For upto date info on the uk masters

[Robbo]

Interesting.

Erm HB was just cool cos it was different and lived up to the hype. No other event has really.
I played one millenium to realise it wasnt all its cracked up to be, and really was just too much for what you got (or didnt)
FWIW my team podiumed at the event and won cash prizes and I still felt this way. so go figure. Maybe im too hard to please. maybe i dont like the concept of metaphorical anal rape.

The thing that does annoy me about the MS is the constant whining about the bad parts, but people still turn up in droves.
I decided to do practice what I preach and vote with my feet, because sod spending cash time and travel (ie holiday time) on a sub par event that never delivers to expectations (even though I havent played many you might say I have no right to say this, but the evidence is in both the organisation pre-event threads and also the post-event feedback threads).
Id be a bit of a hypocrite if I started playing the MS now.

Also, for the people playing the masters all year, I havent done the maths but Id imagine if you added up all the costs you could nearly afford to play one US event, that would stay in memory much longer than any masters.

Coming back to your final point - sure putting on an event isnt a cheap exercise, but i'd hope after many attempts it could be done completely and professionally, then people might feel like even though its expensive, its worth it, and you know its 100%. At present its far from that, based on what I can gather. You say **** happens in all places, yeah, but how many times do people wanna be burned before they move on? Id use the analogy of a cheating gf, but of course there are many fold more fish in the sea than premium PB events, so that falls flat a bit, but thats the only reason I can see for this loyalty to money grabbing is because "there is no alternative".

Thanks for your time.

I take your points and for the most, I can understand your take on things but to go some way in answering your question, it may well be you could be tempted to play again in the UK, just go look at what the CPPS is offering; and then as an investigative exercise, go look at what their customer base says after each event they held last year and this; it's truly amazing the conspicuous lack of criticism from the players and teams who attended those events .... the CPPS could well restore your unsettled faith in UK events, it has mine.

 

[Robbo]

Obviosly you feel good about life dont you, living on the internet using terms that dont belong to you, or paintball, to be honest if i heard someone say im going to "BALL" in real life i'd take it as basketball, if i knew they would mean paintball i would laugh at them. oh well i suppose internet sites dont have the same outcome as a real life conversation. nice talking to you for the first time, you sound like a lovely man.
nice banning you.
0-Ghost-0

I think it was me who banned you ollie wasn't it?

Still massaging abbott are we?

Good man, I hope you both don't get too confused as the oil warms.

 

[Lovetone]

I am looking to start playing at their site again now you mention it.
CPPS that is.

 

[Robbo]

I am looking to start playing at their site again now you mention it.
CPPS that is.

Sounds like a plan !

I think a lot of other people are gonna make that transition too when they do their sums.

 

[~*~Tonks~*~]

Don't mean to be rude Robbo, but how many Masters events have you actually attended over the past year? As I recall you attended the Fed Cup, which as you constantly reminded players, was not a Masters event. I attended every single one and don't remember seeing you at any.

 

[Robbo]

Don't mean to be rude Robbo, but how many Masters events have you actually attended over the past year? As I recall you attended the Fed Cup, which as you constantly reminded players, was not a Masters event. I attended every single one and don't remember seeing you at any.

I have just found you are wendy's daughter and as such have changed my post because it is obvoius you are not anonymous and not some cowardly user name change we so ofetn get used to.

I haven't been to any of the events in question, none, and I have zero wish to.

You will more than likely believe my answer is a sad indictment of my ability to comment on such events, well, if attendance to these events was my only source of information, then I'm sure the dancing round my burning image that has you mob so enthused at this time will be rather short-lived.

My daughter studied French at Uni and never once went to France [penny dropped yet?] my point is, I don't have to go to the events to have a good idea as to what they offer.

All my concerns and comments have been focused upon the notion of 'value for money', this might mean you researching a little more but please do it, you may find it refreshingly enlightening.

To find out how much is charged at these events doesn't require a three hundred mile round trip, a little trip down Internet way suffices thanks.
And so, I know how much is charged by reading a post, and so one half of the 'value for money' is in the bag.

Secondly, if I wish to go to an event, I can only see the surface of what's going on, I long ago hung up my marker and do not play these events and so if I want to know what the refs were like, the fields were like etc ... over a protracted period of time, then I have to either interview the players ..... or maybe, just read what they say after the event by people on my site.

If you hadn't noticed, people of both sides [positive and negative] all take a time out to post their thoughts about the events they have been to.
And so, I know how much is charged, I know what the players think from what's written on here and so my presence isn't needed ... in fact, it would probably get in the way of what I needed as a commentator.

Facts, data, information, whatever description you choose, all of these can be accessed in many ways, if you studied astrophysics at school, did you end up with your ass hanging out of an exploding neutron star?

To introduce the notion that attending these events is the only way to access information is ludicrous ..... but I'm sure you guys will come up with something else equally ignorant and is just a matter of time, and for me to prove that specualtion, all I have to do is wait ............

 

[Robbo]

tonks, you can reply to the post above, since this was your first offering, it understandably got treated as the thousands before you as a first time anonymous poster, generally reserved for the coward's dept.

As soon as I realised you weren't this type of person, then I changed my post accordingly.
On that basis, it is only fair you answer my rewrite !!!

...or have you got a problem with being fair????

 

[~*~Tonks~*~]

Firstly, Thank you for changing your post.

Secondly, Value for money, I can assure you that the masters does everything possible to make the events better every month. I see everything that goes on before, during and after events and know how hard everybody works. Not just my mum, but everyone from the marshals to the litter pick boy. Yes some players have posted on the forums about a call they believe was bad from the refs, but it happens, as i'm sure you know from your playing career. At the end of the day nobody is perfect, I know i'm not. But we do our best each and every month to make the masters the best that it can be and it does improve everytime.

As for cost etc... that's not for me to comment on. As i'm sure you'll understand.

Finally despite what has been said, and despite what you may think, No we don't dance around burning images of you. We respect criticism as long as it is constructive. Thats how we improve. We take on board what has been said by players, trade and staff. Yes we do receive comments both positive and negative, but we strive to make the positive better and do what we can to work on the negative.

So as long as the teams keep coming, the masters will do everything humanly possible to make it better for everyone.

 

[Robbo]

Firstly, Thank you for changing your post.

No Problem.

Secondly, Value for money, I can assure you that the masters does everything possible to make the events better every month. I see everything that goes on before, during and after events and know how hard everybody works. Not just my mum, but everyone from the marshals to the litter pick boy. Yes some players have posted on the forums about a call they believe was bad from the refs, but it happens, as i'm sure you know from your playing career. At the end of the day nobody is perfect, I know i'm not. But we do our best each and every month to make the masters the best that it can be and it does improve everytime.
As for cost etc... that's not for me to comment on. As i'm sure you'll understand.

I am 100% sure you believe everything you have just posted but you must admit, being wendy's daughter doesn't exactly afford you an unbiased perspective no matter how much you endeavour to keep to what you truly believe.
Unfortunately Tonks, you bear witness to but one half of the 'value for money' problem.

The money side of things won't be fully appreciated by yourself and this is where you have to balance what you get for what you pay for, and whilst I believe what you have just written, I do not believe you have a full grasp of the financial perspective.

You openly admit you aren't privy to this side of things and my opinions and dissatisfactions are based firmly and squarely on the financials.

Finally despite what has been said, and despite what you may think, No we don't dance around burning images of you. We respect criticism as long as it is constructive. Thats how we improve. We take on board what has been said by players, trade and staff. Yes we do receive comments both positive and negative, but we strive to make the positive better and do what we can to work on the negative.

There's not much for me to say to this other than, I wouldn't really expect anything less.

So as long as the teams keep coming, the masters will do everything humanly possible to make it better for everyone.

Hmmmm, once again Tonks, your perspective deals with but one half of my 'value for money' criticism and also a distinct lack of knowledge re actions that have happened in the past year .... and there are some pretty serious ones.

I wish none of you any harm whatsoever and we are all embroiled in the politics of paintball, a necessary evil of any sport but it's a process, and to a certain extent, a rites of passage we must all go through.
And those people who keep to the truth of the matter and posses a genuine best interest for the players, these guys will prevail.

Tonks, what motive do you think I have for taking up the positions I do?

Do you think I do these things because I hate women as has been suggested upon your mother's site?
Do you think I do these things because I earn a lot of money from all this cr@p?
Do you think I do these things to go up in anyone's estimation [earning stripes]?

The answer to these three are:-

a] I married one and have two daughters.

b] Not only do I not earn a lot of money, I earn none from all this Fed stuff; the fact is, it costs me [and I ain't got a lot, a lot less than your mum].

c] I doubt it very much.

I have gone on record [and I stand by it] that my only interest is putting the UK tournament scene back on its feet, that's why I joined the Federation and that's why I continue to attend its meetings and that's why my wallet gets hit every time I take a day off and drive the 100 odd miles to go and meet up with other like-minded individuals from our industry.

I am but one voice on that board, though you will hear, I am allegedly the man behind every decision blah, blah, blah! ..... this is an outright lie and an insult to every other board member.

We vote on decisions and we abide by the majority consensus - the reason certain people like to suggest I run the board is because it negates that person from having to publicly respond to a board decision; all the time they can focus any board decision/action upon myself, it makes it look like 'that lunatic Robbo was the reason for that decision' because the alternative, the fact the decision came from a responsible board of members is that much more difficult to deal with publicly for obvious reasons.

This is my, and the board's dilemma .. and of course one of the real downsides of me being chairman.

 

[Piper]

I have been keeping an eye on this thread and I have to step in just to clear something up.

We as a Federation talked about this year at length last week, we left the meeting knowing what we would do. We have emailed Wendy with some options. The decision is now Wendy's on what she wishes to do. I am not going into the details but I will say that the Federation is a board of people no one person has anymore control than the next so as a board we decide on things. So when talking about the Federation bare in mind it is a board of people not just one person. Pete maybe the chairman but he does not have the final say he has one vote same as I do, same as every board member does.

Thanks

Piper