Take back - TAKE BACK? Don´t you still have it - I mean besides 2 european teams (including the russians) who´s been able to match you americans during this season?
Predictions for 07 season
- Thread starter Baca Loco
- Start date
You seem to default to either putting words into my mouth (that I haven't said) or predicting responses from myself (that I would not do) that are so far off the mark as to attract ridicule.
You serve that lot up and I sure as hell can supply the ridicule, no problemo.
As for you willing to say anything 'face to face' to me, Sir J, or whatever your name is, I don't give a sh!t what you are prepared to do.
And 'yes' you are right, you have acted out of turn because you seem unable to recognize smiley faces that were on my post and you completely misread the tone of my reply.
However, I will answer the rest of your post if only to clarify my position and to also not act out your prediction.
UK ball is probably dying 'yes'; UK leagues contract, success across the board in the European theatre is dwindling and response to any positive initiatives (whether from me or someone else) is abysmal.
Most of our site owners seem hell bent on back-pocket economics whilst our team base thinks that if they call each other 'dude' and shout 'easy field' they will miraculously morph into SoCal ballers.
What a fackin joke we have become.
We seem to have lost any real perspective of what we need to do to become successful whilst most players who are involved in our tourney scene either pay lip service to improvement (training and practice) or believe they are soo good anyway, it is only circumstance keeping them from the high life just across the pond.
The reality is different.
You are probably right in that we have become a laughing stock of Europe and I for one, facking hate this sh!t.
I played in a time where we were respected in Europe, feared almost.
And now?
I feel shamed because what has happened wasn't necessary, we could have done something about it.
Players nowadays would rather play tourneys than train, they would rather buy flash new gear than practice, they would rather high five and call each other 'bro' than get down to hard work.
A lot of people over here in the UK seem to 'talk' a good game but when it really comes down to it, they talk bollocks.
I've seen them, I've heard these so called sophisticates of our domestic game and all I hear is padding, a couple of paintball cliché's thrown in here and there but no real substance to their understanding of our sport.
As for the actual number of people over here who have a deep and fundamental understanding of our game?
They are rarer than rocking horse sh!t !!!
What happened with Nexus at the top end of our domestic game is mirrored all the way down the line and if I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times, 'you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink'.
If players don't wanna listen, you can't make them.
If a nation of ballers don't wanna improve, I, nor you, can make them.
I do my bit with clinics, editorial in PGi, posts on here whatever, but if people don't wanna do the right thing, then trust me, none of us can force the issue.
For those who do wanna do something about it, people like Big Sid, Chris Pelling, whoever, I am on the end of a phone and trust me, they, and others have called me many times and I will ALWAYS make time for them.
And my clinics do make a difference, they make a very real difference to the people who are committed enough to come to them because they leave with a real and practical understanding of our sport.
I don't leap around trying to impress them with an exorbitant price tag at the end of the day, I teach them paintball, pure and simple, costing less than a day's play!
If there aren't enough of these people, then that is hardly my fault.
I tell ya what Sir J, I can hold my head up when it comes to UK ball, can you?
Peace !
UK Ball
Hah a no nonsense reply from a man who should be listened to go ROBBO, UK paintball isn't dying its lying festering and unless people get there **** together we might as well roll over and forget it. Stop telling everybody how good we are, get out there train and start showing it with results.
Hah a no nonsense reply from a man who should be listened to go ROBBO, UK paintball isn't dying its lying festering and unless people get there **** together we might as well roll over and forget it. Stop telling everybody how good we are, get out there train and start showing it with results.
Well surely it was explained in the reply to the pm you sent me, you sure your not just getting old?
Mikey, the PM I sent you was in response to you sending me one and in my PM, I asked what u were going on about.
I don't really think this is an age issue here as my bewilderment is also mirrored by Beaks who was equally at a loss.
Your second PM explained your position a little better but I'm afraid any link to my post was at best, tenuous.
It's just that i couldn't understand why you quoted me and then went on to write something that seemingly had no relevance to mine.
No biggy, just a tad confusing that's all.
And trust me Mikey, I may be getting old but as of yet, my faculties have yet to be compromised to a point whereby you could get a look in, for that to happen, I would require a frontal lobotomy
Sad Decline
When I was given the chance to live and work the dream to play and work in professional paintball with the All Americans the Uk was were the US teams looked for new blood, new idea's, Peter and Phil Ham followed and had the intelligence and intellect to understand that the American way of training and support of a team was critical for sucess at the top .
Here in the States ( and I belive much of this is because of football and baseball) training camps and coaches are a way of life, drills and fittness are much more a way of life and the players have a far better acceptance of a coach or coach's drilling and teaching them and objectilively showing them their faults.
I am English and very proud of it but the English school system and way of life
I feel has not equipped us for this inbreed acceptance of teaching and disciplined coaching.
Peter has tried and with Nexus he nearly got there mainly because he went and found player's that wanted to be taught and understood what a coach's role was.
My greatest wish would be to see English team's in the PSP again challenging
the ranks of American team's.
May be one day.
Wishing you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
Graham Easton
Shades of Gray. Bad Company, Nwc.
All Americans
Philly Assistant Coach.
I have read all of these post's and having had the fortune to work and play alongside Pete he is right.
When I was given the chance to live and work the dream to play and work in professional paintball with the All Americans the Uk was were the US teams looked for new blood, new idea's, Peter and Phil Ham followed and had the intelligence and intellect to understand that the American way of training and support of a team was critical for sucess at the top .
Here in the States ( and I belive much of this is because of football and baseball) training camps and coaches are a way of life, drills and fittness are much more a way of life and the players have a far better acceptance of a coach or coach's drilling and teaching them and objectilively showing them their faults.
I am English and very proud of it but the English school system and way of life
I feel has not equipped us for this inbreed acceptance of teaching and disciplined coaching.
Peter has tried and with Nexus he nearly got there mainly because he went and found player's that wanted to be taught and understood what a coach's role was.
My greatest wish would be to see English team's in the PSP again challenging
the ranks of American team's.
May be one day.
Wishing you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
Graham Easton
Shades of Gray. Bad Company, Nwc.
All Americans
Philly Assistant Coach.
Heres an idea Im going to throw in....are we expecting too much too soon??
Seems the common view here from the more wise amongst us says it is "dying", which means that UK paintball was a LOT better at some point, and really this would have had to happen a while ago for us to definatly see a real downfall in paintball.
Paintball is still young, it hasnt been around long, not as much as other sports anyway (there you go, Im comparing us to other sports which I know will be frowned upon but its the direction we want to go right?) so are we expecting it to grow too soon? Paintball must have really boomed when it first arrived on our shores. Does paintball need more time to get itself sorted out, has it "progressed" too quickly?
Another thing that it seems we cannot escape, the view that even compared to other Euro teams we suck. Have we got worse or are not progressing as quickly as the other teams?
Im interested here what you guys think. I have no opinion on this, Im not going to pretend to be a pro with all the knowledge under the sun and an opinion that everyone wants to hear. Are we expecting too much, and are we not progressing or are we getting worse?
Seems the common view here from the more wise amongst us says it is "dying", which means that UK paintball was a LOT better at some point, and really this would have had to happen a while ago for us to definatly see a real downfall in paintball.
Paintball is still young, it hasnt been around long, not as much as other sports anyway (there you go, Im comparing us to other sports which I know will be frowned upon but its the direction we want to go right?) so are we expecting it to grow too soon? Paintball must have really boomed when it first arrived on our shores. Does paintball need more time to get itself sorted out, has it "progressed" too quickly?
Another thing that it seems we cannot escape, the view that even compared to other Euro teams we suck. Have we got worse or are not progressing as quickly as the other teams?
Im interested here what you guys think. I have no opinion on this, Im not going to pretend to be a pro with all the knowledge under the sun and an opinion that everyone wants to hear. Are we expecting too much, and are we not progressing or are we getting worse?
i think its really unfair to be saying that UK ball is going downhill. When it comes down to it theres a major split. You've got the guys that do only play tourneys and do only buy flash gear. And then theres the dedicated. Down at Dartford you get the same lot every week, week in week out. Northern Quarter, just the same. And i bet theres other smaller sites which see teams regualary training but we just dont see them because they use small private sites. Surely maybe we should be saying that there is a glimmer of hope and highlight those specific teams as an example?? I mean how the hell are people meant to get motivated if critisicm (sp) is always thrown their way. Yes sometimes people need to be told the brutal truth or else they aint ever gonna see whats going on but maybe if someone finnaly started going out and saying "hey man, you guys are on the up. looks like its gonna be a good season for you". Ever think that maybe if just once someone publicly said it people would jump on the bandwagon and start training again. I mean heck its not even that much. I know Dave keeps his prices as low as he possibley can even though its his actual living. And Markie C gets paint as cheap as he can get and no-one will give him a deal to help. Maybe if we were told in a nice way to get training then the both of them would see an increase in the amount of people training. Or perhaps if we just shouted blue murder it would work as well.....cos its working now right?