Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The Roster: Season 2
Yeah, I know, it first came out a while ago so it's old news but in another way it's timeless. Delivered in 6 episodes--the first three have just hit YouTube--it tells a common paintball story, a story nearly every dedicated competitive player has experienced at least once. Beyond the dream of playing pro paintball the same questions remain; the same drive and desire. Do I have what it takes? What am I willing to do, to give up, to succeed? The Roster: Season 2 tells that story for the 2013 World Cup champion San Antonio X-Factor and a group of hopeful players who came from all around the southeast United States to give it their all in an effort to make the roster. In a visual landscape dominated by disconnected short attention span "action" clips Dan Napoli and crew deliver a meaningful story that resonates with players and non-players alike because it's not just a paintball story, it's a human story. If you missed it the first time around--or even if you've seen it--catch episode one at ETV brought to you by Planet Eclipse. Better yet, you can purchase the whole feature with lots of extras from Vimeo On Demand. It's a worthwhile addition to any paintball video library. And in case you were concerned I might dominate the proceedings you can breath a sigh of relief--I ignored the cameras and they, for the most part, ignored me too--so you have no reason not to enjoy The Roster.
Monday, January 27, 2014
The Pros for 2014: XSV
Let's begin with the positive. (This won't take long.) The leadership of XSV has been around the block a time or two and demonstrated over the course of the 2013 season they had a handle on what wasn't working and what needed to be changed. They made incremental improvements every event. That bodes well for the future. They have a mix of youth and experience. A team needs the exuberance of youth and the stability of experience. But even with Taylor and Tholey (both of whom have moved to new teams) it wasn't clear the roster was up to the challenge of reaching the Champions bracket. And without them it could be a long season again.
Under other circumstances I'd be more definitive and say they will struggle but the nature of the improvements made in 2013 hold out some hope if they can continue down that same path through this off season into 2014. Despite individual players entering 2013 having Xball and Race To experience the team didn't have that experience and consequently had problems early in the season translating a winning 7-man formula into a successful Race To style of play.
Here is where the hint, identity crisis, comes into play. As a 7-man team XSV played a conventional strategy of establishing a solid defensive position first and foremost. From that posture they could choose to attack one or the other wire either OTB or as a secondary push. Ideally the lead(s) can make some headway, get an elimination or two and the game shifts into the mid-game pressing toward the close. Alternatively the solid defense can withstand the loss of the leads and settle down into a field control defensive struggle. If this all sounds to dull and boring it isn't necessarily so. Transitions in paintball happen in the blink of an eye and a successful breakout can lead to a fast point for any team, even one not always looking to exploit every opportunity.
And it's in the transitions that XSV struggles. (In XSV's case the critical transition is the shifting role of the insert player when the wire lead is eliminated or stymied in their effort to generate offensive pressure.) Used to a different dynamic in working the wires and a different timing to judging windows of opportunity if the leads aren't successful their points lose momentum and they end up on the defensive, frequently contained in their positions.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Sullivan is the d-wire lead. He is often aggressive in making his push to the fifty. Frequently beating the opponent into a strong forward position. When he stayed alive and has continued success everything runs like clockwork. When he is eliminated his support routinely failed to take the needed action--for whatever reason. (Even successful leads don't always stay alive and when they don't their support has to step up. And more crucially has to know when to step up.)
At the point where the supports (inserts) fail to make timely decisions and act it leaves the back player with few options and any offensive pressure mounted by the lost lead instantly crumbles. In the space of a second or two the whole point turns around and the remaining players are reduced to uneven gunfights as they continue to give up ground and angles. Insert play is the key and the place XSV tended to breakdown most often.
As noted previously the team made incremental improvements over the season so we'll have to wait and see what sort of game they bring to start 2014. Not only will the transitions need shoring up but the mental framework that under girds every team's decision-making process will need to be revamped. Not impossible but not easy--and here we return to leadership. The team has the leadership capable of redirecting their efforts as needed. But do they, in the end, have the horses to get the job done? I am not convinced they do.
Here's wishing them the best of luck in 2014.
The Infamous hint is: volatile.
Under other circumstances I'd be more definitive and say they will struggle but the nature of the improvements made in 2013 hold out some hope if they can continue down that same path through this off season into 2014. Despite individual players entering 2013 having Xball and Race To experience the team didn't have that experience and consequently had problems early in the season translating a winning 7-man formula into a successful Race To style of play.
Here is where the hint, identity crisis, comes into play. As a 7-man team XSV played a conventional strategy of establishing a solid defensive position first and foremost. From that posture they could choose to attack one or the other wire either OTB or as a secondary push. Ideally the lead(s) can make some headway, get an elimination or two and the game shifts into the mid-game pressing toward the close. Alternatively the solid defense can withstand the loss of the leads and settle down into a field control defensive struggle. If this all sounds to dull and boring it isn't necessarily so. Transitions in paintball happen in the blink of an eye and a successful breakout can lead to a fast point for any team, even one not always looking to exploit every opportunity.
And it's in the transitions that XSV struggles. (In XSV's case the critical transition is the shifting role of the insert player when the wire lead is eliminated or stymied in their effort to generate offensive pressure.) Used to a different dynamic in working the wires and a different timing to judging windows of opportunity if the leads aren't successful their points lose momentum and they end up on the defensive, frequently contained in their positions.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Sullivan is the d-wire lead. He is often aggressive in making his push to the fifty. Frequently beating the opponent into a strong forward position. When he stayed alive and has continued success everything runs like clockwork. When he is eliminated his support routinely failed to take the needed action--for whatever reason. (Even successful leads don't always stay alive and when they don't their support has to step up. And more crucially has to know when to step up.)
At the point where the supports (inserts) fail to make timely decisions and act it leaves the back player with few options and any offensive pressure mounted by the lost lead instantly crumbles. In the space of a second or two the whole point turns around and the remaining players are reduced to uneven gunfights as they continue to give up ground and angles. Insert play is the key and the place XSV tended to breakdown most often.
As noted previously the team made incremental improvements over the season so we'll have to wait and see what sort of game they bring to start 2014. Not only will the transitions need shoring up but the mental framework that under girds every team's decision-making process will need to be revamped. Not impossible but not easy--and here we return to leadership. The team has the leadership capable of redirecting their efforts as needed. But do they, in the end, have the horses to get the job done? I am not convinced they do.
Here's wishing them the best of luck in 2014.
The Infamous hint is: volatile.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
PSP Bitch Slaps Photographers
Bet that title got your attention. If you haven't heard the bleating yet the PSP has changed its policy regarding the herds--or is that hordes--of photogs that frequent PSP events. Now I'm not going to try and convince you this was a good idea--or a bad idea. I am agnostic when it comes to the policy but otherwise sympathetic concerning its' intent. As regulars know I am not a fan of paintball's brand of vanity photography. Sorry. I'm tired of the amateurs playing at being a photographer and the professionals whining about cheap players undervaluing their genius and all of them acting as if they are entitled to turn a buck at somebody else's event.
It wasn't all that long ago the herd was bitching because players constantly low-balled them on pricing--but what did they expect when there were dozens of photographers to choose from? Then the league started charging a fairly modest fee for a pass and the herd roared against that unfairness too. (The only thing wrong with the fee was that it was too low. There were still too many photographers hanging about still getting squeezed but this time in both directions.) And now there's the newest policy. Truth is that while we're always hearing from the herd they aren't the only sort of photographers working PSP events.
And that distinction is going to be more fully recognized with the new policy. Photographers and videographers representing the Media will be provided access. (On what basis I don't know.) As will photographers and videographers working for league sponsors. It's not like events will be blacked out all of a sudden. There will be plenty of peeps making a visual record of the events--just like there have been in the past. What there (apparently) won't be is the same sized herd of vanity photographers.
Before you start in on the usual harangues let's address them right now.
It will limit paintball's exposure. Baloney. It may limit the PSP's exposure but surely that's their call, right?
It's a lot of hard work for a small return, if that. Not my problem--or the PSP's for that matter. Unless somebody kidnapped you and put a gun to your head and forced you to take pictures all day it was something you chose to do and nobody owes you anything for it.
Players are cheapskates. Not the PSP's fault.
Players and teams will lose out if the prices to shoot vanity goes up. What is really meant here is that players and teams will not value the product sufficiently to pay the extra cost if it goes too high. And this is the PSP's fault how?
Real sports don't charge photographers. No, they supply legit professionals media credentials (which the PSP will be doing) and real photographers don't photograph the players and fans at the Super Bowl trying to sell them vanity shots of their experience at the big game.
League sponsors will hire cheap not good to fulfill their media requirements. Again, if true, not the PSP's fault. You don't like their hiring practices take it up with them.
In the past the herd was allowed to grow out of control but now it needs to be culled. Hey, circle of life and all that. Hakuna Matata. A (self) select few will still be allowed to do the vanity photo thing but their numbers will be restricted and the fee raised. We could continue to debate the fees being charged but not the merits. Their league their rules.
The intent all along has been to find some balance wherein the league retains control of access but those interested in vanity photography have suppliers and those suppliers can turn a profit. Is it the right balance this time? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But it's certainly not a get richer scheme or a crush the little guy under our jackboot plot either. Like it, don't like it, that's fine just don't be stupid about it.
[Disclaimer: my personal opinion. Nothing to do with the league. I couldn't resist the title though, it was too funny.]
It wasn't all that long ago the herd was bitching because players constantly low-balled them on pricing--but what did they expect when there were dozens of photographers to choose from? Then the league started charging a fairly modest fee for a pass and the herd roared against that unfairness too. (The only thing wrong with the fee was that it was too low. There were still too many photographers hanging about still getting squeezed but this time in both directions.) And now there's the newest policy. Truth is that while we're always hearing from the herd they aren't the only sort of photographers working PSP events.
And that distinction is going to be more fully recognized with the new policy. Photographers and videographers representing the Media will be provided access. (On what basis I don't know.) As will photographers and videographers working for league sponsors. It's not like events will be blacked out all of a sudden. There will be plenty of peeps making a visual record of the events--just like there have been in the past. What there (apparently) won't be is the same sized herd of vanity photographers.
Before you start in on the usual harangues let's address them right now.
It will limit paintball's exposure. Baloney. It may limit the PSP's exposure but surely that's their call, right?
It's a lot of hard work for a small return, if that. Not my problem--or the PSP's for that matter. Unless somebody kidnapped you and put a gun to your head and forced you to take pictures all day it was something you chose to do and nobody owes you anything for it.
Players are cheapskates. Not the PSP's fault.
Players and teams will lose out if the prices to shoot vanity goes up. What is really meant here is that players and teams will not value the product sufficiently to pay the extra cost if it goes too high. And this is the PSP's fault how?
Real sports don't charge photographers. No, they supply legit professionals media credentials (which the PSP will be doing) and real photographers don't photograph the players and fans at the Super Bowl trying to sell them vanity shots of their experience at the big game.
League sponsors will hire cheap not good to fulfill their media requirements. Again, if true, not the PSP's fault. You don't like their hiring practices take it up with them.
In the past the herd was allowed to grow out of control but now it needs to be culled. Hey, circle of life and all that. Hakuna Matata. A (self) select few will still be allowed to do the vanity photo thing but their numbers will be restricted and the fee raised. We could continue to debate the fees being charged but not the merits. Their league their rules.
The intent all along has been to find some balance wherein the league retains control of access but those interested in vanity photography have suppliers and those suppliers can turn a profit. Is it the right balance this time? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But it's certainly not a get richer scheme or a crush the little guy under our jackboot plot either. Like it, don't like it, that's fine just don't be stupid about it.
[Disclaimer: my personal opinion. Nothing to do with the league. I couldn't resist the title though, it was too funny.]
Friday, January 24, 2014
Pro Team Analysis: In Order
I've heard (and seen) enough. The team order is set and VFTD will begin offering individual team breakdowns when I, you know, get around to it. Okay fine, it will be soon. Ish. Say Sunday at the latest. (Probably unless something comes up. Hey, you get what you pay for.)
One other thing before I get to the list. I can--and will--offer a projection as to how things will turn out for teams with radical roster changes but necessarily the foundation of each team analysis is how the team played before. Will the new pieces fit the old formulas? Will changes be made? Or needed? That sort of thing.
Alright. Here goes. The Countdown, from last to first and every place in between.
Texas Storm, CEP, Aftershock, Dynasty, Russian Legion, Upton 187 Crew, X-Factor, Ironmen, Vicious, Impact, Art Chaos, Damage, Heat, Infamous & XSV.
Up first is XSV. Followed by Infamous and so on. Serves me right for letting you slackers choose the order but what's done is done.
Before each analysis I'll give you hint about the next one. Since XSV will be the first one you get their hint now. Identity Crisis.
One other thing before I get to the list. I can--and will--offer a projection as to how things will turn out for teams with radical roster changes but necessarily the foundation of each team analysis is how the team played before. Will the new pieces fit the old formulas? Will changes be made? Or needed? That sort of thing.
Alright. Here goes. The Countdown, from last to first and every place in between.
Texas Storm, CEP, Aftershock, Dynasty, Russian Legion, Upton 187 Crew, X-Factor, Ironmen, Vicious, Impact, Art Chaos, Damage, Heat, Infamous & XSV.
Up first is XSV. Followed by Infamous and so on. Serves me right for letting you slackers choose the order but what's done is done.
Before each analysis I'll give you hint about the next one. Since XSV will be the first one you get their hint now. Identity Crisis.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Hell Freezes Over
It was either the polar vortex or the release of an honest-to-God rulebook by the EPBF governing the Millennium Series and other EPBF-sanctioned tournaments in 2014. Written in English at first glance it appears to have been proof read by a Hungarian.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Dallas Countdown 2014
Starting in the next week or so VFTD will do it's very own pro division pre-season team-by-team analysis. It will not include every team playing pro in 2014 as there are the new teams coming plus a couple of others I simply am not familiar enough with to offer an educated analysis. that being said it still leaves 14 or 15 teams to cover. VFTD will not be telling you how wonderful every team is or how much potential the players have or how great they used to be or any of the usual (and lame) banalities. There will be no rainbows or daffodils. At the same time my objective isn't to tear players or teams down, it is to analyse the teams and how they play the game. Since I have no particular order in mind I figured y'all could decide for me. Figure you've got about 5 or 6 days tops to express yourself in comments. Name the team or teams you'd like to read about or are your favs and simple raw numbers will take the day. If I get more calls for say XSV, than any other team, they'll be first up. Odds are I won't be able to do more than a couple teams a week so we could run out of time. Stuff the ballot box or get your friends to back your pick--doesn't matter to me. Just don't wait too long.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Recycled Pros
It has been my concern for some time that competitive paintball isn't breeding the same number of pro caliber players it once did. Most blame it on sideline coaching but the beginning of the decline pre-dates sideline coaching. (While sideline coaching hasn't helped it's a symptom not the problem.) Others blame it on the current dominant format and I understand why but I'm convinced it's less about the format than the way the majority of new players are taught to play the Race To format. (And, yes, other formats did put an emphasis on different aspects of playing the game. Some of which aren't particularly relevant any more.) What matters can still be taught however. It's just that the average competitive player's paintball education is incomplete--and I'm not drawing the line anywhere along the spectrum of player experience.
Partly as a consequence what we see today in the off season are established pros being recycled like NFL head coaches. Like NFL head coaches the pool of players with a track record of competitive pro level ability is small--and not really getting larger, certainly not at a noticeable rate anyway--so the established pros end up shuffling around between top tier teams instead of those teams developing new players or taking risks bringing in untested talent. (This isn't universally true but close enough to be readily apparent.) The only pool smaller than the pro player pool is the successful pro paintball coaches pool. (But I digress.) And, yes, while I'm at it, it's true some teams have tried developmental squads and players but the results haven't matched the expenditures so most no longer attempt it.
Today I'm wondering if the Champions bracket hasn't exacerbated the reliance on recycled pros. The ten teams that became the Champions bracket in Dallas last season lasted a single event. By rule two Champions teams are relegated each event. Four are at risk of relegation. Only five teams didn't face the risk of relegation all last season. Five teams. The pressure is enormous. To use another football analogy it used to be that new coaches had a window of time to implement their system and fill the roster with capable players. Four or five years wasn't uncommon. Now a new coach is lucky if he gets two years to turn losing franchises around. (With the frequent result that those teams stay mired in mediocrity while recycling the same guys over and over again.) Top tier pro paintball teams have always wanted to succeed. Everyone plays to win but the new formula doesn't allow for having a bad tournament much less a rebuilding season. Some team's reputations survive down times but once the top tier status is in question sponsorship goes elsewhere. The known commodity is the safe bet. Lose a player, replace him with another player of equal ability if possible. Avoid the relegation churn. If the deep pockets aren't deep enough, for whatever reason, it's gonna be hard to turn the inevitable slide around. And even if they are there is no guarantee the next batch of recycled pros will deliver the desired results.
Partly as a consequence what we see today in the off season are established pros being recycled like NFL head coaches. Like NFL head coaches the pool of players with a track record of competitive pro level ability is small--and not really getting larger, certainly not at a noticeable rate anyway--so the established pros end up shuffling around between top tier teams instead of those teams developing new players or taking risks bringing in untested talent. (This isn't universally true but close enough to be readily apparent.) The only pool smaller than the pro player pool is the successful pro paintball coaches pool. (But I digress.) And, yes, while I'm at it, it's true some teams have tried developmental squads and players but the results haven't matched the expenditures so most no longer attempt it.
Today I'm wondering if the Champions bracket hasn't exacerbated the reliance on recycled pros. The ten teams that became the Champions bracket in Dallas last season lasted a single event. By rule two Champions teams are relegated each event. Four are at risk of relegation. Only five teams didn't face the risk of relegation all last season. Five teams. The pressure is enormous. To use another football analogy it used to be that new coaches had a window of time to implement their system and fill the roster with capable players. Four or five years wasn't uncommon. Now a new coach is lucky if he gets two years to turn losing franchises around. (With the frequent result that those teams stay mired in mediocrity while recycling the same guys over and over again.) Top tier pro paintball teams have always wanted to succeed. Everyone plays to win but the new formula doesn't allow for having a bad tournament much less a rebuilding season. Some team's reputations survive down times but once the top tier status is in question sponsorship goes elsewhere. The known commodity is the safe bet. Lose a player, replace him with another player of equal ability if possible. Avoid the relegation churn. If the deep pockets aren't deep enough, for whatever reason, it's gonna be hard to turn the inevitable slide around. And even if they are there is no guarantee the next batch of recycled pros will deliver the desired results.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Who? The APL
For those of you at home failing to keep score here's a little reminder: the APL (this version) is not the latest version of the NPPL. The APL is the Valken-backed "national" paintball league run by Shawn Walker that is launching in February--after strip-mining the NPPL of any useful information last season under the guise of helping the league stay operational. (Rumor has it Chuck was last seen working an intersection in HB holding up a cardboard sign that reads: Will run paintball league for food.)
I had intended to ignore the APL, at least until an established pro team or two signed up, so what happens today? The APL announces Dynasty will play the first event at their home field. What a surprise. Could be a couple more pros will give it a shot too. We'll see. With the Dynasty announcement I decided to take a quick look around the APL website. In 7 divisions of competition there are so far 22 teams signed up for the February event at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. There's still a month or more before the event so the numbers have a chance to turn around and if the APL had been around for a while I'd expect an influx of last minute registrations but as the "new" guys trying to make a fresh impression 22 teams tells me they aren't generating much excitement. (Hence the Dynasty announcement.) The APL is blending format characteristics by going to an all Race To line-up while running their matches like the Millennium except they'll be using 12.5 bps as their ROF. (Like most of the PSP.) And opting for what they think will be the popular option of no sideline coaching. And a new bunker set of all PSP type props except for their mini-As. And then there's the field dimensions; not as long as a 7-man (170 feet) and as wide as a standard PSP field (120 feet). Who thought that was a good idea? After lifting the "best" features of two successful leagues they shoot themselves in the foot (figuratively of course) by going with the field dimensions that failed miserably for the PSP just a couple years ago. And then there's the rules brief posted at the website that reads like a plain English version of the PSP's basics. Which is fine I suppose as they couldn't hardly copy the MS rule book after all but the whole thing left me wondering why anyone would prefer the APL's re-hash to the real deal. The answer so far is they don't.
I had intended to ignore the APL, at least until an established pro team or two signed up, so what happens today? The APL announces Dynasty will play the first event at their home field. What a surprise. Could be a couple more pros will give it a shot too. We'll see. With the Dynasty announcement I decided to take a quick look around the APL website. In 7 divisions of competition there are so far 22 teams signed up for the February event at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. There's still a month or more before the event so the numbers have a chance to turn around and if the APL had been around for a while I'd expect an influx of last minute registrations but as the "new" guys trying to make a fresh impression 22 teams tells me they aren't generating much excitement. (Hence the Dynasty announcement.) The APL is blending format characteristics by going to an all Race To line-up while running their matches like the Millennium except they'll be using 12.5 bps as their ROF. (Like most of the PSP.) And opting for what they think will be the popular option of no sideline coaching. And a new bunker set of all PSP type props except for their mini-As. And then there's the field dimensions; not as long as a 7-man (170 feet) and as wide as a standard PSP field (120 feet). Who thought that was a good idea? After lifting the "best" features of two successful leagues they shoot themselves in the foot (figuratively of course) by going with the field dimensions that failed miserably for the PSP just a couple years ago. And then there's the rules brief posted at the website that reads like a plain English version of the PSP's basics. Which is fine I suppose as they couldn't hardly copy the MS rule book after all but the whole thing left me wondering why anyone would prefer the APL's re-hash to the real deal. The answer so far is they don't.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Riffing On PSP Pro Paintball
This post picks up where 'Riffing On Stein' left off--sorta. In the title I'm reminding everyone, myself included, that the pro context is PSP pro, not MS pro or generic "other" pro. Just so we're clear. Because it does make a difference. Anyway, after John Dresser (mega-Mod at PBN) moved Stein's original post to a higher profile forum it has turned into the thread that just keeps giving. And what it's giving me is indigestion and this odd tic at the corner of my left eye. (It was so bad for a while I started wearing an eyepatch .. and I almost posted to the thread directly.)
This time around I want to touch on two things; the lifecycle of the pro team and the oft-expressed belief money equals championships. Any comparison anyone makes to *real* professional sports and pro paintball is necessarily very broad and general at best and laughable at worst. At this stage of development all paintball teams rise and fall at the whim of their creators whether that's a wealthy individual or a group of friends banding together. And the team lasts only as long as the creators choose to sustain it. For the very simple reason there are no external forces at work that help keep them together. (Okay, this isn't totally true. Sponsorship inasmuch as it reduces the cost to operate may extend the lifecycle of a given team but that's as far as it goes.) And at the top of the game it is creating a future problem that is going to be difficult to resolve. Despite the fact teams usually have a limited lifecycle every team, every team creator, has aspirations of longevity, of continuity. And here is where the problem arises. The game's evolution has driven the teams to professionalize in order to compete and at the same time sponsorship shrank--and a lot of "pro" teams were lost. (And this process upped the ante on divisional teams too--but that's another post.) Now we have a high risk high cost webcast that is delivering the game direct to an international audience--and trying to figure out how to make it profitable. Whether the ultimate goal is television or not the critical juncture is profitability. If it doesn't happen the whole edifice collapses sooner or later. If it succeeds a truly professional league may arise but in the here and now the pros are seen as transitory and unreliable--yet how can they be anything else?
Let's shorthand the money argument shall we? I say Impact in 2013, you say Heat in 2012 and I say there can be only one--winner--and everybody else necessarily isn't so while the metric money equals championships sounds good it simply isn't true. The truth is money provides a level playing field if you're competing against similar resources and ought to provide some advantages over teams that don't have similar resources. And I say ought because while the money can make a difference it needs to be used in advantageous ways. So if you want to say teams with money [resources] unavailable to other teams have an advantage I'm still going to disagree to an extent. I agree they have a potential advantage and a potentially significant one. If you want to say it's unfair I will agree with that too. And that group of ten players is more talented than another group of ten. That too is unfair after a fashion, it's just not the sort of thing objected to in sports. Let's pick on Impact some more because it's a good example. Last year they had rostered players from all over the U.S. and Canada and they played in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Their schedule alone demanded resources only a handful of teams could even consider matching and we haven't spent anything yet on what matters when it comes to competing. Now let's add player compensation. Something Impact is able to do in order to draw (hopefully) top tier talent. To this point a lot of resources have been expended but not on competition or preparation. Did Impact practice more than most teams? I don't know, maybe. Did they practice effectively? Did they utilize their time and resources in better ways than their competition? They had a strong season. They had a consistent season. But they didn't win. You say money make them a top a team and I say talent. Yes, money matters. Especially if you ain't got any but it isn't the deciding factor. If it was the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins would be perennial champs as would the Red Sox and the Yankees--but they aren't.
This time around I want to touch on two things; the lifecycle of the pro team and the oft-expressed belief money equals championships. Any comparison anyone makes to *real* professional sports and pro paintball is necessarily very broad and general at best and laughable at worst. At this stage of development all paintball teams rise and fall at the whim of their creators whether that's a wealthy individual or a group of friends banding together. And the team lasts only as long as the creators choose to sustain it. For the very simple reason there are no external forces at work that help keep them together. (Okay, this isn't totally true. Sponsorship inasmuch as it reduces the cost to operate may extend the lifecycle of a given team but that's as far as it goes.) And at the top of the game it is creating a future problem that is going to be difficult to resolve. Despite the fact teams usually have a limited lifecycle every team, every team creator, has aspirations of longevity, of continuity. And here is where the problem arises. The game's evolution has driven the teams to professionalize in order to compete and at the same time sponsorship shrank--and a lot of "pro" teams were lost. (And this process upped the ante on divisional teams too--but that's another post.) Now we have a high risk high cost webcast that is delivering the game direct to an international audience--and trying to figure out how to make it profitable. Whether the ultimate goal is television or not the critical juncture is profitability. If it doesn't happen the whole edifice collapses sooner or later. If it succeeds a truly professional league may arise but in the here and now the pros are seen as transitory and unreliable--yet how can they be anything else?
Let's shorthand the money argument shall we? I say Impact in 2013, you say Heat in 2012 and I say there can be only one--winner--and everybody else necessarily isn't so while the metric money equals championships sounds good it simply isn't true. The truth is money provides a level playing field if you're competing against similar resources and ought to provide some advantages over teams that don't have similar resources. And I say ought because while the money can make a difference it needs to be used in advantageous ways. So if you want to say teams with money [resources] unavailable to other teams have an advantage I'm still going to disagree to an extent. I agree they have a potential advantage and a potentially significant one. If you want to say it's unfair I will agree with that too. And that group of ten players is more talented than another group of ten. That too is unfair after a fashion, it's just not the sort of thing objected to in sports. Let's pick on Impact some more because it's a good example. Last year they had rostered players from all over the U.S. and Canada and they played in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Their schedule alone demanded resources only a handful of teams could even consider matching and we haven't spent anything yet on what matters when it comes to competing. Now let's add player compensation. Something Impact is able to do in order to draw (hopefully) top tier talent. To this point a lot of resources have been expended but not on competition or preparation. Did Impact practice more than most teams? I don't know, maybe. Did they practice effectively? Did they utilize their time and resources in better ways than their competition? They had a strong season. They had a consistent season. But they didn't win. You say money make them a top a team and I say talent. Yes, money matters. Especially if you ain't got any but it isn't the deciding factor. If it was the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins would be perennial champs as would the Red Sox and the Yankees--but they aren't.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Riffing On Stein
Jeff Stein, that is. NE Hurricane for life and owner of Warzone Paintball. He occasionally posts some interesting (and provocative) thoughts over at PBN--which you really ought to read first--as this post is based on his and the follow-up comments.
Or you could make do with a brief synopsis. (Your loss.) Stein separates the pro teams into 4 groups; contenders, pretenders, churn & chum. Alone that produces some interesting debate but his intent is to see if there are ways of looking at the pro teams over the course of a season or more and identify team trajectories perhaps before they might otherwise be noticed. (Who is getting better? Will that trend continue? Who is faltering? Will that trend continue?) And also to set the stage for a dialogue on how that might better be accomplished.
The category confusing things a bit though is churn because the current rules create churn that on the merits might otherwise not occur. A full 40% of Champions teams face the possibility of relegation now with 20% certain to be relegated. The same percentages apply to teams seeking promotion from Challengers. The issue as it stands now however is that Champs and Challengers never face one another. Challengers beat Challengers for a shot at the Champions which means that what really happens event to event is that Champions contains the top 8 teams plus 2 let's wait and see what happens teams. If the goal was to promote the better team on a given day (or at a given event) then the top Challengers from an event would play the bottom Champions and take their spot if they beat them in a head's up match. Then the league could legitimately claim the Champions was always the ten best teams. And the churn category would provide more accurate data.
Keep in mind one reason the Challengers exists today is because a noticeable gulf had developed between the pro division and D1 and one of the hopes pinned on Challengers was that superior competition a step up from D1 would propel the best of the Challengers to a level where some might become competitive with the Champions. We haven't seen that yet but it's early days. It might still happen but given the player pool of pros the next question is are the contending Challengers getting better or are the Champions beginning to tail off?
UPDATE: Got a feeling those 'bounced' responses came from the Challengers division.
Or you could make do with a brief synopsis. (Your loss.) Stein separates the pro teams into 4 groups; contenders, pretenders, churn & chum. Alone that produces some interesting debate but his intent is to see if there are ways of looking at the pro teams over the course of a season or more and identify team trajectories perhaps before they might otherwise be noticed. (Who is getting better? Will that trend continue? Who is faltering? Will that trend continue?) And also to set the stage for a dialogue on how that might better be accomplished.
The category confusing things a bit though is churn because the current rules create churn that on the merits might otherwise not occur. A full 40% of Champions teams face the possibility of relegation now with 20% certain to be relegated. The same percentages apply to teams seeking promotion from Challengers. The issue as it stands now however is that Champs and Challengers never face one another. Challengers beat Challengers for a shot at the Champions which means that what really happens event to event is that Champions contains the top 8 teams plus 2 let's wait and see what happens teams. If the goal was to promote the better team on a given day (or at a given event) then the top Challengers from an event would play the bottom Champions and take their spot if they beat them in a head's up match. Then the league could legitimately claim the Champions was always the ten best teams. And the churn category would provide more accurate data.
Keep in mind one reason the Challengers exists today is because a noticeable gulf had developed between the pro division and D1 and one of the hopes pinned on Challengers was that superior competition a step up from D1 would propel the best of the Challengers to a level where some might become competitive with the Champions. We haven't seen that yet but it's early days. It might still happen but given the player pool of pros the next question is are the contending Challengers getting better or are the Champions beginning to tail off?
UPDATE: Got a feeling those 'bounced' responses came from the Challengers division.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
In the VFTD Battle of the Balloons
I hearby declare the PSP the unequivocal winner! (And all the peasants rejoiced!) Okay, they aren't really balloons, they're inflatables but I was concerned some of VFTD's more juvenile-minded readers might be confused since the inflatables they're used to are ... oh nevermind. The victory is both unequivocal and, er, unofficial. Because there wasn't actually any contest. I am of course referring to the latest upgrade kits from Sup'Air. The PSP gets two more giant beams or whatever they're called--less than giant beams perhaps plus two wings replacing the "technical" snake elbows. (Apparently what was a great idea two years ago is ready for the trash heap today. Two years too late.) The Millennium's kit replaces the 6 trees plus 4 elbows with 2 medusas and 2 giant medusas. As it turns out a medusa is a can with a pair of dangling tie downs hanging from the top and the giant one is just a bigger version of the regular one.
The PSP gets four bunkers replacing four bunkers while the MS gets 4 bunkers replacing 10 bunkers. The claim for the medusas is they will be blocking bunkers but as they are fewer in number it will reduce the clutter on the field and improve spectator visibility--or something. Oh, and they can used with the M expansion to create a second smaller M. The medusas remind me the basic Hyperball bunker of yesteryear which isn't all bad but I think I'd draw the line at inflatable crack pipes. (Although ... )
I also can't help but wonder if somebody made a clerical error and meant to send the PSP the medusas instead. After all for the last upgrade the PSP wanted bigger props for the older, fatter, slower crowd and Sup'Air sent the "technical" snake instead. And when they finally make some bigger bunkers they send them to Euroland? Wassup with that? I'm also curious about the name. Medusa was a mythological creature that turned men to stone. According to the MS these medusas will enhance the action, create movement and encourage the "breakthrough" though I suspect they meant run through. Anyway, the name seems slightly odd all things considered.
The PSP gets four bunkers replacing four bunkers while the MS gets 4 bunkers replacing 10 bunkers. The claim for the medusas is they will be blocking bunkers but as they are fewer in number it will reduce the clutter on the field and improve spectator visibility--or something. Oh, and they can used with the M expansion to create a second smaller M. The medusas remind me the basic Hyperball bunker of yesteryear which isn't all bad but I think I'd draw the line at inflatable crack pipes. (Although ... )
I also can't help but wonder if somebody made a clerical error and meant to send the PSP the medusas instead. After all for the last upgrade the PSP wanted bigger props for the older, fatter, slower crowd and Sup'Air sent the "technical" snake instead. And when they finally make some bigger bunkers they send them to Euroland? Wassup with that? I'm also curious about the name. Medusa was a mythological creature that turned men to stone. According to the MS these medusas will enhance the action, create movement and encourage the "breakthrough" though I suspect they meant run through. Anyway, the name seems slightly odd all things considered.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Musical Chairs circa 2014
After Heat ransacked Impact's roster (pulling Moorhead, Montressor and Siewers) Bart & Co. wasted no time in picking up Nick Leival (from Upton 187) and Ryan Martin (lately of Top Gun Union) to replace them. In addition Impact had already picked up 'Raney" Stanczak (from Damage.) The net result is two top Champions level teams have experienced substantial off season changes. So what do the changes portend?
Remember this began with the 3 Russians rejoining Art Chaos intending to enter the PSP for 2014. So we've got a (should-be) world class new-to-the-PSP team in Art Chaos and two highly ranked but substantially different returning champions.
Often lost in sports when high profile players change teams is that any team is the sum of all (and I mean all) its parts and successful teams--whatever the metric--find ways to integrate all the pieces into a single entity. It's often called chemistry. And on that score it would seem Art Chaos is ahead of the curve as the Russians have played for Art Chaos for years. The moves to Heat reunite a pair of former All-Americans with a couple other former All-As (plus Coach Trosen) which gives Heat a foot up on establishing team cohesion. Impact picked up three players from three different teams. On the plus side both Stanczak and Martin have experience with multiple teams at the pro level. Leival has been a long time member of Upton 187 and is most likely to have difficulty making the transition to a new environment.
Beyond the changes and the chemistry questions there's also the question of who came out ahead--other than the players that may or may not have gotten a bigger chunk of cheddar than they had before. Who won the latest game of musical chairs? Was it Heat or AC or maybe Impact? From my vantage point AC maintained the core of its Euro team but most of the organization has no PSP experience. Most would agree those are still the pieces of a Champions quality team. Heat replaced top pros with other top pros but still left a couple of holes in their roster which will require players step to fill those holes. The biggest question is Impact. Odds are it take them the longest to peak given the roster changes.
What do you think?
Friday, January 3, 2014
Millennium 15
Before commenting on the latest from Euroland I have a confession to make. Like you I too live vicariously through my favorite players' lives and desperately wanted (and waited) to make this post about the latest move from the Beast, Dave Bains--but sadly somebody is procrastinating--and for once it ain't me. Btw, I call dibs on Dave's life, it's mine. You need to choose somebody else. It would be perfect except I'm not a huge fan of curry.
The Mills kids are making a big deal of this being their 15th season, as well they might, it's as good a number as any other. Impressively they have not been sitting around drinking schnapps this holiday season, they've been planning to be bigger and better than ever. All their dates and venues are set with the first three mirroring last season's locations. Alas, "the greatest venue ever" at Chantilly will not host the final event this year, instead it will be somewhere in the metro Paris area closer to Charles de Gaulle than Orly.
Last season saw the first *real* World Cup fortuitously made up of national teams of players already present plus a truckload of other EPBF championships like the Women's, the Boy's and no doubt a couple of others. But that wasn't good enough. For this very special season 15 the Mills has added more. As a locked division the old D1 will be renamed SPL 2 while D2 & D3 will become Open D1 & D2. (Seems to me that sort of change tends to water down the meaning of making such distinctions--been stuck in D2 for years?--consider yourself D1 as of today--but then I'm a snobby old purest I guess.) Added to that will be a 5-man division plus a smattering of other formats like a 1-on-1 championship, Tactical Formula, Woodland, Pump and 3-man competitions. A little something for everyone the only thing missing is a competition for the non-player--perhaps best Old Skool gat collection? Despite my tongue-in-cheek treatment it's clear the MS are making a considerable effort to improve and expand their offering and from a player's point of view how can that be a bad thing?
I have only one question: Would the MS have made the same effort over the last two or three years without the looming threat of PSP Euroland? (I am not saying such a thing exists, in fact while we've all heard about the possibility of PSP Euroland in recent years it has mostly been characterized by its lack of actually happening. And any real possibility is way above my pay grade thankfully.) My point is, like it or not, and from every league's perspective it's not, competition improves the breed. Even imaginary competition and there's a certain amusing irony in there somewhere.
The Mills kids are making a big deal of this being their 15th season, as well they might, it's as good a number as any other. Impressively they have not been sitting around drinking schnapps this holiday season, they've been planning to be bigger and better than ever. All their dates and venues are set with the first three mirroring last season's locations. Alas, "the greatest venue ever" at Chantilly will not host the final event this year, instead it will be somewhere in the metro Paris area closer to Charles de Gaulle than Orly.
Last season saw the first *real* World Cup fortuitously made up of national teams of players already present plus a truckload of other EPBF championships like the Women's, the Boy's and no doubt a couple of others. But that wasn't good enough. For this very special season 15 the Mills has added more. As a locked division the old D1 will be renamed SPL 2 while D2 & D3 will become Open D1 & D2. (Seems to me that sort of change tends to water down the meaning of making such distinctions--been stuck in D2 for years?--consider yourself D1 as of today--but then I'm a snobby old purest I guess.) Added to that will be a 5-man division plus a smattering of other formats like a 1-on-1 championship, Tactical Formula, Woodland, Pump and 3-man competitions. A little something for everyone the only thing missing is a competition for the non-player--perhaps best Old Skool gat collection? Despite my tongue-in-cheek treatment it's clear the MS are making a considerable effort to improve and expand their offering and from a player's point of view how can that be a bad thing?
I have only one question: Would the MS have made the same effort over the last two or three years without the looming threat of PSP Euroland? (I am not saying such a thing exists, in fact while we've all heard about the possibility of PSP Euroland in recent years it has mostly been characterized by its lack of actually happening. And any real possibility is way above my pay grade thankfully.) My point is, like it or not, and from every league's perspective it's not, competition improves the breed. Even imaginary competition and there's a certain amusing irony in there somewhere.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 Paintball Resolutions
Depending on how celebratory your New Year's Eve was it may take a day or two before you can focus on this post. No worries. Take all the time you need. Part of ringing in a new year is that it provides an arbitrary place to start over or begin again (or at least feel like we can.) Typically all those positive (and determined) feelings fade about as quickly as our resolutions--which is kind of a bummer. VFTD's gift to all our readers is a chance to approach the whole resolution thing from a different perspective. Instead of resolving to be a better person, whatever that may mean, or to do something you obviously don't want to do otherwise you would have done it already--like lose weight or quit smoking--this is your opportunity to resolve to have some fun, paintball style.
What do you want from paintball in 2014? Now's the time to get out in front of it and resolve to see it happen. Want to play Oklahoma D-Day? Or PSP World Cup 10-man? Or play paintball in as many different states as possible this year? The sky's the limit and best of all if you get going today you've got 364 more days to make it happen.
What's your paintball resolution for 2014?
What do you want from paintball in 2014? Now's the time to get out in front of it and resolve to see it happen. Want to play Oklahoma D-Day? Or PSP World Cup 10-man? Or play paintball in as many different states as possible this year? The sky's the limit and best of all if you get going today you've got 364 more days to make it happen.
What's your paintball resolution for 2014?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
