I think something needs to be made clear here, it is higly unlikely (but not impossible) the Russkies are gonna wipe the floor with the top Yank teams though their recent improvements would tend to suggest they are now serious contenders and not just pretenders to the throne.
I haven't seen that many NXL games but Laurent has seen a lot and after talking with him on the subject (and he does know his paintball) he is also convinced of the Russian's equality if not supremacy with the top American teams.
To answer Question 1 :- The NXL are gonna struggle (in my opinion) to keep its existing potfoliio of top teams.
The NXL is looking to survive at the moment but as part of this strategy, it may well not be a bad idea to greenlight the Russkies in at a reduced franchise rate for obvious reasons.
So, I think the NXL may well offer the Russians a slot (which I think Sergey may well consider) if the NXL is still to survive this next year.
2) I'm afraid whilst the Russians success may well inspire some other Euro paintballers, the harsh realities of exactly why they succeeded can't be ignored.
They have money, lots of it, an awful lot of it.
They have players who can commit to full time training.
The Yanks have money, lots of it, an awful lot of it.
They have a player pool to cherry pick from of literally tens of thousands.
They train several times a week.
I'm afraid the rest of us Euros (even the serious ones) are just gonna find the Russkies are one more team to struggle to keep up with.
In the UK, we have three serious pro teams, Shockwave, Tigers and Nexus (no disrespect meant to others), we have varying degrees of sponsorship but none of us come close to the Russkies.
None of us come close to their training frequency so it should come as no surprise that our prospects look bleak when it comes to comparing us to them.
We can aspire to compete and even indulge in the rhetoric of defiance but we might as well all go and piss in the wind if we are looking to emulate what the Russkies have shown is possible.
Our only way out, and there is only one that I cna see, is for players to recognise that a greater emphasis has to be placed upon individual training.
I am talking about guys training at least three times a week, that's fitness, reflexes, drills and game time.
Three out of those four disciplines can be trained without the need for the team getting together.
If people do this, and the coach knows what he is doing, and the resources are there to support the team's training infrastructure needs, then we have a chance, anything less then you might as well undo yer zip now and wait for the next gust of wind to come along.
Individual player sacrifice and commitment is now the key to any serious pro paintballer in Europe....basically, we gotta act and train like true professionals but ironically....... without the money!