NXL on ESPN2....
- Thread starter cremuzzi
- Start date
Does this herald the begining of the domination of x-ball as a universally accepted format? Will 7-man go the way of 10-man?
Or is there still a fight between the formats? Could the nppl still make 7-man the universally accepted format off the back of their much larger participation, and the fact that they to have some TV coverage.
Or can we continue with multiple formats?
Mama Lambini - A little help?
Or is there still a fight between the formats? Could the nppl still make 7-man the universally accepted format off the back of their much larger participation, and the fact that they to have some TV coverage.
Or can we continue with multiple formats?
Mama Lambini - A little help?
I'm just a casual observer but my feeling for what it's worth is...
I think that x-ball, in the long run is the only format that has a chance of being accepted as a bonafide sport, extreme or otherwise.
7-man will remain the most accessible tournament format due to cost and most peoples bizarre facination with carnival style events (personally I'd rather roll up, play an hour solid against one other team and then fook off home - just like footie). Furthermore, 7-man makes a far appealing format for event organisers as they can pull in more teams and therefore profit.
We need to see a shift in the way organisers fun events before we will see any major changes towards a fixed game length type format such as x-ball. Just hope the changes happen sooner rather than later!
I think that x-ball, in the long run is the only format that has a chance of being accepted as a bonafide sport, extreme or otherwise.
7-man will remain the most accessible tournament format due to cost and most peoples bizarre facination with carnival style events (personally I'd rather roll up, play an hour solid against one other team and then fook off home - just like footie). Furthermore, 7-man makes a far appealing format for event organisers as they can pull in more teams and therefore profit.
We need to see a shift in the way organisers fun events before we will see any major changes towards a fixed game length type format such as x-ball. Just hope the changes happen sooner rather than later!
I can understand how people perceive that a sport has to be longer-match based. Most of the dominant sports in the world are match based. However there are many sports that involve multiple matches per event/day.
Sure football, hockey, American Football, rugby are all sports where just 2 teams can turn up play for an hour to play then fook off. But what about sports like fencing, marshal arts etc. They are on a scale more similar to ours, a large number of competitiors congregate for large less frequent events. The events need people to have an atmosphere, and in the absence of fans lots of competitors will do.
Having the carnival events is a perfeclyvaild way of doing it. I a sense it is similar to tennis, large tournaments drawing in lots of teams for several matches. Admitttedly these are over several days. But you might just as easily critisze them for there large events and lack of league based system.
Having said all this I can see the attraction of an Xball league though, have divisons of say 30 and everyone plays everyone else once over the course of the season, turning up once a week for a match.
It could also be done in a way similar to sunday league with each team having to have its own pitch, and having home/away matches. A central pool of refs comes out to each event to ref. Of course the problem with this would be coverage, it would be a nightmare to film, or even photograph the matches, as they would be all over the place.
I've always thought that the way to get attendance at a national league would be to have a touring national league held in the evening after local tournaments around the country. Eg the first weekend of every month is the midlands local league. In the evening, the teams get a shower, stow there gear and grab a seat in the grandstand to watch the pro league. The Pro league would play weekly, each week in a different region after that region's monthly tourney. Have southwest, southeast, midlands, and northern/scottish regional tourneys. Set up 4 kick ass venues, with a whole load of fields and one "centre court" stadium type thing for the pro matchs in the evening. Showers, secure parking, pro shop, bar.
And then he woke up and it was all a dream........
Sure football, hockey, American Football, rugby are all sports where just 2 teams can turn up play for an hour to play then fook off. But what about sports like fencing, marshal arts etc. They are on a scale more similar to ours, a large number of competitiors congregate for large less frequent events. The events need people to have an atmosphere, and in the absence of fans lots of competitors will do.
Having the carnival events is a perfeclyvaild way of doing it. I a sense it is similar to tennis, large tournaments drawing in lots of teams for several matches. Admitttedly these are over several days. But you might just as easily critisze them for there large events and lack of league based system.
Having said all this I can see the attraction of an Xball league though, have divisons of say 30 and everyone plays everyone else once over the course of the season, turning up once a week for a match.
It could also be done in a way similar to sunday league with each team having to have its own pitch, and having home/away matches. A central pool of refs comes out to each event to ref. Of course the problem with this would be coverage, it would be a nightmare to film, or even photograph the matches, as they would be all over the place.
I've always thought that the way to get attendance at a national league would be to have a touring national league held in the evening after local tournaments around the country. Eg the first weekend of every month is the midlands local league. In the evening, the teams get a shower, stow there gear and grab a seat in the grandstand to watch the pro league. The Pro league would play weekly, each week in a different region after that region's monthly tourney. Have southwest, southeast, midlands, and northern/scottish regional tourneys. Set up 4 kick ass venues, with a whole load of fields and one "centre court" stadium type thing for the pro matchs in the evening. Showers, secure parking, pro shop, bar.
And then he woke up and it was all a dream........
P
penfold
Guest
x-ball whether you like it or not is the only format that will increase the profile of the sport. one key thing with most sports that attract large audiences is the atmosphere generated by the crowd interaction during the games eg football, rugby, basketball hey even darts. there is no crowd interaction allowed at 7 man events. the only people normally watching 7man games are other players and their friends. the only problem of playing x-ball is the cost to nov & am teams and whether they can field a squad some teams struggle to field 7 people. you would still see the carnival atmosphere as teams would be playing more than 1 or 2 games over a 2-3 day tourni like in open x ball last year and you would get people who dont understand the game at all interested with good commentary. why not have a compromised format with either shorter x ball games say half hour or allow coaching and crowd interaction in a 7 man scenario. whatever way the sport decides to go it needs to evolve a little so it is not a self contained sport as it is now with only in industry sponsorship with a few exceptions and in game spectators.
Penfold, have you been to the NPPL lately?
I doubt it otherwise you would not be saying that Xball is the ONLY format that will promote the sport.
Crowd interaction is not as suppressed as you portray it to be. At a football game, baseball etc.... the crowd are vocal, but they have no effect on the game. I have been to UK footbal/rugby/ice hockey games, and the crowds there seem to have exactly the same energy and passion about them as all the people i saw in the stands on finals day at HB04, Denver, Vegas and SD.
The fact that the crowd cannot shout "He's over there, in the Stand Up" does not mean that they cannot participate by cheering, booing etc.....
There is lots of crowd interaction at 7 man events, and the way in which the NPPL market and publiscise their events with the local media and location wise blows the PSP out of the water.
Nemacolin was in the middle of nowhere if reports are to be believed......
HB was on a beach, in the sun......with tens of thousands of people pasing through......
Who do you think out of the NPPL and PSP reached/introduced paintball to the most people this year? I know where my bet would lay.
I doubt it otherwise you would not be saying that Xball is the ONLY format that will promote the sport.
Crowd interaction is not as suppressed as you portray it to be. At a football game, baseball etc.... the crowd are vocal, but they have no effect on the game. I have been to UK footbal/rugby/ice hockey games, and the crowds there seem to have exactly the same energy and passion about them as all the people i saw in the stands on finals day at HB04, Denver, Vegas and SD.
The fact that the crowd cannot shout "He's over there, in the Stand Up" does not mean that they cannot participate by cheering, booing etc.....
There is lots of crowd interaction at 7 man events, and the way in which the NPPL market and publiscise their events with the local media and location wise blows the PSP out of the water.
Nemacolin was in the middle of nowhere if reports are to be believed......
HB was on a beach, in the sun......with tens of thousands of people pasing through......
Who do you think out of the NPPL and PSP reached/introduced paintball to the most people this year? I know where my bet would lay.
P
penfold
Guest
Fair enough, but since when did a watching TV audience have anything to do with crowd participation?
You said that the only people watching 7 man was players and their friends, but that simply is not true. I would argue that with the way the PSP produce their events in the locations that they do, the only people watching Xball games in the US are players, with no friends because the venues are held in out of the way places.
Malaga in the MS and HB in the NPPL had thousands of holiday makers and local people watching the events.
When watching any sport on TV, you could watch a Man Utd v Chelsea game with a crowd, or with no crowd members at all, and the viewing experience at home on TV would be fundamentally identical.
I believe that the NPPL has it right and is the way forward.
having said that, any exposure on the TV networks is beneficial for the sport in general. But i would guess that because the NPPL venues seem to be more accessible to the public, they will benefit more, because Joe Public may watch the NXL on tv, and then go down and watch a major event that would more than likely be the NPPL as they are held in public places
You said that the only people watching 7 man was players and their friends, but that simply is not true. I would argue that with the way the PSP produce their events in the locations that they do, the only people watching Xball games in the US are players, with no friends because the venues are held in out of the way places.
Malaga in the MS and HB in the NPPL had thousands of holiday makers and local people watching the events.
When watching any sport on TV, you could watch a Man Utd v Chelsea game with a crowd, or with no crowd members at all, and the viewing experience at home on TV would be fundamentally identical.
I believe that the NPPL has it right and is the way forward.
having said that, any exposure on the TV networks is beneficial for the sport in general. But i would guess that because the NPPL venues seem to be more accessible to the public, they will benefit more, because Joe Public may watch the NXL on tv, and then go down and watch a major event that would more than likely be the NPPL as they are held in public places
I'm not sure i agree with that, part of the drama is the response to the crowd and the players in turn responding to that. Do you think that after scoring a goal the player would convey the same level of excitement if there was no crowd cheering them on?