pa - banned for swearing?

[Hatts]

well, since I'm here

The "no-lookey" rule (I like that )as you put it was actually discussed at the managers conference last Saturday funnily enough.

Originally the PA introduced an "Eliminated Player Zone". The name stems from the continuing effort to stop having paintball portrayed as a "war" game and to try and get away from the term "Dead" box when talking to the media. This was a marked and screened area located on the 50, the idea being to simulate the appearance if not the function of a "sin bin" like in Ice Hockey (...like I've said, I'll happily plagarise anything if it's helps promote paintball )

The EPZ was designed so that players could actually still watch the game and were required to leave their guns outside. Unfortunately what we found was that eliminated players were just a little too tempted to keep on comminicating with their "live" colleagues on the field. The second draw back that we didn't orgininally consider was that it blocked the view of spectators at ground level, and as most of the action happens on the 50 this was a bit sucky.

We tried moving it to the 30 but we felt it still obstructed view there too much so as an interim measure it was decided to send the players back behind the start screen and into the start box.

To be honest it's worked rather well and has proven extremely effective which makes me wonder why the Milleniums should have become a "laughing stock" as you say, and I do remember it well. The only argument I have so far heard against it is "but I want to watch the game..."

 

[MrDan]

Why does the EPZ/start box have a no look policy though?

like someone said if you cant see what your teams doing from there you will have a lot less perspective on possible improvements.

 

[Hatts]

...because players leaning out and watching the game either:

1. start making wild claims about getting "bonus balled" (feck...howI hate that phrase...)

2. start shouting at the ref's

or

3. for some bizarre reason feel the need to run back onto the field to make various claims regarding the state of play.

Players who can't see what's going on are not tempted to do any of these things. In a game with an average time playing time of only 120 seconds the ref's really haven't got time to deal with "over excitable" players who can't control themselves.

It simply adds the potential for complications that we don't need.

As for gaining perspective on possible improvements, I personally would recommend observers with an off-field perpective. I really don't think players learn can much when they're pumped full of adrenaline and to have a limited view of the field, but that's a personal opinion...

 

[The Hooded Claw]

for me personally it's a problem for 2 reasons.

1. it's treating us like kids who cant be trusted to watch without losing our rag.

2. as field captain, i need to watch a game in order to see what my guys are doing right or wrong, whether someone needs disciplining for cheating, to watch incidents as they happen so when a ref says to me after the game 'any problems', i can answer him based on wat i saw rather than what one of my heated team mates tell me and so on

EDIT - this went up at same time as hattss' post...the jist of which seems to refer to my point 1. we are not adults to be trusted not to behave.

 

[The Hooded Claw]

Originally posted by Hatts
...because players leaning out and watching the game either:

1. start making wild claims about getting "bonus balled" (feck...howI hate that phrase...)

2. start shouting at the ref's

or

3. for some bizarre reason feel the need to run back onto the field to make various claims regarding the state of play.

Players who can't see what's going on are not tempted to do any of these things. In a game with an average time playing time of only 120 seconds the ref's really haven't got time to deal with "over excitable" players who can't control themselves.

It simply adds the potential for complications that we don't need.

As for gaining perspective on possible improvements, I personally would recommend observers with an off-field perpective. I really don't think players learn can much when they're pumped full of adrenaline and to have a limited view of the field, but that's a personal opinion...

ok, you're point 1 - dead players can't talk as it is, if they do their breaking the rules, so you already have a rule inplace for this.

point 2 you already have a rule about shouting at refs, so this is already covered.

point 3 - theres a theme here isn't there.
the only complication i see is this rule which is trying to do a job other rules al;ready cover

 

[Hatts]

Originally posted by The Hooded Claw
for me personally it's a problem for 2 reasons.

1. it's treating us like kids who cant be trusted to watch without losing our rag.

2. as field captain, i need to watch a game in order to see what my guys are doing right or wrong, whether someone needs disciplining for cheating, to watch incidents as they happen so when a ref says to me after the game 'any problems', i can answer him based on wat i saw rather than what one of my heated team mates tell me and so on

1. yes...because it's true in about 5% of cases, unfortunately those 5% spoil it for everyone else and as a result everyone has to be treated the same way.

2. as a field captain I assume you're playing, but unless you're the first one out each time (which I assume you're not or you wouldn't be captain ) you're not going to be able to watch all the other 6 guys anyway...

It's not something I'm entirely happy about either as I'd like players to be able watch the game. Your manager should be able to tell you anyway that it's under review for next season as was discussed on Saturday, but certainly for the remainder of this season it will be enforced.

 

[Hatts]

Originally posted by The Hooded Claw
ok, you're point 1 - dead players can't talk as it is, if they do their breaking the rules, so you already have a rule inplace for this.

point 2 you already have a rule about shouting at refs, so this is already covered.

point 3 - theres a theme here isn't there.
the only complication i see is this rule which is trying to do a job other rules al;ready cover

yes there's rules in place to cover such eventualities, but the no-lookey (I still like that ) means that the temptation to break those rules is significantly reduced...making everyones life much easier and ultimately happier....then we all get to go home with a smile and wave and a spring in our step.

 

[John C]

How about saying: You can look from the deadbox, but talking or any of that crap will result in a serious bitchslap from the marshalls. That solves your problem without treating your customers like children.

Most teams use 7man unlimited events as practice for the Milleniums. A big part of that is watching how your team performs and learning from your mistakes.


Contrary to popular belief many teams dont have people with cameras in tow or teammates who are willing to sit out and just watch.

Trying to get a non paintball person to do this (ie wife or girlfriend) is a waste of time. Most non paintballers descriptions of the game are allong the lines of "That team all got shot, the other team didnt".

 

[ginga wig]

ok, I admit...it was us who got 'banned'

Before you all ask what happened and how did you get banned, I am not or will not point the finger at anyone.
We had problems on the field and I am not saying the judging was poor or the team we were playing were cheating in anyway. Thats not the issue. The issue we had was that we had driven half way up the country, paid money to play in the tournament and then got treated like children. Ok we swore a lot, threatened a few people and to tell you the truth felt a bit stupid after, hey if i was the ultimate, i would have asked us to leave. In the end we decided to walk way before it got to that point. The problem was, what happened after, and for those who dont know, ask someone who does because none of the team are in a position to tell

Most of the guys on the team have been playing for a while now and what we did was unacceptable, so in some ways, perhaps they were right to stop us from playing the rest of the series.
We did bring the game into disrepute, we did make ourselves look a bunch of dicks and hey, guess what, we're not proud of doing it....

 

[Buddha 3]

Good of you to own up. But it seems getting banned for the rest of the series is a bit harsh. Surely a DQ for the rest of the event would have been more appropriate? (obviously I wasn't there, so I can only go by what I read here)

Also, I hear some rumours about Just So Manc getting banned. Is that just chit chat, or is there any truth to that?