Except that, for some reason I don't understand, the NPPL/PP people seem incredibly attached to 7-man. I don't know if XBall is the right answer, but I *KNOW* 7-man is definitely the wrong answer, and as long as PP/NPPL insists on running the Pros on 7-man, we're not going to get anywhere.
Chicago:
It's a question of pride.
They have spent years telling everyone 7-man is the superior format - and suddenly making a 180 might make them appear foolish - even if it is best for the sport.
I think they would actually suffer very little ridicule, if they WERE to depart from 7-man... if it was done in connection with a greater scheme that was supposed to bring paintball together as a sport.... most people would understand.
That having been said, I don't believe the finals games were boring because it was 7-man - I believe they were because you could suddenly win games with one body more alive - which would obviously change the approach to the game for every team - whoever got that bright idea should be spanked
- Same thing would have happend under similar rules - with 5-man teams.
It DID demonstrate one thing though (and bare in mind I wasn't there - I'm going by reports, scores and experience alone).... whatever number of players is chosen to be on field at major events next year - the FORMAT has to be one that makes it sensible for teams, to go all out to destroy the other team - rather than winning games by bodycount.
- It's about time we get rid of points for eliminations.... and by all means - get rid of the flags also..... "Reach the opponents base (goal) "clean" and you score the point" - end of story.
The justifications ranged from 'the reffing is far better', to 'ramping just makes it too easy for inexperienced teams' to 'the fields are more complex', to 'there's a better quality of team' and a variety of other comments related to the above.
Steve D:
None of the things you mention have much to do with whether teams consist of 5 or 7 players..... every single one of those things could be had in a 5-man format.... although I think you know better than anyone, that "complex fields" is a bitch for a tv production company
Now, I understand you have some old beef with the principals of the PSP.... but I hope that despite that, you can agree that in terms of TV, the fewer players there are onfield at any one time, the easier it is to make a "meaningful" production?
Obviously, we don't want to make paintball an individual sport - that kind of radical change would destroy much of what the sport is about for the vast majority of the tournament players.... but to my mind, 5-man is a step in the right direction compared to 7-man.
Add to that, that a lot of teams in the lower divisions, would have a hard time bringing enough players for an "X-ball like" format, if it was based on 7-man.... and would have a significantly easier time doing it, if it was 5-man.... and that the paint bill would be huge if it was 7-man based on "X-ball" (even the lite version).... which is also a killer for lower ranked teams.
Also - many regional (and in Europe "National") leagues are based on the 5-man format... so if the major events did the same, we would finally have a sport where everyone played the same game, from top to bottom, which would be immensely beneficial to the sport.
If we want to be a "big sport" - the very first step is to ensure that the game the "kids" play at their local field or in their local league - is the same as the Pros they see on TV.... and in deciding on the "new unified format" this one point should be at the forefront of everyones minds.
It's NOT important what the Pro teams think - they'll adapt - they always have and always will.... it's important to streamline paintball all the way down to the lowest levels of the sport.
What we want is, that in the future kids can go to their local event, and play the same field they saw the Pros play at the Huntington Beach event, and try and emulate the moves Oliver Lang did... we want them to be able to play the same format, with the same equipment, under the same rules and on the same bunkers set up in the same way.
Once we get to that point, paintball is ready for serious growth as a sport.... and in the meantime, all we are really doing is squabbling about what some 2.000 paintballers in the US and Europe "want" - and in the larger picture they (we) are really insignificant (or at least SHOULD be).
Nick
