Monday, January 26, 2009

Major League Paintball Held Hostage, Day 25

Three, make that four, brief items on the agenda for today and (at least) one of them is just plain silly. You decide which one is the silly one.

The Millennium Series announces the new official standard of 44 bunkers to produce a MS field layout. The 44 coinciding with the new PSP standard even though all the bunkers across both standards aren't identical--yet. One more step down the UPBF pathway, a cheaper base package price for Adrenaline Games and a new upgrade kit for '09. Every base covered.

For those of you who find posting comments too taxing VFTD has the Reax option which offers some minimal feedback on your opinions of what's shaking here at VFTD. Mostly y'all are such slackers you don't bother with those either and that's okay 'cus truth be told your opinion is completely optional and I'm not losing any sleep over it. I think more reader participation is a positive thing but whatever. This is about the dud reax to the latest Enlistment post. Some comedian added a second dud--and that was amusing. I still want to know what exactly the problem is. VFTD doesn't grade for spelling or grammar so come on, Capt. Dud, you can do it.
(I'm trying out a bit of reverse psychology. Let's see how it works.)

VFTD would like to congratulate the kids at Propaintball.com on the upscale move and wish them all success. I'd also like to encourage the lazy slugs that always used the link at pbreserve to visit VFTD to suffer through the mind-numbingly difficult process of adding VFTD to their favorites. I know y'all can do it.

VFTD's past objections to organizing something like the UPBF was not about rejecting a universal standard, it was about promoting the right standard. (Something reasonable people can disagree about certainly.) My concern with the UPBF and now the UCP (Universal Classification Program)is that the PSP will end up being locked into the current format--ostensibly a response to economic reality--as it's accepted by regional and international series and we will all end up playing in perpetuity this rather watered down version of its-not-called-xball-anymore. I was given some assurance that that wasn't going to happen and that the focus needed to be on getting thru the coming difficult times. I do not doubt the sincerity of those assurances nor the reality of the tough times. I am, however, afraid that once the current format and system become accepted on a widespread basis the option of making changes diminishes drastically simply because it then begins to affect so many more leagues, teams and players. Its own momentum will make it nearly impossible to change course once it gets going. On the plus side it will also be that much harder to shrink the game any further. I suppose that's some consolation.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Assuming the current fiscal crisis passes and thereby allows the pro division to re-rise to its previous level of prominence, would that not allow for the retintroduction of "non watered down, let's call it xball again" without creating the negative downsteam impact on regional and local leagues that you fear would make such a rebirth impossible?

Baca Loco said...

Yes, it would, at least with respect to the pro game. And one might even carry it progressively down into the unique divisions, semi and D1, but once you reach D2 it seems problematic to me to change (again) when the whole point was/is to universalize. Mitigating against that to one degree or another is the PSP's conception of D1 and semi-pro which I don't think they want to get too far away from the base even as they try to hold on to the national scene as the exclusive venue for those divisions. And at some point you run headlong into the Iron Law of Tournament Logistics.

I would love to see some APPA numbers on D1 classified players though because I'm halfway convinced that some of the regional scenes could easily sustain a D1 division. Not today and not for a while perhaps but the players are out there.

raehl said...

As the guy with the APPA numbers, take my word on it: Nobody can sustain a regional D1 division.

I'll be happy to provide hard numbers after Phoenix when I have time to crunch and present them.

Baca Loco said...

Thanks, Chris. It would be interesting to see. Besides, look how many new D1's got "made" in the off season. We could see how many of them played Phoenix, too.