Mr. Hofstetter's reply
I subscibe to the Ford Report, and sent a reply to a recent posting concerning the recent SI article. I sent a copy of that reply to Steve Hofstetter, the author of the SI paintball article. For your reading pleasure, I will post both my reply, and the reply that I then got from Mr. Hofstetter:
My E-mail:
Huh. I tracked down the article on the SI website,
read it, and thought it was pretty funny. For the
most part, I'd say the author was spot-on with some of
his observations. Many of the people who are forced
to sit to and watch a paintball DVD (everyone who
enters my home) often ask, "Why are all of those guys
hiding behind balloons?" Like televised golf,
televised paintball is really only interesting to
paintball players. It is far too complex to
understand the flow of the game easily, unlike soccer,
NASCAR, etc. Ever try watching cricket? I did for
about 5 minutes before walking away, shaking my head
at the nutty Brits who were losing their minds in
excitement.
In addition, Mr. Hofstetter admitted to enjoying
playing paintball (no doubt as a rec-ball player, but
then , most players are). He also plainly stated that
paintball is, in his view, a sport. All positive
there, I'd say.
Keep in mind also that this guy is a comedian. As you
may have noticed, in a lot of American humor, SOMEBODY
has to be the butt of the joke. In this case, that
"somebody" was televised paintball. Whatever.
Lighten up. Ask anybody in Hollywood, and they'll
tell you; Any publicity is good publicity.
Sure Mr. Hofstetter deserves lots of emails, and,
speaking as a paintball player since 1988 and field
owner, if I ever have have the pleasure of meeting
him, I'll buy him a beer.
Steve Hofstetter's reply:
Thank you for being smart enough to a) get the joke and b) understand
that my article helps paintball more than a crappy broadcast of it.
I understand that people like watching paintball. But I hope they
understand that the way it's currently being filmed and aired, it's
only
pushing guys like me further from the sport. I gave it a shot - and the
broadcast was so awful I won't watch it again. Perhaps their anger is
misplaced - ESPN is the one messing this up, I'm just one of the guys
making fun of them for it.
I must also point out something big no one is mentioning - the reason
it
took 6 months to air is that the NPPL had to pre-sell the commercial
time. That's why ESPN aired it - because it's a giant infomercial. They
do that with fishing and strongman competitions, too.
Thanks for writing,
*************************
-Steve Hofstetter
The Thinking Man's Comic
www.stevehofstetter.com
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