Major League Paintball Held Hostage: Weekly Update

There will be a poll--as you can see. But as I'm writing this I've no idea how it will look or format, only that it can be done. However, there is the serious business (yeah, right) of our regular weekly update first.

UPDATE: It appears on the stinking sidebar is what it does. Oh, well.

The PSP's Chicago Open registration is now (almost) open. The notices have been sent and the website updated but at this writing APPA doesn't have a Chicago Open option available yet. Won't be long, I'm sure. This event will be a big hurdle as the expectations are that much higher for a Chicago event. Last year's event topped 230.
This just in: The PSP's new website still sucks.

Over at the USPL there are 43 teams signed up (including the 16 pro teams) for the end of July West Coast Open. I'm assuming--a danger to you and me, I know, but what can I say? I'm a thrill seeker. I'm assuming the very early registrations are because of the offered discount for payments made in May. (12 days and counting so we'll soon see.) Either way it's decent numbers and if it encourages more teams to sign up could result in a very positive event for the league.

Across the pond the Millennium is gearing up for their Bitburg event in the wake of the Malaga mess. For whatever reason (fears of the German paintball ban) (repercussions from Malaga) open registration for Bitburg in D2 & M5 are lagging with 13 teams currently in each division. A smaller than expected (hoped for) (wanted) turnout in the open divisions will perhaps make scheduling easier as there is still no official word from the MS on how the Bitburg event will be scheduled in the absence of Malaga results in the locked divisions. Or how the make-up matches will be made up other than on Friday--and/or Thursday if you can make it.

In Warsaw last weekend there was a Grand Tour Central Conference event. With only 39 teams competing the event was held on 2 fields. Results are posted in the Masters and Amateur division but no Pro results are given. This appears to be a disappointing turnout. In other disappointing news the Southern Conference has been merged with the Central Conference when scheduled events in Turkey were dropped for "technical reasons." Given past turnouts for the EPL and Centurio I'm left wondering if the economic situation is to blame although others, closer at hand, point out the limited to poor promotion of events by the operators. Regardless, the Grand Tour is a little less grand with two conferences but hopefully consolidation will help future event turnouts.

Now to the good stuff. Rating the major league websites. I debated (with myself in an, at times, very heated discussion) the merits of offering opinions that might sway the vote and I finally decided I didn't care. Even so I am going to refrain and only suggest the various criteria you might use in considering your vote. Keep in mind these sites are the internet faces of world class competitive paintball. So appearance is important. How informative is the site? How easy is it to navigate to the information you want? How much cool stuff do they have, or, how effectively do they make competitive paintball look awesome? Just a few of the things to keep in mind as you consider--
Which major league website blows the most?

PSP
USPL
MS
Grand Tour

Sure, it sounds kinda negative but VFTD believes a good beatdown builds character and besides, there's always room for improvement. It also seems like a lot more fun than which major league website is the best. Boring.

Now get to clicking. Exercise your right to vote. I swear it will be as meaningful and relevant as any determination of public opinion overseen by the FEC or a U.N. Commission headed by Jimmy Carter. The poll will close Saturday at noon.