Is Reunification still in the cards?

[SPHEREPOINT]

Chicago- I absolutely concur with your 15 bps argument. The arts of sweetspotting, snapshooting, aimed supression, and *gasp* one balling are all becoming lost under the umbrella of ramping, not to mention that the big picture of paintball is getting missed as well. Look at it this way: in 1997, all guns from rec-ball day 1 to the NPPL shot in semi-automatic. Not everyone was on the same page technology wise, but they were in the same book. Now you have kids showing up at their local fields with their Spyders, never having a chance to move, let alone leave their bunkers because the older kids at the other end of the field are blazing away with their ramping Ions (a great gun that always gets lumped into this argument). What's worse are the kids with the Ions. They are not learning to move, or more so-think.

Paul- The caps were an accident, maybe I'll change it. As for Foxboro/Gillette. It was in the middle of nowhere, however, it was in the middle of nowhere that everyone knew where it was!

Robbo- You're not even close as to who I am. But keep trying!

 

[Chicago]

I also think it's a plain safety issue. Again, not-so-much at the national level, but I know of at least one case where newbie A with lots of money went and bought a really expensive gun to use in their first game against a bunch of other first timers who were using rentals. Newbie A ran up and bunkered one of the other players, shot them 5-6 times in the same spot on the neck, causing that guy to need stitches and the rest of the players to never want to play again.

I can also say that I absolutely detest reffing high ROF markers held by rookie players.

We are giving people way more firepower than they are able to handle either safely or in a manner that allows people to have fun.

 

[SPHEREPOINT]

Agreed!

 

[dirtymik]

chicago i'm not trying to break your balls when i ask: what exactly is "the big picture for paintball?" you've brought it up a couple of times and say that no one knows what it is. i have an idea of what paintball's big picture is. what it ought to be more exactly. i'm curious to yours

you said earlier that television dosen't care what the format is. that i doubt to be true. sponsors may not care as long as the ratings are good and smashing in the target demographics. when i was at foxwoods for the SPL [smartparts league], i had the opportunity to chat w/ some people and was told that ESPN prefers the 5 man xball style format to the 7 man. is not ESPN dabbling with the 7 man format? yes. you only need to look at the commader's cup of last year to see that. correct me if i'm wrong, isn't it true that ESPN wants the 7 man game times cut down to 4 minutes?
my concern with all of that is ESPN, like any network cares about the ratings in the end. who is to say that they won't in the end push the NPPL, the PSP, or the gardner/braun triumvirate to twist paintball from 'sport' to 'sports entertainment' a la vince mcmahon. and with the potential for making lots and lots of money, who is to say that none/some/all won't?

-----------

this is directed to the forum at large:
i know that NPPL and PSP are the big two, but aren't CFOA and XPSL rather large dark horses that might be able to push the sport where the other two leagues can't or won't?

 

[Baca Loco]

Paul- As for Foxboro/Gillette. It was in the middle of nowhere, however, it was in the middle of nowhere that everyone knew where it was!

I don't know but that sounds suspiciously like back-tracking to me. First it was essential that paintball have high profile venues but no response to the distinction, if any in your mind, between high profile venue and high-profile event and now it's in the middle of nowhere but everyone knew where in nowhere it was. Can you say lowered expectations?

 

[Baca Loco]

... when i was at foxwoods for the SPL [smartparts league], i had the opportunity to chat w/ some people and was told that ESPN prefers the 5 man xball style format to the 7 man.

...isn't it true that ESPN wants the 7 man game times cut down to 4 minutes?

i know that NPPL and PSP are the big two, but aren't CFOA and XPSL rather large dark horses that might be able to push the sport where the other two leagues can't or won't?

Wow! You mean they were playing over at Foxwoods too? We were at the Mohegan Sun. No wonder it cost so much.
What did you expect them to say? The NPPL guys said ESPN loved 7-man too.

They called the games 4 minutes long on the TV show so they didn't have to show all the dead space during the games and we could all pretend like we were watching whole games.

No disrespect to either regional league but they are currently followers, not leaders--one aligned (sorta) with the NPPL and the other with the PSP (kinda). Though obviously the Cali guys would have a better shot than the Carolina guys.

 

[Chicago]

chicago i'm not trying to break your balls when i ask: what exactly is "the big picture for paintball?" you've brought it up a couple of times and say that no one knows what it is. i have an idea of what paintball's big picture is. what it ought to be more exactly. i'm curious to your

I'm being intentionally vague.

you said earlier that television dosen't care what the format is. that i doubt to be true.

That's not exactly what I said. I said the format has no bearing on whether television is interested in putting paintball on TV. Once they've made the decision to put paintball on TV, then they'll change the format to whatever they think will work. Because they'll just change it, whatever it is currently is doesn't matter.

sponsors may not care as long as the ratings are good and smashing in the target demographics. when i was at foxwoods for the SPL [smartparts league], i had the opportunity to chat w/ some people and was told that ESPN prefers the 5 man xball style format to the 7 man. is not ESPN dabbling with the 7 man format? yes. you only need to look at the commader's cup of last year to see that. correct me if i'm wrong, isn't it true that ESPN wants the 7 man game times cut down to 4 minutes?

You'd be wrong, as Baca hinted at: ESPN wants 7-man to be 10 minutes so once they cut out all of the nothing happening they are left with 4 minutes.

my concern with all of that is ESPN, like any network cares about the ratings in the end. who is to say that they won't in the end push the NPPL, the PSP, or the gardner/braun triumvirate to twist paintball from 'sport' to 'sports entertainment' a la vince mcmahon. and with the potential for making lots and lots of money, who is to say that none/some/all won't?

You can almost guarantee that if you have not done your work to establish your sport 'the way it is' that the TV network can and will *******ize your format. I know a few of the people who played 'Pro' dodgeball on the Game Show NEtwork for the three years they were able to ride the movie-generated fad. The way they played on TV is defintely not the way they play 'for real', but as you said, people were willing to accept silly TV additions for the money. (To be perfectly fair though, the TV changes DID make it a bit more interesting for your average TV viewer.)

 

[SPHEREPOINT]

Paul- I'm not back tracking, I'm merely stating that although Gillette is not in actual Boston, people can easily find the local NFL Super Bowl winning team's stadium. Anybody can. There seems to be an overwhelming idea floating around that high profile implies jamming an event in Central Park so as many otherwise unknowing bystanders walk blindly into our mousetrap and find tournament paintball as the cheese. High profile means easily found, quickly recognized, and heavily, heavily promoted.

 

[Robbo]

Robbo- You're not even close as to who I am. But keep trying!

Sphere, ooooo I love a good mystery but I have to say, and this may well be a terrible indictment of this beloved sport of ours, there aren't that many eloquent and intelligent posters around who also know what they are talking about and so the art of tracking down people's identity isn't too difficult a task.

The more you write the closer I get but the hole that I sometimes fall through is created by said person not previously being on antibody's radar and so if you are an unknown, I am gonna be pretty much bolloxed

Still, I shall be tooth-combing your posts for limitation of content and style and hopefully nature will takes its course and you will eventually reveal your true identity.
So Sphere, are you saying I can cross SD off my list ?

 

[muskratjim]

Lets stop saying a place such as a football stadium is the best place to hold a event or that a event has to be held within the city limits to use the name. This game should alway played on grass not astro turf. turf will shorten the avarage playing career, and if don't belive me ask guy's like Earl Campbell who barley can walk now from playing football on turf.

And for that it needs to be in the city proper i've bet none of you have ever been to Michigan International Speedway which is out in the middle of freking no-where but manages to get 200,000 people to show up for a nascar race. Once paintball gets that big it won't matter where the fields are the people will show.

The leagues need to get it together adopt the same format (7man X-ball) and the same gun rules (10bps ramping) and about 6 maybee 7 events total spread out across the country (not 4 events in cali) and form a true non partisan PRO REF org.

And remember we are the customer and the supplier of talent and no matter how much they think they are in charge we (the players) really do have the power to decide it is our MONEY.