12.31.2008
12.09.2008
If you were involved in tournament paintball in the late 1990s early 2000s you were part of something very special that may never happen again. The industry for the most part was small and working together to better the sport. the atmosphere around NPPL events was electric, especially the World Cup. it was a party with your best friends and when you were there you knew in your heart that you were part of some thing great.
DYE, National Paintball supply,and smartparts had there huge ass semi trucks that fold out into booths. there was a mixture of fields from woods to hyper (witch used to belong to dye precision, they were the last to convert to air ball bunkers), to air ball. Kingman brought a DJ shocktech had a great setup with a bad ass sound system, and then there was WDP and the infamous Angel heaven. walking around you would bump into major people in the industry and they were cool to talk to.Playing these events was amazing, even if you were a division B player you could and probably would draw a pro team to play against. Aftershock (with Danny Love) and Avalanche (pre Jeremy Salms), and image were the teams to beat back then, things were awesome.
paintball traveled with the warped tour, VANS made shoes specific to our sport..... and some where along the lines things started to slip.
fast foreward just a couple years and you have a league split down the middle. the NPPL bankrupt, An industry that said "forget building a bigger pie I want my slice now" and players that have changed the sport they loved to have a better shot at getting their face on TV, we no longer are seeing as many new players coming up because we are scaring them off before they get a foot in the door. local fields and stores are closing because they can't keep themselves alive in the current market.
the most profound conversation I have had with Tom Kaye was at IAO 2003, he was talking about always looking forward to the event because a lot of the big names would get together at Ms. Dobbins (from ICD ) place and brainstorm about how to make the sport better for the players and the industry, But he said they could no longer do that because of all the lawsuits being thrown around, later that year Tom retired from paintball ..... we need more Tom kayes
12.07.2008
NPPL Bankruptcy
"Pacific Paintball and its subsidiaries will be filing proceedings under the United States Bankruptcy Code to effect a liquidation of their respective assets and business operations. The affairs and assets of Pacific Paintball LLC, NPPL LLC, XPSL LLC, PB2X LLC, Xtreme Paintball Fields LLC and Camp Pendleton Paintball LLC will be administered by a court appointed trustee in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court will provide you with written instructions regarding how and where to file any claims in this matter.
Despite doing all we could do, we were unable to make the business a viable concern. Further, in this severe economic climate, we were unable to secure new funding. It is a truly regrettable outcome, though one which is unfortunately occurring more and more frequently in this environment. We thank all those who have supported us"
Earlier this week this press release was sent out signaling the end of an era in paintball. there have been a lot of mixed emotions from the playing community.
most of the NPPL teams I have talked to are in a daze and doing there best to figure out what they are going to be doing this season.
some of the people on the paintball forums are saying that this is a good thing because it should unify tournament paintball, having only one major league in the US, but I am not that optimistic. I do not think that the PSP will be able to keep it together with the HUGE influx of players that may be coming there way and the first few deciding events may become a logistical nightmare.
if all of the teams playing in the NPPL hopped over to PSP events, it would just about double the size of the league.
the PSP already runs for 4 days with the players that they have, so the events would most likely be a week long. and for the most part the players are not in a position the be able to take 5-6 weeks off of work or school per year.
plus there are people like me who do not have faith in the way the PSP is setting its rules.
I do not think that ramping has a place in tournament paintball.
the ASTM standards set forth by the paintball manufacturers are put in place for a reason, to keep the companies safe from lawsuits as long as they build markers withing the ASTM guidelines
and in those guidelines it states 1 trigger pull, one ball, pump or semi auto action only.
on top of that I spent a LONG time learning my gear and how to make it shoot
it is a skill that is lost to ramping, now every twelve year kid can pull the trigger three times and hold down a lane.
the PSP fans will say that the ramping rule was put in place to curb cheating, and in a sense it does, if you change the rules to allow cheating, I guess it is no longer cheating, but all that would have had to be done is to talk to the board manufacturers and make them add a mini usb connector to the boards so they could be flashed when the player steps on the field insuring that they are locked in semi and capped at X bps (the board manufacturers re designed them to be PSP compliant so they could have just as easily made them semi only compliant)
and if they refused put them on a list of non complient boards an not allow them at the events. hit them in the wallet they will fall in line
Yes you still have the issue of trigger bounce , but you have that issue with the first three shots in PSP mode .Distribute HARD penalties and fines for players caught willfully cheating. Do you really think that it would be worth say a two event suspension for that player with no substitution (so the team has team play a man down) or a $500.00 from every rostered member of a team or an automatic forfit from the event to have a cheating marker on the field? make it not worth their effort and they will fall in line.
next on my list of gripes is sideline coaching, again I spent a lot of time on field awareness and it is lost to 12 year old who can have people on the sidelines tell him whats happening, where the opponents are, how many are left, how much time is left and when to move.
it is just a stupid rule written for lazy people who are unwilling to do the work to become better in their sport.
that said, the PSP has a lot of god going for it too
the xball format aside from the rules listed above is VERY cool. and I wouldn't mind at all playing it.... just with stock class pump guns and no coaches :)
think about that... the highest level of player playing with the lowest technology
games not being decided by the largest wall of paint, or a monkey on the sideline running his mouth, but by the best team.... if it was a perfect world
Despite doing all we could do, we were unable to make the business a viable concern. Further, in this severe economic climate, we were unable to secure new funding. It is a truly regrettable outcome, though one which is unfortunately occurring more and more frequently in this environment. We thank all those who have supported us"
Earlier this week this press release was sent out signaling the end of an era in paintball. there have been a lot of mixed emotions from the playing community.
most of the NPPL teams I have talked to are in a daze and doing there best to figure out what they are going to be doing this season.
some of the people on the paintball forums are saying that this is a good thing because it should unify tournament paintball, having only one major league in the US, but I am not that optimistic. I do not think that the PSP will be able to keep it together with the HUGE influx of players that may be coming there way and the first few deciding events may become a logistical nightmare.
if all of the teams playing in the NPPL hopped over to PSP events, it would just about double the size of the league.
the PSP already runs for 4 days with the players that they have, so the events would most likely be a week long. and for the most part the players are not in a position the be able to take 5-6 weeks off of work or school per year.
plus there are people like me who do not have faith in the way the PSP is setting its rules.
I do not think that ramping has a place in tournament paintball.
the ASTM standards set forth by the paintball manufacturers are put in place for a reason, to keep the companies safe from lawsuits as long as they build markers withing the ASTM guidelines
and in those guidelines it states 1 trigger pull, one ball, pump or semi auto action only.
on top of that I spent a LONG time learning my gear and how to make it shoot
it is a skill that is lost to ramping, now every twelve year kid can pull the trigger three times and hold down a lane.
the PSP fans will say that the ramping rule was put in place to curb cheating, and in a sense it does, if you change the rules to allow cheating, I guess it is no longer cheating, but all that would have had to be done is to talk to the board manufacturers and make them add a mini usb connector to the boards so they could be flashed when the player steps on the field insuring that they are locked in semi and capped at X bps (the board manufacturers re designed them to be PSP compliant so they could have just as easily made them semi only compliant)
and if they refused put them on a list of non complient boards an not allow them at the events. hit them in the wallet they will fall in line
Yes you still have the issue of trigger bounce , but you have that issue with the first three shots in PSP mode .Distribute HARD penalties and fines for players caught willfully cheating. Do you really think that it would be worth say a two event suspension for that player with no substitution (so the team has team play a man down) or a $500.00 from every rostered member of a team or an automatic forfit from the event to have a cheating marker on the field? make it not worth their effort and they will fall in line.
next on my list of gripes is sideline coaching, again I spent a lot of time on field awareness and it is lost to 12 year old who can have people on the sidelines tell him whats happening, where the opponents are, how many are left, how much time is left and when to move.
it is just a stupid rule written for lazy people who are unwilling to do the work to become better in their sport.
that said, the PSP has a lot of god going for it too
the xball format aside from the rules listed above is VERY cool. and I wouldn't mind at all playing it.... just with stock class pump guns and no coaches :)
think about that... the highest level of player playing with the lowest technology
games not being decided by the largest wall of paint, or a monkey on the sideline running his mouth, but by the best team.... if it was a perfect world
tournament paintball
why do I play tournys? well alot of reasons...
first and foremost for fun and friends
but other than that
A paintball tournament is where I feel most alive
this is something I was writing about the other night
a lot of it might not make sense to anybody who wasn't there but I'll put it up here anyway
life to me:
life to me is a long ride to get to the game, it is 3:00 am fire alarms in the skydome hotel the night before finals,
it is a doughnut orgy in Fla.
it is pit beef sandwiches in Maryland.
it is being so tired and filthy at the end of a day playing that you can get away with just about anything at the hotel after words because you must appear completely insane to the staff.
it is 600 fields in 600 cities and 600 different hotel rooms in cities that you have never been to before. and just before everybody falls asleep it's "TELL ME A STORY" as you are beaten by your 10 team mates that have shoe horned themselves into a room the size of a closet.
it is 3....2....1..... TEN SECONDS!!! and for some reason that ten seconds last a lifetime.
it is dive bars up and down the east coast
It is flying back home after a tourny and hoping you get home in time to catch the dropkick murphys show
it is making the finals at Skyball by one point
life to me is calling your girlfriend from 2,000 miles away and trying to convince her that you really do love her even though work only permits you to see her on the weekends and alot of those have to be used for practice, scrimages, tourneys, team meetings, and machine work for other players.
it is seeing your team name or picture in the magazines for the first time and after that waiting none to patiently for them to come to your door just to see if you are in it again
it is the feeling you get right before the game starts when everybody has a hand in and you look at your team mates and know that there is nowhere else you would rather be
writen by me in 2003
first and foremost for fun and friends
but other than that
A paintball tournament is where I feel most alive
this is something I was writing about the other night
a lot of it might not make sense to anybody who wasn't there but I'll put it up here anyway
life to me:
life to me is a long ride to get to the game, it is 3:00 am fire alarms in the skydome hotel the night before finals,
it is a doughnut orgy in Fla.
it is pit beef sandwiches in Maryland.
it is being so tired and filthy at the end of a day playing that you can get away with just about anything at the hotel after words because you must appear completely insane to the staff.
it is 600 fields in 600 cities and 600 different hotel rooms in cities that you have never been to before. and just before everybody falls asleep it's "TELL ME A STORY" as you are beaten by your 10 team mates that have shoe horned themselves into a room the size of a closet.
it is 3....2....1..... TEN SECONDS!!! and for some reason that ten seconds last a lifetime.
it is dive bars up and down the east coast
It is flying back home after a tourny and hoping you get home in time to catch the dropkick murphys show
it is making the finals at Skyball by one point
life to me is calling your girlfriend from 2,000 miles away and trying to convince her that you really do love her even though work only permits you to see her on the weekends and alot of those have to be used for practice, scrimages, tourneys, team meetings, and machine work for other players.
it is seeing your team name or picture in the magazines for the first time and after that waiting none to patiently for them to come to your door just to see if you are in it again
it is the feeling you get right before the game starts when everybody has a hand in and you look at your team mates and know that there is nowhere else you would rather be
writen by me in 2003
I will start at the begining
02.89 Easthampton Ma.
I had been invited by a friend of the family to go play paintball and always being up for an adventure I jumped at the chance.
the day was set and I was told that I needed to supply my own camo but other then that, they had enough gear.
so I went to the local army navy store and purchased a set of Tiger stripe BDUs, brought them home and came to the realization that it was Feb. in New England, and we all know what that means... yup snow, and lots of it. So how will a camo pattern designed for jungles help in this situation? not very well actually.
so I made a trip to the linen closet and found a white sheet that mom probably wouldn't miss too much.
some grey, brown, and green model spray paint and I had made a fairly convincing winter camo poncho. I was ready to go! And I had built my first paintball related item
The day came and I made the trip to Westfield where the game was to be played. the field owner
(only known to us as "the fat man")
asked for the field fee and paint money from every one in attendance and then loaded us and our gear into a few ten passenger vans and drove us to the field, on the way he made the announcement that if the police were to come we needed to book it because he had no right to use the land we were on! I was young and Really wanted to try this game, so that was not enough to discourage me.
we got into our gear, and I was handed a Nelspot 007 pistol.
MY NELSPOT AND A SCRAP OF MY ORIGINAL TIGER STRIPES
We were given a saftey meeting and went over the field rules. and then a ref walked us to our side of the field. it was probably a 5-6 acre piece of land with only natural cover, we had a game of 30 people split into two teams and we needed to get to the enemy base to grab their flag and return it to out flag station. we had 30 mins. to do this. My friend (Chris) said that when the horn sounded to follow him because he had found a great place last time he played here.
about that time I heard 3......2......1....... GO GO GO from the center of the field.
and we all went for it. I followed Chris as we quickly moved down the field until we hit a gully about 8 ft deep that ran off to the right of the enemy flag station. we got into it and ran down about half way , he poped his head up to guage our location and WHACK ....he put his marker over his head and called OUT he turned to leave and he had red fill dripping down his neck. at the time the gear was very primative and did little but protect your eyes, so throat and ear shots could happen easily. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into but I wasn't going to stick around to get shot out. I moved about 25- 30 yards further down the trench and found a spot with heavy shrubs at the top I crawled up the side of the embankment and saw the guy who had shot Chris out... I had gotten pretty far behind him! and had an open shot at his back.
I crawled through the brush as quietly as I could and go an unobstructed shot... I raised the nelspot, aimed...... pulled the trigger...... POP a cloud of C02 came from the barrel and the ball was away it seemed like a lifetime watching that little red ball corkscrew through the air going dangerously off course and then like magic it straightend itself catching him right below the left shoulder blade he put his marker up and yelled HIT .... I was hooked, but I was also blissfully unaware of the two enemies that were directly behind me... so I got my first Elimination and shot out of my first game within seconds of each other.
twenty years later I can still remember it like yesterday.
I had been invited by a friend of the family to go play paintball and always being up for an adventure I jumped at the chance.
the day was set and I was told that I needed to supply my own camo but other then that, they had enough gear.
so I went to the local army navy store and purchased a set of Tiger stripe BDUs, brought them home and came to the realization that it was Feb. in New England, and we all know what that means... yup snow, and lots of it. So how will a camo pattern designed for jungles help in this situation? not very well actually.
so I made a trip to the linen closet and found a white sheet that mom probably wouldn't miss too much.
some grey, brown, and green model spray paint and I had made a fairly convincing winter camo poncho. I was ready to go! And I had built my first paintball related item
The day came and I made the trip to Westfield where the game was to be played. the field owner
(only known to us as "the fat man")
asked for the field fee and paint money from every one in attendance and then loaded us and our gear into a few ten passenger vans and drove us to the field, on the way he made the announcement that if the police were to come we needed to book it because he had no right to use the land we were on! I was young and Really wanted to try this game, so that was not enough to discourage me.
we got into our gear, and I was handed a Nelspot 007 pistol.
MY NELSPOT AND A SCRAP OF MY ORIGINAL TIGER STRIPESWe were given a saftey meeting and went over the field rules. and then a ref walked us to our side of the field. it was probably a 5-6 acre piece of land with only natural cover, we had a game of 30 people split into two teams and we needed to get to the enemy base to grab their flag and return it to out flag station. we had 30 mins. to do this. My friend (Chris) said that when the horn sounded to follow him because he had found a great place last time he played here.
about that time I heard 3......2......1....... GO GO GO from the center of the field.
and we all went for it. I followed Chris as we quickly moved down the field until we hit a gully about 8 ft deep that ran off to the right of the enemy flag station. we got into it and ran down about half way , he poped his head up to guage our location and WHACK ....he put his marker over his head and called OUT he turned to leave and he had red fill dripping down his neck. at the time the gear was very primative and did little but protect your eyes, so throat and ear shots could happen easily. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into but I wasn't going to stick around to get shot out. I moved about 25- 30 yards further down the trench and found a spot with heavy shrubs at the top I crawled up the side of the embankment and saw the guy who had shot Chris out... I had gotten pretty far behind him! and had an open shot at his back.
I crawled through the brush as quietly as I could and go an unobstructed shot... I raised the nelspot, aimed...... pulled the trigger...... POP a cloud of C02 came from the barrel and the ball was away it seemed like a lifetime watching that little red ball corkscrew through the air going dangerously off course and then like magic it straightend itself catching him right below the left shoulder blade he put his marker up and yelled HIT .... I was hooked, but I was also blissfully unaware of the two enemies that were directly behind me... so I got my first Elimination and shot out of my first game within seconds of each other.
twenty years later I can still remember it like yesterday.
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