Wadidiz, Al...
Originally posted by TJ 2
I love a good conspiracy theory as much as tha next man, but there is no logic in either of your statements...
Ed has used Avalanche as a phenomenal marketing tool in a way never before seen in pball; they have become so tied together that Avalanche is Warped and Warped is Avalanche, and their key products are intrinsically linked with the team and its players. To cheat this calculatedly - but also stupidly, as Salm was never gonna get away with it - would jeopardize Warped, and Ed is no way that stupid. The damage this incident has done to Warped already is huge and the shockwaves will only get bigger...all the kids who worship lasoya and rock are gonna be real pissed and the backlash is going to hurt Warped, so no way did Ed know what was occurring.
As for tha anti-Jerry thing, same reasoning applies.
Now let's look at the REAL conspiracy: Jerry Braun pays Salm to screw over his own team to provide an incident so infamous it overshadows all the real, legitimate problems with the Cup, how the Ams were screwed, reffing etc.
Since Warped and Avalanche are so tied together like you say, I could imagine a kind of psychosis developing during some of their pre-tournament discussions. Maybe some joking about "We should get Jerry! Yeah, someone ought to show him! Blah, blah, blah." And that hatching into a sick idea on the part of Jeremy. It still seems just too weird with Avalanche's pinache for flamboyance, combined with frustration at losing and then the "no lewd behavior" press releases. It is just, very simply, too much fun not to think of it as a plot, or a publicity stunt.
But you're right, spoil-sport, it most likely isn't!
Getting to the REAL stuff: are all the rumors and reports about the bad judging true? Were there only 3 or 4 refs on some 10-player fields? Did Rage live up to their name and bean some ref with a tank?
If the reffing thing is true: I've done some simplified calculations.
Let's look at what sufficient numbers of refs might have cost:
3 days (more like 2.5) of 5-player games x 12 fields x 8 judges per field x $100 per judge = $28800
5 days (more like 4) of 10-player games x 12 fields x 13 judges per field x $100 per judge = $78000
That comes up to a total of $106800. It is actually much less considering the narrowing down of games in the semis and finals.
I calculate the gross proceeds from entry fees to be well over $500,000.
Would not the money mentioned above be realistic and have been well-spent to radically improve the quality of the "premier paintball event of the world"?
Naturally more than that needs to be done. A pre-tournament briefing/seminar and independent head field judges, a focus on consistent rule enforcement, etc. like has been pointed out in other threads.
If there is substance to the bad reports from this site and on other forums, then it is past time to DEMAND quality for our money in the NPPL, like what we get much more of in Millennium already (not that it can't be improved also).
We can hope that the new NPPL 7-player league will learn something from this.