Has XSV changed the face of tournament Paintball forever?

[Liz]

The risk is that if the mag names names and accuses these people of cheating, they must have definite proof or they will be sued for libel. The US is a VERY litiginous country and the majority of the names likely to come up are American.

Many, many years ago a pro player (a real international pro, not a "domestic Div 1" player) said that the difference between good results and great results is how well you cheated. Looks like things haven't changed much from those days

 

[Nick Brockdorff]

The risk is that if the mag names names and accuses these people of cheating, they must have definite proof or they will be sued for libel

So, you make sure you get them on tape, or have a witness to the conversation, when you get the information?



Don't worry, I realise it's not going to happen - but a guy is allowed to dream

Nick

 

[duffistuta]

´

So - excuse me for wondering.... is the strategy for the magazine to only report on something controversial, when the person or organisation at the root of the controvercy is unable to fight back effectively - i.e. Jerry Braun or Pedro Campos?

Please understand, I am not trying to start a whole big thing here... I am just wondering how you guys decide when a controvercy is worth reporting - and when it is too "dangerous"?

Truthfully, I actually thought PGI was the one magazine in paintball that did not operate at the mercy of industry

Also, electing not to report on the issue we are discussing, makes me think you guys believe that most major companies in the industry are involved with it, to a degree where it would be a major embarassment to them if the truth got out?

Nick

Not at all Nick, the problem is proof.

If we say 'So and so uses a gun cheat because he told us' I'll tell you EXACTLY what will happen next.

So and so's sponsor will call him up and say, 'WTF is this I read in PGi?'

So and so will say, 'It's not true, I never said that'.

Sponsor will say, 'Why am I advertising in a magazine which damages my investments maliciously without a shred of proof?'

We will campaign long and loud - and have - about changing rules, stronger penalties for cheating teams and manufacturers etc., but to name individuals without proof would be dumb journalism and commerical suicide.

I have loads of examples of stuff we've printed that has later been strenuously denied and we have the ****ing dictaphone tapes to prove it...people lie and lie and lie some more mate. Honestly, you wouldn't believe some of the things I could tell you...just wait for my memoirs.

 

[duffistuta]

So, you make sure you get them on tape, or have a witness to the conversation, when you get the information?



Don't worry, I realise it's not going to happen - but a guy is allowed to dream

Nick

Oh, if we get it on tape we will run it - without question. And we will risk losing the advertising, sure - but we need proof.

 

[Nick Brockdorff]

Oh, if we get it on tape we will run it - without question. And we will risk losing the advertising, sure - but we need proof.

COOL - and there are plenty of places on Robbos massive corpus to hide microphones

- "excuse me m8, would you mind saying that again, but to my ass this time??"

Nick

 

[Robbo]

COOL - and there are plenty of places on Robbos massive corpus to hide microphones
Nick

You leave my corpus out of it

I just wanna know who told you.............

 

[pestilence]

If we say 'So and so uses a gun cheat because he told us' I'll tell you EXACTLY what will happen next.

So and so's sponsor will call him up and say, 'WTF is this I read in PGi?'

So and so will say, 'It's not true, I never said that'.

no real surprise there - if your gonna cheat, then your obvioulsy going to 'play the grey' when it comes to the truth too.....

TBH -Cheating is pretty much part of any sport, and if were honest, part of the life blood. I know footie is a shody example in comparrision to P'ball, but look how everyone is talking about Rooney/ Ronaldo.......

I believe what the focus and integrity with such a magazie like PGI is to try and stamp out all the bull**** hidden agendas and politics that blight almost every facet of this wonderful game....

 

[Chicago]

Pete,

I think you should use cheat boards for an event, and at the end ofthe event, publically own up to it. I think proving how easy it is to use and get away with using cheat boards, especially if your team then does better than usual, would be a much stronger statement that simply taking the moral stand of not using them.

Then you can also write about it in PGI as, of course, you'll know it's the truth.

 

[Robbo]

I believe what the focus and integrity with such a magazie like PGI is to try and stamp out all the bull**** hidden agendas and politics that blight almost every facet of this wonderful game....

Hmmmmm.........these may be luxuries other publications treat as pipedreams but we do our best Pesty.....

 

[Wadidiz]

I personally agree with what I believe Chicago's main point was: bad reffing creates a semi-chaotic arena that definitely rewards the teams that are slickest at it and who have the greatest powers of referee intimidation. I also agree with Nick that the lower divisions--especially Semi-pro, Div 1 and 2--are the ones that get caught cheating the most and also tend to make the biggest fuss.

The other two things that many of us here have debated and even fought about ad infinitum and ad nauseum are the questions of which formats/rules more effectively deter cheating in the first place and which leagues/rules more effectively deter and realistically monitor gun cheating.

Instead of all this refusing ads and calling names why not just concentrate on these obvious areas where there are apparent solutions or at least a great potential for vast improvement?

Start with a good set of rules and some multi-goal format in which it simply doesn't pay to cheat. Then do a decent job of training and managing the referees, get politics out of the whole shebang and then we'll have competition that's more about really playing PB and not about which teams practice all the cheating angles the most and do it best.

Pie in the sky? I don't think so.