Today in Major League Paintball

The Grand Tour is (still) alive! Although if we're gonna talk quality of life somebody might want to call in Dr. Kevorkian--too late--he too has punched his ticket for eternity. This year the schedule has been reduced to a modest 4 events. (After the MS strip-mined Eastern Euroland for filler teams in their locked divisions.) The GT's first event this year will once again take place near Venice the weekend of May 1st. (Yes, the one in Italy.) There are currently 20 total teams signed up with 4 teams in the Pro division. (Should anyone require professional coaching assistance I am available.)

The next stop on the Millennium Series Victory Tour is the nearly fully booked Bitburg event. This year the MS has capped the number of teams it will accept in the open divisions which seems to have worked the charm for getting those registrations in quickly as they are turning away a handful of unlucky teams each event in D2 & D3. At Longchamp there was no M5 as an insufficient number of teams registered. Bitburg's M5 is closer to making a go of it. With the locked divisions and divisional caps the MS is at max capacity with 138 teams participating. No wonder they are hitting the photogs up for some extra cash.

The NPPL's Chicago event happens the same weekend as the Millennium's Bitburg event but unlike the MS it appears that registrations for Chicago are lagging. The list wasn't available until last week and despite the generally positive review from HB along with the ESPN3 broadcast of the pro portion of the event Chicago currently has 70 teams registered, including the 16 pro teams. This year's event also runs concurrently with Living Legends 4 and promises to offer a little something for every kind of baller imaginable. While there is as of yet no public word on the actual results of the ESPN3 broadcast (or follow-up) it has been rumored that ESPN found the results promising. Nor does the HB success seem to be delivering any momentum to the league in terms of building up the team base.
On a more positive note the league did request I follow-up on my offer to assist the refs and barring any unforeseen changes we should begin implementation for Chicago--and should the Powers That Be agree I'll be happy to enumerate how we're attempting to improve the process (in a future post.)

With their Chicago event still two months away the PSP had 131 teams registered as of this morning. At this point it's hard to say where the ceiling is given that PSP Chicago events routinely ran 200+ teams in the not-too-distant past. Both MLP Chicago events will be held this year at CPX Challenge Park and in the PSP's case should prove to be a solid improvement over the rain-drenched Badlandz. Depending on how serious the PSP is on getting the earliest handle on likely logistics and temp hires perhaps they might consider the MS plan for creating artificial scarcity by capping most or all of their divisions with a hard cap like the pro division. The difficulty with that is in gauging the numbers so that the caps include most (and close to all) of the teams that would have signed up anyway.

MLP (occasional) Weekly Update

The 2011 major league tournament season officially kicks off in two days with the PSP's Galveston Open. The 5-day forecast predicts temperatures in the mid- to upper 60's, mostly sunshine and a tiny chance of rain over the weekend. If it snows again I am never (repeat never) going to Texas ever again for a paintball tournament. Period. End of. The same applies to the sudden appearance of a mystery tsunami. You've got to draw the line somewhere and that's where my line is drawn. Oh, and that monster from 'Cloverfield.' It was like a gigantic mutant Cajun crawfish hellbent on vengeance, right? Gulf coast? I'm just saying. My line includes the monster, too.

The Grand Tour just recently posted that they will soon be posting event info for the 2011 season. They haven't yet but wanted every interested party to know event info would be coming soon.

Over in the Millennium; a curiosity. The league has capped all the divisions for 2011. Not locked, but capped. D2 is capped at 28. D3 is capped at 24 and M5 is capped at 12. I thought at first the league was looking to create a scarcity and perhaps drive teams to register and pay early in order to assure their spots. It could also be the MS chose to pre-determine the scale of their events this season to have more control over the logistics and event costs. Or even both. Right now it looks like 9 or 10 D2 teams will be outta luck and that the league will cancel the M5 as only 1 team has registered to date. I'm also curious about how the numbers were chosen. I mean more slots in the higher divisions? Seems counter-intuitive but it appears to have worked out okay.
Of course the league spent much of the off season drumming up new teams to commit to the upper, locked divisions, too. I wonder how many of them paid the licensing fee. "Please, Guv'ner, take my cap, it's filled wif all the pennies I's got." Really? I don't think so. And frankly if I was part of a locked division team that had been paying the extra fees all along I'd want to see some documentary proof the new kids on the block paid too. (I keep saying this and I know some of the Euroballers agree but does anybody ever do anything except quit playing the MS?) Actually I'd probably refuse just to see if there was a deal to be made--but that's me. Cynical, suspicious & cheap. (If it's any consolation I still think the Longchamp venue is dynamite.)

Over in NPPLand registrations for HB are at 133. Which is a mighty decent number no matter you look at it and if the final participation numbers are in that ballpark the league will have gotten off to a good start in 2011--even if it proves to be the biggest turnout of the year (as it was last year.) It's all about operating in the black (one way or another.)
I remain curious as to what effect, if any, Stay, Play & Save is having on teams making the final commitment of paying their entry fees and confirming their hotel registrations.
And then there's the mystery of the true TV dealio. Will they or won't they? Who knows for sure and why hasn't the league confirmed or denied anything? Seems to me they would at least know what's happening at HB by now given it's less than a month away. I'm told there's a done deal so why isn't the league using that info to drum up more excitement and sell more grandstand tickets or whatever? The closer the event gets without some sort of definitive info the more it looks like another TV flim-flam.

UPDATE: Harrass and you shall receive. NPPL made a formal announcement about HB live streaming on ESPN3 Wednesday evening. Not that VFTD had anything to do with it, of course.

And finally there's the new pro format. If you've been keeping up you know I'm slightly unhappy with how the PSP pro brackets are going to play out in Galveston given the ridiculous influence I expect tie-breakers to have in the outcome. Well, the NPPL's move to S7 (or whatever name they've given it; Race 2-2?) is going to have a similar impact. In any bracket where a team goes 3-0 only 1 other team can go 2-1 which satisfies the determination of who moves on but leaves the remaining two teams tied at 1-2. (At that point they will be ranked in the bottom eight somewhere despite never having played anybody else along with the very real likelihood that most of the rest of the bottom eight will have identical records. Perhaps the wizard who devised the NPPA can come up with a suitable formula for distinguishing final placements.) Of course in any bracket where a team goes 3-0 it's also possible for the other three teams to go 1-2. Now one of them will move on into the top eight while the other two end up in the bottom 8 despite having identical records. If no team goes 3-0 a bracket could end up with three teams going 2-1 where two move on and one goes home, once again, despite having identical records. And with or without tie-breakers how satisfactory is it for the teams or the fans to have tie-breaking rules determine so much of the final outcome of the event? Does anybody ever pay any attention to the consequences of their decisions?

One final word for all those VFTD readers who think I'm too negative too often--if the people making some of these moronic decisions removed their heads from their hindquarters more often you'd be amazed at how positive I might become.

MLP Weekly Update

I think I skipped last week. Mostly because there wasn't anything of consequence (or even interest) to review but the payment deadlines have come into play and event registration closing dates are in the offing.

PSP: While not all sunshine and lollipops things are looking up (and considerably brighter) than the apocalyptic worst case scenario the league had considered a possible outcome given year-to-year shrinking turnouts plus a change of venue. Current numbers already exceed that gloomy forecast and given the registrations to date it looks like Galveston will easily surpass last year's Phoenix. Nearly 100 teams paid and 137 registered as of this morning. It's also worth noting the Race 2-2 (5-man) numbers are up given Race 2-2 participation has been on a downward spiral that fell off a cliff last year (to brutally mix metaphors). It wouldn't surprise me if the Texas venue was contributing to the improved 5-man turnout. Additionally the sponsorship commitments of GI Milsim/Sports has pressed the industry to respond and begin to reverse (or at least hold steady) on the other source of lost revenue; PBIndustry sponsorship. Fingers crossed we avoid another Texas blizzard Galveston looks to be a very positive lead event for the 2011 season.
On the field it will be interesting to see what happens given the off season changes. It will also be interesting to see how much credit the changes receive for a successful Galveston. Points will be longer and more paint will be shot. There may be ways to mitigate the tendency to longer points but that will be, in some measure, dependent on the final field layout. Keep an eye on the scores of the lower divisions Race 2-X results to see how often teams run out of clock before reaching the race 2 limit.
Btw, recent rumors hinting at the demise of the league prior to Galveston and/or before Chicago have no merit at all.

NPPL: The league has their new NPPA site up and active for registering teams and buying I.D.s online, etc. According the NPPA HB has 86 teams registered including 14 pro teams with some new names added to last year's regulars. The new guys (so far) are Aftershock, Portland Uprising & Seattle Thunder, captained by former Naughty Dog, Corey Field. The 86 teams currently recorded is a jump of over 33% in the last week and given the event isn't until the first weekend of April it isn't at all unreasonable to expect final numbers similar to last year. The league has been very proactive this off season with the implementation of Stay, Play & Save plus a wide variety of discount packages and transportation discounts, the introduction of NPPA and the latest round of seeking the Holy Grail, TV. And every indication is that discussions with ESPN may provide competitive paintball another opportunity to find and audience and outside of industry support. That's still a ways off however and there are other practical issues at stake as well. The league has yet to release the field layout (though word is the delay is because the league and ESPN are working to make it accessible for filming.) Or the details of the new gun rules (and any other rule changes) and while NPPA is a website that can apparently collect data and payments it doesn't have any actual classification system yet. While it's hardly a deal breaker, or even a big deal at the moment, if the NPPL is gonna claim to offer a real classification system it needs to deliver at some point (and while I realize this is not the old ownership) most every incarnation of the NPPL simply wanted to generate a database on players.

MS: The first Millennium event falls in between the PSP and NPPL events and the big question is how many teams will show up--particularly in the locked divisions. The reshuffle continues with D1 picking up at least 6 new teams according to regular MS news announcements and the CPL, with the pick-up of Camp Carnage and Heat, remain one team short assuming both Dynapact and Syndicate remain in the CPL. (Word is that Dynasty intend to hold their spot but no confirmation of continuing relationship with Impact for the CPL spot.) I expect the league to resolve any open CPL spots which leaves a further diminished SPL from last year. Even so, if the locked divisions were to be something like 16 teams, 24 teams & 32 teams when the dust settles and play begins at the Longchamps Paris event the league will have done an excellent job not only of salvaging what could have been a horrible off season but of sustaining the core of the league. The only thing left is to keep an eye on the open divisions to see how their numbers compare to last year keeping in mind the league managed to draw at least 6 teams into D1 that might have otherwise played in an open division.

Grant Tour: Still no info on a 2011 season. Must say it doesn't look promising.

Major League Update: The Season Begins

Nothing fancy this year. Nothing provocative. No MLP on Suicide Watch or something similarly dramatic. At this point everyone who is interested understands, more or less, the lay of the land. If anything those of us who compete at the major league level may be more in need of the occasional reminder to work hard, play hard & have fun. Don't ignore reality but also don't get swept up in the swirling negativity that will rob you of your fun if you let it. (No, no one has hacked the blog. This is the real Baca Loco.) Don't think for a minute though that means I'm letting any of the MLP peeps off the hook. As usual you will get as much of the Big Picture as I can cram down your throats and it won't always be pretty, unlike the Paris Longchamps venue.

PSP--Whatever happens it won't be from a lack of effort. Due primarily to the virtual utter collapse of industry support the league was confronted with a real quandary. [The issue with industry isn't only that many smaller members no longer show up except perhaps to World Cup but also that the value of participating is being constantly reexamined. As a practical matter what that has meant in recent years is that even if Company A shows up they may only being paying a fraction of what they once paid to attend.] How then does the PSP continue to operate and offer the best competitive events possible when their annual budgets keep shrinking. The results weren't only geared to the short term but to a plan to ensure ongoing long term survival. As everyone should be aware by now changes included prizes, entry prices, letting staff go, reducing salaries, new series prizes, pre-pay annual discounts, new venues, more discount deals with hotels, airlines, etc. plus a fistful of rule changes intended to broaden the appeal of playing the PSP. And I'm sure I left something out. As of today there are 109 teams registered with 75 in the various Race 2 X categories. The jury is still out.

NPPL--Had their venues and dates set early. They are unchanged from 2010 and that's not a bad thing. Both the DC (at Pev's) and Chicago (at CPX) events are somewhat isolated but the venues themselves provide a quality playing environment. It would be hard for HB to be any more public and short of dancing showgirls, wrestling midgets and an open bar with a spectacular view the Vegas event is competing with a lot of other "entertainment" options. The real draw is playing in Vegas only a block (or two) off The Strip. Registration is now open but there isn't yet any general access (that I could find) to a teams list. Entry fees for 2011 are mostly up a little bit and the divisional options have been reduced by one as there is no longer a D3 5-man division. The NPPL has also offered annual pre-pay discounts, airline discounts and a plethora of hotel discounts under the banner of Stay, Play & Save. The bottom line of S,P & S is that teams wishing to participate must stay in one of the recommended hotels. (If I were you I would expect this one to spread to the rest of the MLP.) You see the dealio is all the discount accommodations kick back a little somp'in sompthin to the organizers and the more volume the better. And as long as the discounts are real everybody wins--but for obvious reasons they prefer not to talk about it. The one notable rule change remains capped semi-auto but still no word on enforcement. (Deja vu all over again) And there is also the question of what the pro division format will be this coming season. Will it stay the same or include some elements of S7 (best of 3) used on Sundays?
Last and not least, X3 announced the solid rumor that HB will be broadcast on ESPN a couple days ago. As this is the sorta thing I'm outta the loop on all I can tell you today is that it will be ESPN3 and that the details of the deal have been or are about to be finalized.

The Millennium Series--Opens the season in the first of two Paris venues, Paris Longchamps, which looks to be a terrific place to hold a major league paintball event. (The other is Paris Disney which is considerably less Paris than the Longchamps location.) Registration is open but last I checked none of the locked division teams were being displayed and I suspect negotiations are ongoing with teams throughout the locked divisions in an effort to shore up lost numbers beginning with the CPL. In fact the MS contacted my team to inquire about our interest in a CPL slot. The discussion broke down over roster exemptions given that the MS scheduled their German event on top of the NPPL's Chicago event and we simply don't have the personnel to make a proper showing at both simultaneously. Does that mean the CPL isn't as big a concern as one might have thought? I don't know. Currently on the top of the MS news is the announcement of 2 teams making the move to D1 (outside the regular promotion system) and I suspect we will see more of those announcements in the coming days.
For additional Mills info on the 2011 season check here (or down the Home page a ways of the MS site.)

As for The Grand Tour there is no 2011 event information posted yet but if you'd like a DVD covering the 2010 season you can order direct.

Major League Paintball Weekly Update

The not so Grand Tour's Austria event was this past weekend. A total of 35 teams participated. No further info except scores are posted at pblivescores.com. Of note was the Ukrainian team HULK in the Masters division. Is that a great name or what? They had a "sister" team in the lower division called HULK X.O. What a lost opportunity when they could call themselves something like Hulk Smash. Or if it's a feeder team they could be the Dr. Bruce Banners. I hope they at least wear green. (You don't want to play them when they're angry.) Also playing in the Vienna event was the eventual X3 winner, an Austrian team called Army of Lovers. I sure hope that sounds tougher in German--not, of course, that there's anything wrong with that, liebchen.

Nothing much of note in Millennium Land where open division registrations for October's Paris event season finale is up to 15 teams. With all this time before the last event of 2010 the MS has a real opportunity, or so it seems, to get their house in order and lay the foundation for a better 2011. Along with looking to make a few Euros in Asia they'd be well-advised to be working out a new model or at least modifications to how an international tournament paintball league can be profitably operated. The old ways aren't cutting it anymore as traditional revenue streams turn into trickles.

NPPL registration for the DC Challenge closes today. The best quick count I came up with is 68 teams including 14 Pros but we already know the Pro numbers will be 12 or less. I'm kinda hoping the schedule for Friday's play will leave one field or the other available in the late afternoon and the powers that be will allow a bit of practice. How 'bout it, guys? Just need an hour or two and a few games. The All*Star game(s) will be held on Saturday before during after the Pro prelims. There are links posted at the NPPL website for All*Star voting results but no lists are available yet. On the same page the NPPL reminds everyone the event will be covered by all their major media partners including Paintball.com. Check it out and see what a major media outlet like Paintball.com has been up to lately.

Registration closes for the PSP's MAO event this coming Friday. There are currently 77 Race 2-X teams registered as the numbers shift some more at the last minute with some teams bowing out and others having waited until the last minute. There are also 30 Race 2-2 teams registered. A Race 2-X decline from last season now appears inevitable. It's likely just a question of how many. Phoenix was down less than 15%. Chicago less than 5%. It's beginning to look like the PSP season may once again hinge on the World Cup turnout as has been the case in the past. We should final numbers for next week's update. Lastly, there are whispers, not even rumors, just whispers, that at least one PSP Pro team may be in trouble. It's that time of year.

Major League Paintball Weekly Update

Short and to the point today. (More posts coming.)
The not so Grand Tour will be hosting an event in Vienna this coming weekend and there are currently 35 total teams registered. Players will have the opportunity to compete in a 1 on 1 tourney and are also being invited by a sponsor to try laser tag. By comparison the NPPL should be feeling like world beaters.

The MS Paris event isn't until October so there's plenty of time for the board to work out the tangled mess they've made of Asian relations lately. 10 unlocked division teams are registered to date. Additionally, for all you Euro-types who would like to have a word with the Millennium board I've got the next best thing for you. Over at P8ntballer Robbo is soliciting gripes, suggestions, comments & complaints as he has been invited to the next MS board meeting where he will address the board with the most pressing and universal items posted in this thread. Here's your chance.

In the PSP registered team numbers have been creeping up the last week with 76 teams registered for Race 2-X divisions and 23 Race 2-2 divisions. Race 2-2 remains weak but a turnout above 80 would be less of a decline than experienced in Phoenix this year. By comparison the drop in Chicago over last year's Race 2-X teams was around 3%. Planning ahead it might be in the league's interest to open Cup registration as early as possible and consider incentivizing Race 2-2 participation in order to encourage the biggest turnout possible.

The NPPL DC Challenge is the weekend before the PSP's MAO event, August 6-8, and will apparently feature an All*Star match-up of some sort as well as the introduction of the first Hall of Fame inductees in a related ceremony. No word on who will be making the Hall of Fame decisions and no details yet on the format of the All*Star match-up. In any event it appears the event will be modestly attended with current registrations for non-Pro teams still under 50 total teams. This event will also feature the return of Arsenal to the Pro division.

Major League Paintball Weekly Update

Are these the dog days of summer? And can someone explain what the hell that even means? All I know for sure is we're halfway thru the season--more in the MS--a bit less in the not so GT--it's hot, muggy and oppressive outside and bigtime paintball continues to hang in there. Which, on a day like today, is a win.
The NPPL's DC Challenge is less than 4 weeks away. Personally I've lowered my expectations when it comes to the whole All-Star game/Hall of Fame hoopla that's been bandied about as I've yet to see any sign of the league following up the ideas--which, may or may not, be too bad--but there's still a tournament to be played. A team list can now be found by clicking on "registration" at the NPPL home page. The registration page offers a link to a list of teams, among a few other options. According to my count (earlier today) there are 46 non-Pro teams signed up in 6 divisions, the largest of which is pump with 14 teams.
The PSP's third event of the season, the MAO, follows hard on the heels of the NPPL event and is a little more than 4 weeks away. (Have I mentioned how much this back-to-back event schedule sucks? Well, it does.) The second payment deadline is this coming Friday so here's your last opportunity to keep entry fees to a minimum. There currently 67 Race 2-X teams signed up and 18 Race 2-2 teams. Figure the xball team numbers to really be 75 or so as a number of Pro teams aren't registered yet but will be there.
The Eurokids make a habit of taking the month of August off every year but the break in the MS schedule is ridiculous as the season ending Paris event isn't scheduled until the first weekend of October. (Is the UK Federation gonna run their Fed Cup event using the MS's Paris field layout sometime in September? Could be an ideal situation for UK kids.) I heard that a number of the big vendors were no-shows and that lots of the shows were stripped down or reduced versions. Makes me wonder what some of the leagues "sponsors" are paying for--and how much they are paying (despite what the MS's sponsor kit states) when there's no more promise of TV coverage and it isn't seen as cost effective to even bother showing up. Just imagine what the revenues might be like if the league wasn't holding some of the "sponsors" at gunpoint. (Yes, that was a joke. A very tiny one but still a joke unless you happen to be one--a gun sponsor, that is.)
Meanwhile the not so Grand Tour is gearing up for the Vienna Austria event with 29 teams registered and a winner take all 1 on 1 tournament on offer. The event will take place the weekend of the 24-25 of July.

Major League Paintball Weekly Update

With PSP Chicago in the rearview mirror it's time to focus on the upcoming late summer events. PSP MAO (with the offset A) is set for the weekend of Aug. 13-15. Registration is open and currently 58 Race 2-X teams are signed up along with 16 Race 2-2 teams. Next time the league might want to reconsider the payment schedule deadlines as the first one passed almost before registration opened. With basically a month to register and pay it might have encouraged a few extra teams if there had been a little more time to get a bottom tier payment in. Or maybe not. Registration is set to officially close end of July.
PSP west coast affiliate league the WCCPL has cancelled their scheduled event #3. Despite release of an official statement no reason for the cancellation was given.

NPPL's DC Challenge is scheduled for the weekend prior to the PSP's MAO, the 6-8 of August. It otherwise remains something of a mystery. This is the second year Pev's Paintball Park in Aldie, Va, will host the DC Challenge. The league's website claims there will be an All-Star game (or games) as well as the opening of a Paintball Hall of Fame but so far no additional details have been forthcoming. And, to date, there has been no information released on registered teams in any division.

In Euroland the MS completed their Campaign Cup event with nary a hitch and early reports suggest it may have been the most successful event of the season for the Millennium. This was the first year in recent memory that Campaign was held during the summer months and that move has pushed the season ending Paris event into early October leaving the league with a three month gap. It will be interesting to see if the lag or the change of schedule have any effect.

According to not so Grand Tour actual information--as opposed to not actual information?--Lviv was such a rousing success the Austrian organizers of the next event will be pulling out all the stops and offering a truly unique event. Registration to date in four divisions stands at 23 teams for the Vienna event taking place the weekend of July 24-25.

Major League Paintball Weekly Update

I'm dropping the suicide watch and I'm not moving the MLP into an ICU ward. It's been a tough year and everybody knows it. That, and I'm going all soft and mushy in my old age (too many pizzas) so I'm knocking off the gratuitous negativity. (At least for this week.) But don't worry, I'll still be kicking the leagues around when they deserve it--which is much of the time.

No report from the not so Grand Tour on the weekend's Lviv event yet but scores are available at pblivescores.com. You'll need to register but it's relatively harmless and not terribly time consuming. From the quick look I took it appears first round pro leaders the Carpathian Bears missed this one. Could it be without their Russian Legion players they didn't bother to show?

Cut off for registration for Campaign Cup is tomorrow so today's numbers are likely to be close to the final total. The open divisions have a total of 41 teams registered with 14 in D2, 13 in D3 & 14 in M5. Right now D2 is down a third from Malaga & Bitberg. D3 is also down a bit but M5 is up a couple. No great surprise as 12 of the 14 teams registered are UK-based (and we all know most of the Brits will go for the lowest div they can squeeze into--excepting of course all those UK ballers who are also VFTD regulars. Hey! Where'd y'all go?)
There is an interesting video on YouTube showing Joy Division competing recently in Sweden with some GI Milsim logos on their jerseys. Of more interest however are the guns some of them appear to be using. Watch it here and see what you think.
Word has also come in recently that a well known industry personality will soon be leaving Paintball for, hopefully, greener pastures in the very near future.

Looks like the team list mentioned last week posted at the NPPL website may have been a link to an old team list page as it's no longer available in any form. Registration for the DC Challenge is open and it will be interesting to see if the special features planned for DC build some East Coast team interest beyond the Chicago turnout. Unfortunately the timing is poor, especially for those of us committed to both the NPPL & the PSP. Scheduled for consecutive weekends one event will certainly undercut the other to some degree and the NPPL event makes final prep for the PSP event very difficult despite the fact it's summer.

Nothing much new on the PSP front. The Chitown event hosted by Badlandz is this coming weekend. We're flying in a day early as it turns out because we needed to confirm our travel plans well before the league announced our playing schedule--which doesn't begin until Friday. I know it was tough trying to calculate necessary fields, likely turnout, collapsing semi-pro bracket and all the rest but wasted days cost everybody time & money. 154 teams will be competing in what early weather reports suggest might be a wet & muddy event. We'll see, and if our hotel's internet connection is willing I'll have daily reports to post.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

Looks like the not so Grand Tour will be competing in Lviv, Ukraine this weekend with 24 teams across 3 divisions, including 8 pro teams.

In the Millennium Series registrations for Campaign continue to trickle in for the event scheduled for the weekend of July 4 which leaves less than two weeks for interested teams to get registered and paid. To date there are 27 open division teams registered; 8 in D2, 10 in D3 and 9 in M5. 14 of the 27 are UK-based teams (as I'm assuming the two U.S. flagged teams are likely made up of American military personnel--though it's just a guess.) Those aren't encouraging numbers but pre-Bitberg the open registrations were also soft until the closing week.
News on the mysterious Millennium Asia affair from a few weeks ago has gone very quiet as no official statements have been made by any of the involved parties although apparently PALS had promised a comment, however principles from PALS and Skirmish (Malaysia) were seen in a heated conversation at last week's MPOC event.

Early NPPL registrations for DC can be found on the website and while there appears to be some duplications (and repeats of/from Chitown?) this would represent some pretty positive numbers given the event isn't until August.
The real news though regarding the DC Challenge is that the NPPL is bringing back some sort of All Star game--no clue on exactly how that's gonna work except it's East vs. West and voters are restricted to recipients of the NPPL newsletter--and if that wasn't enough (and who says it isn't?)--the league is planning on establishing "the world's first sanctioned" Hall of Fame complete with an initial round of inductees, though again, I'm a little sketchy on the details. And, who exactly, is responsible for sanctioning this Hall of Fame? Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, somebody has to start the ball rolling but...are they gonna wheel out Bob Gurnsey (again?) to cut the tape and declare this Hall of Fame official? (Was that too cynical?)

Looks like PSP Chicago is set around 154 total teams. Race 2-X teams total 93 of the 154. Last year Chicago had 95 Race 2-X so those numbers are comparable despite the fact there were over 110 Race 2-X teams registered at one point. This year Race 2-2 numbers topped out at 61 while last year there were 125 Race 2-2 teams. Much has been made of the Badlandz throwback location and diminished prizes as possible reasons for the drop in Race 2-2 teams but it's hard to be certain. VFTD has also wondered if the affiliates are impacting big league turnouts in the lower divisions--as it appears was the case in Phoenix--but otherwise Midwest affiliate turnouts aren't even suggestive much less conclusive. Truth is nobody really knows if it's mostly the economic climate, the collapse of the competitive grassroots, no prizes, the Badlandz or some of all the above and, of course, it's the Year of the Rat.
The PSP has updated their website and it's a big improvement--How could it not be?--with new features including banner ads for the league sponsors along with at least the promise of greater future content. The event begins next Thursday though the Pros don't begin play until Friday.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

The weekly update.
Beginning with the MS let me suggest that no one take this week's Monday Poll too seriously. While rumors have been floated regarding a PSP move to Euroland VFTD doesn't believe there is any real chance it will actually happen. The poll should be viewed more as a referendum of opinion on the MS than anything else and is unlikely to tell us anything we don't already know.
There is nothing new on the short-lived brouhaha of a new MS-supported Asian league although I'm hoping to hear more soon.
For the moment put this one in the category of gossip. Not quite rumor but... Euro sources have claimed that there are an undisclosed number of CPL teams that have not yet paid an entry fee this year. If true, it would further undermine the standing of the league. Unfortunately no numbers were forthcoming though some have suggested it may be as many as half. Some of the names are known but VFTD received this info on the condition no names would be included. It is important not to assume such conditional info is necessarily accurate or true or to fail to take into account who could benefit from spreading false gossip. As a rule VFTD judges the quality of the info received in part from the source(s) themselves and in part from the ability to confirm details with other sources. When the subject is as sensitive as this one it is especially difficult however I've included this item because I think there is something to it.
The unlocked divisions have a total of 17 registered teams including 7 UK teams. It remains relatively early days and if Bitberg was indicative the numbers of registered teams will jump as the event date gets close.

Staying in Euroland the not so Grand Tour scheduled for Lviv Ukraine saw registration climb to 22 teams this week with the event less than 2 weeks away. The organizers have put a Saturday night party together at a local nightclub and posted a color vehicle border pass to be placed in the window of any car, bus or van transporting players to the event. From here it all seems rather mysterious and Cold War but I imagine it's just routine and the pass is a convenience to facilitate the border crossing.

The NPPL returns to Pev's the weekend of August 8-10. Unfortunately for some pro teams that is the weekend before the PSP's MAO and will complicate preparation for both events for the teams that play both leagues. No specific information is available yet but VFTD expects the NPPL to try and have a field layout confirmed and released the end of June, first part of July. Word is last year's event was well received locally so there is an expectation of bigger and better this time around. To date only general information has been released. No team count or early registration numbers are available.

PSP Chicago is rapidly approaching as is the final date to register and pay entry fees. Race 2-X registrations have fluctuated in the last week trending down around 10 total teams as crunch time gets closer. There are always more teams registered than eventually enter but the past tendency has been to see both late registrations and entries. I don't recall seeing teams remove themselves from the list of registered teams but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Currently Race 2-X total registrations stand at 99 and there will be at least a couple more appearing prior to the deadline. Race 2-2 has held steady the last week. VFTD isn't going to hazard a guess on final results based on past history because I'm not sure past results apply anymore. The official deadline is this coming Friday. We'll all find out soon enough.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

The not so Grand Tour's Lviv event is less than 3 weeks away with 20 teams currently registered. At this rate they may reach two dozen. Fingers crossed. Whatever else can be said it's excellent practice for cross over Millennium teams as they will be competing on the MS Campaign Cup layout.

Having released the Campaign layout and getting the scores and results up to date on their website the league is back in wait and see mode for open division registrations for London the weekend of July 4th.
It also seems as if there may be more to the curious announcement commented on briefly last week tying the MS to a new league in Asia. A press release from the new league was denied within hours and the presser pulled but some follow-up from VFTD contacts in Euroland indicate there may be more to this than has reached the paintballing public. It seems there was some sort of contingent deal as long as certain conditions were met and the Asian side jumped the gun. As time permits further inquiries will be made.
It also recently occurred to VFTD that no word was coming from Euroland regarding televising this year's Millennium action. Despite the approach taken in the 2010 sponsorship package that offered space on tent flaps and cardboard trash cans--visible to cameras that might, just might, pan across the venue to segue into the next high voltage match. To say nothing of branded field opportunities etc. Far as I can tell there is no Mill TV this year.

The NPPL Chicago event occurred last weekend and I will have more on the event itself in separate upcoming posts. Until then I have a question and a comment. The question is--Does anybody know what the dealio was with the more or less topless painted chicks? Was that a NPPL thing, a CPX thing, a Living Legends event thing? Granted, the grandstand wasn't filled with 12 year olds but it struck me as inconsistent with the notion of being "family-friendly." (Not that I complained to management you understand.) Without knowing anything about the bottom line for this event it is clear to me, and has been thru 2 or 3 versions of the NPPL, that every not HB event suffers by comparison particularly when you're selling an experience and not a competition.

Final registration and payment deadline is (an early) June 11th for the PSP Chicago event at Badlandz. That is 13 days prior to the start of the event. As usual I imagine a few teams will be allowed to squeak in past the deadline but I'm also guessing the league may have pushed the deadline back a bit in order to help them pin down the logistics more precisely. Or maybe not. In the past the logistics have been planned on the basis of projected numbers but given the location it may be the league can avoid unnecessary efforts with more lead time built in. There are currently 107 Race 2-X teams registered and it looks like a couple of Phoenix's semi-pro participants will drop down to D1 while as many as 3 others may bump up to pro. Perhaps not an ideal solution--what will happen at World Cup?--but if the numbers aren't there the PSP almost certainly don't want to risk damaging D1 turnout by pushing legit Semi-pro teams and players down even if there is some resistance to pulling them up into the pro bracket. And does this mean pro will be back to a four game prelim? 3 games sucks and there's no good reason not to if the schedule will work, right? (And it will easily with the extra day in Chicago.) Race 2-2 team registrations is up to 68 for a total of 175 teams registered. Seems unlikely that the league will break the 200 barrier but the Race 2-X numbers are solid and a few more Race 2-2 teams should make for a successful event.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

In the MS Bitburg is done (although complete scores for Malaga still aren't available.) (Did the league complete Malaga or didn't they?) In the CPL Dympact won both events. The Millennium is about 6 weeks out from the next event, London Campaign Cup, over the Fourth of July weekend.
For related 50 cal news check out Mr. Curious from yesterday along with the comments.
One other item of interest that may or may not be Millennium related was the sudden notification of a new Asian series supposedly tied to the Millennium that was even more abruptly pulled within hours of being posted. PALS already has a relationship with the MS & PSP so the initial claims of the new group was curious at best but the most intriguing part was how quickly everyone disavowed the claims. Considering the pace the MS board routinely exhibit somebody must have lit a fire underneath them this time to respond as Bitburg was finishing up to a claim half way around the world. For more info hit the Villian Paintball link on the sidebar. It's probably nothing but ...

For the not so Grand Tour another week means another registered team. Lviv registration now totals 18 teams.

Chicago Badlandz is about a month away and the PSP has 104 teams registered for Race 2-X and 60 teams registered for Race 2-2. Xball numbers for a Chicago event are solid (assuming the majority pay and play) while 5-man numbers continue to lag despite recent gains. Still lots of time and no idea what last minute additions will total although it seemed like Phoenix didn't have the usual last minute influx of teams the PSP has seen in the past. The Semi-pro bracket continues to weaken with Vipers, Fierce and Raiden definitely out and Elevation rumored to be shaky. And of the teams currently registered most will not actually play. (VFTD opinion as there's always a couple of "pretend" contenders who register.)

This coming weekend is NPPL Chicago at CPX Challenge Park. Actual tournament schedule to begin Saturday (not Friday) due to Memorial Day weekend. Final registration including Pro teams is 73 according to data available on NPPL website. (The possibility of last minute additions always exists.) The breakdown is 11 pump teams, 13 Pro teams, 5 D4 (5--man), 3 D3 (5-man), 20 D3 (7-man), 17 D2 (7-man) & 3 D1 (7-man). While the league can't very well turn teams away running divisions of 5 and fewer teams at a national level event is problematic. I won't guess at what these numbers mean other than to reiterate my view they are likely a more accurate reflection of the NPPL as a whole than were the HB numbers. Regardless, in combination with Living Legends and the CPX venue it should be a great opportunity for Midwestern ballers to come out and enjoy some paintball.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

And the big winner this week is ... (drum roll please) the Millennium Series! Not altogether unexpected but the measure of their victory was. In the final week the league nearly doubled open division registration for Bitburg from 22 to 43 teams including 10 homegrown German teams. That result leaves the MS only 4 (open) teams behind last year's turnout when it looked like a very soft turnout was possible.
Matches begin Thursday for the CPL make-up event with SPL & D1 beginning make-ups on Friday morning and open divisions playing a normal schedule.
One aspect of this year' MS series schedule I hadn't accounted for yet is the move from 5 events down to 4 events. Thinking about it I suspect it helped the league in encouraging some teams to but up a division to help fill in the locked divisions what with lower season entry fees and rumors of jiggling the licensing fees in some instances. At the end of the day it appears whatever level of frustration and cynicism some of the Euros feel over Malagas past (et cetera) hasn't impacted the MS too harshly to date.
And perhaps we'll get the answer to what gat is Joy shooting in the next couple of days? And what caliber it is.

Coming in second place this week is the PSP with registered teams increasing at least 17 over last week. I say at least because during the past week the Pro division was separated from other Race 2-X teams forcing me to rely on incomplete notes and recollections to get the increase correct. (It could be two or three more.) At any rate both Race 2-2 and Race 2-X registrations went up with nearly half paid as the first entry increase deadline passed last week as well. While a definite positive it still leaves the PSP well short of traditional Race 2-2 numbers. On the plus side registrations have increased 22 teams in the last two weeks and if that were to continue final event numbers would likely look quite good. We shall see.
As I'm expecting no more than 5 semi-pro teams for Chicago I wonder if that leaves the option open for the league to reinstate our 4th prelim event? Hmmm.

Showing is the NPPL as their Chicago CPX event deadline rapidly approaches. They were +5 for the week bringing non-Pro registrations to 60 teams across all divisions of play and up to 73 when everyone is included. Of the 60 teams 9 are listed as not yet paid. On the cusp is the D3 5-man and D1 7-man divisions as each only have 3 paid teams each so no telling how that will shake out for the actual event.

Rounding out the list is the not so Grand Tour as they added only 1 team to their registration for the Lvov event. The total now stands at 17 teams but there's still time as the event takes place in the later part of June.

Otherwise it's quiet out there. Perhaps too quiet. So if you know something new or noteworthy don't hesitate to post it up in the comments or drop me a line. Till next week.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

As the time winds down on the next two events in the major league season, Chicago NPPL & MS Bitburg, the sound of the ticking clock is getting louder and louder--at least for those with a stake in the outcome. Both leagues will close registration sometime within the next two weeks and do so with lower team totals than they hoped.

In Millennium land there are 66 locked division teams, For a goodly number this will be their first event of the season. (No word from the MS on what the locked division teams opted to do, accept forfeits and complete their remaining Malaga matches or take an average score, but we should see once a make-up schedule is released.) Last week there were only 15 open division teams registered. That leaped up to 22 today with two of the open divisions in single digits for registrations.
The unknown in this equation is how many open division teams had made prior arrangements to compete at Bitburg and are waiting until the last minute to register and pay. The trend has been toward softness in the open division participation (which doesn't bode well for the future especially as the league cannibalized the lower divisions in order to try and fill up the locked divisions.) Last year Bitburg had 47 open division teams while Malaga '09 had 77 compared to '10 having 60 registered. (And there is a discrepancy between registrations and those receiving ranking points after the event which may be accounted for with no-shows.)

Back in the U.S. of A. the NPPL linked to current registrations within the last few days and the numbers are predictable if not what the league was probably hoping for. Given our recent polls 5-man registrations are about where I would've guessed compared to PSP Chicago 5-man numbers with both being very soft. Leaving the pro teams out of the calculation there are currently 55 teams registered for the CPX Chicago event over Memorial Day weekend. Of that number it appears 10 have yet to pay their entry. More interestingly approximately 23 of the 55 teams are repeats from HB which puts new registrants at 32. As I've suggested in past MLP updates the Chicago numbers are likely a better reflection of the NPPL's drawing power than HB but even there I discovered a discrepancy. In looking for teams playing Chicago that played HB it seems only 103 teams received ranking points in HB--which is odd given the league was supposed to have sold out the event with 120 teams total. I don't profess to be a math whiz but I counted the numbers twice so I'm confident I didn't miss 17 teams.
UPDATE: Seems raehl was correct (even a blind squirrel etc. etc.) and the NPPL simply didn't bother to rank the D4 5-man teams. Or hasn't gotten around to it yet but they were listed on the HB schedule.

Skipping over to the PSP the Race 2-X registrations have been fluctuating up & down a little bit this past week leaving the total today similar to last week's total. There's always some of that as new teams register in the wrong divisions and others change their plans. It is however looking like we're about to see the whole semi-pro division falter as word comes out that Vipers S-P is done for now along with rumors of Raiden's demise--with the prospect of more to follow. 5-man registrations rose 33% which sounds impressive only because the number was low to begin with. Today's total--when I checked--was 40 Race 2-2 teams registered. That number needs to double to put the total number of registered teams in the ballpark of recent Chicago events. The first payment deadline is coming up later in the week so for those who want to keep their entry costs as low as possible it's that time.

The not so Grand Tour has posted results (finally) for Venice along with some links to a few photo galleries. The next event is Lvov in late June and there are 16 teams currently signed up including the 8 pro teams that played Venice. The event got some media coverage (newspaper) in Poland but not in the sports section. Something closer to the Style or Gossip section of the paper. Seems one of Warsaw United's players is a C-list celebrity TV actor who passed out briefly at the event after getting shot in the head. It was attributed to dehydration--though commenters to the online version were inclined to blame previous alcohol consumption--and the player assured everyone he wasn't put off and would continue to play. There were photos attached and the claim that paintball was a growing hobby in Poland. So any press is good press, right?

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

Short and sweet today, kids, 'cus I'm busy filling out permit forms. Need more guns and a zoning waiver so I can put razor wire on top of my security fence. (The paperwork is brutal.) And this is just phase one. Alternatively I wonder if I can emigrate to Bermuda? Hmm.

The not so Grand Tour's Italy event across the lagoon from Venice (probably) went off without issue last weekend. I say probably because there's no scores, no results, no reports or anything else posted at the GT website regarding their first event of the season. (The scores are posted at pblivescores.com for those of you who can't wait to find out what happened.) The Grand Tour--working hard to keep the "not so" alive and kicking. In the pro division Syndicate dropped a match, the Bullets got thumped and inquiring minds want to know who the heck are the Carpathian Bears?
I'd like to hear from anyone who was there what they thought of the venue and event in general.

With less than 3 weeks to go until Bitburg the open divisions (D2, D3, M5) cumulative registration stands at 15 teams. I expect more to jump in as the days draw down and it will be interesting to see how little support Bitburg gets from the German teams. Also no word from the MS or the effected locked division teams on the apparent "plan" for resolving the Malaga mess as noted in last week's MLP update. Either the MS options seemed fair and reasonable to all involved or the teams continue to get what they deserve.

NPPL Chicago is the final weekend of May and while it's been suggested the league would soon--prior to last weekend--release rosters so folks can see who is planning on playing as of this writing that hadn't yet happened. No point in speculating although it seems to me the longer the league waits the greater the likelihood the numbers aren't all that positive.

PSP Chicago 5-man registrations remain soft, very soft. If I recall correctly the typical registration trend was that 5-man teams usually signed up early, excited by the prospect of participation because it was a one off or first of the year with actual entry payments coming much later as teams either realized they weren't going to manage or finally scrapped the needed funds together. I don't if that has been the norm but it seems like it has. (Faction [raehl] may know better.) Anyway of the 123 teams registered 75% are Race 2-X which could put this year's xball turnout slightly ahead of last year but both Chicago and WC have had outsized turnouts largely on the basis of 5-man participation in recent years.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

The not so Grand Tour has now accounted for the stragglers and it looks like 32 teams in 4 divisions will compete this weekend in Mestre, the nearest mainland city to Venice. The 7 team pro bracket includes CPL teams Bullets and Syndicate. The GT also announced this past week the field layout will be the Millennium's Bitberg layout --which is consistent with past practice but left the competing teams virtually no time to prepare. I understand the logic of an MS tie-in from the GT's perspective but at the same time it pretty much relegates their tourney series to second tier status in fact and in the minds of potential customers.

PSP registration increased by 17 teams over last week to a total of 107 with the event still two months away. On its face it appears promising although there is a sharp distinction between xball and 5-man registrations. On the plus side if one includes the so far unregistered pro teams to the xball list the total is within 10 of last year's participation. Chicago has been traditionally--if you can use that term in relation to paintball--the PSP's second largest seasonal event but the bulk of those extra teams--above and beyond events like Phoenix and MAO--is made up of 5-man teams (Race 2-2) and without them the event will take a serious hit.

In the other Chicago event the NPPL has yet to post any information about registration other than it is open and available to teams who wish to participate. For those who want to play a guessing game with NPPL registration keep an eye on the venue and gun rules categories of the current Monday Poll as I suspect they may offer some direction. In other NPPL news the league is looking to drum up some affiliate league (event) interest as it touts the couple of great affiliate events prior to HB. On one hand this is typical public relations blather but I think there's another way to take it. While I didn't participate in either affiliate event prior to HB what I've heard suggests that my definition of "great" varies rather dramatically from the league's definition--as apparently does their definition of affiliate when compared to the PSP. Again, nothing wrong except there is a whiff of me-too-ism about it. As if the NPPL feels it needs to compete against the PSP at the PSP's game and that strikes me as a losing proposition particularly when even the average paintballer can see the difference. The NPPL has shown no indication it intends to restructure the way it puts on events so why the need to appear to be following the other guys? I don't get it.

Skipping back across the pond (while avoiding descending ash clouds) the MS is hoping to get back to business as normal--which means poor communications and poorer customer relations if the past is any indicator. The league is making noises about preparing a texting system to facilitate communications with the teams but there's a difference between having the means and actually following through. Was that unfair of me? Perhaps. Registrations for Bitberg in the open divisions stands at 10 total today.
While no official word has been posted on the MS site as to how the missed matches, etc. will be resolved in the closed divisions an unofficial official statement has appeared on at least one French website suggesting teams that were unable to attend have two optional courses of action. They may take forfeits in any scheduled match they missed in Malaga and play out the others in Bitberg or they can take an average score comprised of their other event results over the rest of the season. If that is in fact the intended MS solution then what happens when team A wants to play in Bitberg and team B (in the same original bracket) wants to take an average score? Will teams be reseeded and new brackets made up? How will that work when some teams have played some matches and others haven't?
In some respects the MS is getting off a second Malaga debacle easy. What if there had been no lightning or volcanic eruptions? There still would have been excessive wind, some rain and tides washing away beach from under the turf and all the teams would have been there and then whose fault would the resulting chaos have been?

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

The MS is currently being sedated and fitted with restraints lest it harm itself once it realizes the full extent of the Malaga debacle. It's being reported that in a brief moment of lucidity during the night the league seemed confused about precisely what had happened. Doctors have counseled waiting until the league is stronger before revealing the truth. That may not be possible as the next event is barely a month away. Unlocked registration for Bitburg stands at 7 teams across 3 divisions. It is hoped that all the stranded teams and players get home in time to turn around and leave for Germany.
VFTD would also like to announce a special offer available only to Millennium teams--pristine waterfront development acreage along the southern Gulf coast of Florida at virtual give-away prices. Contact via email for details.

A sudden (last minute?) influx of teams swelled the ranks of participants for the not so Grand Tour's May 1-3 Venice event to 30 teams. Also announced at the last minute is a change of venue. It seems the original venue, a mainland park with a view across the lagoon of Venice, is overbooked or something so the event has been moved further inland to another Mestre city park. The GT will provide free shuttle service to the new venue. On a sad note nobody took me up on my offer to coach and provide a guided tour of Venice for the price of the plane ticket so it looks like I'll be stuck at home. That means I'll be enjoying a Soviet era May Day celebration with some of my tourney pals as we dress up in authentic uniforms and recreate the excitement of the times with our model tanks and missile launchers, drink vodka and goose step down main street.

In NPPL country registration has opened for the Chicago event scheduled to take place at CPX in Joliet over the Memorial Day weekend. No word yet on teams but registration is limited to a very truncated period of about 3 weeks. Given that Monday will be a national holiday the NPPL has altered the usual event schedule with play beginning on Saturday (instead of the usual Friday) and running thru Monday (instead of the usual Sunday.)
Will there be enough time to get a decent turnout? How 'bout a ginormous rec vs. tourney war on Friday before the event? I mean, we'll have all those Living Legend peeps showing up anyway. Maybe we can settle this once and for all. The world's largest game of Tap Out.
Will flying out of Chicago on a holiday be more expensive than normal?

The PSP has released a Chicago layout with a largely conventional snake (in a break with recent past practice.) Registration is open and there are currently 90 teams registered; 70 Race 2-X and 20 Race 2-2. Otherwise everything is fairly quiet at the moment. (I'll be doing a special affiliates update later in the week.)

Expanding on yesterday's Monday Poll the numbers are running about where I expected them to with PSP holding a 2:1 advantage. The one area I didn't mention was pricing. It was suggested to me on the weekend that perhaps price had something to do with the Phoenix PSP turnout. I wasn't sure so I took a look and sure enough this year's Phoenix was priced higher in some categories. (Then I recalled questioning the 5-man pricing last year as it seemed designed to either "encourage" teams to register for Fri-Sun or take advantage of those intent or only able to play on Sat-Sun. On the flip side the league could argue there are/were logistical reasons, etc. for the price differences.) Anyway, it seems possible price also had an impact on the Phoenix turnout and scheduling might have had an effect as well given that 5-man play was only Saturday and Sunday in Phoenix. (Curiously, the league has gotten more 5-man teams to sign up for Fri-Sun than Sat-Sun even though the shorter schedule would seem more convenient.)
For Chicago the prices are consistent and Race2-2 is only being offered on Sat-Sun. When the variables keep changing it's hard to know which ones have the most influence. Perhaps the PSP ought to include a brief survey for team captains at registration in order to get some feedback? Just a thought.
As interesting as all that might be in a direct comparison PSP 5-man is distinctly less expensive than the NPPL version, ranging anywhere from $100 - $400 dollars less depending on division and schedule. I smell another 5-man related poll coming next week.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

I'm rethinking the suicide watch. As a result I'm open to alternatives. The GT isn't bent on its own destruction, it's just rather apathetic and fatalistic. And the MS is nothing if not pragmatic though I think there's also a self-destructive tendency which could also simply be hubris. The NPPL showed me something with HB--a capacity to learn (though there's still that pie in the sky blinding more than one eye) and the PSP has demonstrated a willingness to do almost anything if it will guarantee survival. None of which means that one league or another won't end up with a fatal self-inflicted wound; only that such an injury will be unintentional. Maybe something more along the lines of Major League Paintball--Armed & Dangerous would be more appropriate?

The roster of the registered only increased by one this past week as the deadline rapidly approaches for the not so Grand Tour’s Venice event. What is the matter with you people? It’s Venice (almost). On the GT website there are links to copies of two documents (in Italian) confirming that the event is legit and not some hit-and-run renegade urban paintball assault–which sounds much cooler–to me anyway. It may be there has been some hesitancy to consider competing on the part of teams due to paintball being illegal in Italy. Come on people, it’s Italy–where the law is more like a suggestion that can, on occasion, be conveniently ignored.

The NPPL will open registration for Chicago any day now–they may already have done so. (My online time remains limited lately.) A Chicago field layout will be posted shortly as well. Otherwise there is little to report that didn’t make the assorted HB reports. The league is making a big push to develop the PR arm of the league to feature the pro teams and players and those changes and additions should be coming online as time permits. One thing I think the NPPL ought to do is video the responses of the divisional teams to the event(s) and post those on the league website. As much as players enjoy watching the pros play nobody shells out entries and pays all the related expenses just to watch the pros–they do it for the competitive experience. All the peripheral things the past NPPLs focused on are great extras but do not take the place of a positive competitive experience and one thing NPPL 3.0 needs to do is prove to potential participants that playing paintball is their number one priority.

Chicago registration has been open for a couple of weeks now in the PSP. (The one thing that could hurt NPPL Chicago registration is the small-ish time window between HB & Chicago.) As of yesterday there were 58 Race 2-X teams and 16 Race 2-2 teams registered. Keep your eye on the Race 2-2 totals. The PSP appears to have capped the Race2-2 category at 100 teams. That’s interesting because it’s the Race 2-2 (5-man) teams that have lifted past Chicago totals over 200 teams.
This past weekend the PSP announced a new ‘supporting’ league, the MSXL and their Race to World Cup 2010 series of events taking place in Indiana, Kentucky & Illinois. In a continuation of the process begun with the first announcement of the affiliates leagues the PSP moves into a previously unrepresented part of the country. What I want to know is why is this a supporting league and not an affiliate league.
So where is the field layout for Chicago? And with the numbers decline in Phoenix will the league risk an "unconventional" layout as seems to have been recent past practice in Chicago?

Squeaking in at the last second DYE signs up to be a MS platinum sponsor. It looks like there will be no diamond sponsors this year--another sign of the times. (Even if a past diamond sponsor or two received an unannounced discount.) It will be interesting to see how much of a show some of the big sponsors roll out this year. Over here it seems the trend is to economizing on the traveling road show. Where the biggest vendors used to go all out they mostly don't nowadays. Will the same hold true in Euroland? Did the MS pro rate their sponsor packages after they dropped Antalya? I heard a couple of numbers that were lower but not by much. Even so with the rush of included sponsors (and teams) in the closing days there must have been some horse-trading going on.
The current team list is looking much healthier--I hesitate to call it the final team count--as there seems to be no real deadline other than the horn for the first match--and even then, who knows, the league might be willing to squeeze another team into the schedule then, too. Anyway, the tally is CPL, 16 teams; SPL, 28 teams; D1, 22 teams; D2, 24 teams; D3, 18 teams & M5, 18 teams for a total of 126. Still down from last year's 143. Two weeks ago registrations were off nearly 30% compared to 2009. Somehow the league closed that gap to less than 13% in the last two weeks. Now all they have to do is run the event and pray for good weather.

Major League Paintball on Suicide Watch

This week it ain't only major league paintball--on suicide watch, that is. I've removed all sharp objects and belts from around the house. (I'm eating with a plastic spork while holding my paints up.) The wretched computer continues to cause problems but--but--I may have finally solved the problem(s). Just another day down the drain.

The team list over at the not so Grand Tour continues to inch upward. At this rate they may hit two dozen. And in another sign of the times the GT has enlisted Intager Entertainment as a league sponsor. Seems Intager is hoping to entice field operators with the prospect of extra income from what sounds rather like some sort of laser tag gimmick. Okay so sponsors are hard to come by but come on, laser tag!? Have a little self-respect. If you guys are gonna go there you might as well chase that Airsoft dollar too.

In the PSP registration has opened for the Chicago Badlandz event. It's so early I didn't even bother to look to see if any teams are already on the list--but I bet there are a few. (That and I feel like I'm typing on borrowed time while I wait for the computer to go straight to hell again.) Let me recommend if you're going to Chi-town to get those hotel reservations in asap. And it's better to commute to the fields and stay somewhere in the vicinity of civilization than anywhere too close to Badlandz. Just a suggestion.

This week is the week for the big (-ish) HB extravaganza. I feel a bit better about this one than the last one only because we actually got in a day of practice (sorta) on the layout and because, frankly, I expect this field to play in a way that will neutralize, to a degree, our poor preparation. I might feel even better if I knew what was gonna happen schedule-wise but between my intermittent online availability the last few days and the general wisdom of the NPPL cabal to keep me out of the loop I have no clue what the pro teams will be doing. Except playing on Saturday. And I'm only assuming we're playing Saturday 'cus we's flying in on Friday. So here's hoping. I did notice there's no sign of a schedule posted yet (for anybody) over at the NPPL website.
To tell the truth I'm tempted to just find a nice spot near the pools across the street at the Hilton where I can watch the sea, enjoy the breeze and go for the margarita drinking world championship. I've been training. Hard.

Did you read the MS's announcement that KEE will be a platinum sponsor this season? It actually states "KEE has agreed to become ..." Does that strike anyone besides me as odd? Doesn't it sound like the league pursued KEE? (I'd be shocked if they didn't actually.) Will we see Dye "agree" next? And if we don't will the MS enforce their gun sponsor rules and deny teams in the locked divisions if they use "un-sponsored" gats? How well would that go over after the yeoman's effort the league has made to get teams signed up in the locked divisions these last couple of weeks? To tell the truth I'm hoping for a confrontation so we know exactly what the league will or won't do.
I've followed up best I can on the rumors that the league may be making deals to get teams on board this season. Sources suggest it's happened in the unlocked divisions before to get the "local" teams to help swell the ranks as the event dates close in. Some additional sources have confirmed as well that locked division deals have occurred though I couldn't get any direct info on this season's batch of new SPL late entries for example though there's talk of the league waiving the licensing fees.