Geographic Team Names...A good thing????

[stongle]

Ok Ok,

can someone please explain a small point to me. Obviously I'm some sort of infidel for not getting it, put what in the name of holy fo'shizzle is with the move to start having teams with a Town / City (insert any other Geographic unit). Now I read on another thread that a new UK series is strongly suggesting that teams are entered with a town name. Why????

Now is this a follow on from the PSP with the franchises divided into New York, Miami etc etc etc. I mean I'm struggling to see the likes of the Basildon Bombardiers or the Portsmouth Pirates of Menspants seriously mixing it up with the Yanks in the PSP????

I also recall the reason for this as something about local rags getting interested, which ummmmm, maybe is a point, until they find out that most of the players in the team don't even live in the same county as each other. I mean a lot of teams, not geographically concentrated are going to have to do errrr what? I mean not everybody likes Severe Monkey Love, but it's a little more catchy than Stock Broker Belt Monkey Love, surely? I mean I like my team mates, but I don't wanna live near em. It's not enough that they constantly borrow my kit, without em popping in to borrow, a cup of sugar, the tv, dog (Pink your a very very sick little man), wife etc. This whole thing seems to have thrown a bit of a North South divide with some Northern Teams being geographically concentrated. Probably something to do with the fact that most Southern Players get to ride round their Estates shooting peasants and petty criminals, and the fact that your neighbour actually is in the next county .

Or do we just adapt a town we like the sound of. I quite like Bad Salzig (small spa town on the Rhine), can we not be The Bad Salzig Monkey Love Brigade, maybe not the best example as no-one on the teams speaks German, but you get the point.

Are there more sinister things a foot? Maybe the move to change team names is driven by the Knights Templar Paintball Chapter to buy more Playing Tops (I'm pretty sure SP will get the blame for that one as well).

I'm pro choice on this one, if teams wanna have a geographic distinction in their names then fine, but why is there a lot of pressure for teams to change names now?

Discuss..............

(by the way for all those who've recently had a lobotomy, there's a little Devils Advocate in that one, so lay of the flambé)

 

[John C]

Well my team is from Sale, Salford and Stoke!

SSS sounds a bit nazi to me. I blame smart parts

 

[John_Wilson]

Search for a post from Hatts, not sure which forum or if yuo get PBUK it will be in there. not sure which issue but I can find out if you wish, or www.pbuk.biz, and find the pa it will be in there.

 

[Collier]

It doesn't matter that not all the team comes from that particular town its the facty you've chosen to represent the chosen town name. The idea is for local rags/company's to get behind you, hoping there would be more interest between Macclesfield Twisted V's Lancashire Sabre for example as apposed to Twisted v's sabre which means nothing to, wel,l anyone really.

Paul

 

[ThunderCat]

How many of Manchester United (FC) are from Manchester? Or even the UK for that matter? (For the record I have no idea!)

I live in Nottingham but I play for Lincoln Storm. (yes, I do feel dirty ) A lot of our players are from outside Lincolnshire, obviously most are within easy travel distance given our current budgets... But the team gets coverage in the Linconshire newspapers and radio stations so lots of turnip farmers are getting some exposure to the "sport" of paintball..

The point is people seem to support sports teams based on geography, so in an attempt to make paintball a more mainstream sport blah blah etc.

 

[stongle]

Ahhhhh, valid points, but this also points to the problem with the UK game. We are too worried about playing little leaguers like the Peterborough Pistelleros (copywriting that one), that the international game keeps passing us by (like the Pharcyde track). This is a very very small niche activity, localising the team structure, will likely have a negative effect on the UK game as players will gravitate towards their local team rather than the cream rising to the super teams. If you say that teams "HAVE" to represent a geographic area, you'd only want to represent the one you have an active interest in, not somebody else's. Gotta disagree with the Football analogy, give me 50 grand a week and I'll wear a Man Utd top as well......

There is a lot vested in peoples team names, if a team and it's players believe in the strength of their franchise why make em change it? I've no problem if a team wants to be associated or named after a given area, Bumsville Betokeners whatever, but teams should not be forced to represent a geographic area if they choose not to.

Some players may only be interested in the game at the local level fine, but we need to start doing something to bring back some kudos to British balling and that means getting of our local soapbox's and getting out there and smashing up foreign teams. You put a UK team at the Top Top of the pile, and you might find that does more for UK paintball than anything beforehand.

I'm not knocking PA cup, just the rational behind what seems to be a forced move to localising the balling community.

 

[Dazdread]

While you have some good points there only the test of time will see if it stifles the development of players... but is that not the whole point... we need to get more people playing and at the moment 95% of the population think of paintball as in recreational site balling only.

If it takes this geographic "Association" as Hatts says to engage the public then it is for the good of the game and will also expand the oportunities for sponsorship.

All good IMO

 

[eddiecsd]

-

 

[T.B.F.K.A.T.L.]

Strongl best you and the rest of your boys move this way, in particluler [sp?] Apes Hall, thus mecoming Apes Hall Monkey love.

I want to move to clappers in Northumberland thus forming the team 'Run Like The Clappers' Or ******* in Norway thus forming '******* Paintballers' or for the ultimate move to Greenbrier county in West Virginia then you can name your team 'On his Hopper'.

To much time on my hands never!!!

 

[JoseDominguez]

We had more interest from one article about our PA cup team than anything else. For gods sake, paintball got on prime time BBC (they think it's all over) because of the PA cup............. think about it, outside of yout team, who really gives a toss about match results? now strap on your town name, and suddenly paintball is starting to be viewed as a proper sport.
It's what we need, otherwise we continue playing for the Anal interceptors, monkey shavers etc.... etc... etc..... and never ever get taken seriously. Think about it.. if a workmate says "oh who do you play for?" you say "the scary prawns" or some other comedy paintball name, they say "oh, that's nice" but if you say "actually I play for Newcastle" suddenly you gain a bit of respect and they stay interested.

So we need the PA, we need serious teams like Lincoln, Newcastle and Manchester..............no more jokey names like Sunderland.

It's the same for industry teams and the more serious squads..... unless someone is "into" paintball, the majority of team names are meaningless. So why show any interest?

Oh and lets see how many new sponsors we get in 2004......... I bet we'll see some out of the industry interest in the PA.
Didn't anyone notice William Hill taking bets on paintball?
10 to 1 on the sheep spankers, I don't think so.