I think the general consensus here is.......... Televised paintball on any scale would be so boring we would all rather eat our own heads and then put out a camp fire with our ball sacks
Olympics
- Thread starter Swixk
- Start date
We would have a better chance of survival if we did it the other way around, but yes.
..and not just boring. Crap too...
..and not just boring. Crap too...
Indeed. And the simple fact that these sports do get televised, whilst being mindnumbingly boring to watch, and paintball doesn't, should tell you something about how fantastic paintball is as a TV sport...
Just look at the difference between the sports you mention and paintball. Shooting has a bigass target that gets a close up and you see the holes appear. Or you see a clay pigeon explode. Archery...arrows are easy to follow and once again, a bigass target. Curling has this enormous whatchamacallit being shoved across the ice. All pretty simple to follow, even without knowing the rules.
As pointed out above, paintball has no such central point of focus. The cameras would have to be pointing exactly the right way at exactly the right time in order to catch a hit. Do you have any idea how many cameras you'd need for any meaningful coverage? Do you have any idea of the costs involved? I do... I have been involved with filming paintball and I have been involved in covering American football games on TV.
So, the only way to make paintball watchable is changing up the format, so that we'd have players wearing bigass bullseyes, shooting curling whatchamacallit-sized paintballs at each other.* That I would watch.
A number of years ago I wrote an article about paintball on TV. I spent most of last night looking for it, but I can't for the life of me find it.
*I think I just invented another one of those crazy Japanese game shows!
Man if they were throwing those curling rocks around it would be epic.
BTW, you also inadvertently stumbled across a way more Olympic way of drawing lots.
Instead of the traditional boring 'rock paper scissors' way of deciding, we could go with, 'curling-stones, targets and arrows'.
Target wraps Curling Stone, Curling Stone blunts Arrow, Arrow pierces Target,
Could catch on.... probably won't though
BTW, you also inadvertently stumbled across a way more Olympic way of drawing lots.
Instead of the traditional boring 'rock paper scissors' way of deciding, we could go with, 'curling-stones, targets and arrows'.
Target wraps Curling Stone, Curling Stone blunts Arrow, Arrow pierces Target,
Could catch on.... probably won't though
I do agree with you there, hits are so hard to follow in paintball if you not actually on the field and lanes of paint are virtually invisible. I still think it would be easier for viewers to grasp the aim of the game than you're saying, just harder to follow the actually shooting and plays. Either way It's highly highly doubtful to ever happen not with the filming technology of today anyway.Indeed. And the simple fact that these sports do get televised, whilst being mindnumbingly boring to watch, and paintball doesn't, should tell you something about how fantastic paintball is as a TV sport...
Just look at the difference between the sports you mention and paintball. Shooting has a bigass target that gets a close up and you see the holes appear. Or you see a clay pigeon explode. Archery...arrows are easy to follow and once again, a bigass target. Curling has this enormous whatchamacallit being shoved across the ice. All pretty simple to follow, even without knowing the rules.
As pointed out above, paintball has no such central point of focus. The cameras would have to be pointing exactly the right way at exactly the right time in order to catch a hit. Do you have any idea how many cameras you'd need for any meaningful coverage? Do you have any idea of the costs involved? I do... I have been involved with filming paintball and I have been involved in covering American football games on TV.
So, the only way to make paintball watchable is changing up the format, so that we'd have players wearing bigass bullseyes, shooting curling whatchamacallit-sized paintballs at each other.* That I would watch.
A number of years ago I wrote an article about paintball on TV. I spent most of last night looking for it, but I can't for the life of me find it.
*I think I just invented another one of those crazy Japanese game shows!
Thanks for you points anyway Buddha, I do enjoy a good discussion.
What would make it interesting is not to have teams but 1V1's, a much better way of determining who the best is rather than the team that gets lucky and mobs everyone by the masses on spawn, Simple Maze style Map, Semi auto and only say a 25 FS round mag modified to fit a TPX or some other Tiberius Arms Marker, No remotes, no bottles, just CO2 caps, Televised via live feed helmet cams and you can switch between via the red Button or old school split screen, very loud steel flooring so you can hear footsteps etc as well.
Job Jobbed,
Job Jobbed,
I have no doubt viewers will be able to graps the aim of the game. We threw in some extra rules, but in essence it's just "shoot the guys in the other jerseys." Understanding the rules isn't the problem. People won't know who or where to watch and to them it'll just be a bunch of people sitting behind inflatables, moving occasionaly. And every now and then somebody gets up and walks off.I do agree with you there, hits are so hard to follow in paintball if you not actually on the field and lanes of paint are virtually invisible. I still think it would be easier for viewers to grasp the aim of the game than you're saying, just harder to follow the actually shooting and plays. Either way It's highly highly doubtful to ever happen not with the filming technology of today anyway.
Thanks for you points anyway Buddha, I do enjoy a good discussion.
You and me would know where to keep our eyes, because we know the game. It can be argued that viewers could learn the flow of the game as well, but the avarage Joe would lose interest before he got to that point and just go back to watching the utter sh*te that is television these days.
I've been involved in 4 or 5 TV initiatives and all have failed, miserably so.
And they all fail for the very same reason as Jay suggests.
Without a focal point, all you have is 2 teams of 5 guys running out to blobby lumps of plastic, and periodically getting up and walking to the dead-box .... there is no way, you can make this attractive to watch. I was enthusiastic at first but that was because I was naïve.
The last attempt on TV was embarrassing to say the least; no lessons had been learned, no imagination was applied and therefore there was no uptake by any networks or production companies.
And just because we can readily identify so called 'sports' that are included in the Olympic remit, this does not mean we have any right to be included.
Our sport needs to stand on its own feet, regardless of other lame sports .... Jay suggests we need to change something, and he's right but the nature of that change proves elusive, and even if we finally nailed it, I think it would be so divorced from the paintball we now play as to prove unattractive for us ballers to participate in.
TV works on ratings - we have nothing to offer other than our own involvement and interest, and I'm afraid that demographic doesn't wield sufficient numbers to attract TV, sad but true :/
And they all fail for the very same reason as Jay suggests.
Without a focal point, all you have is 2 teams of 5 guys running out to blobby lumps of plastic, and periodically getting up and walking to the dead-box .... there is no way, you can make this attractive to watch. I was enthusiastic at first but that was because I was naïve.
The last attempt on TV was embarrassing to say the least; no lessons had been learned, no imagination was applied and therefore there was no uptake by any networks or production companies.
And just because we can readily identify so called 'sports' that are included in the Olympic remit, this does not mean we have any right to be included.
Our sport needs to stand on its own feet, regardless of other lame sports .... Jay suggests we need to change something, and he's right but the nature of that change proves elusive, and even if we finally nailed it, I think it would be so divorced from the paintball we now play as to prove unattractive for us ballers to participate in.
TV works on ratings - we have nothing to offer other than our own involvement and interest, and I'm afraid that demographic doesn't wield sufficient numbers to attract TV, sad but true :/