Good lord!Originally posted by Wadidiz
More disposable income, more familiarity with guns, etc. I'm not sure which of these is the most influencing factor. I believe that American football might have some influence because it is a game where plays are predecided and followed. There are blocking actions that open the way for a runner to get through with the ball. All towards the objective of gaining the needed 10 yards to keep the ball so that finally the goal line can be crossed. It is this kind of team work that works so well for the top teams in paintball.
I do think that the long playing season for a great deal of the U.S. is a major advantage, especially compared to the northern parts of Europe. When I lived in Atlanta, I played paintball every single Sunday with few exceptions.
I'm not sure if it is all that cheaper to play paintball in America compared to Sweden. I was amazed to see that the cost of playing paintball as a rental/recreational customer was a little cheaper here in Stockholm compared to Atlanta. Maybe that is due to the market competition here in Stockholm. However the quality of the paintball parks I visited and worked with are far superior to the ones I've seen here (sorry about that!).
I'm not sure about sponsorship. I played with an amateur team in America and we had a pretty decent sponsorship package. We had free tournament paintballs and about 50% of what we needed for practice. We got free barrels, masks and a few free markers, among other things. No entry fees paid that I knew about. But we had to perform to get and keep the sponsorships: we became the amateur champions of NPPL in 1996. We also had to do some work for some of our sponsors: we had to travel around and judge some local tournaments.
Probably the biggest advantage we have is the number of tough teams that are easily available to practice and play against.
The Millennium series has already surpassed the NPPL in quality of events and judging (in my opinion). The level of play has gone up dramatically too in the past few years. I think that the recent X-ball event showed that, while the Americans still have the edge, it may not be for long. Also, Joy Masters has shown that the U.S. teams can't take winning for granted, since Shockwave won last year and the Brits made a very good showing this year. Not to mention how well Russian Legion has done without all the good teams at home to practice against. The world is continuing to get smaller.
Check it!
Steve
I have to agree, i mean us young brits are hard drinkers by the age of 16 when the legal age is 18. In the US its 21............no wonder you get kids shooting up schools, they cant drink!!!!!!! i think we'd all go a bit crazy without good old drinkOriginally posted by Glorykid
No its definatley booze related........
come on yer yank players drinking contest, we ave to beat you at something.
Now dont go fooling yourself into thinking we cant drink..21 may be the legal age but i dont know 2 many who follow that law...When i was 16 i was throwing down about 9 shots of Baccardi 151,throwing up on half my friends and some poor girls who just happened to be in the way,walking in the door at 5 in the morn, and still waking up 2 hours later to ball..Its in our blood..Just accept the cold hard facts...Originally posted by P8ntball2k
I have to agree, i mean us young brits are hard drinkers by the age of 16 when the legal age is 18. In the US its 21............no wonder you get kids shooting up schools, they cant drink!!!!!!! i think we'd all go a bit crazy without good old drink