From POD Bitch
Save your Stickers! The man wants your stickers!
In the latest release of the new rules from NPPL we saw the normal changes that are meant to improve the game. Then we see that the NPPL has decided to control our free will and ability to express ourselves. Sure there is a good reason for this rule but they have gone to far in trying to solve the problem.
The issue is that some players (started by The Ironmen and followed by Avalanche) are pilling on massive amounts of paint colored stickers on the front of their hopper.
These players started a trend of guys stacking stickers and hoping it will hide hits. Well, I tried this (looking for any edge to win) and it didn't hide ****. The ref still saw it and I still got pulled. I even planned to take a hit off the stickers but they saw that. I have talked with a few other players that stack stickers and they didn't get away with anything either. It was a good idea but if a ref is watching, no sticker will help. If you get hit and no one sees it, your gonna wipe it stickers or not. The stickers really don't help. Maybe a slicker surface to wipe hits off but that's it.
The NPPL is right to change rules helping the game, but really they have not affected the game with yet another rule. Instead they have just taken away the players ability to express themselves and profit off their playing ability. The new rule gives us 1 tiny black and white sticker per each side of the hopper. This limits our free speech and our ability as players to make money.
Right now, players are not really stars. Sure their are a few, but for the most part all the sponsor money in paintball goes to "teams" not players. This is not such a big issue now, but when paintball gets on TV those hoppers are what the players are going to use to make money. Lasoya plays for Avalanche. He wears JT's sponsored gear, shoots sponsored paint, and doesn't get **** for it from JT. Lasoya also sells his own gun , the Element. He plays with the "teams" sponsored gear and has no way of promoting his business' because now his stickers will be limited. When lasoya plays on ESPN and shoots 6 guys and wins the game he should reap the benefits of that. The next Monday, Element sales should have the phone ringing off the hook. Much like Jordan did selling his shoes. Instead the people will only see whatever that one sticker shows. Maybe that sticker is a JT sticker. How does Chris make money off that? He doesn't, but Avalanche will and JT will.
The NPPL is making rules concerning what colors we wear and what stickers and how many we can use. They are telling the players that they own the way we look. Once again this is not a problem now, but when TV and Big sponsors come in they will "own" the way we look and will "profit" off us. I could easily see the NPPL telling each player to wear a Coke sticker on their hopper if it would help the NPPL on TV. If we let them take our free will away now, we would have no way to fight it in the future.
The sticker is a key marketing tool in paintball and other "more successful" alternative sports. Smaller companies like PodBitch.com or Works Paintball will not be able to get their stickers on players hoppers because that space will become golden and dominated by the big sponsors.
As players we need to defend our only source for making money in the future. Many sports, like skateboarding, pay their riders if they get into a magazine with a sticker showing that company. If paintballers only get 1 sticker then how can we make money? What if your team says that you have to use a certain sticker.
Right now players don't get ****, very few are paid. Team owners get sponsorship not players. Stores get sales, factories get orders, players get exploited. Unless you're Oli or Lasoya, players usually don't get paid to play. That means everyone is making money off the game but the players. You know the promoters are making a killing. Team owners are getting gear and money. Players are pimped by their teams, sponsors and factories and really get nothing but a gun and a bottle. Right now the money isn't there to pay all the players. That is why it is even more important that we protect "our area" now. Think of the hopper as your farm. They are trying to take away your land and your ability to grow food to sell. They want your land after you have worked the soil and sown your seeds. They want to sell your crops and give you a shovel so you can work their land some more.
What do we do? One, we need to disregard this rule and ask your player representative to change the rule. Second, we need to make sure and not follow the rule. If we give into it at L.A, we will have lost. If everyone breaks the rule they can not hurt us. Im not saying that we should all pile stickers on our hoppers. Just makes sure and have more then the rule states. If the NPPL is worried about the excessive use of stickers then they can make a rule saying that no stickers will be allowed on the front of the hopper (the most likely place to hide a hit). Or give us a reasonable number of stickers per side of the hopper. 5 per side should be enough and don't take our colors away! This is not the PGA! This is paintball an alternative sport!
Hoppers are the most visible part of the paintball players gear. If a ref misses a hit it is not because of some stickers, it's because they were not looking.
If they do take our hoppers away you will see stickers everywhere else. I know I just added a few hundred barrel stickers to my order just in case. Will the NPPL make a rule about that also? Where does it stop?
Boss
S.O.S--Save our Stickers!
