Major League Paintball Held Hostage: Weekly Update

Looks like the official number for the PSP's MAO event is 142. That is within a couple of the Phoenix Open numbers and while I haven't looked at the year-to-year numbers my impression is that's got to be counted as a good turnout, perhaps even very good. The recent addition of promotional video shorts is a terrific idea and a lot of fun. Now all they need to do is have some pre-Chicago ones ready to go earlier in the registration process to get peeps talking and excited.
Even with the solid participation the PSP's seasonal success or failure will likely come down to World Cup because of the limited sponsor/vendor participation and because of the free webcast. The webcast production and free availability comes at a significant cost to the league so at a minimum, if you can't be at the MAO, be sure to sign up for the webcast and watch. It is a simple, easy and painless way you can contribute to the success of the league.

The USPL's DC Challenge needs you. Little more than a couple of weeks until close of registration with the event scheduled for the weekend of May 15 - 17. The fledgling league's first Eastern conference regional currently has only 35 teams registered including the 8 pro teams with only 12 paid (also including those 8 pro teams.) I've said it before and I'll say it again--if you want the 7-man format to survive and continue to be recognized as a viable standard of national and international competition you need to support the USPL events in any way you can. If nothing else look at the prizes available. Seldom if ever will there be a better opportunity to score big and play paintball.

The MS has posted a statement on their home page regarding the Malaga non-event. Frankly given the Series past record and performance I am disinclined to give them the benefit of the doubt but you may be of a more generous nature. There is no doubt the weather was unseasonably harsh and the league can't be held accountable for that but the question remains did league actions or non-actions contribute to the chaos? Reasonable peeps can disagree and apparently they do as there are lots of conflicting views and opinions making the rounds from people who were there. Some were satisfied, many were not. If you would like to check out a slice of opinion for yourself go here.
The D2 and M5 (D3) portion of the event was completed on Sunday--though nowhere on the MS website will you get even a hint of what happened. Results are available at pblivescores.com.
Rumor has it extra fields will be set-up at Bitburg (Germany) with the Malaga layout to finish the event on that Friday in Germany while simultaneously beginning the preliminary rounds of the Bitburg event. Or something like that. However in order to do a proper draw for the locked divisions they will need Malaga results--which they won't have until relatively late on Friday. Perhaps the MS can resolve this conundrum by scheduling only D2 and M5 prelims on Friday? Anyway, the fallout continues but those most affected, the locked divisions, are locked in so what are they going to do? What they've always done; nothing.

The Grand Tour is the current incarnation, more of less, of the old Centurio Circuit combined with the European Central Series. The Grand Tour has divided events among 3 conferences with the upcoming Warsaw event being the first event for the Central Conference. The event is being held the same weekend as the USPL's DC Challenge; May 16-17. To date 36 teams have registered including some MS CPL teams and the Russian Legion to compete in the Pro division. I am told the number of registered teams is low (even very low) compared to past turnouts although I'm wondering if the new 3 conference configuration has altered the prospects for some of the events. As always if you have some info please post it up in comments. Thanks.