Monday, February 16, 2009

Playing Down

I do not pretend to understand the hive mind of the internet paintball retard (although that comparison is probably offensive to retards) and grokking their stupidity isn't a high priority, but ...
What makes one player "playing down" a superstar of the Retard Crowd and others "playing down" objects of derision? Particularly when the RCS (retard crowd superstar) is obviously the one NOT playing for the love of the game.
I only find any of this interesting because it's plainly a phenomenon of the classification system and by extension, the whole evils of sandbagging mentality. That and as I've been doing my little bit of rabble rousing on behalf of players I think have been either unfortunately or unfairly caught up in the cogs of this machinery I occasionally wonder, why bother? It seems that the majority prefer the current heavy-handed approach that "protects" them right up until the day they become the ones being "protected" against. And some days I think they deserve what they get. The PSP is, after a fashion, trapped by a dual nature; it's both a business with a need to be responsive to its customers and a self-styled sports authority with obligations to the game. (As is every other tournament series operation to one degree or another.) And it is frequently the choices made on the business side that create problems for the sport side.

Just a few jumbled thoughts for a Monday. Nothing special. And in the for-what-it's-worth-column it is VFTD policy to avoid naming names most of the time. Even the names of worthless douche bags simply because as a general rule it isn't constructive.

9 comments:

Tim Cerruti said...

It truly is sometimes best to stay out of a shit throwing contest, all we can sometimes do is hope it doesn't land anywhere near us.

Tim Cerruti said...

also in regards to playing down, it also has to do with the scarcity of resources ie teams to play for. Roster caps, fewer teams, fewer people willing to put together teams, money, willingness to travel out of state to play for teams, back to money, and so on. sometime players are forced down by the environment they are put in and not the "sand-bagging" mentality we as a "society" place upon them. Im sure if some of these pros and semi pros had the option between not playing at all or playing for a div 1 or 2 team which would you choose? in essence all any of us want to do is play and compete no matter what level of play it is. IMO

raehl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
raehl said...

Nobody is forced down by money. Forced OUT by money? Sure. If you can't afford to play, you can't afford to play. But playing certainly doesn't get cheaper just because you play on a lower division team.

Well, unless a lower-division team is willing to pay you to play for them, which kinda proves that you deserve your higher classification, doesn't it?

Tim Cerruti said...

i kind of agree, but some lower divisional players i know cant afford to compete at a national level in D3 but can in D4 or D5 mostly due to paint and entry.

Baca Loco said...

Just in case it wasn't clear I have no issues with any players playing in a legal for them division. I was only commenting on the incongruity of perceptions (and poor judgment) from the RC.

Anonymous said...

Just ventured into pbn land and my brain is still a little dizzy, but before I could frantically click the back button I noticed XSV and "Blues Crews" (or something) mentioned in a headline.

Was JT playing a cruel joke? Did they actually pay to place those team names together?

May I be the first to submit that when we contrast a formerly top pro team in the world shares -paid for- headline space with some rec ballers, we're all screwed.

Anonymous said...

And before anyone accuses me of hating on rec ballers... to clarify, if JT had said something like "XSV to play promotional paintball event with you at your local field" that would be cool. Average rec or aspiring tournament players getting to play along side XSV.

But they actually "name dropped" a rec ball team, that has pretty much no name recognition and tried to elevate it to the same level as XSV. Of course, this could speak to how low XSV has dropped as of late (low blow)

Baca Loco said...

Actually anonachris (excellent name, btw) Blue and his crew are very well know in the scenario world and Blue has a big field in PA. I think the idea was XSV (tourney world giant) and Blue's Crew (scenario world superstars) are both JT teams.
Still I take your point.