Ok here's the deal, I sat down with Laurent and after about an hour or so of discussing other matters we got down to the thorny issue of the Ton Tons and my recent displeasure and accusations.
I actually premised the discussion with the following, 'Laurent, if you are going to open up these discussions with a denial they use velocity ramping, then it's gonna be one short discussion because I am outa here'.
He understood perfectly what I was saying, albeit less than subtly but I honestly didn't want to waste any of my time listening to meaningless denials.
He didn't bother...and so we continued.
He has now assured me, and I 100% believe him, that I will have no further problems with the Ton Tons in 2006.
I trust him 100% in this matter.
I did say however to Laurent, that in my opinion, 'the biggest tragedy in all of this isn't the fact the Ton Tons did use velocity ramping, it was the cynicism the guys on that team have when it comes to judging everybody else'.
I will expand on this in a minute.
Nuff said on that one !!!
I then had a conversation on Sunday with Frank, their captain.
And this conversation held an altogether more sinister backdrop.
I told Frank of the talks I had had with Laurent and then told him, on the basis of what I had been told, I would take the heat off the Ton Tons and there would be no more problems, leastwise from me.
He seemed to like that idea but went on to tell me, 'Pete, you know us Ton Tons have a problem with you and Nexus'.
I obviously replied, 'what problem'?
His answer frikkin astounded me.
He said, 'Pete we know you have velocity ramping guns, we know you guys on Nexus use them'.
I couldn't frikkin believe my ears, I said, 'Frank, not only do Nexus not use velocity ramping, we do not use frequency ramping guns either'.
He replied, 'Pete, we know you do, I have proof'.
'Frank listen to me very carefully; 'ON MY CHILDREN'S LIVES, NEXUS DO NOT USE EITHER TYPE OF RAMPING, I WOULD NEVER ALLOW IT'..
'Pete, we know you do, I have seen it with mine own eyes, when you guys played us in XBall in Paris, I was shot 3 times off the break and it really hurt, we know you use velocity ramping'.
'Frank, I don't care what the fCUk you think you know or what you think you have seen, NEXUS DO NOT USE EITHER !'!!!!!
I then asked him if he understood what it meant when I said, 'on my children's lives' he shrugged his shoulders and reiterated his belief that we used illegal markers and added 'everybody knows you use them'.
Now, I could have let this conversation run on some more but when he disbelieved me after I had explained what swearing on my children's life meant, I thought I better bring an end to it quite swiftly otherwise it woulda meant one horizontal Frenchman lying on the floor because I felt quite insulted by what he was now suggesting.
The point of all this is the following, the notion or rather the belief in the Ton Tons that almost everybody they play against is using velocity ramping (as well as frequency ramping) is so endemic and so entrenched in their heads that nothing can shift it, not even the truth of the matter.
That said, it's hardly surprising (though not justifiable) that they themselves begun to use it.
Now, I ain't defending them in any way but it might go some way to explain why they did it in that the vast majority of Stateside pro teams do use frequency ramping and if they all capitulated to the dark side then it's no great surprise when the Ton Tons use velocity ramping if they truly believe most others are, it's exactly the same rationale used by most other teams when using frequency ramping.
The way round this?
I got no frikkin idea really because I might as well have been talking to a squeegie when I was talking to Frank, I don't doubt his sincerity in that he truly believed what he was saying, and on that basis, in a weird sort of way I can understand his decision to use velocity ramping because of the way frequency ramping has been treated but as to how to deal with this type of thinking is beyond me.
I have always tried to understand things using rationale and common sense as a basis for getting the answer to most problems but in this case, I give up.
But saying that, I am sure 2006 will bring the paintball scene a better Ton Tons because in spite all of this, the Ton Tons are a great team, have some great players and have a great history, it would be a tragedy if this degree of cynicism should be held by so many of them for any longer, and that cynicism going on to determine how they conduct themselves.
Let’s hope 2006 brings many new changes for everybody, this being one of them.
