Thursday, March 27, 2014

On The Paintball Calendar

Don't for a minute think this post means I'm done with the whole penalty thing 'cus I'm not. Not even close. And, btw, I appreciate all the comments posted so far. It's progress. So about this calendar business--there's a lot of stuff percolating right now.
We're a little more than a week away from the HK Army getting a belated April Fools if nobody shows up for their version of the Surf City Open. No numbers seem to be available but from where I'm sitting it doesn't seem to be drawing a lot of interest after the initial hype. Hey, at least there will be lots of beer. Could be too that with the WCPPL hosting 62 teams in Vegas this coming weekend put a cramp in the HK style.
The first Millennium event is on tap the same weekend as the Surf City Open. The "new" open divisions have nearly 60 teams combined but there isn't any info on the newest divisions; 5-man Breakout, the 1-on-1 tourney, the Woodsball event (UWL anyone?) & the Geezers Championship of national teams with players 40 and older. Maybe afterward we'll get an idea who showed up and how they worked out. The weather is looking warm--for Europeans congregating south to escape a long winter--but the early report is rain. Hopefully as the date gets closer that will be amended--to less rain or no rain. We will get our first look at how the new layout works for spectators on their webcast featuring the D-wire and with the Big M in the middle of the snake. (As opposed to the Giant M in the center.)
Remember the introduction last year of the NPL--is was the NPL, right? You know, they had a draft and conferences and played offense and defense. Are they back for a second season? According to their Facebook page it appears they are dialing up a second season and will be webcasting on Livestream this time around. Looks to be mostly a Northwest phenomenon at the moment.
Then there's the new Xtreme Paintball League. Sorta. Right this minute it seems to be mostly an idea but the peeps behind the effort are trying to tease some buzz out of the paintball community by limiting information releases to the amount of attention they can draw based on Facebook "likes" etc. The format is *real* Xball of varying lengths of match time based on division of play. They are also looking to structure their league into regional conferences and come together for a championship event. The idea also includes a 5-event season but it's getting a little late already so maybe it's not gonna happen this year. No word on event structure or total number of matches per season etc. The CXBL is Xball too but they only play a relative handful of matches over the whole season. Anyway, there's that.
And, oh yeah, there's also the next APL scheduled for the end of May--so it's still quite a few weeks out. The over/under at the VFTD Sports Book is 29--teams that is. Currently 11 are registered. Of course all bets are off if any teams don't have to pay full price for entry.
For those who think the more leagues the better this must be a Golden Age as it's damned near impossible to hammer throw a sack of angry cats without hitting an event somewhere.     

5 comments:

NewPro said...

ahhhhh...VFTD = paintball almanac?

Baca Loco said...

VFTD = All things tourney ball to all paintball players :)

Anonymous said...

NPL = NSL National Speedball League. Changed names to reflect the true nature of the sport.

3rd season. 2014 Membership: CA, WA, ID, NV, UT, FL, and GA all scheduled to compete.

Livestream broadcast from each location since 2012 and always FREE to watch.

Baca Loco said...

Where in FL?

Anonymous said...

Tim here owner of Red Dot Paintball. We have been a region in the National Speedball League for this coming 3rd season. We are so stoked that this format is taking off. Adding CA, ID, UT, FL and GA to this league is opening us up and soon this league will blow up. If any field owner wishes to talk to me personally about the benefits to field owners for this type of structure I am available anytime. Our players love the format and it puts speed back in to speedball. The leagues motto, play local win national is coming to fruition. We have grown our base of tournament players in the area by about 400% in 3 years. (Albeit we had a small starting base). Just google Red Dot Paintball and send me a contact and I will be happy to discuss the merits of this league from a field owner's perspective.