As Rancid has already mentioned, this subject has been covered many times before but it may be worthwhile reiterating a few things.
The era of Brit paintball that Rancid mentioned, produced a team, The Predators, that was for all intents and purposes, the greatest team Europe has ever produced.
They not only mopped up every title In Europe on a consistent basis but were denied their deserved World Cup Victory on two occasions by the chicanery of some pro teams Stateside.
Now before any Yanks, who quite understandably might want to jump in at this point and defend their countrie's honour, I want to make two things clear.
Firstly, there is no honour in an absolute sense in any country when it comes to paintball, save the Russians.
Secondly, any doubters out there who feel that such devious tactics by certain people's is outlandish and preposterous, well I will tell you something,
I was told, quite up front by one of the perpetrators (Captain) to the game fixing that meant the Preds could not win the World Cup.
That out of the way, why can't us Brits do it now ?
The rest of Europe have caught us up for one, when the Preds did their thing, the rest of Europe was nowhere near as advanced.
The sport of paintball then, was nowhere near as sophisticated and organised as it is now.
This meant that to win at the top end in those days, in no way reflected the difficulty faced when trying to do it now.
It's sooo much harder to win now either in Europe or in America and that goes for every top team both sides of the Atlantic.
The contemporary sport of paintball is so many times more competitive than yesteryear....no argument.
Coupled with a heightened competitiveness we are faced with an uneven player pool. The Stateside player pool to cherry pick from is a thousand times larger than our own.
I have said on many occasions, the only way round this seemingly unfair inequality is to try and train harder and wiser.
This is our only option as we are always going to be playing catch-up because of the numbers game that is so heavily weighted against us.
The Russians have shown us all how to do it, and after having spoken to Chris Edwards of JCS Imperial the other day, these guys are trying hard also.
They have realised that regular and consistent training is the first rung on the ladder.
I had previously criticized or rather observed that perhaps their approach was not going to be the salvation of Brit paintball as their level of sponsorship did in no way get close to any of the top Yank teams and of course, I did not believe they had the right approach.
I have now changed my mind and put them in with a chance, purely because their level of commitment in training every weekend is exactly what is needed if they want to try and negate some of the American's advantages.
Good luck to the Northern *******s is what I say, cuz I don't give two ****s where Brit success comes from (as long as it ain't no Jocks or Welshmen).
Sometimes the truth, or rather reality, is hard to accept, especially if you are on the receiving end of the inequalities but thankfully we are provided with a brain that allows us, if exercised sufficiently, to come up with a plan of action to hopefully stuff it up them Yankee doodle dandies.
And soon may it begin to happen
Robbo
Disclaimer : I am in no way anti-Jock, anti-Welsh or anti-Yank but...............
ENGERLAND, ENGERLAND, ENGERLAND !!!
