Ironpanther, you didn’t have to set up another user name to ask this, I would have accepted it from your other account name ya know
Anyways, I will continue :-
When I assess anything, I don't do it superficially, well I try not to and I always try to look at the long dollar situation and not the one in a few months’ time.
I predicted this situation of the PSP and Millennium hook up before it happened and I had NO prior information from anybody as to anything that would lead me to believe it would as Laurent kept that close to himself and I certainly didn't hear anything from the PSP guys, that I swear.
My point here is this, I looked at what was going down and I knew how certain people might react in the light of recent failures to integrate and based my prediction on what I knew, which is exactly what I am doing now.
These are what I see as significant details :-
When I used the word ‘vulnerable’ I was looking at the long dollar situation and the time line I am referring to is the 3 to 5 year slot.
Things could of course take a turn inside that time line but for the purposes of this assessment, that was what I was working to.
One of the Holy Grails of Paintball was the New World Order; it was what the NPPL had been working toward for these past few years.
Chuck’s world wide registration scheme wasn’t just a significant income stream; it was the spine that would give structure and support to this new world order.
I believe the PSP and Millennium have got there first, now I know it could all fall apart tomorrow because it is in its very early pauses but what is undeniable, they are there, they have laid the foundations albeit tentatively.
That said, I believe there is a possibility now that it will become the world standard paintball organization because it has the most important feature of all, the union between Europe’s premier tournament circuit and one of the US’s premier circuits.
As I said before, it never mattered in world terms whether it was the NPPL or PSP who aligned with the Millennium, the rest of the world wouldn’t give a **** but the ultimate validation would always be the union itself.
And thus, it has created an initial momentum that if managed properly, can possibly create this new world order.
As a consequence of that, whatever format is being used by the Millennium / PSP union i.e. XBall 5 man lite, will then become the new world standard.
But, as has been mentioned, there are problems because the track record of the PSP in promoting tourneys isn’t a distinguished one especially when racked up against those of the NPPL’s.
But if we are to assess this properly, we need to factor in some recent changes that the PSP have undergone and also the reason they promote tournaments in the first place.
I factored them in and I believe they will promote tournaments more professionally.
There are many things going on in the background to this one as I am sure you already know and some of these are quite significant when looking at how things unfold.
And so, the reason I say 7 man looks vulnerable is because, with the establishment of this new world order, with the revitalization of the PSP’s attitude toward promotion, with the rearrangements they have made in making Lane the top dog and so on.
I believe the new 5 man format looks stronger.
As you well know, or should do, 7 man as played in the NPPL sucks, I have watched the Sunday club unfold many times in the NPPL and we got no chance if that is to be aired as our TV saviour.
It is a sedentary game, with about as much action going on as a vicar’s tea party.
Teams like Dynasty and XSV, two of the best teams in the world run out to their bunkers and sit there, and sit there, and sit there…….a few bodies walk toward the dead zone and then we might start to see some movement, hardly the stuff of good ratings.
XBall is explosive, XBall is great to play and to spectatae, XBall is easily assimilated into the American’s understanding of sports and so on.
The 7 man format as is, is second best; the NPPL’s isolation from the World Federation isn’t the best thing in my opinion.
The NPPL’s decision making structure isn’t in my opinion single minded enough, as I have said many times before, if Ged could make decisions without having to reference other people, then I am damned sure paintball as a whole would be in a much better position as you well know.
These factors are what I think make 7 man look vulnerable in a relative sense in the mid to long term., nothing more.
And just to make things CLEAR, I am in nobody’s pocket, never have been, never will.
The NPPL never done one thing for me all the time I was their greatest advocate, in fact, I was **** on twice by some members of the NPPL but I still maintained my support for them because I truly believed in what they were trying to do, and still do.
It’s amazing just how fickle some are, if I write things on here or in the magazine that supports a certain faction, then that certain faction describe me as intelligent and insightful (not my words) and so on, but as soon as I disagree with anything they are doing, then the accusations of bias and idiot thinking come to the fore and yet….all I have ever done is speak what I believe to be the truth of the matter.
So go pick the bones outa that one.
As for the PSP / Millennium tie up and my positive comments on this?
I have ALWAYS maintained that we strive toward a New World Order with a common format and rule book etc, it is NOT my fault this didn’t happen with the NPPL, in fact, I gave my advice many times to certain people but it was ignored.
We reap what we sew guys………
