Where y'all hiding? From all the big talk one hears outta the D1 division I'ma little surprised the PSP isn't having to beat off wannabe Challengers with a stick. Where you at, Pro Material? Finally a chance to play RT7 with penalty boxes and everything. Plus a fast track opportunity to jump in with the best of the best almost immediately--if you're good enough. What more do you want? An engraved invitation? Oh wait, you're practically getting one of those too since access to the Challengers bracket is by invitation only. So what are you waiting for people?
I didn't for a minute think the league would have any trouble getting 8 Challengers and thought it as likely the bracket would fill up right away. Look it's certainly possible a number of y'all are taking a close look and thinking this through before you decide and it'll all get settled in the wash but come on--all this calculation and hedging has an odor about it. Maybe I'm completely wrong but it smells like fear to me. Offered what everybody claims to want all of sudden it's a matter of ciphering up some numbers and doing our due diligence. Nope, I ain't buying.
But, but, but everyone agrees--the money matters. And I don't disagree. A top level pro team these days ain't cheap and ain't delivering a return beyond the opportunity to compete at the highest level and the satisfaction that comes from being part of that competition, hopefully a successful one. And looking at the team list what I see are a lot of similar expenses. Everything is the same except how much paint you expend in preparation and even then the truth is everyone is on a budget. Every team has limits they must abide by. And if you're a prospective Challenger and you know you can't throw money at the difference you perceive exists between you and the top of the pro food chain then you best start looking for another way.
I guess maybe it comes down to what you really want. Are you willing to risk failing in order to have your shot at the ultimate brass ring in competitive paintball--or would you rather play it safe and tell yourself maybe next year.
UPDATE: League sources say as many as 12 teams have either contacted the league or been contacted about filling a spot in the Challengers bracket. Since some of the wannabes are D3 and/or untried let's call it 6 serious candidates. While it's good to know there are teams actively considering or seeking the move I still say, what's taking so long?
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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15 comments:
Wait, did they not already have enough teams for Challengers at the beginning of the season? I assume before they announced the Challengers division that they already qualified and accepted teams.
It only needs to run with 5 minimum. I assume the cap is 10 teams also? Is there a cap?
Schedules will suck if there are only 6,7, or 9 teams though.
Expect either 8 or 10. They won't do odd numbers.
And yes, the cap is 10.
why not let the challengers be from any division?
Is it possible to do things too fast? Would Trauma have been Trauma if they hadn't spent a year dominating the amateur bracket first?
I can think of a few teams that should move up, but at the same time it might make sense to own D1 for a year and then make the move.
After all, we have Top Gun already jumping up to pro when they played like turds in D1 at Dallas.
But I agree also with the general premise. You don't know until you try and all you have to fear is failure. You might as well step up.
@Matt
Dumb question
@Baca
Of those 12teams, were they rostered D1 @ Dallas and some of those teams' players are ranked as D3? Or are there actual D3 teams trying to bump to challengers? I don't see anything wrong with what individual players are ranked at, as long as the team has competed in a D1 event
Anon
Of course it's possible to do things too fast and one reason I imagine the PSP is trying hard to vet the teams it lets in to Challengers.
And while it's also possible that one of the untried D3 teams that want in could hang it's not very likely.
The goal of Challengers is to create a sufficiently competitive environment above D1 to prepare any team that gets the chance to move up to Champions a chance to be competitive and stay there.
Isn’t everyone a Challenger to the Crown? :P
Simple division and inconsistent reasoning brought about the Challenger division, not a wanting for it.
-YFA
NStoer
My understanding is that 2 or 3 D3 teams inquiried about getting in.
YFA
Not true. As the 15 teams that played pro in Dallas attest the PSP was confronted in the off season with a situation that would have a) required expanding the pro division, or b) turning some worthy teams away or c) figuring out a more permanent solution to earning a pro spot.
You know as well as I do the factors by which lineage ranking became entwined “security”. This does not validate that.
To destroy a thing is to control it.
--YFA
Q-
Dividing the pie “inflates” its value.
You should see how they fight over the pan…
It wasn’t enough just to own the pie, but the vessel itself.
If there were too many people to split the pie evenly, we could take points and assess them to future pies.
The promise of a new flavoured pie is coming this year- Suckleberry.
Past pies weren’t very good either.
Those pies made a lot of promises, burned bridges, devalued former pies by saying they weren’t as pie-core, ended up making a whole lot of people sick.
They say the pie factory is re-opening.
But the pie we are speaking of died in 2004 and we’ve only come close to seeing a pie some twice in the past few years.
And some people prefer cake to pie.
Don’t our players deserve better than a piece of the pie?
We should be teaching them how to make pie, not mindlessly consume. In a few instances, our luckiest became owners and sandwich makers.
--YFA
[fin]
A temporary solution to a systemic problem. They can shave it down all they like, but it will continue to lose value. Hell, I don’t think anyone’s worried, paintball players don’t go down with the ship, but for some reason the PSP thought it was a good idea to say otherwise and establish par in sub-par conditions.
That doesn't sound like an "extreme" sport to me.
There are much larger problems need dealing with.
To be more accurate Q, manufacturers have used APPA information to analyze rank as well as create it. It isn’t that simple of course, but you get the general idea. I can move one less case here, have one less pit crew member and as easily as decimal survive another month's pay. If you pay to play, you might as well make your own chips.
Is it really so unbelievable we should draw a line in the sand and say “no”? This isn’t theory we live in, obviously the top scores on the test had helped to write the test as well as the fiction behind it. Such is history.
We live in the age of DYE. )O_O
m3s0h0n4 is off his meds again.
wait, am I 'Q'?
If I am Q, then thanks.
It seems you're advocating the teams/players grab more control, before it all ends up in the hands of Dye/Kee. That they should stop consuming and start 'creating', while they still have the chance. Our host Senor Loco has always advocated this.
The problem is that there have to be consumers. Everyone can't bake pie. Someone has to eat it. The players/teams are the consumers in this case. They are the customers. They are the guys that don't actually have anything to lose, and are free to walk away any time they want to. You can't expect them to mobilise into a 'Force in the Industry' because that's not really what they want. They want to be provided a product that they can then compete in, against a high quality of opponent. Sure, if you asked them if they wanted a voice/say/stake in what happens in the leagues they would say yes, but they typically would not want to invest money, time or effort into earning and owning that stake - they want someone else to do that for them.
I enjoy eating at restuarants, but I don't want the headache of owning one.
No-one wants the headaches, or the risks. Everyone wants a share of the profits. Get real people. If the teams could have done it - they already would have. Even the Pro team with the most money tried, and couldn't do it themselves.
The 'player-run league' isn't a dream - it's a fantasy. The teams shouldn't, wouldn't and couldn't do it themselves, and I seriously doubt its even what they would actually choose, were the reality presented to them and fully understood. They are better off enjoying the sport and staying on their side of the fence.
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