Monday, February 21, 2011

The Monday Poll

This week is kind of a no-brainer--and thank goodness for that as much of my brain is otherwise engaged. The Prodigal Player returns home. It's a story for the ages. Ollie is back with Dynasty. And there was much rejoicing--even though at least 50% of all current competition ballers have only seen videos of Ollie with Dynasty. The obvious question is: Does this move return Dynasty to the top as the undisputed kings of competitive paintball?
But that's too easy. It's either yes or no. Which isn't much fun--at least not from my perspective. So I'ma change it around a bit and see if we can't make it a wee bit more controversial. (Are they too old to be called Dynabrats anymore? Enquiring minds want to know.)

Does Ollie rejoining Dynasty return the team to the top as undisputed kings of competitive paintball?
Yes.
Yes, but Hinman and the new roster additions will be more important to their success.
Yes but as a missing piece of the puzzle, not all by himself.
No, the team will be improved but not dominant.
No, and Hinman and the new roster additions will be more important to the team's improvement.
No, too many strong personalities to make it work.

[For all you hardcore easily offended types, lighten up. Stuff like this is only fun because everyone knows Dynasty (or thinks they do) and nobody can dispute their place as the greatest paintball team ever regardless of what the future brings. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't send in your angry emails and threats of violent retribution. I especially enjoy the ones done in crayon.]

Monday Poll in Review
Last week VFTD wanted to know what you (the collective readers of VFTD not too damn lazy to vote in a simple poll) thought of the latest venture to match competitive paintball with TV. If you've been living under a rock in a Geico commercial I'm referring to the deal in process between the NPPL and ESPN to broadcast (sorta) HB & Vegas and possibly include, in one fashion or another, the NPPL pros in the summer X-Games. Those of you in the know weren't overly impressed, you cynical bastards. 37% will not consider the effort a success unless (and until) it starts to bring in outside sponsor dollars to competitive paintball. The second largest voting block (22%) will consider real progress made if competitive paintball is included in the X-Games. (How could you not?) Tied at 11% each were two opposed groups. One of the 11% groups is convinced paintball will fail on TV no matter what, just like it always has in the past. The other 11% will consider real progress being made if ESPN pitches money into the production. The remaining votes (6%) went to appearing on a real network channel [because the rumored current deal will be live streamed on ESPN3 on the internet); (5%) when the competing teams are playing xball (Does Race 2-2 count?) and (3%) when I can watch it on a network channel no matter who paid for it. That would be the voice of those who weren't around in the past, I'm thinking. Anyway, despite a less than enthusiastic internet community response to the latest TV news the great majority have a positive attitude--they are just waiting to get excited until they see something substantial occur, whatever they think that is.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Impact, Russians, and TBD are still the teams to beat, with Shock to round out the top 4. If Dynasty proves me wrong, oh well.

cc said...

If Dynasty doesn't do well (top 3 consistently or winning world cup) this season then they will begin further acceleration on the downward slope toward obsolete pro teams. I can't imagine the core players hanging on much more than 2 more seasons if this year does not show some good results for them.

Damage is on the rise to become the team to consistently rival the Russians (who are also declining). Only question is how much longer Carthy can keep playing at his current level.

Don Saavedra said...

I wonder about Oliver's intensity. Is it still there? And if it is, is it enough to turn Dynasty around? Ironmen's roster had to be mostly turned over so that Oliver's drive and determination could infect the rest of that squad and turn them in to Champs.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Anonymous said...

Ollie is their celebrity.
What Hineman is good at is taking young and hungry paintballers who are willing to go through the Hineman abuse and turning them into a disciplined team.Harder to do that with older players who have been around awhile.Their more cocky and thus the strong personality problem.So we will see.
Ollie I hear is pretty easy to work with.

Anonymous said...

don, by eating you mean feasting right?