Interview with Marcus Davis - One of the Most Successful Brits of All Time !!

[formely known as size6feet]

just finished watching all twelve episodes and firs of all thanks robbo for doing the interview(nice sofa is that the the same one that had trouble getting into the living room?)
secondly thanks to marcus for the interview it brought back alot of memories for me as then a twenty year old newbie and living breathing paintball 24/7 never to the scale of what you and marcus gave up for your teams and the sport in the uk
must agree with the player base/age bracket and the enjoyment level when back in the woods either playing or marshalling be it a activ8 5man hopper ball tourney or a npps midlands league back i remember the sleepless nights adrenaline rush of waiting for game to when i started playing again in 2002-2006 at sup air it was faded enjoyed more the characters and players then paying £60-80 for 35minutes of paintball over 6-7 hrs.
i remember many great unathletic players that played in the woods but now gone from the scene so who is replacing these guys with as mentioned disposable income cos when i was 12-18 i couldnt afford thousand dollar markers
something must change
sorry to hear about doug knight marcus and pete another cog in the predator team
and i think marcus must have meant about the f1 illustrator as one of the first semis over in the uk while they had the amazing sterling stp(remember seeing a homemade video of the preds playing at the ntf in brum and one of the guys shoot his sterling quicker than one of his teammates shot what looked like a bronzed (perception team gun colour) original cocker all matching barrel 3.5oz 12oz bottles blow me away
good times and thanks again

 

[Biscuit]

well if a legend like marcus is saying it,then maybe taking a step back into the woods is not that bad of an idea
now i,ve played all types of paintball .supair,woodland tournies and scenario.
out of them all woodland tournies had it all
competetive but fun
you would drag in a larger pool of players to these events as the fitness side would not be as great.this is why tournies are dying and scenario games are getting larger,as dad and his son can play on an equal footing
robbo,you and marcus make some calls and get an old school woods tournie going.
then invite some of the best supair teams in this country to play it and get a genuine answer off them to see if they thought it was better value.

marcus you are :first:

 

[madness]

What a trip that was.I know Marcus from Torney woods ball (i think it was the devil of kent but i might be wrong)and also the waterfront gym where we had metalks about paintball.i was also able to buy his mucus-captain cocker from him at this point(swaped it with irons69 now).ithink that what he had to say about the present state of paintball was spot on.and personallyis the reason why i've stopped playing 5man.now i play formula 5's which i think is
where paintball could be put back on track not only in england but even in the rest of the world.formula 5's is going to europe and america next year and with the two john's behind it could be a great year not only for formula 5's but for paintball in general.

now marcus come and have a look at formula 5's and maybe this might put the fire back in you or at least see somethink that reminds you of those woodland days.once again thank you pete for a great interview and can i be bold enough to suggest another interview this time with Dave Stewart.
another great player but a little under the radar.

 

[madness]

well if a legend like marcus is saying it,then maybe taking a step back into the woods is not that bad of an idea
now i,ve played all types of paintball .supair,woodland tournies and scenario.
out of them all woodland tournies had it all
competetive but fun
you would drag in a larger pool of players to these events as the fitness side would not be as great.this is why tournies are dying and scenario games are getting larger,as dad and his son can play on an equal footing
robbo,you and marcus make some calls and get an old school woods tournie going.
then invite some of the best supair teams in this country to play it and get a genuine answer off them to see if they thought it was better value.

marcus you are :first:

I have the answer it's formula 5's!

 

[Biscuit]

only problem i can see with that madness ,is venues to stage it. compared to woodland tournie,s can be held at most punter sites
but from what i,ve heard this definately looks interesting

 

[madness]

only problem i can see with that madness ,is venues to stage it. compared to woodland tournie,s can be held at most punter sites
but from what i,ve heard this definately looks interesting

this is not only a new format but more hybid format so could be staged in the woods as well as on a sup air field
but any way i don't want to hijack this thread just thought that marcus would like to know that there was something else out there and as marcus and john sosta know each other maybe john could give marcus a call.

 

[Robbo]

In my opinion, Marcus wouldn't like formula 5's in terms of any form of replacement for the old game, Formula 5 lacks a singular direction that is always necessary for competitors such as Marcus ... he wants the hunt, the annihilation and the flag grab as punctuation marks to victory .. these are not present in Formula 5 in the same way I'm afraid.
It's great in terms of value for money when compared to the modern game, thats for sure but it doesn't compete [IMHO] with say the 7-man format or indeed the format that Marcus thrived in.

As for further interviews?
I will most certainly be looking to interview people who have achieved things in our sport, significant things, either thru innovation like the electronic Angel marker from Ged Green [WDP] and of course he was responsible for Hyperball.
Others such as John Sosta who have been working tirelessly in the background as he sought to refine the technological side of our sport and of course his experimental and development work on trying out new formats etc
John is one of the unsung heroes of our sport as is the aforementioned Ged Green.
These people have actually done something that made an indelible mark on our sport.
As for players who made their mark?
Most certainly Marcus did that but I'm afraid we are scratching around after that to find players who straddle the Atlantic in terms of international success.
Modern players such as Tommy Pemberton never really had a chance to join the pantheon of those greats because he was robbed of the opportunity to play consistently against the top Yank sides but this was more to do with the way our leagues worked rather than his ability.
Tommy since sustained a knee inury which has meant he's retired which is a crule blow to both himself and to UK Paintball, he was a great player and great communicator and so let's hope the latter of his skills is used to more effect as he seeks to fill the undoubted void in his life.
I have little doubt Tommy would have made it to the top had he been able to play consistent paintball over in the US.
He most certainly did when I owned and coached Nexus [2003-2006] but the new Nexus only gets to play the top bracket pro paintball over here in Europe in the Millennium that has only a few players from the US involved.

Jason Wheeler is an undoubted prospect for one of the greats and we can only hope he manages to get on the Legion's roster to see if he is able to join the likes of Marcus and Co up there in UK Paintball's roll of honour.
Jason has the ability, of that I am sure, he also has the motivation and application needed but he was hogtied all the time he was playing over here for Nexus.
There was no way he was gonna be able to knock on the door of the UK's greats all the time he just played against the opposition here in the Millennium.
He needed to spread his wings and go play against the best teams and players in the NXL and hopefully, he will get his chance to do just that with the Legion.

I'll get around to these people in the near future and I'll announce them as and when I get hold of them and so keep yer eyes peeled on this site to see when and where.

 

[Bolter]

In my opinion, Marcus wouldn't like formula 5's in terms of any form of replacement for the old game, Formula 5 lacks a singular direction that is always necessary for competitors such as Marcus ... he wants the hunt, the annihilation and the flag grab as punctuation marks to victory .. these are not present in Formula 5 in the same way I'm afraid.
It's great in terms of value for money when compared to the modern game, thats for sure but it doesn't compete [IMHO] with say the 7-man format or indeed the format that Marcus thrived in.

As for further interviews?
I will most certainly be looking to interview people who have achieved things in our sport, significant things, either thru innovation like the electronic Angel marker from Ged Green [WDP] and of course he was responsible for Hyperball.
Others such as John Sosta who have been working tirelessly in the background as he sought to refine the technological side of our sport and of course his experimental and development work on trying out new formats etc
John is one of the unsung heroes of our sport as is the aforementioned Ged Green.
These people have actually done something that made an indelible mark on our sport.
As for players who made their mark?
Most certainly Marcus did that but I'm afraid we are scratching around after that to find players who straddle the Atlantic in terms of international success.
Modern players such as Tommy Pemberton never really had a chance to join the pantheon of those greats because he was robbed of the opportunity to play consistently against the top Yank sides but this was more to do with the way our leagues worked rather than his ability.
Tommy since sustained a knee inury which has meant he's retired which is a crule blow to both himself and to UK Paintball, he was a great player and great communicator and so let's hope the latter of his skills is used to more effect as he seeks to fill the undoubted void in his life.
I have little doubt Tommy would have made it to the top had he been able to play consistent paintball over in the US.
He most certainly did when I owned and coached Nexus [2003-2006] but the new Nexus only gets to play the top bracket pro paintball over here in Europe in the Millennium that has only a few players from the US involved.

Jason Wheeler is an undoubted prospect for one of the greats and we can only hope he manages to get on the Legion's roster to see if he is able to join the likes of Marcus and Co up there in UK Paintball's roll of honour.
Jason has the ability, of that I am sure, he also has the motivation and application needed but he was hogtied all the time he was playing over here for Nexus.
There was no way he was gonna be able to knock on the door of the UK's greats all the time he just played against the opposition here in the Millennium.
He needed to spread his wings and go play against the best teams and players in the NXL and hopefully, he will get his chance to do just that with the Legion.

I'll get around to these people in the near future and I'll announce them as and when I get hold of them and so keep yer eyes peeled on this site to see when and where.

If you interview Sosta, you have to include Bonich.

Also, Dan Maskell is a good shout. He got onto the Legion team when they first went to the NXL and dominated. Dan played outstanding ball, and went out and achieved many wins in foreign lands all off his own back. And he was bloody hard to shoot before all that uber training!

 

[SabreWolf]

I just like to say after finally getting around to watching the interview, that i completely relate to what marcus was saying about the fun aspect.
I've been out of the sport for along time and come back to the game of supair ball, simply because that is all that seems to be left in the sport, competative wise.

I must admit, the fun is alot less than what i used to play in the woods, and i dont seem to feel that feeling of anticipation that you get when you walk on to the field to play the game more like the feeling of fear heh.

If anything supair ball feels more business like rather than about fun and being 32 and not as fit and as mobile as when i used to play, i do feel quite intimidated just watching it, simply because this style of paintball isn't geared up for the likes of us less mobile older folk out there.

I just wish someone would bring back the competative woods balling cause at the end of the day, that is where the fun really is in paintball.
Thats where real tactics and skill can be properly showcased, will it happen though ?

Who knows.....

 

[Robbo]

If you interview Sosta, you have to include Bonich.

Also, Dan Maskell is a good shout. He got onto the Legion team when they first went to the NXL and dominated. Dan played outstanding ball, and went out and achieved many wins in foreign lands all off his own back. And he was bloody hard to shoot before all that uber training!

There are an awful lot of people who have simmered below the surface of our sport but I will try and focus upon those who have shoved their heads above the masses and as I said, actually achieved something significant and also won something signifcant.