Hmmmmmmm
I have kept out of this till now, so that I could see what everybody thought, some of it is pretty cool and informed while others are talking out their ass.
I have written on many occasions both in here and in the magazine why the Yanks are so much better.
I will restate the reasons, some of which have already been mentioned and touched upon.
Their player pool is huge, something like a thousand times more than ours and hence the cherry picking of players by the NPPL teams (both Amateur and pro) will provide those teams with a calibre of player that we cannot ever hope to match.
You cannot argue with the relative stats unless of course you are an idiot.
But does this mean we can't ever compete ?
No, it does not, it means we have to concentrate not on cherry picking because on a pro rata basis with the Yanks, we are numerically doomed to failure.
The only way is to train and organise ourselves better than them.
The Russian Legion probably had a player pool of something like two hundred players at best, considerably less than our own but I tell you this much (with no disrespect to Shockwave), they are the best team in Europe by a long way and I mean a long way.
This team are not only the best technicians, they also don't cheat and that is NOT something you can say about any other top team in Europe or in the world for that matter.
Let me just put their abilities into some form of context, if the Russian Legion ever decided to cheat like the rest of the pro teams, Shockwave, Ton Tons, Ducklings, Avalanche, Aftershock, who frikkin ever, they would all get their asses handed to them by the Russians....big time !!!!!!!
Now they would not win every single game against these teams every time they played them but for the most part, they would win more than they would lose against each opponent.
If anybody and I mean anybody tries to tell you any different, then they are talking **** and trying to minimise the fact or rather significance of his own team's predisposition to cheat and its consequent effect on performance.
So, the Ruskies give us a clue, it is all in the training and the approach, all this hoo ha about the JCS Team bringing with it a new dawn of UK paintball.
Well, I ain't gonna hold my breath, the first time Chris told me about his new team I could tell from the very first minute that he had no real idea of what needs to be done to get to the top in this sport and I say that with no disrespect to him or any of the team.
Their level of sponsorship is nowhere near the top Yank teams, so even from the get go, if sponsorship is a significant consideration in team success, the JCS team are already playing catch-up.
No, I'm afraid the JCS team are not the dawn of a new era for Brit paintball nor anywhere near it.
I still speak quite a lot to Marcus Davis (Ex Capt. of the all conquering Preds) and have discussed on many occasions the state of Brit Paintball.
People like him are few and far between, they had vision, determination and he knew the game inside out.
I see nobody on the UK scene with a like mind, the only breath of fresh air has ironically come from Moscow and I say ironically because of the sheer lack of players they have over there.
I have said many times that if we really want to begin to compete on a world stage then somebody has to get serious with the money.
It's no good handing over a few boxes of paint and some battle packs and wondering why the hell you haven't got into the pro semi finals, the degree of investment for a UK team to get up there is a significant departure from what is being handed out now.
Coupled with that monetary investment, there has to be the calibre of player who is not only determined but also talented and can dedicate a lot of his time to practice and tournaments.
And lastly, they need somebody like Marcus Davis to guide them though it all.
We can all start moaning at each other if we had level playing fields with the Yanks in terms of numbers but we shouldn't all get too stressed out when they have all the numeric and monetary advantages.
We just have to use our grey matter a bit more than they and this is where I think we will reap rewards but there's one thing saying it, quite another for somebody to do it.
The Ruskies have, anybody in the UK wanna put their hands in their pockets ? .....and frikkin deep pockets they gotta be
Laters all
Robbo