I finally got my 17 stone ass outa bed at stoopid o-clock to go to last weekend's CPPS event up north somewhere.
It took me about 3 hours to get there and so I was assuming I was in the land of cloth caps, dominoes, ugly-ass women with buck teeth and men who wouldn't know what fashionable attire was unless it picked up a baseball bat and bashed the cr@p out of them.
The actual location was probably classed as the midlands, but for me, as an out and out Londoner, this was injun country !!!
I put the fact I was well off my manor to the back of my mind and hoped this far north had achieved some degree of civilisation whereby I wouldn't be eaten alive by the local women.
Mind you, after meeting Gassy's wife, perhaps that fate wasn't too bad; I think she musta been a southern gal who moved up there, 'tis the only explanation I can think of.
Anyway, I have to say, after all the positive furor that always seems to surround these CPPS events, I wasn't really sufficiently prepared for what awaited me.
It's not often I am impressed in our sport [well not unless I read one of my old articles from PGi] but yesterday's CPPS did just that, it impressed the sh!t outa me.
The CPPS had something like 56 teams there on Sunday and I finally got the opportunity to try and suck up that much lauded 'atmosphere' that sooo many people had mentioned in the past.
And ........ It was 'kin amazing!!
I never thought I would be that impressed with a UK [non-Millennium] event, but truly, it came as a really pleasant surprise to find myself within a community of players that not only buzzed but also felt .... well, I suppose it felt kinda special to be around guys who were actually enjoying themselves .... and it showed.
And I think one of the reasons these events are so positively received is because they are in such stark contrast to what's on offer elsewhere.
Not to put too fine a point on all this, and acknowledging I sometimes have a tendency to be about as subtle as an anvil, teams who have thus far been going to the 'other' league could not have ignored the startling difference between those and these CPPS events.
From what I kept hearing, the mood was entirely different and maybe the best descriptive I can apply to this is by introducing the notion of a palpable buzz that oozed from the players as they went about their business.
And this buzz seemed to be emanating from poeple who were just ..... just enjoying themselves I suppose is the best way of appreciating it.
This does sound a bit vague and woolly maybes but when you contrast it with what you guys have been used to, then maybes, just maybes it gives a clearer context to these events where players and teams are getting true value for money instead of a perceived one because of what they are being told.
The proof of all this is in the CPPS pudding I'm afraid and hundreds of smiling faces don't lie, I know that much
As to identifying the ingredients of this pud?
I'm not sure Rich can tell us as he suggests in the interview I did with him [I will post this vidcam interview up later] but whatever it is he and Mark his partner are doing, it's obviously working.
Yesterday's CPPS was a resounding success not just for the promoters, Mark and Rich, not just for the teams and players, not just for the vendors who turned up, not just for the Federation but also for UK ball as a whole.
I didn't hear any gripes from anyone, the judging was apprently very good as were the field layouts; the grub was good and certainly not overpriced which makes a nice change at a paintball event I can tell ya.
Tea and coffee was 50p which I think was quite good and a good ole northern heart-attack burger was about £1.80 which once again, was well cheap in my book.
This event pretty much wraps up any doubts as to the what the CPPS are all about, they are about customer satisfaction and maybe this is what was lacking in the other 'rival' league.
Teams have now voted with their feet and moved over in droves which pretty much sets in stone, the fate of the two respective leagues.
It didn't have to be this way, it really didn't but some people just had to change the goalposts and I'm afraid once done, there remains no way to turn the paintball clock back ... our sport consequently moves forward to a much better place thank-you and some people are left to count the considerable costs of their own greed and lack of rationale.
If yesterday's CPPS event was anything to go by, then the future of UK ball is ensured.
Well done to all the teams and vendors but also to Rich and Mark for putting on a great event, an event that marks the return of what we have all been wanting and working toward, the real value for money tournament.
It took me about 3 hours to get there and so I was assuming I was in the land of cloth caps, dominoes, ugly-ass women with buck teeth and men who wouldn't know what fashionable attire was unless it picked up a baseball bat and bashed the cr@p out of them.
The actual location was probably classed as the midlands, but for me, as an out and out Londoner, this was injun country !!!
I put the fact I was well off my manor to the back of my mind and hoped this far north had achieved some degree of civilisation whereby I wouldn't be eaten alive by the local women.
Mind you, after meeting Gassy's wife, perhaps that fate wasn't too bad; I think she musta been a southern gal who moved up there, 'tis the only explanation I can think of.
Anyway, I have to say, after all the positive furor that always seems to surround these CPPS events, I wasn't really sufficiently prepared for what awaited me.
It's not often I am impressed in our sport [well not unless I read one of my old articles from PGi] but yesterday's CPPS did just that, it impressed the sh!t outa me.
The CPPS had something like 56 teams there on Sunday and I finally got the opportunity to try and suck up that much lauded 'atmosphere' that sooo many people had mentioned in the past.
And ........ It was 'kin amazing!!
I never thought I would be that impressed with a UK [non-Millennium] event, but truly, it came as a really pleasant surprise to find myself within a community of players that not only buzzed but also felt .... well, I suppose it felt kinda special to be around guys who were actually enjoying themselves .... and it showed.
And I think one of the reasons these events are so positively received is because they are in such stark contrast to what's on offer elsewhere.
Not to put too fine a point on all this, and acknowledging I sometimes have a tendency to be about as subtle as an anvil, teams who have thus far been going to the 'other' league could not have ignored the startling difference between those and these CPPS events.
From what I kept hearing, the mood was entirely different and maybe the best descriptive I can apply to this is by introducing the notion of a palpable buzz that oozed from the players as they went about their business.
And this buzz seemed to be emanating from poeple who were just ..... just enjoying themselves I suppose is the best way of appreciating it.
This does sound a bit vague and woolly maybes but when you contrast it with what you guys have been used to, then maybes, just maybes it gives a clearer context to these events where players and teams are getting true value for money instead of a perceived one because of what they are being told.
The proof of all this is in the CPPS pudding I'm afraid and hundreds of smiling faces don't lie, I know that much
As to identifying the ingredients of this pud?
I'm not sure Rich can tell us as he suggests in the interview I did with him [I will post this vidcam interview up later] but whatever it is he and Mark his partner are doing, it's obviously working.
Yesterday's CPPS was a resounding success not just for the promoters, Mark and Rich, not just for the teams and players, not just for the vendors who turned up, not just for the Federation but also for UK ball as a whole.
I didn't hear any gripes from anyone, the judging was apprently very good as were the field layouts; the grub was good and certainly not overpriced which makes a nice change at a paintball event I can tell ya.
Tea and coffee was 50p which I think was quite good and a good ole northern heart-attack burger was about £1.80 which once again, was well cheap in my book.
This event pretty much wraps up any doubts as to the what the CPPS are all about, they are about customer satisfaction and maybe this is what was lacking in the other 'rival' league.
Teams have now voted with their feet and moved over in droves which pretty much sets in stone, the fate of the two respective leagues.
It didn't have to be this way, it really didn't but some people just had to change the goalposts and I'm afraid once done, there remains no way to turn the paintball clock back ... our sport consequently moves forward to a much better place thank-you and some people are left to count the considerable costs of their own greed and lack of rationale.
If yesterday's CPPS event was anything to go by, then the future of UK ball is ensured.
Well done to all the teams and vendors but also to Rich and Mark for putting on a great event, an event that marks the return of what we have all been wanting and working toward, the real value for money tournament.
