apparel. The Ulralite OLED board was unveiled over the weekend. The Crowns were also there, and the new Crown for the Dye Rotor.
The rest of the tents were MWAG, Mac Dev, Bob Long Technologies, Der Der, Empire/ Halo tech booth, Bad News, Feed Fast, Guerrilla Air, and Seventh Element.
Sunday rolls around, RNT beat XSV and moved on to play the undefeated Aftermath II, who barely beat RNT in overtime in the prelims. But the finals game was a complete one-sided match from Aftermath. They won 7-0.
After the final game I loaded up my 4Runner and drove about 6 people to the airport and proceeded on my way back to Florida. It was an uneventful ride, and I arrived back a little bit after midnight.
Overall it was a great week, and a lot of fun to be a part of. It was also, for me, the begining of playing national events.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Opinion and Perception
This is a response to a localized topic and opinion which is currently under debate, and a little bit of a lesson in human nature.
With the hotly debated topics in today's tournament scene comes the name calling, the hate and general douche-baggery of human nature... Or so you think.
Much of the hotly debated topics comes with a "fog of war" so to speak, each side whether in argument, negotiation, or even friendly talks. The actual point or facts become misconstrued and warped. The result is an unclear response, agreement, or decision, whether by misinterpretation or by lack of clarification.
If you’re lost let me explain.
Say side "A" has made a comment about side "B", and it is side "A"s nature to be somewhat satirical and sarcastic, it is also side "A"s intention to help and support side "B" with outside opinion that side "B" may not be aware of. Side "B" has also misinterpreted the opinion of side "A" and has since insulted side "A". Side "A" realizing what has happened responds with apologies and clarification. Side "B"s response is yet to be determined.
So basically the opinion expressed was perceived differently than expected. Maybe both sides need to give a little, one to be more clear, and the other to not take things so seriously and not to give the other side's opinion so much weight.
With the hotly debated topics in today's tournament scene comes the name calling, the hate and general douche-baggery of human nature... Or so you think.
Much of the hotly debated topics comes with a "fog of war" so to speak, each side whether in argument, negotiation, or even friendly talks. The actual point or facts become misconstrued and warped. The result is an unclear response, agreement, or decision, whether by misinterpretation or by lack of clarification.
If you’re lost let me explain.
Say side "A" has made a comment about side "B", and it is side "A"s nature to be somewhat satirical and sarcastic, it is also side "A"s intention to help and support side "B" with outside opinion that side "B" may not be aware of. Side "B" has also misinterpreted the opinion of side "A" and has since insulted side "A". Side "A" realizing what has happened responds with apologies and clarification. Side "B"s response is yet to be determined.
So basically the opinion expressed was perceived differently than expected. Maybe both sides need to give a little, one to be more clear, and the other to not take things so seriously and not to give the other side's opinion so much weight.
The National League... (of paintball). MAO part 2
After the Fierce match was the match against yet another Florida team, CFP. The match didn't start well for us, they went up 3-0 off the bat, but after a time out and some good coaching we were able to pull out 4 unanswered points, winning the match 4-3 in overtime. I was able to play the last 4 points, and I hung the overtime flag to win the match. The funny part was, I (being in my first national tournament and not having a full and complete memory of the rules) stood at the dead box waiting to hang the flag for 2 minutes until I realized that all OT games are sudden death. I had a good laugh about it later, but I looked stupid for about 2 minutes.
For the rest of Thursday I spent my time watching the pro games and watching my buddies from Total Karnage play.
Thursday night was pretty calm from all the stories you hear from the event, I was tired and just got some food and hit the hay for the night.
Friday, last day of D3 prelims. Our first match was against Adrenaline. We watched them play the day before and pretty much came into the game with high spirits. Tim decided to have me play center for the game, my job was to hold down the snake side until I found an opening to go up to the "Florida" or center medium dorito and do damage, then work my way up to the X. I played every point that game and we ended up winning 4-1. It was a fun game, and I was able to shine, stay alive and get some kills.
Moving on to the final game in prelims we were to play Misfit Toys Killerz, a team which we underestimated. They went 3-0 in games before us, and we were thirsty to give them their first loss. But we couldn't hold, after a tough battle, and 2 times being the last player alive, we became the 4th victim, losing 2-4. Again I was able to play every point and was quite pleased with my playing performance. I felt that I earned a spot on the first line and was able to prove that I wasn't only able to survive at that level, but thrive. I was able to make my bunkers, stay in my bunker and happen to shoot some people and hang a flag every once and a while.
Our bid to move on to play on Saturday was cut short, we missed it by 2 spots. But just because the competitive side of the event was done for us, didn't mean the event was over.
We still had the Semi-Pro team, RNT All-Starz in the running to win the Semi-Pro division. Now, you may ask "What does that matter? You're not playing on that team, why should you care?"
My answer is simple; because I'm part of the team, I'm a team player. Not just on the D3 Race to 4, but the larger team, the full Speed, RNT All Starz team.
Team player, not just an individual on a team.
For the rest of Thursday I spent my time watching the pro games and watching my buddies from Total Karnage play.
Thursday night was pretty calm from all the stories you hear from the event, I was tired and just got some food and hit the hay for the night.
Friday, last day of D3 prelims. Our first match was against Adrenaline. We watched them play the day before and pretty much came into the game with high spirits. Tim decided to have me play center for the game, my job was to hold down the snake side until I found an opening to go up to the "Florida" or center medium dorito and do damage, then work my way up to the X. I played every point that game and we ended up winning 4-1. It was a fun game, and I was able to shine, stay alive and get some kills.
Moving on to the final game in prelims we were to play Misfit Toys Killerz, a team which we underestimated. They went 3-0 in games before us, and we were thirsty to give them their first loss. But we couldn't hold, after a tough battle, and 2 times being the last player alive, we became the 4th victim, losing 2-4. Again I was able to play every point and was quite pleased with my playing performance. I felt that I earned a spot on the first line and was able to prove that I wasn't only able to survive at that level, but thrive. I was able to make my bunkers, stay in my bunker and happen to shoot some people and hang a flag every once and a while.
Our bid to move on to play on Saturday was cut short, we missed it by 2 spots. But just because the competitive side of the event was done for us, didn't mean the event was over.
We still had the Semi-Pro team, RNT All-Starz in the running to win the Semi-Pro division. Now, you may ask "What does that matter? You're not playing on that team, why should you care?"
My answer is simple; because I'm part of the team, I'm a team player. Not just on the D3 Race to 4, but the larger team, the full Speed, RNT All Starz team.
Team player, not just an individual on a team.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The National League... (of paintball). MAO part 1
PSP held their national yearly tournament in the Mid-Atlantic a few weekends ago. And guess who was there? You got it, me.
I always like to tell a story the way it begins, and in this case it's the drive to the event.
My event started with a one-hour drive to West Central Florida, near Wildwood on Tuesday night. I was going that way to meet up with the coach of the team I was going to play with the weekend; Speed playing D3 Race to-4 (Xball).The coach being Tim Altman, owner of Hudson's field Gator Paintball. The drive was the usual trip down the Turnpike and I met up with Tim and Bill around midnight. After meeting up we hit the road, north on I-75 eventually hitting I-95. Bill lead all the way up. Driving through the night and taking an hour rest break after hitting the South Carolina border, we arrived in Rock Hill at roughly 9:30am on Wednesday morning.
We immediately checked into the hotel and grabbed some much needed naps. By about noon we went to check out the event and walk the fields. The full team met up at the field at roughly 3 to go over strategy and for some to actually meet for the first time. One line of the team had practiced together before, the other 5 had never seen each other. I was one of the 5 who didn't know anyone on the team. After heading back to the hotel we talked and decided the lines, who would play with who. I was to play on the second line, the "throw together" line, and I was fine with it. I was my first national, big league event and any playing time for me was a triumph.
Thursday morning rolls around, wake up, load up, show up. Our first match was against Fierce, (us, a Florida team vs another Florida team). Our first line ran 2 back to back points, both ending in our victory. Then it was my line's turn. We started well, 5 bodies alive to the primary bunkers. I was playing snake. After about 3 minutes it was a one on one, me in snake and the other Fierce player running down the field on dorito side. He decided to try and run me down, but I threw a lane where I thought he would go and got him. Then I went and hung the flag, up 3 to 0. Then Fierce threw out their "A" game, beating us by winning the next 4 points. The last point was won because one of our players had a fast gun, a major penalty, leaving us to play the last point with 3 to start with.
More to come at a later post
I always like to tell a story the way it begins, and in this case it's the drive to the event.
My event started with a one-hour drive to West Central Florida, near Wildwood on Tuesday night. I was going that way to meet up with the coach of the team I was going to play with the weekend; Speed playing D3 Race to-4 (Xball).The coach being Tim Altman, owner of Hudson's field Gator Paintball. The drive was the usual trip down the Turnpike and I met up with Tim and Bill around midnight. After meeting up we hit the road, north on I-75 eventually hitting I-95. Bill lead all the way up. Driving through the night and taking an hour rest break after hitting the South Carolina border, we arrived in Rock Hill at roughly 9:30am on Wednesday morning.
We immediately checked into the hotel and grabbed some much needed naps. By about noon we went to check out the event and walk the fields. The full team met up at the field at roughly 3 to go over strategy and for some to actually meet for the first time. One line of the team had practiced together before, the other 5 had never seen each other. I was one of the 5 who didn't know anyone on the team. After heading back to the hotel we talked and decided the lines, who would play with who. I was to play on the second line, the "throw together" line, and I was fine with it. I was my first national, big league event and any playing time for me was a triumph.
Thursday morning rolls around, wake up, load up, show up. Our first match was against Fierce, (us, a Florida team vs another Florida team). Our first line ran 2 back to back points, both ending in our victory. Then it was my line's turn. We started well, 5 bodies alive to the primary bunkers. I was playing snake. After about 3 minutes it was a one on one, me in snake and the other Fierce player running down the field on dorito side. He decided to try and run me down, but I threw a lane where I thought he would go and got him. Then I went and hung the flag, up 3 to 0. Then Fierce threw out their "A" game, beating us by winning the next 4 points. The last point was won because one of our players had a fast gun, a major penalty, leaving us to play the last point with 3 to start with.
More to come at a later post
Monday, April 27, 2009
Let It Be Known to All
CFPS Event #3 was the worst event I have ever attended.
The management was mediocre at best, the reffing was horrible, absolutely horrible. But you can get by with bad reffing on one field, maybe 2 at an event. But EVERY SINGLE field had horrible reffing.
It wasn't like this for the first 2 events.
By my understanding of the PSP rules, for a hit to be valid it must contact the player and leave a visible amount of paint equal or greater than that of a dime.
I, and my team was being called eliminated for spray, (less than the size of a dime) or old (hits that have faded and are clearly not new). It was horrible and pathetic.
Maybe I'll go play SPCS (sarcasm)
The management was mediocre at best, the reffing was horrible, absolutely horrible. But you can get by with bad reffing on one field, maybe 2 at an event. But EVERY SINGLE field had horrible reffing.
It wasn't like this for the first 2 events.
By my understanding of the PSP rules, for a hit to be valid it must contact the player and leave a visible amount of paint equal or greater than that of a dime.
I, and my team was being called eliminated for spray, (less than the size of a dime) or old (hits that have faded and are clearly not new). It was horrible and pathetic.
Maybe I'll go play SPCS (sarcasm)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Injury
Haven't posted in a long while, there hasn't been much to write about lately.
I want to get some things that I want to mention out of the way first, before I get to the "Bread and butter" of this post:
USPL DC Challenge field layout is supposedly "under review" by the USPL upper-ranks, because the players didn't like the layout. I guess it is a true "Players League" if there ever was one.
This is the longest time period from the first PSP event to the second PSP event of the year (Phoenix to Mid Atlantic)
USPL DC Challenge is coming up sooner than you think.
Ok, now on today's topic.
Injury
Practice was on Saturday this past weekend, and 1 week and 1 day from the event (CFPS Event #3) and I strained or sprained my left ring finger. I was sliding in to snake and caught my finger in the dirt.
Ouch! AND it was the first scrim of the day. I'm not sure, as of now, how bad the injury is, I need yet to get it professionally checked out. For the rest of the day I tapped my injured finger to my good pinkie finger and played the rest of the day without incident. After removing the tape, roughly 3 hours later after playing, my hand was swollen up. Not black or blue luckily. For the rest of the day I had to work, and held ice packs to my hand while doing my work. The swelling has since subsided some, but parts of my palm are now bruised.
So what about the event? Well, that has yet to be determined. I need to see a doctor and get an X-ray and see what the doc says. I have a bad feeling that I'm going to end up in a finger cast for a few weeks. But I know if that does happen I'm going to play the event, come Hell or high water, or in this case, doctor's advise. Play through the pain, it's just another road-block.
So what injuries put players out of the game? What does it take, strains, sprains, fractures, breaks? In some cases, none of the above. Look at Damage from Phoenix, granted Damage is a Pro team, and some of this doesn't necessarily apply to lower ranked teams; they sustained a major injury from the event. Brandon Rittinghouse's cracked rib kept him from playing his best, but as I recall he still played. So when your a pro player, do you put the pain aside to play, but when your a D4 player, do you sit out?
I'm choosing to play, because I feel I can keep myself from sustaining any further injury and I feel that I need to play, to not let my team down after all the practice and work.
So where do you draw the line?
It's the player's decision to make; the individual player has to decide, "Do I risk further injury, or do I play it safe?"
And by the way, the week after CFPS Event #3 is MAO, the PSP's Mid Atlantic Open, and ...
I'm playing that one too :)
I want to get some things that I want to mention out of the way first, before I get to the "Bread and butter" of this post:
USPL DC Challenge field layout is supposedly "under review" by the USPL upper-ranks, because the players didn't like the layout. I guess it is a true "Players League" if there ever was one.
This is the longest time period from the first PSP event to the second PSP event of the year (Phoenix to Mid Atlantic)
USPL DC Challenge is coming up sooner than you think.
Ok, now on today's topic.
Injury
Practice was on Saturday this past weekend, and 1 week and 1 day from the event (CFPS Event #3) and I strained or sprained my left ring finger. I was sliding in to snake and caught my finger in the dirt.
Ouch! AND it was the first scrim of the day. I'm not sure, as of now, how bad the injury is, I need yet to get it professionally checked out. For the rest of the day I tapped my injured finger to my good pinkie finger and played the rest of the day without incident. After removing the tape, roughly 3 hours later after playing, my hand was swollen up. Not black or blue luckily. For the rest of the day I had to work, and held ice packs to my hand while doing my work. The swelling has since subsided some, but parts of my palm are now bruised.
So what about the event? Well, that has yet to be determined. I need to see a doctor and get an X-ray and see what the doc says. I have a bad feeling that I'm going to end up in a finger cast for a few weeks. But I know if that does happen I'm going to play the event, come Hell or high water, or in this case, doctor's advise. Play through the pain, it's just another road-block.
So what injuries put players out of the game? What does it take, strains, sprains, fractures, breaks? In some cases, none of the above. Look at Damage from Phoenix, granted Damage is a Pro team, and some of this doesn't necessarily apply to lower ranked teams; they sustained a major injury from the event. Brandon Rittinghouse's cracked rib kept him from playing his best, but as I recall he still played. So when your a pro player, do you put the pain aside to play, but when your a D4 player, do you sit out?
I'm choosing to play, because I feel I can keep myself from sustaining any further injury and I feel that I need to play, to not let my team down after all the practice and work.
So where do you draw the line?
It's the player's decision to make; the individual player has to decide, "Do I risk further injury, or do I play it safe?"
And by the way, the week after CFPS Event #3 is MAO, the PSP's Mid Atlantic Open, and ...
I'm playing that one too :)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I'm out to prove you wrong
"The new generation of players has no respect for the game." "They don't know or care about the history." "All of them want something for nothing"
The typical gripes and comments regarding the "new school" players from the guys that have been in the sport the longest. And I have to agree with them, well mostly agree with them. The majority of new tournament, divisional players don't know the history of the game, and some don't care. Some get mommy and daddy buy them the new, four figure, "hot gun" on the market. They get the new gear every year at Cup, or online. And they do this when they could perfectly well work for it and pay for it themselves.
I'm not talking about the kid who gets this as birthday present, or the kid who helped his parents out at home and did chores. I'm talking about the spoiled kids.
There is a small group of new players that do care, that work for their gear and paint. These are the guys who will work, reffing for a day for a case of paint to use tomorrow at practice. The players that save all year for enough money to buy a used gun from 2 years ago.
I like to believe that I'm with the latter group. I work at a local field so I can play paintball. When I first started playing, before I was old enough to get a job, my parents paid for me to play. I had to do chores around the house, keep my grades up, the usual deal. But, right when I was old enough to start working, I did. I started out reffing at the local field for a case of paint every day. As time passed I was soon getting store credit, allowing me to get most of the pieces and parts I needed, barrels, tanks, hoppers, a gear bag. Finally I worked my way up to getting an actual paycheck. Granted it was minimum wage, but it was all I needed. I worked 8 hours a day, as much as I legally could. I got a savings account, and I saved every dime I could. I was finally able to get the expensive, top of the line, most technically advanced marker I could. Sometimes I actually hated playing on weekends, because it was time I could have been using to work. When I went home I was constantly reading up on all the latest gear, constantly gaining knowledge of everything I could. I gained knowledge from the people around me and from the experience I received reffing. I gave 100% all the time, and it paid off. Because I had researched products, read rules and gained all the knowledge I had, I earned a spot working in the ProShop.
I kept giving 100%. Every month or so we had new reffs that were taking the same path I did. I did my best to try and pass on all the information and knowledge I had.
I was lucky to get that opportunity, and I am thankful I did.
I wish all the other players had that determination, and I’m making it my job to try and give them that determination. I also made it my job to try and change the notion that the "new school" is a bunch of lazy, trend following, zombies that don't care.
The typical gripes and comments regarding the "new school" players from the guys that have been in the sport the longest. And I have to agree with them, well mostly agree with them. The majority of new tournament, divisional players don't know the history of the game, and some don't care. Some get mommy and daddy buy them the new, four figure, "hot gun" on the market. They get the new gear every year at Cup, or online. And they do this when they could perfectly well work for it and pay for it themselves.
I'm not talking about the kid who gets this as birthday present, or the kid who helped his parents out at home and did chores. I'm talking about the spoiled kids.
There is a small group of new players that do care, that work for their gear and paint. These are the guys who will work, reffing for a day for a case of paint to use tomorrow at practice. The players that save all year for enough money to buy a used gun from 2 years ago.
I like to believe that I'm with the latter group. I work at a local field so I can play paintball. When I first started playing, before I was old enough to get a job, my parents paid for me to play. I had to do chores around the house, keep my grades up, the usual deal. But, right when I was old enough to start working, I did. I started out reffing at the local field for a case of paint every day. As time passed I was soon getting store credit, allowing me to get most of the pieces and parts I needed, barrels, tanks, hoppers, a gear bag. Finally I worked my way up to getting an actual paycheck. Granted it was minimum wage, but it was all I needed. I worked 8 hours a day, as much as I legally could. I got a savings account, and I saved every dime I could. I was finally able to get the expensive, top of the line, most technically advanced marker I could. Sometimes I actually hated playing on weekends, because it was time I could have been using to work. When I went home I was constantly reading up on all the latest gear, constantly gaining knowledge of everything I could. I gained knowledge from the people around me and from the experience I received reffing. I gave 100% all the time, and it paid off. Because I had researched products, read rules and gained all the knowledge I had, I earned a spot working in the ProShop.
I kept giving 100%. Every month or so we had new reffs that were taking the same path I did. I did my best to try and pass on all the information and knowledge I had.
I was lucky to get that opportunity, and I am thankful I did.
I wish all the other players had that determination, and I’m making it my job to try and give them that determination. I also made it my job to try and change the notion that the "new school" is a bunch of lazy, trend following, zombies that don't care.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The amount of fields closing down is astounding
Between working on Saturday and Sunday (today) I've received 2 calls at work asking for the owner of the shop. Both were from former field owners who were trying to liquidate paintball field supplies such as netting, poles, whole fields, merchandise and more. That's a sad truth. I'll go in depth on this subject at a later time.
Friday, March 13, 2009
NPPL 2009.... Er... USPL 2009
The USPL released the "new" rulebook for 2009. It looks very similar to that of the NPPL in 2008, with minor changes. ProPaintball.com has the low-down HERE. Personally, I never paid too much attention to NPPL, it really didn't seem like the NPPL was all that important. It seemed much like a West coast league. And compared to X-ball, isn't really all that exciting. In my opinion, 7-man should have a ROF cap. The old NPPL didn't see many big, exciting moves like we do in X-ball because every player was just sitting behind a bunker holding a lane down. The USPL could have semi-auto, with a ROF cap of 18 bps. That will keep your semi-auto fan boys happy, because they can keep they're triggers as bouncy and illegal as usual. That will hopefully keep your unlimited bps fan boys happy because it's a high ROF. Even though hitting 18 bps with a legal trigger is unheard of.
The USPL seems to be resurrecting the old NPPL, which seems like a good idea seeing that the NPPL was doing well with events. As long as the USPL can run the events correctly and run this season as the NPPL would have, it'll be considered a successful year.
I guess we'll see how it goes, Huntington Beach is only a few weeks away.
The USPL seems to be resurrecting the old NPPL, which seems like a good idea seeing that the NPPL was doing well with events. As long as the USPL can run the events correctly and run this season as the NPPL would have, it'll be considered a successful year.
I guess we'll see how it goes, Huntington Beach is only a few weeks away.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A history lesson about the D (divisional) List- part 3
Now, after the sport has created a foot-hold we have continued to evolve, slowly making the changes necessary to become what skateboarding and other extremes sports have been: mainstream. We almost reached the mainstream holy grail a few years ago, or at least got a look at what the Holy Grail could be. Again, television. In 2006 with the Smart Parts Paintball World Championships on ESPN, and then in 2007 and 2008 with "Behind The Paint" on FSN covering the pro NPPL players.
Then as it was starting to look so good, and we were in the lime light, the bubble of Pacific Paintball burst; the death of the NPPL, PB2X, the XSPL. The Liquidation of the NPPL left the PSP as the only league during the off-season. The PSP and NPPL were actually set to meet on unification of the two leagues. The PSP would have been handling the program inside the netting and the NPPL would have been handling everything outside the netting. But with the bankruptcy that meeting never happened. The PSP set out for new rule changes, lowering the BPS cap from 13.3, which changed in 2008 and now made it 12.5 BPS for Pro and Semi-Pro divisions and 10.5 BPS from everyone else. For a few weeks it looked like the PSP would be the only national tournament league. Then the USPL, a 7 man and lower divisional 5 man league came about, a player's league, for the players by the players: the Pro players. One of the most important changes was the PSP's support of regional leagues and regional events. Which caused the beginning of a new division for regional events, D5. Now most regional events consist of D2, D3, D4 and D5 5-man, or as it is called now Race2 to 2. The CFOA stands as one of the only regional leagues that holds X-ball events.Or Race2 4 or Race2 5. And now a Universal Classifation Program, lead by APPA and Chris Raehl, that is supposed to keep a D3 player a D3 player no matter where they are in the world and what tournament they play. As discussed in many VFTD (View From The Deadbox) Posts http://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/ there was a system for players to move up, but no way to maintain a ranking, basically being forced up the rankings. Then to end up getting blown away as a D2 player, when they're really an average D3 player. Resulting in being "forced out" of the tournament scene.
The change that PSP made and what cause it has on the player on the D-List is another post to come.
Then as it was starting to look so good, and we were in the lime light, the bubble of Pacific Paintball burst; the death of the NPPL, PB2X, the XSPL. The Liquidation of the NPPL left the PSP as the only league during the off-season. The PSP and NPPL were actually set to meet on unification of the two leagues. The PSP would have been handling the program inside the netting and the NPPL would have been handling everything outside the netting. But with the bankruptcy that meeting never happened. The PSP set out for new rule changes, lowering the BPS cap from 13.3, which changed in 2008 and now made it 12.5 BPS for Pro and Semi-Pro divisions and 10.5 BPS from everyone else. For a few weeks it looked like the PSP would be the only national tournament league. Then the USPL, a 7 man and lower divisional 5 man league came about, a player's league, for the players by the players: the Pro players. One of the most important changes was the PSP's support of regional leagues and regional events. Which caused the beginning of a new division for regional events, D5. Now most regional events consist of D2, D3, D4 and D5 5-man, or as it is called now Race2 to 2. The CFOA stands as one of the only regional leagues that holds X-ball events.Or Race2 4 or Race2 5. And now a Universal Classifation Program, lead by APPA and Chris Raehl, that is supposed to keep a D3 player a D3 player no matter where they are in the world and what tournament they play. As discussed in many VFTD (View From The Deadbox) Posts http://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/ there was a system for players to move up, but no way to maintain a ranking, basically being forced up the rankings. Then to end up getting blown away as a D2 player, when they're really an average D3 player. Resulting in being "forced out" of the tournament scene.
The change that PSP made and what cause it has on the player on the D-List is another post to come.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Another version of Paintball history
The Paintball Agenda is doing a multi-part series of posts on the history of paintball.
It can be found here:
Paintball Agenda History Part 1
It can be found here:
Paintball Agenda History Part 1
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A history lesson about the D (divisional) List- part 2
Television. (This is a subject for a later post in greater detail)
World Cup (in the woods playing 10 man) was on ESPN. Yeah, ESPN, cable television to the masses. It was in Kissimmee, Florida, the first Paintball World, no more than 10 minutes from where the current World Cup takes place. Television changed everything. Arguably it was the reason we came out of the woods. We had a taste of the pie in the sky and we wanted more.
Then in the last 9 years, it seems to be the greatest leap we, as a sport, have made in the marathon to a mainstream sport. Paintball was unregulated, and the 2000's brought on paintball associations, and the e dawn of the tournament series. Back then. there was 1 league, and 2 divisions in paintball. Pro and amateur. In your area there were few teams, and if you were lucky you got to practice, or get slaughtered by, a pro team as practice. And slowly, camouflage turned to bright motorcross style jerseys. Woods turned first to dirt mounds, (little known fact) then to Hyperball tubes (the black, plastic, corrugated construction tubing) and then finally to the Angel Airball fields (yup Angel, WDP, now Angel Paintball Sports). The first electronic paintball markers were invented, and the big manufactures got their fame during this time. The E-blade for the Autococker (where Eclipse got their start), the Angel markers, RT Automags, Peuno-Ventures (the company that originally made the shoebox Shocker Sport), Smart Parts, ADG, Spyder, Tippmann, Bob Long and the Intimidator, the Diablo Matrix (soon to be the Dye Matrix) were the big companies. And there was no rate of fire cap, there were no referees (you checked yourself). Then the big leagues started.
Then the split. The NPPL and PSP become two different leagues. This was the beginning of the D-List. This was the beginning of classifications, where you didn't have to play pros at every tournament. This was the very beginning of X-ball. The cutting of team sizes, from 10 to 5 in PSP and the change from 10 to 7 for NPPL. The rate of fire evolved from however fast you could pump your gun, to however fast you could pull the trigger, to however fast your gun could cycle and how fast your hopper could feed, and then finally to a universal PSP ball per second cap of 15. The NPPL was always uncapped semi-automatic. (I rarely call shooting unlimited semi-automatic a skill, because now it is no longer a "skill" but a combination of trigger-bounce and mis-named "skill"). New technology was the catalyst for the new changes, as well as moving away from the woods, away from realistic, to branding the sport differently. No longer war-games, now actual sport, branding as a sport, not a hobby.
World Cup (in the woods playing 10 man) was on ESPN. Yeah, ESPN, cable television to the masses. It was in Kissimmee, Florida, the first Paintball World, no more than 10 minutes from where the current World Cup takes place. Television changed everything. Arguably it was the reason we came out of the woods. We had a taste of the pie in the sky and we wanted more.
Then in the last 9 years, it seems to be the greatest leap we, as a sport, have made in the marathon to a mainstream sport. Paintball was unregulated, and the 2000's brought on paintball associations, and the e dawn of the tournament series. Back then. there was 1 league, and 2 divisions in paintball. Pro and amateur. In your area there were few teams, and if you were lucky you got to practice, or get slaughtered by, a pro team as practice. And slowly, camouflage turned to bright motorcross style jerseys. Woods turned first to dirt mounds, (little known fact) then to Hyperball tubes (the black, plastic, corrugated construction tubing) and then finally to the Angel Airball fields (yup Angel, WDP, now Angel Paintball Sports). The first electronic paintball markers were invented, and the big manufactures got their fame during this time. The E-blade for the Autococker (where Eclipse got their start), the Angel markers, RT Automags, Peuno-Ventures (the company that originally made the shoebox Shocker Sport), Smart Parts, ADG, Spyder, Tippmann, Bob Long and the Intimidator, the Diablo Matrix (soon to be the Dye Matrix) were the big companies. And there was no rate of fire cap, there were no referees (you checked yourself). Then the big leagues started.
Then the split. The NPPL and PSP become two different leagues. This was the beginning of the D-List. This was the beginning of classifications, where you didn't have to play pros at every tournament. This was the very beginning of X-ball. The cutting of team sizes, from 10 to 5 in PSP and the change from 10 to 7 for NPPL. The rate of fire evolved from however fast you could pump your gun, to however fast you could pull the trigger, to however fast your gun could cycle and how fast your hopper could feed, and then finally to a universal PSP ball per second cap of 15. The NPPL was always uncapped semi-automatic. (I rarely call shooting unlimited semi-automatic a skill, because now it is no longer a "skill" but a combination of trigger-bounce and mis-named "skill"). New technology was the catalyst for the new changes, as well as moving away from the woods, away from realistic, to branding the sport differently. No longer war-games, now actual sport, branding as a sport, not a hobby.
The Short End of the Stick- USF's Story. CFPS #2
Sunday; every divisional team's dream. Surviving the prelims and moving on to play the elite in their division. But this is no PSP National event.
This is CFPS, Central Florida Paintball Series, held at CFP in Lakeland Florida. A regional event, with the theme of the series: "Race to World Cup". Winners of their respective divisions at the end of the series win entry to World Cup in October, with seeding points. Event 1 was a smaller event compared to this. Round 1 was held on Sunday January 25th, 2009. Compared to last year's SPCS events this one was small. (The SPCS is another story for another post)Event 1 was 28 paid teams, playing on 3 fields. Now compare that event to last Sunday, Event 2, and you'll see a different picture. Event 2 had 41 paid teams. Yeah, a regional 5-man event drew out 41 teams between D5, D4, D3 and Masters. The other closest 5 man series, the SPCS, which is now separate and at a new location, drew 32 teams in late February with D5, D4, D3 and three D2 teams.
The story I'm here to tell is the one you would only hear from the fans of this team, or the team members themselves. This is USF's story.
This lesson is a theme in the D-List, a theme in divisional 5-man:
You don't have to be the best team playing to win; you just have to be the best when it counts.
This rings even more true when you're using the old style of PSP 5-man scoring. (The scoring system where you get 4pts per elimination, 2pts for each of your live players, 20pts for the first flag pull and 50pts for the flag hang. The new Race2-2 plays out a little differently.
Here’s the story of USF (University of South Florida) Bulls D5 team:
These guys go to college and play paintball. This Sunday they started out going 6 wins and no losses in the prelims. They had a total score of 578, the highest scoring team in prelims. They moved on to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the top 4 teams advance to finals, to play 3 games. The highest cumulative score will win finals. In the semis the Bulls won 2 of 3 games, combining for a score of 192. Looking at this from the outside that score would probably easily put them into the finals. But the rest of the bracket was much tighter, the highest score after Semi's being 210- Fatality Blue, then Stirr Chili and NXK Reaction tied with a score of 204, finally SPEED with a score of 198. The Bulls missed the mark by 6 points.
Here's the link to APPA for D5 Semi-Finals:
http://www.paintball-players.org/scores/L20/scores956_5_1_Scores.html
Yeah, they went 8 and 1 and didn't make the cut for finals. That's how the point system worked out. The new Race2-2 would have probably put the Bulls into finals.
Finals rolled around, and the above 4 teams moved on. Each played 3 games. Two teams went 2 and 1, Fatality Blue and Stirr Chili, both ending up with a tie score of 202. SPEED and NXK Reaction both went 1 and 2, SPEED edging out NXK by 2 points to take 3rd. Back to the tie: Fatality and Stirr Chili both played each other with Fatality winning, 4 players alive. Fatality Blue took the top spot and Stirr Chili ended the day 8 and 4 taking 2nd place.
CFPS D5-
1. Fatality Blue
2. Stirr Chili
3. SPEED
4. NXK Reaction Black
CFPS D4-
1. Fatality Red
2. ECE
3. Stealth All Stars
4. TU Stealth
CFPS D3-
1. TU Infusion
2. Merk Status White
3. Fatality Orange
4. Annihilators
MASTERS
1. CFP MASTERS
2. Men At Work
3. Wicked
This is CFPS, Central Florida Paintball Series, held at CFP in Lakeland Florida. A regional event, with the theme of the series: "Race to World Cup". Winners of their respective divisions at the end of the series win entry to World Cup in October, with seeding points. Event 1 was a smaller event compared to this. Round 1 was held on Sunday January 25th, 2009. Compared to last year's SPCS events this one was small. (The SPCS is another story for another post)Event 1 was 28 paid teams, playing on 3 fields. Now compare that event to last Sunday, Event 2, and you'll see a different picture. Event 2 had 41 paid teams. Yeah, a regional 5-man event drew out 41 teams between D5, D4, D3 and Masters. The other closest 5 man series, the SPCS, which is now separate and at a new location, drew 32 teams in late February with D5, D4, D3 and three D2 teams.
The story I'm here to tell is the one you would only hear from the fans of this team, or the team members themselves. This is USF's story.
This lesson is a theme in the D-List, a theme in divisional 5-man:
You don't have to be the best team playing to win; you just have to be the best when it counts.
This rings even more true when you're using the old style of PSP 5-man scoring. (The scoring system where you get 4pts per elimination, 2pts for each of your live players, 20pts for the first flag pull and 50pts for the flag hang. The new Race2-2 plays out a little differently.
Here’s the story of USF (University of South Florida) Bulls D5 team:
These guys go to college and play paintball. This Sunday they started out going 6 wins and no losses in the prelims. They had a total score of 578, the highest scoring team in prelims. They moved on to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the top 4 teams advance to finals, to play 3 games. The highest cumulative score will win finals. In the semis the Bulls won 2 of 3 games, combining for a score of 192. Looking at this from the outside that score would probably easily put them into the finals. But the rest of the bracket was much tighter, the highest score after Semi's being 210- Fatality Blue, then Stirr Chili and NXK Reaction tied with a score of 204, finally SPEED with a score of 198. The Bulls missed the mark by 6 points.
Here's the link to APPA for D5 Semi-Finals:
http://www.paintball-players.org/scores/L20/scores956_5_1_Scores.html
Yeah, they went 8 and 1 and didn't make the cut for finals. That's how the point system worked out. The new Race2-2 would have probably put the Bulls into finals.
Finals rolled around, and the above 4 teams moved on. Each played 3 games. Two teams went 2 and 1, Fatality Blue and Stirr Chili, both ending up with a tie score of 202. SPEED and NXK Reaction both went 1 and 2, SPEED edging out NXK by 2 points to take 3rd. Back to the tie: Fatality and Stirr Chili both played each other with Fatality winning, 4 players alive. Fatality Blue took the top spot and Stirr Chili ended the day 8 and 4 taking 2nd place.
CFPS D5-
1. Fatality Blue
2. Stirr Chili
3. SPEED
4. NXK Reaction Black
CFPS D4-
1. Fatality Red
2. ECE
3. Stealth All Stars
4. TU Stealth
CFPS D3-
1. TU Infusion
2. Merk Status White
3. Fatality Orange
4. Annihilators
MASTERS
1. CFP MASTERS
2. Men At Work
3. Wicked
Monday, March 9, 2009
A history lesson about the D (divisional) List- part 1
"It came from the woods" (as Baca Loco's description) and no, I'm not talking about the latest horror movie.
Few players know how we got where we are in tournament paintball. Now is the closest paintball has been to a mainstream sport. (Well, if the economy improves soon). Paintball, as it is known now, is much different from the "Survival Game" as it was named back in the early days. You can call "The Survival Game" the first chapter, where our story begins. Back then the game was brand new and this name was the first effort on branding the future sport.
Now looking back, that name might have turned you off if you were a new player. It also shows why the sport took the huge jump in the number of players we saw during the 90's and 2000's. The Survival Game was just as it sounds, pretty much war with paint guns. Paint was $100 or more a case and a case would almost last you a year. Back then there were no divisions, and no competition. In the 80's you would have called paintball a hobby, because it was played on the weekends, and only for pure fun.
Then in the 90's, along came the sport's time of change...the very beginning of the progress out of the woods. This is the point where the "Legendary" paintball players of today got their start, Bob Long, ChrisLaSoya, Dave Youngblood. The legendary teams, Aftershock, Avalanche, Ironmen , All-Americans, Doom Troopers (actually 1986). At this time in the evolution we moved from hobby to more and more of a sport. You had your tournament 10 man. Your first "Professional" players were here, competing on the weekends and working on home-made paint gun modifications during the week, after long days of work. DYE (DaveYoungblood Enterprises) started in a garage making aftermarket barrels. The Autococker and Automag came into existence evolved from pumps. Pump guns became semi-automatic paintball markers. Tippmann made the first semi-auto marker. The Shocker Sport, the Angel series of markers also came into the scene. Sypder and Tippmanns were high-end markers. We began using goggles, (no not the full face masks of today, but skiing-type goggles) rather than shooting glasses, or no protection. Paintball was still in the woods however. And still in the woods we had our first shot at the "Big Time", the Holy Grail of paintball, the best way to market anything to Americans, television
Few players know how we got where we are in tournament paintball. Now is the closest paintball has been to a mainstream sport. (Well, if the economy improves soon). Paintball, as it is known now, is much different from the "Survival Game" as it was named back in the early days. You can call "The Survival Game" the first chapter, where our story begins. Back then the game was brand new and this name was the first effort on branding the future sport.
Now looking back, that name might have turned you off if you were a new player. It also shows why the sport took the huge jump in the number of players we saw during the 90's and 2000's. The Survival Game was just as it sounds, pretty much war with paint guns. Paint was $100 or more a case and a case would almost last you a year. Back then there were no divisions, and no competition. In the 80's you would have called paintball a hobby, because it was played on the weekends, and only for pure fun.
Then in the 90's, along came the sport's time of change...the very beginning of the progress out of the woods. This is the point where the "Legendary" paintball players of today got their start, Bob Long, ChrisLaSoya, Dave Youngblood. The legendary teams, Aftershock, Avalanche, Ironmen , All-Americans, Doom Troopers (actually 1986). At this time in the evolution we moved from hobby to more and more of a sport. You had your tournament 10 man. Your first "Professional" players were here, competing on the weekends and working on home-made paint gun modifications during the week, after long days of work. DYE (DaveYoungblood Enterprises) started in a garage making aftermarket barrels. The Autococker and Automag came into existence evolved from pumps. Pump guns became semi-automatic paintball markers. Tippmann made the first semi-auto marker. The Shocker Sport, the Angel series of markers also came into the scene. Sypder and Tippmanns were high-end markers. We began using goggles, (no not the full face masks of today, but skiing-type goggles) rather than shooting glasses, or no protection. Paintball was still in the woods however. And still in the woods we had our first shot at the "Big Time", the Holy Grail of paintball, the best way to market anything to Americans, television
The First-
Welcome to the blog- "Life on the paintball D-List"
The purpose of the blog is to bring to light all the happenings of the so called "grass-roots" levels of the tournament paintball scene. (And maybe some scenario-rec ball- big game stuff along the way)
What is the D-List?-
This is the divisional level of paintball, the "grass-roots" as it's been labeled. These are the players who pay $40-80 for a case of paint, the players who work or go to school from Monday to Friday, then show up on a Saturday or Sunday to try and battle it out for Glory and Pride, with little or NO sponsorship (and if your very, very lucky, a prize or even less often money) And if your so lucky enough to get money it's not nearly how much you put in to get to this point, but money non-the less. Life on the D-list is dreams. Dreams of fame and glory that might be a little inflated right now, but the hope that in the future you can move off the D-List and to the upper-echelons of paintball- The "Pros". The hope that in the future you could actually play paintball as a "profession" and actually make enough money to do a little better than get by.
Why is the D-List important?-
This is roughly 86% or more of the paintball tournament community. These are the players that fund the upper levels of tournament paintball. This is the player with the 0ne-year-old gun and the duct-tape holding the battery door on the hopper closed. The players with little or no sponsors, and little or no money. The players who's parents help pay for equipment and entry or paint for events or practices. This is the beginning, these are the new pro-players, the new-school. These players are the future of paintball.
-Welcome to life on the D-List
The purpose of the blog is to bring to light all the happenings of the so called "grass-roots" levels of the tournament paintball scene. (And maybe some scenario-rec ball- big game stuff along the way)
What is the D-List?-
This is the divisional level of paintball, the "grass-roots" as it's been labeled. These are the players who pay $40-80 for a case of paint, the players who work or go to school from Monday to Friday, then show up on a Saturday or Sunday to try and battle it out for Glory and Pride, with little or NO sponsorship (and if your very, very lucky, a prize or even less often money) And if your so lucky enough to get money it's not nearly how much you put in to get to this point, but money non-the less. Life on the D-list is dreams. Dreams of fame and glory that might be a little inflated right now, but the hope that in the future you can move off the D-List and to the upper-echelons of paintball- The "Pros". The hope that in the future you could actually play paintball as a "profession" and actually make enough money to do a little better than get by.
Why is the D-List important?-
This is roughly 86% or more of the paintball tournament community. These are the players that fund the upper levels of tournament paintball. This is the player with the 0ne-year-old gun and the duct-tape holding the battery door on the hopper closed. The players with little or no sponsors, and little or no money. The players who's parents help pay for equipment and entry or paint for events or practices. This is the beginning, these are the new pro-players, the new-school. These players are the future of paintball.
-Welcome to life on the D-List
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