Interview with Stephen Baldwin

[Tony Harrison]

VFTDB is the only place to get field plans from.

And as for .50 cal - I'm reassured. It's just another 12g to CA transition.

Which reminds me, I still need a couple of Splatmasters and two 12g gauntlets. I'm not kidding, I really do.

 

[Robbo]

Unfortunately we, the base and lowly, aren't exempt from the consequences either.

Oi, oi there Baca Loco baby!!

Not so much of the 'we' ..... you speak for yourself when it comes to 'base an lowly'; I'm one of the abjectly insane mob gnawing at paintball's bones ....... but my tentacles are transparent Paul and thus my influence for the most part, goes unseen, unlike the bong-pipe hanging out my gob

 

[Robbo]

Thought there might a couple of y'all interested in checking out an interview with MS honcho Stephen Baldwin. Hit the link in the siggie. (Unless Glen comes along and deletes this post.)

Paul, I would like to flesh out a bit of context here that might or might not help, either way, here it is ....
Steve and I, have over the years, had our differences, I think that's fair to say, and a lot of those differences have been aired on these pages whenever he [or one of the other Millennium guys] have pis$ed me off.

Paul, as you know, we have an industry that is still having birthing problems and one of those problems is people wearing too many hats.

A lot of industry guys have more than one interest, they obviously have financial concerns with their companies and these sometimes overlap with other, more political concerns, such as federation membership, rules committees, PSP and Millennium involvement ... you get, and already are well aware of the problem Paul.

Steve as you know has concerns that overlap but if people didn't have multiple responsibilities like these, then our sport wouldn't have developed in the way it has.
We can all now, like Pavlovian dogs, knee jerk quotes that put a negative spin on what's been achieved by the likes of the Gardners, Dave Youngblood, Laurent Hamet, and also Steve Baldwin aka Baldrick [to people who know him ] but bottom line is, we needed them to overlap interests, we really did.

Multiple concerns have in some cases held back our sport, or rather compromised it but I think for the most part, they are a necessary evil that has helped us.
If Steve Baldwin hadn't overlapped his company interests with the creation and management of the Millennium, there is no way, the European scene would have developed in the same way if we had to wait for someone else to come along, most certainly in Europe anyway.

And to be honest, I am pretty sure you could nail Steve with many overlapping interests, he's a clever guy who has drive and commitment to the development of our sport, and of course his back pocket, but let's not default to making that too much of a negative here because in Steve's case, he has put quite a lot back into our sport.
Maybe not as much as I would like but hey .....

And as for Steve manipulating Millennium policy to suit what you feel are his overlapping financial interests, which I think is what you going for?

Steve ain't stupid, far from it, he may do stupid things sometimes but he's an astute man and well aware of what could compromise him or the people around him.

I think the question that needs asking here is, would the Millennium guys have given the green light had Steve not been involved?

In my opinion, the answer is most definitely 'Yes' ...
Once you realise this, it kinda makes all this redundant in some way.

But ....I'm sure you are gonna have some fun on the way

 

[Baca Loco]

Oi, oi there Baca Loco baby!!

Not so much of the 'we' ..... you speak for yourself when it comes to 'base an lowly'; I'm one of the abjectly insane mob gnawing at paintball's bones ....... but my tentacles are transparent Paul and thus my influence for the most part, goes unseen, unlike the bong-pipe hanging out my gob

My deepest apologies as I never intended to suggest you were any part of the base and lowly. And while those tentacles may be unseen they do not go unremarked upon--why I'm quite certain you've remarked upon them yourself a time or three.

 

[Baca Loco]

Paul, I would like to flesh out a bit of context here that might or might not help, either way, here it is ....
Steve and I, have over the years, had our differences, I think that's fair to say, and a lot of those differences have been aired on these pages whenever he [or one of the other Millennium guys] have pis$ed me off.

Paul, as you know, we have an industry that is still having birthing problems and one of those problems is people wearing too many hats.

A lot of industry guys have more than one interest, they obviously have financial concerns with their companies and these sometimes overlap with other, more political concerns, such as federation membership, rules committees, PSP and Millennium involvement ... you get, and already are well aware of the problem Paul.

Steve as you know has concerns that overlap but if people didn't have multiple responsibilities like these, then our sport wouldn't have developed in the way it has.
We can all now, like Pavlovian dogs, knee jerk quotes that put a negative spin on what's been achieved by the likes of the Gardners, Dave Youngblood, Laurent Hamet, and also Steve Baldwin aka Baldrick [to people who know him ] but bottom line is, we needed them to overlap interests, we really did.

Multiple concerns have in some cases held back our sport, or rather compromised it but I think for the most part, they are a necessary evil that has helped us.
If Steve Baldwin hadn't overlapped his company interests with the creation and management of the Millennium, there is no way, the European scene would have developed in the same way if we had to wait for someone else to come along, most certainly in Europe anyway.

And to be honest, I am pretty sure you could nail Steve with many overlapping interests, he's a clever guy who has drive and commitment to the development of our sport, and of course his back pocket, but let's not default to making that too much of a negative here because in Steve's case, he has put quite a lot back into our sport.
Maybe not as much as I would like but hey .....

And as for Steve manipulating Millennium policy to suit what you feel are his overlapping financial interests, which I think is what you going for?

Steve ain't stupid, far from it, he may do stupid things sometimes but he's an astute man and well aware of what could compromise him or the people around him.

I think the question that needs asking here is, would the Millennium guys have given the green light had Steve not been involved?

In my opinion, the answer is most definitely 'Yes' ...
Once you realise this, it kinda makes all this redundant in some way.

But ....I'm sure you are gonna have some fun on the way

Nature hates a vacuum and in the case of Paintball there were those who saw an opportunity and stepped up to the plate. Somebody had to. The result might not meet my ideal but that's not particularly relevant. It is what it is. The overriding issue that does concern me is accountability. Like it or not a relative few hold the future of this game in their hands, for good or ill, and the only real check or balance begins and ends in their wallets. I can't change it but I can shine a tiny light on it when I think it needs doing.