Are you shocked your Facebook stock has face planted? Concerned you'll soon be reduced to Twitter to maintain your global social network? Devastated that Kristen Stewart slept around on teeny bopper beta fantasy superstud Robert Pattinson? Unaware that the U.S. Senate hasn't passed a budget in over 3 years or that the prez hasn't met with his jobs council in nearly 200 days while real unemployment continues to rise? (Don't be fooled by the U3 data kids, look at the U6) Unconcerned that the ECB (European Central Bank) is on the verge of fracturing over exploding (Or is that imploding?) Spanish bond rates or that the clock is literally ticking on the coming Greek default? Closer to home perhaps you noticed that in the weak and likely to be revised down Q2 GDP numbers that debt accumulation outpaced real growth better than 2:1? Whatever. Don't worry, be happy.
And to help you be happy Mr. Curious has some deep dish rumorlogy concerning NPPL plans for next season. None of this has been officially confirmed but does have multiple sources. And of course plans could change. Disclaimer out of the way the NPPL is contemplating 8 events next season. Count 'em, 8! 4 would be considered major or national events and 4 would be considered regional events. The regionals would feature reduced entry fees. No word on whether or not the league will expect Pro teams to compete in any event other than the national ones--but it seems unlikely. Pev's DC event would be demoted to regional status and along with HB, Vegas and probably Chicago the fourth major is projected to be Tampa. Vancouver has also been resurrected as a regional event venue.
Did you miss Mr. C's previous release on VFTD-FB? (It was more NPPL rumorology.) Keep up or get left behind. Just saying.
Showing posts with label NPPL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NPPL. Show all posts
Friday, July 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Last Word on HB
Okay. It turns out I'm being taken to task by a few regulars who were generous enough to send emails instead of posting comments--and the bulk of those concern the announcing at HB. Which was (apparently) atrocious. To a man (or woman) the objections are consistently the same. Paintball ignorant, not informative of the actions on field, possibly drunk announcing, heavily shilling sponsors, generally annoying & at times rude and inappropriate sexual comments. (Could it be time to change Pev's nickname? A single letter will do the trick.)
I didn't remark on any of that because I wasn't exposed to most of it. I'm commenting now because I discovered a thread in the HB forum at PBN late last night saying much the same. If the comments have merit the NPPL needs to deal with the situation directly. Like it or not, that is the voice of the league (insert your own joke here) and I can't imagine that is the image the league wants to project to the public or the paintball community at large.
I didn't remark on any of that because I wasn't exposed to most of it. I'm commenting now because I discovered a thread in the HB forum at PBN late last night saying much the same. If the comments have merit the NPPL needs to deal with the situation directly. Like it or not, that is the voice of the league (insert your own joke here) and I can't imagine that is the image the league wants to project to the public or the paintball community at large.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Huntington Beach Wrap-up
Look, nobody condones what happened. Nobody expected it and it shouldn’t have happened. Appropriate apologies have been offered. It was an unfortunate incident but it’s over. Unfortunate in that it shouldn’t have happened, unfortunate in that it provides cover for and overshadows other events and actions and unfortunate because it puts me in a position where I can’t really comment on everything that went on. Yes, that's cryptic and surely completely unsatisfying to the curious. Chalk it up to the politics of the game.
What, you say you have been living under a rock? You don’t know what I’m talkin’ about? At the end of the finals in HB there was some extra curricular activity of the overshooting variety--and it wasn’t pretty--or so I’m told by someone who was watching the webcast. By all apparent appearances initiated by Damage players. It has been dealt with and public apologies have been offered. And if any of that is news you really have been living under a rock. If you’d like to add your two cents in the comments feel free.
Since events constrain I will keep this recap simple. We played XSV in the finals and lost. We beat Dynasty in overtime in the semis to make the finals. And XSV beat Arsenal. In an overtime period teams play 3-on-3. (Ask me why.) I don’t know. The closest I got to an explanation was that there was a concern about teams entering overtime on a penalty and if teams were still playing overtime 1-on-1s there wouldn’t be anybody left to play. But seriously, it’s 7-man, why is anyone even talkin’ about playing 1-on-1s as a tiebreaker? (Why not a sudden death point?) So the upshot is it’s 3-on-3 first and if that doesn’t determine a winner it goes to--you guessed it--1-on-1s.
The way Sunday was going to play out in the pro division wasn’t decided until Saturday--and then it was written in Tony Mineo’s infamous pencil. (Much like the missing parts of the rule book.) (Pencil can be erased, doh!) It turned out to be a sensible way of doing it and at least some of the participating teams were asked what they thought before a final decision was made but this is stuff that should be in that brand spanking new rule book.
On Saturday we fought a tough match with Mutiny and earned a number one seed in our bracket with a convincing win over Impact.
On the plus side of the ledger the new format is an improvement over traditional 7-man. (Many if not most of the comments I will be making about aspects of the Millennium apply to the NPPL--in spades--so if you remember this post you’ll have a fuller picture of HB when I finally get the St. Tropez posts up.) The fifteen minute match time seemed to work as well for a Race 2-5. I’m still not sure about the field dimensions but some matches went to points instead of time so that’s a plus but not a firm one yet. The event logistics and Millennium style of play worked well in terms of its functionality--though I still think some level of suspense and excitement is lost with four teams sharing the field and paired teams playing every other point. Which isn't really an issue for most of the divisions and teams but if one objective is to "sell" the game to the public I don't see how breaking matches up helps--of course I'm not convinced the non-paintball playing public will ever care regardless.
The other signature topic--in its absence--was the universal use of the Virtue chip and the proclaimed data explosion that would result in all sorts of statistics. Besides the fact the chip can't discern ramping guns--and there were plenty even though they were (apparently) capped at 15--it was supposed to regulate ROF (which it can do paired with a cap) but I noticed no instance over the weekend where a player or team was warned or penalised. It may be I simply missed it if it happened or that with viable technology in use everyone abided by the cap. One virtue (pun intended) of employing verifiable technology is players and teams know they will be caught so they don't push those boundaries. And perhaps the NPPL will soon be publishing reams of statistical data for our entertainment but there wasn't a hint or a whisper about any data collection or availability during the event. I mention this in connection with a rumor that began in Galveston that suggests the accurate collection and collation of the chip data is far more unwieldy with mass numbers of chips in guns than it was in a controlled test environment. I don't know if that's true or not but it may be more work will be needed before we see the promised stats.
The big crowds of HB's past were absent. The weekend's weather was the biggest factor in the flat turnout as it was chilly, windy and overcast much of the time and the usual crowds on the beachfront promenade simply weren't there. The same held true of the surfing competition being held on the south side of the pier. But it's also true there wasn't much to see. A casual observer could look down on fields from the pier or get a decent view of field 2 from the promenade but that was it. And the vendor's village was a virtual ghost town much of the time. (I mention this solely for 'growing paintball' crowd who seem to imagine that after a decade on the beach the mere appearance of paintball has some osmotic power to turn disinterested passersby into paintball fanatics. It doesn't. Nor does having a sense of perspective mean that HB as a venue isn't awesome 'cus it is.) Attendance appears to have been off last year’s total by as much as 20% and turnout is unlikely to improve at CPX or Aldie which have both had modest participation in comparison to HB the past two or three years. If that pattern holds true the league is going to need to work fast to turn things around. Will the other league’s format save them? Nothing that happened at HB suggests it will but there were some positive features. There was a visible effort on display to improve on prior efforts and the bulk of those efforts revolved around the game itself--also a positive sign. Other past concerns remain at issue but Rome wasn't built in a day. If steady and consistent progress continues to be made perhaps that will be enough but now that the majority of the industry has turned its back on the NPPL and the NPPL is retaliating against retailers who might be vendors that can't and won't end well for the league. (Having Sapporo and Hooters throw a few beers and wings at VIPs isn't gonna finance the future of the league.) And intended or not it's clear that the Race 2 format as adopted by the Pros and extended to D1 has marginalized the trad 7-man competition and divisions as the divisional Race 2 teams have more in common with the elites now--and it won't be long before the remaining 7-man players notice.
On more than one occasion over the weekend NPPL powers joked or wondered (mock casually) if I could or might say something nice--for once--about their event. The truth is they'll get that from just about everybody else. Back in the Age of PB Magazines the print publications were largely cheerleaders, promoters and star-makers and most paintball websites remain just that. VFTD is more interested in the subjects and details nobody else will discuss and as often as not the result is a critique. Readers can judge for themselves whether those critiques have any merit or not. Nor is VFTD a "mainstream" paintball website; it is, at its best, an open dialogue on the world of competitive paintball.
What, you say you have been living under a rock? You don’t know what I’m talkin’ about? At the end of the finals in HB there was some extra curricular activity of the overshooting variety--and it wasn’t pretty--or so I’m told by someone who was watching the webcast. By all apparent appearances initiated by Damage players. It has been dealt with and public apologies have been offered. And if any of that is news you really have been living under a rock. If you’d like to add your two cents in the comments feel free.
Since events constrain I will keep this recap simple. We played XSV in the finals and lost. We beat Dynasty in overtime in the semis to make the finals. And XSV beat Arsenal. In an overtime period teams play 3-on-3. (Ask me why.) I don’t know. The closest I got to an explanation was that there was a concern about teams entering overtime on a penalty and if teams were still playing overtime 1-on-1s there wouldn’t be anybody left to play. But seriously, it’s 7-man, why is anyone even talkin’ about playing 1-on-1s as a tiebreaker? (Why not a sudden death point?) So the upshot is it’s 3-on-3 first and if that doesn’t determine a winner it goes to--you guessed it--1-on-1s.
The way Sunday was going to play out in the pro division wasn’t decided until Saturday--and then it was written in Tony Mineo’s infamous pencil. (Much like the missing parts of the rule book.) (Pencil can be erased, doh!) It turned out to be a sensible way of doing it and at least some of the participating teams were asked what they thought before a final decision was made but this is stuff that should be in that brand spanking new rule book.
On Saturday we fought a tough match with Mutiny and earned a number one seed in our bracket with a convincing win over Impact.
On the plus side of the ledger the new format is an improvement over traditional 7-man. (Many if not most of the comments I will be making about aspects of the Millennium apply to the NPPL--in spades--so if you remember this post you’ll have a fuller picture of HB when I finally get the St. Tropez posts up.) The fifteen minute match time seemed to work as well for a Race 2-5. I’m still not sure about the field dimensions but some matches went to points instead of time so that’s a plus but not a firm one yet. The event logistics and Millennium style of play worked well in terms of its functionality--though I still think some level of suspense and excitement is lost with four teams sharing the field and paired teams playing every other point. Which isn't really an issue for most of the divisions and teams but if one objective is to "sell" the game to the public I don't see how breaking matches up helps--of course I'm not convinced the non-paintball playing public will ever care regardless.
The other signature topic--in its absence--was the universal use of the Virtue chip and the proclaimed data explosion that would result in all sorts of statistics. Besides the fact the chip can't discern ramping guns--and there were plenty even though they were (apparently) capped at 15--it was supposed to regulate ROF (which it can do paired with a cap) but I noticed no instance over the weekend where a player or team was warned or penalised. It may be I simply missed it if it happened or that with viable technology in use everyone abided by the cap. One virtue (pun intended) of employing verifiable technology is players and teams know they will be caught so they don't push those boundaries. And perhaps the NPPL will soon be publishing reams of statistical data for our entertainment but there wasn't a hint or a whisper about any data collection or availability during the event. I mention this in connection with a rumor that began in Galveston that suggests the accurate collection and collation of the chip data is far more unwieldy with mass numbers of chips in guns than it was in a controlled test environment. I don't know if that's true or not but it may be more work will be needed before we see the promised stats.
The big crowds of HB's past were absent. The weekend's weather was the biggest factor in the flat turnout as it was chilly, windy and overcast much of the time and the usual crowds on the beachfront promenade simply weren't there. The same held true of the surfing competition being held on the south side of the pier. But it's also true there wasn't much to see. A casual observer could look down on fields from the pier or get a decent view of field 2 from the promenade but that was it. And the vendor's village was a virtual ghost town much of the time. (I mention this solely for 'growing paintball' crowd who seem to imagine that after a decade on the beach the mere appearance of paintball has some osmotic power to turn disinterested passersby into paintball fanatics. It doesn't. Nor does having a sense of perspective mean that HB as a venue isn't awesome 'cus it is.) Attendance appears to have been off last year’s total by as much as 20% and turnout is unlikely to improve at CPX or Aldie which have both had modest participation in comparison to HB the past two or three years. If that pattern holds true the league is going to need to work fast to turn things around. Will the other league’s format save them? Nothing that happened at HB suggests it will but there were some positive features. There was a visible effort on display to improve on prior efforts and the bulk of those efforts revolved around the game itself--also a positive sign. Other past concerns remain at issue but Rome wasn't built in a day. If steady and consistent progress continues to be made perhaps that will be enough but now that the majority of the industry has turned its back on the NPPL and the NPPL is retaliating against retailers who might be vendors that can't and won't end well for the league. (Having Sapporo and Hooters throw a few beers and wings at VIPs isn't gonna finance the future of the league.) And intended or not it's clear that the Race 2 format as adopted by the Pros and extended to D1 has marginalized the trad 7-man competition and divisions as the divisional Race 2 teams have more in common with the elites now--and it won't be long before the remaining 7-man players notice.
On more than one occasion over the weekend NPPL powers joked or wondered (mock casually) if I could or might say something nice--for once--about their event. The truth is they'll get that from just about everybody else. Back in the Age of PB Magazines the print publications were largely cheerleaders, promoters and star-makers and most paintball websites remain just that. VFTD is more interested in the subjects and details nobody else will discuss and as often as not the result is a critique. Readers can judge for themselves whether those critiques have any merit or not. Nor is VFTD a "mainstream" paintball website; it is, at its best, an open dialogue on the world of competitive paintball.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
HB Thursday & Friday
We flew in Wednesday night. All of us except Timmy who arrived Thursday morning at John Wayne. At the venue we picked up some paint and two bags of pods from Galveston transported by our friends at CP. Then it was off to Whittier Ranch to get some field time practicing the HB layout with Infamous. Turns out Whittier Ranch is really a working ranch--just off the 605 in Whittier. Manure to spare. When we arrive Infamous and Legend have been there for an hour or two already along with divisional team TCP Machine. By 3:30 pm we've run through our paint and are beginning to feel comfortable with our lanes, breakouts and general game plans. Communication will need to improve but we're a lot closer to ready than we were before.
Returning to the beach--and the venue--we worked through the registration process--which remains just another NPPL revenue stream but at least it's more efficient than the Millennium process was last week--and then we walked the grandstand field as the sun dipped toward the Pacific horizon. Divisional games were played for much of the day Thursday. We heard field two, beside the pier, was closed for a time due to paint bouncing off props and over the netting onto the pier. There was talk of raising additional netting to protect the pier and passersby. There was also a minor surprise on the field itself. The newest set of NPPL props (from Adrenaline Games) have shrunk and once again, it looks to be a decision made by the manufacturer without consulting the affected league. Full-sized Cans are about five-sixths the size they were before. The same holds true for the Mayan Temples, the Cubes and even the Wings. Otherwise everything looks to be in order although there's no sign of how or where the webcast cameras will be positioned. (Sometime Thursday night or early Friday all that was taken care of though I heard during the day on Friday that there were issues early Friday with the broadcast being down or inaccessible.) Well, everything except the pits. The pits are at one end of the field and there's less space in each one than in a comparable PSP pit yet each is expected to serve 2 7-man teams plus staff at the same time. It has proved over the course of the first day's play to be workable but only just. Each pit has a flat screen displaying game data like score, time outs, time to play and the countdown to game on clock. Similar but larger screens are on display for the grandstand incongruously zip tied to supports made out of two by fours. The info is there but it's hard to see at any distance.
The weather reports say Friday will be the warmest and nicest day of the weekend. The morning begins cool, overcast and hazy. Our first match is at 10 am. When we arrive Dynasty is playing Vendetta. We're scheduled to play at 10 am in the third set of the morning against Arsenal. The Race 2 format as translated by the NPPL is a solid improvement over the traditional 7-man format. And as the teams and officials get acclimated the schedule allows for a little laxity in running the turnaround between matches. Even so every now and again a team burns a time out in order to get all 7 players on field for their next breakout and more than once teams started down bodies. Despite the occasional blip the whole runs smoothly.
I still don't know how Sunday will break down for the Pros but it doesn't matter as long as you keep winning. Also no word yet on the data collected from the Virtue chips or the stats promised from that data. At the moment it doesn't really matter.
Today's game play saw 2 teams from each bracket go 2-0. In one group Dynasty & Infamous went 2-0 and in the other it was Damage & Impact. 2 teams in each bracket also went 0-2 leaving 3 teams in each group at 1-1. Nothing is setled yet so there remains hope for those teams that started slowly. In three matches on Friday teams reached 5 points.
Throughout the day's play we kept making minor changes and our game improved as the points accumulated. We enter Saturday's play confident but not overly so. Things can shift from match to match and even point from point but we had a strong showing to begin the event. The plan is to build on that beginning and continue getting better.
Among the pro teams the word is two teams are shooting GI Sportz while eight others are shooting RPS with the remaining four teams are shooting Valken. Another curiosity is the rumor that the league is insisting that on site vendors not sell Dye products. It has been confirmed by a few but I hesitate to claim that is really what's happening as it sounds so outlandish on its face. There is also talk the banning isn't limited to Dye but also includes Kee stuff as well. If true what's the point for some regional retailers to support the league if some percentage of their stocks can't be sold on site? More if hear anything further. And more tomorrow on the results of the Pro prelims.
Returning to the beach--and the venue--we worked through the registration process--which remains just another NPPL revenue stream but at least it's more efficient than the Millennium process was last week--and then we walked the grandstand field as the sun dipped toward the Pacific horizon. Divisional games were played for much of the day Thursday. We heard field two, beside the pier, was closed for a time due to paint bouncing off props and over the netting onto the pier. There was talk of raising additional netting to protect the pier and passersby. There was also a minor surprise on the field itself. The newest set of NPPL props (from Adrenaline Games) have shrunk and once again, it looks to be a decision made by the manufacturer without consulting the affected league. Full-sized Cans are about five-sixths the size they were before. The same holds true for the Mayan Temples, the Cubes and even the Wings. Otherwise everything looks to be in order although there's no sign of how or where the webcast cameras will be positioned. (Sometime Thursday night or early Friday all that was taken care of though I heard during the day on Friday that there were issues early Friday with the broadcast being down or inaccessible.) Well, everything except the pits. The pits are at one end of the field and there's less space in each one than in a comparable PSP pit yet each is expected to serve 2 7-man teams plus staff at the same time. It has proved over the course of the first day's play to be workable but only just. Each pit has a flat screen displaying game data like score, time outs, time to play and the countdown to game on clock. Similar but larger screens are on display for the grandstand incongruously zip tied to supports made out of two by fours. The info is there but it's hard to see at any distance.
The weather reports say Friday will be the warmest and nicest day of the weekend. The morning begins cool, overcast and hazy. Our first match is at 10 am. When we arrive Dynasty is playing Vendetta. We're scheduled to play at 10 am in the third set of the morning against Arsenal. The Race 2 format as translated by the NPPL is a solid improvement over the traditional 7-man format. And as the teams and officials get acclimated the schedule allows for a little laxity in running the turnaround between matches. Even so every now and again a team burns a time out in order to get all 7 players on field for their next breakout and more than once teams started down bodies. Despite the occasional blip the whole runs smoothly.
I still don't know how Sunday will break down for the Pros but it doesn't matter as long as you keep winning. Also no word yet on the data collected from the Virtue chips or the stats promised from that data. At the moment it doesn't really matter.
Today's game play saw 2 teams from each bracket go 2-0. In one group Dynasty & Infamous went 2-0 and in the other it was Damage & Impact. 2 teams in each bracket also went 0-2 leaving 3 teams in each group at 1-1. Nothing is setled yet so there remains hope for those teams that started slowly. In three matches on Friday teams reached 5 points.
Throughout the day's play we kept making minor changes and our game improved as the points accumulated. We enter Saturday's play confident but not overly so. Things can shift from match to match and even point from point but we had a strong showing to begin the event. The plan is to build on that beginning and continue getting better.
Among the pro teams the word is two teams are shooting GI Sportz while eight others are shooting RPS with the remaining four teams are shooting Valken. Another curiosity is the rumor that the league is insisting that on site vendors not sell Dye products. It has been confirmed by a few but I hesitate to claim that is really what's happening as it sounds so outlandish on its face. There is also talk the banning isn't limited to Dye but also includes Kee stuff as well. If true what's the point for some regional retailers to support the league if some percentage of their stocks can't be sold on site? More if hear anything further. And more tomorrow on the results of the Pro prelims.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Top 5 Worst MLP Events [*]
[*] Given the caveat 'within my memory.' Doesn't mean I was there. Only that I'm semi-confident contemporaneous reports told the real story. And before you start whinging--(tossed that in for our UK friends)--I know I promised it a day or so ago. If this is the first time in your memory I have failed to deliver a timely post you'll get used to it. Foolishly I decided to do a bit of research and make sure my list was impervious to challenge. First, it was taking way too long and second, somebody is always gonna disagree no matter what so there was really no point in over analyzing the possibilities. Instead I've decided to offer a list that not only delivers a Top 5 but also a few honorable mentions. And do it off the top of my head--which means, among other things, I'm not even exactly sure which year it was for some of the events. Y'all can fill in the details--or, of course, suggest your preferred alternative events. Instead of the definitive list consider this a conversation starter.
My criteria is simple. If I wasn't playing paintball when it happened it ain't on the list. Mostly. If I don't consider it to have been a major league event it isn't included. That's it.
I wanted to say that rain alone wasn't enough to get an event on this list but that's not quite true. I've been to so many events where it rained that I can't put a number to them but there's rain--and then there's rain. So without further delay--
Honorable Mention
Sometime in the mid-Nineties there was a Mayhem Masters? that I seem to recall was a massive mudfest.
It rained relentlessly at NPPL Pittsburgh in '98 leaving puddles and small ponds (and larger ponds) on the mounds field(s) and while not completely unplayable a snorkel would have come in handy.
A couple of Mardi Gras events not including Muddy Gras--I'll explain down the list.
It might have been the first NPPL (Pure Promotions) Miami held in a park not far from the airport. The rain came down in sheets and if it had continued for the duration there wouldn't have been a tournament.
NPPL Houston, cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike [?] which left the entire Houston area devastated. (Didn't make the list because the event never got started.)
PSP Texas in '06 when it dropped 50 degrees overnight and snowed turning the fields into mush and while not unplayable the conditions were singularly unpleasant.
The Top 5
5. There's a 3-way tie at number 5 'cus it let's me fudge the numbers a bit. MS Charleroi which saw high winds tear down field stanchions and enough rain to produce nearly knee deep mud. NPPL Jersey in '03 next door to the dragstrip was another massive rain and mudfest. And then there's Muddy Gras. I distinguish the various wet & muddy Mardi Gras events by two things; being a PSP-sanctioned season opening event and by the crazy winds that tore down the fields and sent some of the props into the bayou in, I think, 2004.
4. PSP Chicago at the Badlandz in 2010.
3. PSP Los Angeles in Pomona. I want to say '05. Rain, rain, rain and more rain. Mike Ratko on the NXL field digging runoff trenches. Mid-calf puddles at both starts. Players diving the snake literally disappearing.
2. MS Malaga Beach in 2008 [?] Only other event I can recall that wasn't able to finish play the Mills did the same thing as the PSP by carrying over pro play to the next event. Severe and sustained winds not only blew the inflatable net supports hither and yon they tore the traditional fields apart as well.
1. PSP Galveston 2012. Sustained high winds and a chilly rain flattened the majority of the venue and lasted long enough to make immediate reconstruction impossible. It also kept the PSP from completing an event for the first time in their history. (I think.)
My criteria is simple. If I wasn't playing paintball when it happened it ain't on the list. Mostly. If I don't consider it to have been a major league event it isn't included. That's it.
I wanted to say that rain alone wasn't enough to get an event on this list but that's not quite true. I've been to so many events where it rained that I can't put a number to them but there's rain--and then there's rain. So without further delay--
Honorable Mention
Sometime in the mid-Nineties there was a Mayhem Masters? that I seem to recall was a massive mudfest.
It rained relentlessly at NPPL Pittsburgh in '98 leaving puddles and small ponds (and larger ponds) on the mounds field(s) and while not completely unplayable a snorkel would have come in handy.
A couple of Mardi Gras events not including Muddy Gras--I'll explain down the list.
It might have been the first NPPL (Pure Promotions) Miami held in a park not far from the airport. The rain came down in sheets and if it had continued for the duration there wouldn't have been a tournament.
NPPL Houston, cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike [?] which left the entire Houston area devastated. (Didn't make the list because the event never got started.)
PSP Texas in '06 when it dropped 50 degrees overnight and snowed turning the fields into mush and while not unplayable the conditions were singularly unpleasant.
The Top 5
5. There's a 3-way tie at number 5 'cus it let's me fudge the numbers a bit. MS Charleroi which saw high winds tear down field stanchions and enough rain to produce nearly knee deep mud. NPPL Jersey in '03 next door to the dragstrip was another massive rain and mudfest. And then there's Muddy Gras. I distinguish the various wet & muddy Mardi Gras events by two things; being a PSP-sanctioned season opening event and by the crazy winds that tore down the fields and sent some of the props into the bayou in, I think, 2004.
4. PSP Chicago at the Badlandz in 2010.
3. PSP Los Angeles in Pomona. I want to say '05. Rain, rain, rain and more rain. Mike Ratko on the NXL field digging runoff trenches. Mid-calf puddles at both starts. Players diving the snake literally disappearing.
2. MS Malaga Beach in 2008 [?] Only other event I can recall that wasn't able to finish play the Mills did the same thing as the PSP by carrying over pro play to the next event. Severe and sustained winds not only blew the inflatable net supports hither and yon they tore the traditional fields apart as well.
1. PSP Galveston 2012. Sustained high winds and a chilly rain flattened the majority of the venue and lasted long enough to make immediate reconstruction impossible. It also kept the PSP from completing an event for the first time in their history. (I think.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Upcoming Events
Tomorrow the Millennium begin their season with the CPL 'Drawing From The Hats' ceremony to determine the St. Tropez brackets. Not exactly NCAA March Madness when it comes to bracketology it's a bit of Euro weirdness not indulged in the other divisions. This time, for the first time, the top four teams will lead the 4 brackets. In Hat #1 will be teams 5-8 which will be drawn at random and assigned a bracket until there are 2 teams in each bracket. That will be followed by a Hat #2 random draw then a Hat #3 random draw whereupon 4 brackets of 4 teams are set. While it makes little sense when a perfectly logical seeding system exists we'll chalk it up to eccentricity.
The event begins a week from Friday and I gotta say I'm looking forward to it. Despite the proximity of the event there appears to be a few teams still not settled into their divisions just yet. In locked divisions (SPL & D1) that have maxed out at 32 teams playing the SPL currently has 29 with 5 other teams pending. Whatever that means. In D1 they have 26 with 9 teams pending. Be interesting to see what the final numbers are in the next few days. (How many teams are reffing?)
Finally I still wonder how it is some Euro teams end up picking up the American players they choose. I know in some instances it's a matter of sponsor affiliation but frankly that still leaves some questions in my mind. Are some teams compelled--or enticed?--into putting players on their rosters? Do teams always know what they're actually getting in the players they pick up? Without wishing to be too controversial or specific I've often looked at some of the U.S. players playing for Euro teams and I just don't get it. So how 'bout an anonymous or two Euro team captains (or owners) explaining some of the U.S. pro players pick-up ins & outs for me. Hey, a guy can ask, right?
Lastly a quick note on HB. Today the registered teams total was at 108. I still think we'll see more Pro teams in HB than the 11 presently listed. But I also think the final team totals participating will be under 100. Alot of the registered teams still don't have rosters posted and they are running out of time to do it online for the discounted price per ID. Also no updates on prize calculations given the new divisions--although it looks like 5-man race 2 will only happen in D3 & D4. 2012 rules were posted recently and I'll have a look at them before the event but haven't had a chance to look them over yet.
The event begins a week from Friday and I gotta say I'm looking forward to it. Despite the proximity of the event there appears to be a few teams still not settled into their divisions just yet. In locked divisions (SPL & D1) that have maxed out at 32 teams playing the SPL currently has 29 with 5 other teams pending. Whatever that means. In D1 they have 26 with 9 teams pending. Be interesting to see what the final numbers are in the next few days. (How many teams are reffing?)
Finally I still wonder how it is some Euro teams end up picking up the American players they choose. I know in some instances it's a matter of sponsor affiliation but frankly that still leaves some questions in my mind. Are some teams compelled--or enticed?--into putting players on their rosters? Do teams always know what they're actually getting in the players they pick up? Without wishing to be too controversial or specific I've often looked at some of the U.S. players playing for Euro teams and I just don't get it. So how 'bout an anonymous or two Euro team captains (or owners) explaining some of the U.S. pro players pick-up ins & outs for me. Hey, a guy can ask, right?
Lastly a quick note on HB. Today the registered teams total was at 108. I still think we'll see more Pro teams in HB than the 11 presently listed. But I also think the final team totals participating will be under 100. Alot of the registered teams still don't have rosters posted and they are running out of time to do it online for the discounted price per ID. Also no updates on prize calculations given the new divisions--although it looks like 5-man race 2 will only happen in D3 & D4. 2012 rules were posted recently and I'll have a look at them before the event but haven't had a chance to look them over yet.
Monday, March 5, 2012
VFTD Translates
I haven't done this in a while so it should be fun. (For me anyway.) As a public service to all competitive ballers VFTD periodically translates Press Releases into easy to understand common English. (American English, of course. Take that all you Eurosnobs and raging Anglophiles.)
Turns out the NPPL put this presser out last Friday--to little or no fanfare. Of course the news about Vancouver was already out there but the prospect of a(nother) new TV show hasn't been picked up by other paintball media outlets or garnered much attention. Is the paintball community so jaded by past failures that it simply isn't registering or are peeps simply postponing judgment with a wait and see attitude?
And if you guessed this latest NPPL news was part and parcel of secrets Mr. Curious has been keeping lately you would be correct. The italicized paragraphs below are the original press release as posted on the NPPL's website and Facebook page. This post title links to the NPPL site.
_______________________________________
Vancouver Postponed / New NPPL Pro Player reality TV Show
The NPPL in conjunction with Dynasty has made the commitment to produce a reality Paintball TV Show based on a Dynasty/Impact World Tour. The League will be filming segments at each NPPL event this year and feature tournaments outside the United States. Impact have chosen to only to attend NPPL events in North America, as they will be traveling on a worldwide tour to capture paintball on film. The show will also focus on woods ball, recreational play and scenario games. The Show will Air sometime this summer dates and times to follow. The NPPL once again is paving the way to expose the sport of paintball worldwide.
The NPPL Board of Directors after speaking to players, teams and sponsors has decided to reschedule Vancouver. The main reasons for dropping Vancouver from the 2012 schedule is the economy is still tight and teams, sponsors have expressed they can only afford to go to 4 events this season. Furthermore, there were concerns about getting supplies and equipment across the boarder. We are looking at the possibility of hosting the event in 2013 which will allow the league, teams and sponsors more time to plan, promote and take care of logistics for running a successful tournament. The NPPL views Canada as a growing paintball tournament market and looks to promote more feeders and teams in Canada this year. The League hopes players; teams and sponsors will respect and support our decision to postpone Vancouver for one year.
________________________________________
The new reality TV show, if that's what it turns out to be, is a NPPL project in name only and until recently was conceived to be something like Real Life San Diego featuring the Dynabrats is morphing into something else. After some productive back alley brawling Bart managed to wedge Impact into the picture. Rumor has it behind the scenes an effort is underway to split the Millennium season and CPL spot between Dynasty and Impact as well. In the meantime minus an actual format and a changing show conception and no word exactly where, how or with whom all this will be sorted out the NPPL would like to take credit in advance for any success it might have and should it fail like various past ventures the NPPL hopes you will appreciate their efforts to bring the good news of tournament paintball to the masses regardless.
The Board was shocked to discover the decision to put an event in Vancouver, even though taken without the slightest consideration of the facts or the hardships it placed on players and sponsors alike, was not universally hailed as the stroke of genius we thought it was. So never mind. Notwithstanding, the league views Canada as one place where we can still convince a few teams to play 7-man. And contrary to expectations the offering of the Race 2 format didn't result in all the PSP teams pulling up stakes and moving over to the player's league and with Huntington Beach registrations lagging--and this economy thing some people keep mentioning--we've decided 4 events is a safer bet. However, running a league means never having to say you screwed up so we're all going to pretend like we're just postponing the event by a year or so. (wink, wink) And in closing we hope you respect and support our latest display of incompetence because it seems to work for everybody else.
Turns out the NPPL put this presser out last Friday--to little or no fanfare. Of course the news about Vancouver was already out there but the prospect of a(nother) new TV show hasn't been picked up by other paintball media outlets or garnered much attention. Is the paintball community so jaded by past failures that it simply isn't registering or are peeps simply postponing judgment with a wait and see attitude?
And if you guessed this latest NPPL news was part and parcel of secrets Mr. Curious has been keeping lately you would be correct. The italicized paragraphs below are the original press release as posted on the NPPL's website and Facebook page. This post title links to the NPPL site.
_______________________________________
Vancouver Postponed / New NPPL Pro Player reality TV Show
The NPPL in conjunction with Dynasty has made the commitment to produce a reality Paintball TV Show based on a Dynasty/Impact World Tour. The League will be filming segments at each NPPL event this year and feature tournaments outside the United States. Impact have chosen to only to attend NPPL events in North America, as they will be traveling on a worldwide tour to capture paintball on film. The show will also focus on woods ball, recreational play and scenario games. The Show will Air sometime this summer dates and times to follow. The NPPL once again is paving the way to expose the sport of paintball worldwide.
The NPPL Board of Directors after speaking to players, teams and sponsors has decided to reschedule Vancouver. The main reasons for dropping Vancouver from the 2012 schedule is the economy is still tight and teams, sponsors have expressed they can only afford to go to 4 events this season. Furthermore, there were concerns about getting supplies and equipment across the boarder. We are looking at the possibility of hosting the event in 2013 which will allow the league, teams and sponsors more time to plan, promote and take care of logistics for running a successful tournament. The NPPL views Canada as a growing paintball tournament market and looks to promote more feeders and teams in Canada this year. The League hopes players; teams and sponsors will respect and support our decision to postpone Vancouver for one year.
________________________________________
The new reality TV show, if that's what it turns out to be, is a NPPL project in name only and until recently was conceived to be something like Real Life San Diego featuring the Dynabrats is morphing into something else. After some productive back alley brawling Bart managed to wedge Impact into the picture. Rumor has it behind the scenes an effort is underway to split the Millennium season and CPL spot between Dynasty and Impact as well. In the meantime minus an actual format and a changing show conception and no word exactly where, how or with whom all this will be sorted out the NPPL would like to take credit in advance for any success it might have and should it fail like various past ventures the NPPL hopes you will appreciate their efforts to bring the good news of tournament paintball to the masses regardless.
The Board was shocked to discover the decision to put an event in Vancouver, even though taken without the slightest consideration of the facts or the hardships it placed on players and sponsors alike, was not universally hailed as the stroke of genius we thought it was. So never mind. Notwithstanding, the league views Canada as one place where we can still convince a few teams to play 7-man. And contrary to expectations the offering of the Race 2 format didn't result in all the PSP teams pulling up stakes and moving over to the player's league and with Huntington Beach registrations lagging--and this economy thing some people keep mentioning--we've decided 4 events is a safer bet. However, running a league means never having to say you screwed up so we're all going to pretend like we're just postponing the event by a year or so. (wink, wink) And in closing we hope you respect and support our latest display of incompetence because it seems to work for everybody else.
Monday Poll in Review
No new Monday Poll for you! (No, it's not a punishment for failing to vote last week. Although, for a community that seems to have one harebrained opinion after another that folks happily share online daily nobody seemed too interested in the NPPL HB poll. I'll leave you to decide why.) With Galveston this coming weekend everyone's attention is gonna be--rightly--focused elsewhere and besides, I got nothing--and can't be bothered to look up an old poll question to recycle. Next week.
Last week's poll question was: Will attendance at the 2012 HB event equal or exceed last year's total of 133 teams? (Or something very much like that.) I posed the question in light of the failed merger and myriad changes the league undertook in the off season and on the basis that attendance will give some indication of how the league is currently perceived. If not in the poll--which I routinely point out is never scientific or objective or even statistically relevant--at least in the raw number of competing teams. Like it or not actual participation is a form of referendum. The day the poll was posted HB registration was at 92 teams. This afternoon it is at 98. 73% of those responding to the poll question voted no--meaning participation wouldn't equal or exceed last year's team totals--while 27% voted that HB would have at least 133 teams and perhaps more. Registration remains open so we won't know for sure for two or three weeks but at this point it looks like it will be a struggle to meet or exceed last year's total. Pro registration remains at 11 with rumors of this team or that still to enter. Pump has shriveled with the new higher price and an alternative offering from the PSP. And in the divisional groups it looks like Race 2 options will only exist in divisions 3 & 4.
If you have any ideas for The Monday Poll's future poll questions post 'em up in comments or on VFTD Facebook and I'll steal the good ones and make fun of the bad ones. What could be fairer than that?
Last week's poll question was: Will attendance at the 2012 HB event equal or exceed last year's total of 133 teams? (Or something very much like that.) I posed the question in light of the failed merger and myriad changes the league undertook in the off season and on the basis that attendance will give some indication of how the league is currently perceived. If not in the poll--which I routinely point out is never scientific or objective or even statistically relevant--at least in the raw number of competing teams. Like it or not actual participation is a form of referendum. The day the poll was posted HB registration was at 92 teams. This afternoon it is at 98. 73% of those responding to the poll question voted no--meaning participation wouldn't equal or exceed last year's team totals--while 27% voted that HB would have at least 133 teams and perhaps more. Registration remains open so we won't know for sure for two or three weeks but at this point it looks like it will be a struggle to meet or exceed last year's total. Pro registration remains at 11 with rumors of this team or that still to enter. Pump has shriveled with the new higher price and an alternative offering from the PSP. And in the divisional groups it looks like Race 2 options will only exist in divisions 3 & 4.
If you have any ideas for The Monday Poll's future poll questions post 'em up in comments or on VFTD Facebook and I'll steal the good ones and make fun of the bad ones. What could be fairer than that?
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Preseason Look at the Major Leagues
With registrations open for all 3 major leagues and the first event, PSP Galveston, about a month away it seems like a good time to check the pulse of MLP activity. (In the past I have included the rather eccentric Grand Tour kids because they feature a Pro division but their website hasn't been updated since autumn and it's unclear if they are producing a 2012 season.) The PSP & NPPL have chosen to expand this season to a 5 event season again. The MS is standing pat at 4 events. What impact this might have on the overall seasons of each league is uncertain but it seems clear that both leagues are counting on a continuation of last year's unexpected if modest growth trend. The conspiracy minded might see the move to 5 events as a mutual passive declaration of war against the other--and it may work out that way--except there was talk of adding an event last year long before the merger talks failed. Of course then the red pill crowd would say each made the move to 5 preemptively certain that the other league was going to do so. Whatever the motivation it's a five event season with the top 4 scores counting toward divisional series titles--at least in the PSP. (I haven't seen anything from the NPPL on that yet.)
The PSP currently has 146 teams signed up (with at least a few more to come) and 105 paid. There are just over two weeks left to pay and the price increases after midnight tomorrow. Last year Galveston had 126 teams and at this rate it appears the PSP will have similar numbers this year. And that covers the recent brouhaha over Sup'Air's last second introduction of a new snake via an upgrade kit. Efforts to pre-sell the kit has created confusion and animosity in some quarters that threatens not only participation at events but a backlash at the local field level. While there has been no formal response from the PSP yet CEO Lane Wright did post a statement in a field owners forum attesting to the fact the PSP was blind-sided by this new bunker kit release. Nor has there been any official statement forthcoming from Sup'Air or Adrenline Games.
The MS opens their season two weeks after Galveston with the French Riviera Cup at a new location in the south of France. In recent past seasons the upper divisions (CPL, SPL & D1) have been locked and last year the MS introduced a team cap in the open divisions. (D2 & D3) While the cap effectively limited the overall size of a Millennium event it appears to have served its purpose well. It is clear the MS's goal isn't to maximize the size of their events and the cap does a couple of positive things for them. It fixes the logistical requirements well in advance and it creates a scarcity--the limited number of open slots--that pushes interested teams into action. It also serves, for the time-being, as a sort of protection for the upper divisions as the open divisions are the path upwards. (While not altogether true--spots can be purchased and divisions jumped--that is a function of availability. Should those spots fail to be available in the future the option won't exist. At least theoretically.) The defined path to success, scarcity of open slots, closed upper levels all function to establish and maintain the MS's preeminence in Euroland--which is particularly important with the growing strength of national leagues in Germany and France, for example.
Assuming numbers matching last year the Riviera Cup will have 126 teams participating. That isn't a foregone conclusion because there is no info available yet as to the status of any of the locked divisions. Last season the MS worked frantically behind the scenes to fill in upper division slots lost to attrition and they scoured all of Europe to do it. Since there hasn't been the same level of off season talk about teams dropping out VFTD is assuming that the locked divisions have remained relatively stable. This year VFTD will be able to deliver live post event reports on all the MS events.
Overlapping the end of March beginning of April is the NPPL's now customary opening event, Huntington Beach. In a positive move, except when you're parking, the league has moved the venue to the northside of the pier this year which is where is was originally. For whatever reason it is a much preferred location. The one drawback is that it will limit, to some degree, the logistics of the venue although one supposes the NPPL is expecting the MS style Race 2 formatting to allow them a more compact venue. And the league has posted that there are limits to available spots but haven't posted any numbers. A check of the team list indicates 64 teams signed up so far. the new Race 2 brackets are very light with the majority opting for the standard 7-man with a couple of teams registering in both. (Presumably in order to pick one or the other at some point.) The numbers look a little thin but there is more time to register and pay for this event than either of the other two.
At this stage it is also hard (or perhaps impossible) to judge the impact of off season changes other than to say the NPPL made more of them than any other league. Much ballyhooed was the move to 5 events--including one in Vancouver, Canada, the introduction of a Race 2 format option, changing Pro and D1 to a Race 2 variant exclusively, the hiring of Tony Mineo as Commish [and head of officiating], an increase in entry prices and finally the introduction of the mandatory Virtue chip to confirm the ROF cap and provide collateral statistical data.
If participation comes in under expectations (and even if it doesn't) HB will be the first and most important test of how well all the changes will be incorporated and what impact they will have further into the season.
The countdown has begun. Tick, tick tick ...
The PSP currently has 146 teams signed up (with at least a few more to come) and 105 paid. There are just over two weeks left to pay and the price increases after midnight tomorrow. Last year Galveston had 126 teams and at this rate it appears the PSP will have similar numbers this year. And that covers the recent brouhaha over Sup'Air's last second introduction of a new snake via an upgrade kit. Efforts to pre-sell the kit has created confusion and animosity in some quarters that threatens not only participation at events but a backlash at the local field level. While there has been no formal response from the PSP yet CEO Lane Wright did post a statement in a field owners forum attesting to the fact the PSP was blind-sided by this new bunker kit release. Nor has there been any official statement forthcoming from Sup'Air or Adrenline Games.
The MS opens their season two weeks after Galveston with the French Riviera Cup at a new location in the south of France. In recent past seasons the upper divisions (CPL, SPL & D1) have been locked and last year the MS introduced a team cap in the open divisions. (D2 & D3) While the cap effectively limited the overall size of a Millennium event it appears to have served its purpose well. It is clear the MS's goal isn't to maximize the size of their events and the cap does a couple of positive things for them. It fixes the logistical requirements well in advance and it creates a scarcity--the limited number of open slots--that pushes interested teams into action. It also serves, for the time-being, as a sort of protection for the upper divisions as the open divisions are the path upwards. (While not altogether true--spots can be purchased and divisions jumped--that is a function of availability. Should those spots fail to be available in the future the option won't exist. At least theoretically.) The defined path to success, scarcity of open slots, closed upper levels all function to establish and maintain the MS's preeminence in Euroland--which is particularly important with the growing strength of national leagues in Germany and France, for example.
Assuming numbers matching last year the Riviera Cup will have 126 teams participating. That isn't a foregone conclusion because there is no info available yet as to the status of any of the locked divisions. Last season the MS worked frantically behind the scenes to fill in upper division slots lost to attrition and they scoured all of Europe to do it. Since there hasn't been the same level of off season talk about teams dropping out VFTD is assuming that the locked divisions have remained relatively stable. This year VFTD will be able to deliver live post event reports on all the MS events.
Overlapping the end of March beginning of April is the NPPL's now customary opening event, Huntington Beach. In a positive move, except when you're parking, the league has moved the venue to the northside of the pier this year which is where is was originally. For whatever reason it is a much preferred location. The one drawback is that it will limit, to some degree, the logistics of the venue although one supposes the NPPL is expecting the MS style Race 2 formatting to allow them a more compact venue. And the league has posted that there are limits to available spots but haven't posted any numbers. A check of the team list indicates 64 teams signed up so far. the new Race 2 brackets are very light with the majority opting for the standard 7-man with a couple of teams registering in both. (Presumably in order to pick one or the other at some point.) The numbers look a little thin but there is more time to register and pay for this event than either of the other two.
At this stage it is also hard (or perhaps impossible) to judge the impact of off season changes other than to say the NPPL made more of them than any other league. Much ballyhooed was the move to 5 events--including one in Vancouver, Canada, the introduction of a Race 2 format option, changing Pro and D1 to a Race 2 variant exclusively, the hiring of Tony Mineo as Commish [and head of officiating], an increase in entry prices and finally the introduction of the mandatory Virtue chip to confirm the ROF cap and provide collateral statistical data.
If participation comes in under expectations (and even if it doesn't) HB will be the first and most important test of how well all the changes will be incorporated and what impact they will have further into the season.
The countdown has begun. Tick, tick tick ...
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
It's Official: Tony's & Dan's Big Adventure
The Catshack has the NPPL presser posted--even before the NPPL website or their (assorted) Facebook page(s). Link is down on the sidebar--see the kitty in the toilet. (Yes, it is so a link.) Is it because of the new Canadacentric thinking in the NPPL? (That was a joke. No, it wasn't.)
Anyway, there are only a few things to say about this move. First, it's an admission, despite the presser's jargon, that the officiating was broken before. Second, it's going to cause a major culture clash. Third, we don't know how many, if any, of the PSP pro refs they took with them.
If the PSP refs went with Tony then it is, at a minimum, a short term problem for the PSP that could become an endemic problem. If the core of the refs stayed then the PSP will carry on and decide how they want to replace Tony's role.
Bringing in Tony means, among other things, that the NPPL agrees to do things Tony's way--not the other way around. The only way that isn't true is if there's so much cash on the table Tony will acquiesce to league requirements. And if that's the case then the league has simply thrown a bunch of money around without fixing the core problem--their own inability to follow the rules. It will be interesting--and perhaps even entertaining--to see how the "owners" and the pro teams respond to the Mineo Regime. It will also be interesting to see if there's any noticeable improvement across the board over the course of the season.
At the end of the day bringing in Tony has the potential to actually solve their problems as well as appearing to solve their problems. Will the league let Tony do things his way when push comes to shove? Will that way produce more consistent officiating? Will pre-existing NPPL refs feel undervalued? How will the experiment in Millennium style Race 2 work out? What will the PSP do? Will refs demand more money across the board? And most importantly what choices will teams looking to play national events decide to do?
To the great unwashed it's a PR coup. To the knowledgeable it's still an open question: Can Tony overcome the institutional dysfunction or will it overcome him? Only time will tell and it will, at least, make for an interesting 2012 NPPL watching season.
Anyway, there are only a few things to say about this move. First, it's an admission, despite the presser's jargon, that the officiating was broken before. Second, it's going to cause a major culture clash. Third, we don't know how many, if any, of the PSP pro refs they took with them.
If the PSP refs went with Tony then it is, at a minimum, a short term problem for the PSP that could become an endemic problem. If the core of the refs stayed then the PSP will carry on and decide how they want to replace Tony's role.
Bringing in Tony means, among other things, that the NPPL agrees to do things Tony's way--not the other way around. The only way that isn't true is if there's so much cash on the table Tony will acquiesce to league requirements. And if that's the case then the league has simply thrown a bunch of money around without fixing the core problem--their own inability to follow the rules. It will be interesting--and perhaps even entertaining--to see how the "owners" and the pro teams respond to the Mineo Regime. It will also be interesting to see if there's any noticeable improvement across the board over the course of the season.
At the end of the day bringing in Tony has the potential to actually solve their problems as well as appearing to solve their problems. Will the league let Tony do things his way when push comes to shove? Will that way produce more consistent officiating? Will pre-existing NPPL refs feel undervalued? How will the experiment in Millennium style Race 2 work out? What will the PSP do? Will refs demand more money across the board? And most importantly what choices will teams looking to play national events decide to do?
To the great unwashed it's a PR coup. To the knowledgeable it's still an open question: Can Tony overcome the institutional dysfunction or will it overcome him? Only time will tell and it will, at least, make for an interesting 2012 NPPL watching season.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2012 NPPL HB field layout
VFTD is not going to do a breakdown of this layout--at least not yet (but probably not ever as the very thought sounds like work.) Nor will I be taking the league to task for re-cycling a past layout. [Vegas '09] The fact is it's difficult to maintain a fundamental design concept--snake wire and D-wire--without some routine similarities design to design and the change in props plus the interior position changes from the original to this layout makes it different enough I think for those who care about such things. (The only way to avoid similarities would be to open the design process up to unconventional ideas.)
What this layout does do is give us some more info on what to expect from the NPPL in 2012. For example, there were rumors of the league changing field dimensions--which plainly didn't happen. It will be interesting to see how this plays into the various Race 2 options the NPPL intends to implement for 2012. As a practical matter the field dimensions and prop set will make a difference in how match play plays out on this HB layout--just as the PSP's move to extend their field did last season. The mid-field will (continue to) be difficult to ref efficiently. (Before all the fanboys start hyperventilating it's not a criticism, it's an observation.) I will also be surprised if more than 25% of the pro prelims go to points instead of time. (Consider that a prediction.) At any rate it will interesting to see how it turns out.
What this layout does do is give us some more info on what to expect from the NPPL in 2012. For example, there were rumors of the league changing field dimensions--which plainly didn't happen. It will be interesting to see how this plays into the various Race 2 options the NPPL intends to implement for 2012. As a practical matter the field dimensions and prop set will make a difference in how match play plays out on this HB layout--just as the PSP's move to extend their field did last season. The mid-field will (continue to) be difficult to ref efficiently. (Before all the fanboys start hyperventilating it's not a criticism, it's an observation.) I will also be surprised if more than 25% of the pro prelims go to points instead of time. (Consider that a prediction.) At any rate it will interesting to see how it turns out.
Monday, January 9, 2012
A Monday Poll First
This week's Monday Poll is a VFTD first. Two polls in one! (Kinda) Two questions, two polls but aimed at one thing. The predicted finishing for the 2012 season in the PSP Pro Division. Top to bottom. Bottom to top. The results of both polls will be combined to create the most seemingly scientific poll ever at VFTD. (Though of course it won't be because, as usual, all voters in every VFTD poll are self-selecting so the only thing we know for sure is that VFTD voters aren't quite the lazy slackers the rest of you are.) Mostly we're doing two polls because I decided one poll with open voting was unlikely to be effective as most of you would use the opportunity to vote your favorites along with the teams you thought most likely to win. If I could have limited you to three choices that would have been fine. But since I can't you will only get one vote in each poll. Which team will win the PSP Pro series in 2012? & Which team will come in last in the PSP Pro series for 2012? (Keep in mind the series winner is the high score after, and including, all 5 event results.)
If you vote, please vote in both polls.
The teams listed are last year's teams plus 187 Crew. While VFTD does not expect an 11 team division these are the teams that would be in as of today.
Be a part of VFTD history. Vote--then vote again--in the first twin Monday Poll.
UPDATE: What the hell, man?! Clicking your mouse twice was too much for some of you? Determined to skew my already unscientific poll results? Didn't want to anonymously hurt any team's po' widdle feewings by voting them most likely to come in last?
Monday Poll in Review
Last week's question wanted to know which team(s)--from the list given--were least likely to compete in the NPPL Pro Division in 2012. Even taking into account those who misread the question--or didn't read it at all--looking at the raw numbers proved to be, er, confusing. Everybody received some votes. And nobody was seen as an overwhelming choice not to compete. The top vote getters (those teams seen as least likely to compete in the NPPL Pro division) were Vicious and Top Gun (Top Gun Evolution was the series winner in D2.) Mutiny was a no-show at the Vegas finale last year and didn't come in last. Nor did Blast--which announced they would not be competing in 2012--while the poll was still open! In fact neither Blast or Mutiny received votes from more than 50% of the voters. Hello!?
Despite the goofy looking numbers there was some order amidst the seeming chaos. NPPL Pro has 16 teams. The poll list included 24 teams; all 16 from last season plus the top 2 D1 teams, top D2 team, the rumored possibles plus Vicious. The list didn't include any Euro teams or the other 3 PSP Pros; Legion, Ironmen & CEP since all were deemed as highly unlikely at best. If the final poll results are listed in the order of fewest votes (most likely to compete in NPPL Pro) to the most votes the result is kinda interesting. The top ten begining with number 1 are, Dynasty, Avalanche, Legend, Impact, Vendetta, XSV, Xplicit, Uprising, Thunder & Arsenal. 11-13 are X-Factor, Damage & Infamous. Rounding out the top 16, the poll's projected NPPL Pro Division for 2012, are HK, Aftershock & Unnamed Canadian team. Tied at 17th are New Mystery Team and Miami Devious(Rage). Listed in order it almost rounds into shape and despite the actual numbers it even makes a kind of sense. And while I know it's silly I'd love to see Unnamed Canadian listed amongst the teams at HB.
So--will the NPPL have a full 16 teams in the 2012 Pro Division?
If you vote, please vote in both polls.
The teams listed are last year's teams plus 187 Crew. While VFTD does not expect an 11 team division these are the teams that would be in as of today.
Be a part of VFTD history. Vote--then vote again--in the first twin Monday Poll.
UPDATE: What the hell, man?! Clicking your mouse twice was too much for some of you? Determined to skew my already unscientific poll results? Didn't want to anonymously hurt any team's po' widdle feewings by voting them most likely to come in last?
Monday Poll in Review
Last week's question wanted to know which team(s)--from the list given--were least likely to compete in the NPPL Pro Division in 2012. Even taking into account those who misread the question--or didn't read it at all--looking at the raw numbers proved to be, er, confusing. Everybody received some votes. And nobody was seen as an overwhelming choice not to compete. The top vote getters (those teams seen as least likely to compete in the NPPL Pro division) were Vicious and Top Gun (Top Gun Evolution was the series winner in D2.) Mutiny was a no-show at the Vegas finale last year and didn't come in last. Nor did Blast--which announced they would not be competing in 2012--while the poll was still open! In fact neither Blast or Mutiny received votes from more than 50% of the voters. Hello!?
Despite the goofy looking numbers there was some order amidst the seeming chaos. NPPL Pro has 16 teams. The poll list included 24 teams; all 16 from last season plus the top 2 D1 teams, top D2 team, the rumored possibles plus Vicious. The list didn't include any Euro teams or the other 3 PSP Pros; Legion, Ironmen & CEP since all were deemed as highly unlikely at best. If the final poll results are listed in the order of fewest votes (most likely to compete in NPPL Pro) to the most votes the result is kinda interesting. The top ten begining with number 1 are, Dynasty, Avalanche, Legend, Impact, Vendetta, XSV, Xplicit, Uprising, Thunder & Arsenal. 11-13 are X-Factor, Damage & Infamous. Rounding out the top 16, the poll's projected NPPL Pro Division for 2012, are HK, Aftershock & Unnamed Canadian team. Tied at 17th are New Mystery Team and Miami Devious(Rage). Listed in order it almost rounds into shape and despite the actual numbers it even makes a kind of sense. And while I know it's silly I'd love to see Unnamed Canadian listed amongst the teams at HB.
So--will the NPPL have a full 16 teams in the 2012 Pro Division?
Monday, January 2, 2012
The Monday Poll
My original thought--btw, you slackers were no help at all, way to keep the streak alive--was to do something about which teams will be playing in the PSP pro division this year but when I thought about how to frame such a poll it became obvious that would, at a minimum, be boring. Last year there were 10 teams (except for Cup with 12) and if Impact drops out it makes a place for 187 Crew. If Impact doesn't drop out there's the questions swirling around Shock's status but that's pretty much it. Not much uncertainty beyond the logistics of how the division will function, so--
What about a similar poll for the CPL? You know, the Millennium Series equivalent. Then it occurred to me that not even the Eurokids care all that much--unless they're actually playing in the CPL so if the Monday Poll is gonna be about a pro division to kick off the new year, and it is, dammit, it's gotta be about the NPPL. There's rumors Hollywood HK (you can't be serious) is gonna get a spot and Mutiny didn't show for Vegas last year and then there's Shock in disarray (again) and will Blast play or won't they plus teams having to prep for the new format so all in all there seems more room for rumor and opinion in a NPPL poll.
The first Monday Poll question of 2012 is: Which of the following teams won't be playing in the NPPL Pro division in 2012? To be followed by a long-ish list of, doh!, teams that might or might not be participating in the NPPL this coming year. You may vote for as many options as you wish. As usual the final test will be graded on a curve because otherwise you'd all fail. So what are you waiting for? It's time to cast your vote. Go on.
What about a similar poll for the CPL? You know, the Millennium Series equivalent. Then it occurred to me that not even the Eurokids care all that much--unless they're actually playing in the CPL so if the Monday Poll is gonna be about a pro division to kick off the new year, and it is, dammit, it's gotta be about the NPPL. There's rumors Hollywood HK (you can't be serious) is gonna get a spot and Mutiny didn't show for Vegas last year and then there's Shock in disarray (again) and will Blast play or won't they plus teams having to prep for the new format so all in all there seems more room for rumor and opinion in a NPPL poll.
The first Monday Poll question of 2012 is: Which of the following teams won't be playing in the NPPL Pro division in 2012? To be followed by a long-ish list of, doh!, teams that might or might not be participating in the NPPL this coming year. You may vote for as many options as you wish. As usual the final test will be graded on a curve because otherwise you'd all fail. So what are you waiting for? It's time to cast your vote. Go on.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Baca's Mailbag, December 15
Have you been able to find out anymore information about what actually happened at the merger talks? Who ended up sinking the deal? From a few posts around the internet it appears it was the NPPL that ended things.
To answer the first part of the question, yes, I've found out more about what happened. Without assigning blame here's roughly what happened at the end. As everyone (who cares) now knows the meeting in Vegas ended badly. There was an effort made after that via a series of conference calls to get back on track the day before the NPPL announced their 2012 event schedule. [The joint the-merger-is-off statement came out November 30th and the NPPL announced their complete 2012 schedule the next day, December 1st. The PSP announced their first two events on December 5th.] Proposals and counter-proposals were made and rejected and neither party apparently could agree to any middle ground between the proposals offered. To the best of my current knowledge format wasn't the make or break issue--it would have been dealt with after a basic deal was agreed to. It seems the core issues were ownership stake(s)--who ended up with what--and something VFTD remarked on back in September, uncertainty about the legal structure of the NPPL and the status of its team/owners in some instances. (Both parties agreed months ago, during the process, to release records to a third party for review and it took the NPPL months to comply.) How much bearing the later issue had on an inability to agree to the former I've no idea--nor can I break down the numbers or dollars being discussed. (If I can get the-rest-of-the-story and be reasonably certain of its accuracy I'll tell that tale when I can.)
I don't think either league left the bargaining table unhappy with the outcome and from here on out we will see what sort of line the industry takes, along with the players. (And I do mean players, not the etools who have never played either one but insist on repeatedly declaring their opinions.)
To answer the first part of the question, yes, I've found out more about what happened. Without assigning blame here's roughly what happened at the end. As everyone (who cares) now knows the meeting in Vegas ended badly. There was an effort made after that via a series of conference calls to get back on track the day before the NPPL announced their 2012 event schedule. [The joint the-merger-is-off statement came out November 30th and the NPPL announced their complete 2012 schedule the next day, December 1st. The PSP announced their first two events on December 5th.] Proposals and counter-proposals were made and rejected and neither party apparently could agree to any middle ground between the proposals offered. To the best of my current knowledge format wasn't the make or break issue--it would have been dealt with after a basic deal was agreed to. It seems the core issues were ownership stake(s)--who ended up with what--and something VFTD remarked on back in September, uncertainty about the legal structure of the NPPL and the status of its team/owners in some instances. (Both parties agreed months ago, during the process, to release records to a third party for review and it took the NPPL months to comply.) How much bearing the later issue had on an inability to agree to the former I've no idea--nor can I break down the numbers or dollars being discussed. (If I can get the-rest-of-the-story and be reasonably certain of its accuracy I'll tell that tale when I can.)
I don't think either league left the bargaining table unhappy with the outcome and from here on out we will see what sort of line the industry takes, along with the players. (And I do mean players, not the etools who have never played either one but insist on repeatedly declaring their opinions.)
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Mailbag Extra: NPPL Drops Format Bomb!
With the recent announcement by the NPPL that they are converting to Race2 for professional matches, and adding what they term as Millennium 5-man divisions, do you see this as:1) an attempt to offer a similar format as PSP, in the hope of a "smooth" transition in a future merger?
2) an attempt to offer enough formats to satisfy all tournament players, with the goal of stealing PSP market share?
In my mind, it has to be one or the other, or am I missing something?
Re: question #1: That's very sweet and naive. And it will be the correct answer the same day Vegans vote unanimously that their favorite fast food is JackInTheBox.
Re: question #2: In some senses I almost find this one hard to credit as well because I am initially unconvinced that much thought went into this decision. Even so I think it has to be viewed, in part, as a direct challenge to the PSP whether that was intended or not. (Nor would it surprise me to see the PSP respond in kind or at least use their left over scheduling flexibility to best effect.)
I know those probably aren't the most satisfactory answers but there's still a lot of necessary information missing before this move can be fairly judged. Things like what will the prelims look like? How will Sunday play proceed? Will the fields all still comply with current NPPL design characteristics, etc.? Will there be time limit? How will it work? Without this sort of info it's impossible to adequately project how this might work out.
However, given what we do know there are some, if not conclusions to be drawn, pitfalls that might arise. How much paint will the Pro teams shoot under this formula? (Contrary to popular belief many of them have marginal sponsorships.) Will they severely limit the prelims in order to split the difference? (Something like the Millennium currently do where teams only play 3 matches in the prelims. In which the scoring becomes matches won--which will frequently end in ties and come down to the plus/minus ratio of points scored to determine who moves on. A variant of the system that was both confusing and unsatisfactory in HB last year.) Will the return of Semi-Pro be a mixed division with D1 or an attempt to revive a separate division? Will the new formats cost more in entries? Will the offer of 5-man Xball Lite prove to be direct competition with traditional 7-man among the am teams? There are dozens of similar questions but you get the idea, I'm sure.
And then there the issues that prior experience suggest might arise. How will the format changes be reflected in the rule book? (If the NPPL can't produce an adequate rule book for 7-man can they be expected to deliver one that covers multiple formats?) Format changes don't change a registration and ID system that only function as a revenue stream for the league and they don't instantly improve the officiating. In fact they put more stress on both those factors. And then there's scheduling and field prep requirements? How many more fields will it take? The league was running 12 hour days in Vegas trying to get in all the scheduled games for much less time intensive formats. With 3 fields in Vegas the quality of the carpets was noticeably diminished--the fields looked like green quilts. How many more fields will the league need? How many more refs will it take? Does the league have any idea if they can effectively run Race 2 on 7-man style fields?
The bottom line is format changes don't fix the endemic problems. All the NPPL has done so far with this announcement is confirm that they too believe their prior format was lacking--at least when it comes to the Pros and the 5-man teams.
2) an attempt to offer enough formats to satisfy all tournament players, with the goal of stealing PSP market share?
In my mind, it has to be one or the other, or am I missing something?
Re: question #1: That's very sweet and naive. And it will be the correct answer the same day Vegans vote unanimously that their favorite fast food is JackInTheBox.
Re: question #2: In some senses I almost find this one hard to credit as well because I am initially unconvinced that much thought went into this decision. Even so I think it has to be viewed, in part, as a direct challenge to the PSP whether that was intended or not. (Nor would it surprise me to see the PSP respond in kind or at least use their left over scheduling flexibility to best effect.)
I know those probably aren't the most satisfactory answers but there's still a lot of necessary information missing before this move can be fairly judged. Things like what will the prelims look like? How will Sunday play proceed? Will the fields all still comply with current NPPL design characteristics, etc.? Will there be time limit? How will it work? Without this sort of info it's impossible to adequately project how this might work out.
However, given what we do know there are some, if not conclusions to be drawn, pitfalls that might arise. How much paint will the Pro teams shoot under this formula? (Contrary to popular belief many of them have marginal sponsorships.) Will they severely limit the prelims in order to split the difference? (Something like the Millennium currently do where teams only play 3 matches in the prelims. In which the scoring becomes matches won--which will frequently end in ties and come down to the plus/minus ratio of points scored to determine who moves on. A variant of the system that was both confusing and unsatisfactory in HB last year.) Will the return of Semi-Pro be a mixed division with D1 or an attempt to revive a separate division? Will the new formats cost more in entries? Will the offer of 5-man Xball Lite prove to be direct competition with traditional 7-man among the am teams? There are dozens of similar questions but you get the idea, I'm sure.
And then there the issues that prior experience suggest might arise. How will the format changes be reflected in the rule book? (If the NPPL can't produce an adequate rule book for 7-man can they be expected to deliver one that covers multiple formats?) Format changes don't change a registration and ID system that only function as a revenue stream for the league and they don't instantly improve the officiating. In fact they put more stress on both those factors. And then there's scheduling and field prep requirements? How many more fields will it take? The league was running 12 hour days in Vegas trying to get in all the scheduled games for much less time intensive formats. With 3 fields in Vegas the quality of the carpets was noticeably diminished--the fields looked like green quilts. How many more fields will the league need? How many more refs will it take? Does the league have any idea if they can effectively run Race 2 on 7-man style fields?
The bottom line is format changes don't fix the endemic problems. All the NPPL has done so far with this announcement is confirm that they too believe their prior format was lacking--at least when it comes to the Pros and the 5-man teams.
Baca's Mailbag, Dec 6
How likely do you think it is that some sponsors (Kee) will go through with their rumored threats to pull out of the NPPL?
The easy button answer is not very. And that's because any hard line change would be a break with history and past practices and I'm disinclined to believe it until I see it. And yet I keep hearing nattering about a mostly united front blah blah blah. So it's hard to know--but fortunately it's easy to speculate and there are a few possible scenarios to consider--if in fact most of the major industry players follow through one way or another. On one hand the big industry sponsors could simply discontinue their support and not show up. On the other they could conceivably take a more active hand in where their sponsored teams play, or don't play. In the second scenario the issue isn't what Joe Divisional Team does but what the Pro teams do and more to the point the high profile anchor pro teams like Dynasty or Infamous. Established teams with established reputations validate the entire division with their presence and if they're not there it changes the general perception of their worthiness (for lack of a better word) to self-identify as pro. (Which is why the Millennium kids have a chip on their collective shoulders and need first tier Russians and/or U.S. team(s) competing in the CPL. It both defines and assures their status.) The follow-up question is does devaluing the Pro division erode interest and divisional player participation--if the end goal is to see the league call it quits.
The other option of simply no longer sponsoring the league does a couple of things; it saves the industry some money (some of which ended up in the league's pockets) and it complicates things for the sponsored teams of those companies without going so far as to forbid them to play. Of course it also complicates things for the companies if they aren't present to support their products for their flagship teams, etc.
A simpler solution would be stick a fork in Pev and watch all the hot air escape. And accept the inescapable conclusion that Chuck is an empty wetsuit and a surf board, paintball's answer to the Peter Principle, and just ignore him. At which point the NPPL becomes Bart & the Volunteers and if they want to play 7-man God bless them everyone.
EDIT: Haha! It turns out they don't want to play 7-man after all.
The easy button answer is not very. And that's because any hard line change would be a break with history and past practices and I'm disinclined to believe it until I see it. And yet I keep hearing nattering about a mostly united front blah blah blah. So it's hard to know--but fortunately it's easy to speculate and there are a few possible scenarios to consider--if in fact most of the major industry players follow through one way or another. On one hand the big industry sponsors could simply discontinue their support and not show up. On the other they could conceivably take a more active hand in where their sponsored teams play, or don't play. In the second scenario the issue isn't what Joe Divisional Team does but what the Pro teams do and more to the point the high profile anchor pro teams like Dynasty or Infamous. Established teams with established reputations validate the entire division with their presence and if they're not there it changes the general perception of their worthiness (for lack of a better word) to self-identify as pro. (Which is why the Millennium kids have a chip on their collective shoulders and need first tier Russians and/or U.S. team(s) competing in the CPL. It both defines and assures their status.) The follow-up question is does devaluing the Pro division erode interest and divisional player participation--if the end goal is to see the league call it quits.
The other option of simply no longer sponsoring the league does a couple of things; it saves the industry some money (some of which ended up in the league's pockets) and it complicates things for the sponsored teams of those companies without going so far as to forbid them to play. Of course it also complicates things for the companies if they aren't present to support their products for their flagship teams, etc.
A simpler solution would be stick a fork in Pev and watch all the hot air escape. And accept the inescapable conclusion that Chuck is an empty wetsuit and a surf board, paintball's answer to the Peter Principle, and just ignore him. At which point the NPPL becomes Bart & the Volunteers and if they want to play 7-man God bless them everyone.
EDIT: Haha! It turns out they don't want to play 7-man after all.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Baca's Mailbag, Dec 4
A couple of quick notes. Yes, GI has in fact bought Procaps--and the deal is officially done. VFTD was supposed to receive an early copy of the official Press Release (which may still happen)--I foolishly agreed to delay posting in exchange for the presser--but it didn't matter as they proceeded almost immediately to leak the information, AGAIN. This time after having signed all the appropriate documents or at least while in the process of signing them. Let that be a lesson kids. It's one I'ma take to heart. Trust me. (As soon as I realized the cat was out of the bag--this time for good--I did post it on VFTD's Facebook page and will be commented on events of the day there during December.)
Mailbag questions aren't being answered in the order received. It's whatever happens to catch my fancy really. For example today's question provides an opportunity to compare the two major leagues and demonstrate, for the uninitiated, that I'm an equal opportunity hater.
I, along with others I'm sure, was wondering which format you think is better and why. I've been following for a while and can pretty much figure its not going to be the NPPL, but I guess I was wanting to know is what sets the PSP apart as being the premier league (if that is your position).
The obvious answer is Bacaball! (Excepting of course it's only suitable as an expensive spectator-friendly, sports-legitimizing version of competitive paintball that, er, nobody has actually played--yet.)
Between traditional 7-man and Race 2 the simple answer is Race 2 for all the same reasons you've already heard. The big one is of course that the outcome of a match is more likely to be determinative of which team was actually better on a given day. For me, sideline coaching or no coaching is a non-issue. Communication has always been a key element of playing the game and remains so whether or not someone outside the field of play is communicating or not. And for the record I do not believe sideline coaching has nearly the impact that is often attributed to it. (Although at the lower levels it can have more of an impact but that is directly related to the skill & confidence of the players.) But once you start talking about officiating and things like gun rules we're now in the territory that sets the leagues apart from one another.
In one sense the dividing issue for the players seems to be format preference. Which is fine. And if that were the only factor at play I would be (and am) fine with peeps playing what they like. On that count my issues with both leagues, heck, with all leagues, has always been they deliver the best product possible to their customers and since we're talking about tournament paintball "best" means a fair and impartial competitive environment in which to compete. That's my baseline. Everything else is an extra as far as I'm concerned--and secondary. Is it fun to have an unusual or exotic venue? In an unusual or unique location? Absolutely. Do any extras ever make up for a lousy competition? Nope. At least not from my perspective. Your mileage may vary--but I doubt it. In the past when various iterations of the NPPL clearly focused more on delivering an experience instead of a competition--apparently assuming the competition part would handle itself--they ended up in the unenviable positions of always having to try and top themselves and eventually couldn't, no matter how much money they spent. And it cost them on both sides of that equation. It cost them the experience seekers and the serious competitors.
On the other hand there's the path the PSP has followed. The league pays APPA for a registration system that actually works and has the potential to incorporate every tournament player at every level because it's a necessary feature of providing a fair competition. (Does the league still make a few bucks on ID cards? I hope so. I'd hate to think Chris gets all that money--but the point is one league has a real system, the other has another revenue stream.) The PSP pays a salary to the Head of Referees to travel around and train refs and oversee their on field efforts at events in an effort to maintain the highest quality they can manage. The PSP also pays extra for a dedicated crew of refs and their supervision on the Pro field. Is it less than perfect? Sure but the league is willing to spend real money to provide the best officiating they can. And anyone who has been around more than a day or two knows the history of the NPPL, in every version, is fraught with one reffing scandal after another--and not just on the outer fields among the lower divisions--but front and center on the grandstand field. The difference isn't bad luck. It's that one league makes a concerted effort to get it right and the other has different priorities. Same with gun rules. The PSP has clearly defined and enforceable gun rules--whether you like them or not--and as a result significant gun-related penalties are almost unheard of anymore. The NPPL, on the other hand, has a history of unenforceable rules, subjective reffing judgments, arbitrary penalties and widespread cheating. Today's NPPL 3.0 has at least capped their "semi-auto" so they have an enforceable limit (thanks to Virtue) while they continue to turn a blind eye to the ramping they supposedly don't allow. And then there are the rest of the rules. In the PSP there is a clearly defined hierarchy of authority in place to see to it the rules are followed. (Is everybody always happy? Nope, but that isn't the point of the rules.) In the NPPL the rules are inadequate at best and incomplete at worst and the Ultimate Ref's job seems to be making stuff up as he goes along. Does it matter? Most of the time probably not but it is symptomatic of the NPPL's routine practice of half-assing the actual competition while touting what a great job they do at growing and promoting paintball.
Bottom line is what sets the leagues apart in my mind is one is focused on the on-field competition and the other isn't--and never has been.
Mailbag questions aren't being answered in the order received. It's whatever happens to catch my fancy really. For example today's question provides an opportunity to compare the two major leagues and demonstrate, for the uninitiated, that I'm an equal opportunity hater.
I, along with others I'm sure, was wondering which format you think is better and why. I've been following for a while and can pretty much figure its not going to be the NPPL, but I guess I was wanting to know is what sets the PSP apart as being the premier league (if that is your position).
The obvious answer is Bacaball! (Excepting of course it's only suitable as an expensive spectator-friendly, sports-legitimizing version of competitive paintball that, er, nobody has actually played--yet.)
Between traditional 7-man and Race 2 the simple answer is Race 2 for all the same reasons you've already heard. The big one is of course that the outcome of a match is more likely to be determinative of which team was actually better on a given day. For me, sideline coaching or no coaching is a non-issue. Communication has always been a key element of playing the game and remains so whether or not someone outside the field of play is communicating or not. And for the record I do not believe sideline coaching has nearly the impact that is often attributed to it. (Although at the lower levels it can have more of an impact but that is directly related to the skill & confidence of the players.) But once you start talking about officiating and things like gun rules we're now in the territory that sets the leagues apart from one another.
In one sense the dividing issue for the players seems to be format preference. Which is fine. And if that were the only factor at play I would be (and am) fine with peeps playing what they like. On that count my issues with both leagues, heck, with all leagues, has always been they deliver the best product possible to their customers and since we're talking about tournament paintball "best" means a fair and impartial competitive environment in which to compete. That's my baseline. Everything else is an extra as far as I'm concerned--and secondary. Is it fun to have an unusual or exotic venue? In an unusual or unique location? Absolutely. Do any extras ever make up for a lousy competition? Nope. At least not from my perspective. Your mileage may vary--but I doubt it. In the past when various iterations of the NPPL clearly focused more on delivering an experience instead of a competition--apparently assuming the competition part would handle itself--they ended up in the unenviable positions of always having to try and top themselves and eventually couldn't, no matter how much money they spent. And it cost them on both sides of that equation. It cost them the experience seekers and the serious competitors.
On the other hand there's the path the PSP has followed. The league pays APPA for a registration system that actually works and has the potential to incorporate every tournament player at every level because it's a necessary feature of providing a fair competition. (Does the league still make a few bucks on ID cards? I hope so. I'd hate to think Chris gets all that money--but the point is one league has a real system, the other has another revenue stream.) The PSP pays a salary to the Head of Referees to travel around and train refs and oversee their on field efforts at events in an effort to maintain the highest quality they can manage. The PSP also pays extra for a dedicated crew of refs and their supervision on the Pro field. Is it less than perfect? Sure but the league is willing to spend real money to provide the best officiating they can. And anyone who has been around more than a day or two knows the history of the NPPL, in every version, is fraught with one reffing scandal after another--and not just on the outer fields among the lower divisions--but front and center on the grandstand field. The difference isn't bad luck. It's that one league makes a concerted effort to get it right and the other has different priorities. Same with gun rules. The PSP has clearly defined and enforceable gun rules--whether you like them or not--and as a result significant gun-related penalties are almost unheard of anymore. The NPPL, on the other hand, has a history of unenforceable rules, subjective reffing judgments, arbitrary penalties and widespread cheating. Today's NPPL 3.0 has at least capped their "semi-auto" so they have an enforceable limit (thanks to Virtue) while they continue to turn a blind eye to the ramping they supposedly don't allow. And then there are the rest of the rules. In the PSP there is a clearly defined hierarchy of authority in place to see to it the rules are followed. (Is everybody always happy? Nope, but that isn't the point of the rules.) In the NPPL the rules are inadequate at best and incomplete at worst and the Ultimate Ref's job seems to be making stuff up as he goes along. Does it matter? Most of the time probably not but it is symptomatic of the NPPL's routine practice of half-assing the actual competition while touting what a great job they do at growing and promoting paintball.
Bottom line is what sets the leagues apart in my mind is one is focused on the on-field competition and the other isn't--and never has been.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Silly Season
Is in full force and doesn't show any signs of letting up. From here on out all bets are off. I'ma repeat about a third of what I'm hearing and I'm not even gonna worry about it's accuracy. If you don't want unvetted rumors--stop reading them. At this point I'm quite certain most of the rumor makers and powers that be in paintball don't know what's happening either so we're all in good company. Yes of course peeps have plans and everyone is trying to make moves but everything is so unsettled right now yesterday's rumor is today's deal is tomorrow's never gonna happen. Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy--but don't put any stock in any of this nonsense. (Unless I tell you otherwise.)
(Btw, I am working on World Cup Practice, part 4 and will post it soon-ish.)
The on again off again major league merger is definitely off. (Until it isn't.) As of right this minute it appears that both leagues will go about their regular bidness. Could that change? Sure, when pigs fly and NASA discovers those moon rocks they collected are petrified cream cheese. Never say never but it looks like a real long shot right now.
And again I gotta ask--since nobody has come up with a good answer yet--why so many players seem to think the merger has any real meaning for them or competitive paintball generally? If you read the rubbish being posted most of the hysterical merger mania seems to be convinced that a merger would usher in a new golden era of tournament paintball and in no time at all the President (or at least Beyonce) would be singing the national anthem before a championship final being broadcast live to billions of instant fans. Seriously, what possesses people to believe that sort of nonsense?
Back to the merger. The real issue (assuming the merger stays off the table) is how the sponsors respond, if they do, or if everything remains bidness as usual. Yes, I've said this before and it remains true today. And as before there's no telling--yet. Rumor has it the industry players generally know where they stand and what their intentions are but everyone is watching everyone else to see who, if anyone, is gonna break ranks first. And if that happens all bets are off. Again.
Okay, now about Procaps. Remember the whole Smarts Parts rigamarole? The on again off again, it's sold, it's not routine that went on for some time? (Months.) Well, it's looking like that may prove to be the case with Procaps. Reports of the sale were premature and it seems three paintball companies put in bids with GI's being the highest in total but not in cash. (According to the latest.) The three companies are the same ones as has been previously rumored; GI, KEE & Tippmann. (Yep, that Tippmann.) It may be knowledge of being the top bidder is what set off the premature rejoicing at GI--but at any rate it's all rumored now to be moot--as the bank (the ever ubiquitous "bank") has rejected all the bids. If so it's back to the drawing board for everybody. Sure, why not?
A potentially important related issue for competitive paintball teams and players is how the sale, non-sale & whoever ends up with Procaps, if it's a paintball company, affects sponsorship deals for next season. In recent years the process has lagged, with the industry dragging its metaphoric feet, and with the whole Procaps thing up in the air there's no telling how it might impact sponsorships.
With respect to the latest RL rumors there's conflicting claims. Middle or so of last season the rumor started floating that Sergey Leontiev (owner of RL) was backing off his prior commitments to the team and that was part of the internal issues going on there that resulted in the poor showing in Jersey, the rumored retirements (I mentioned last time) etc. If that was true to begin with, it is now being rumored that whatever the problems were they've been settled and Sergey (and his money) are back in full force. As to the make-up of next season's roster there's conflicting stories about the U.S. players--did they quit first?--and the apparent factoids that the Russians have been looking at some other non-Russian players recently. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up with an all Russian roster but it also wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.
Finally there's some deep chatter, way deep chatter, about the NPPL making some substantial changes to their format. It may be something that's under discussion but frankly I don't put much, if any, stock in it at present. If I hear more about it and it sounds at any point like it might really happen I'll get into it in more detail--but for the time being it's just a seriously outlandish rumor. (Even for me--and even unvetted.)
(Btw, I am working on World Cup Practice, part 4 and will post it soon-ish.)
The on again off again major league merger is definitely off. (Until it isn't.) As of right this minute it appears that both leagues will go about their regular bidness. Could that change? Sure, when pigs fly and NASA discovers those moon rocks they collected are petrified cream cheese. Never say never but it looks like a real long shot right now.
And again I gotta ask--since nobody has come up with a good answer yet--why so many players seem to think the merger has any real meaning for them or competitive paintball generally? If you read the rubbish being posted most of the hysterical merger mania seems to be convinced that a merger would usher in a new golden era of tournament paintball and in no time at all the President (or at least Beyonce) would be singing the national anthem before a championship final being broadcast live to billions of instant fans. Seriously, what possesses people to believe that sort of nonsense?
Back to the merger. The real issue (assuming the merger stays off the table) is how the sponsors respond, if they do, or if everything remains bidness as usual. Yes, I've said this before and it remains true today. And as before there's no telling--yet. Rumor has it the industry players generally know where they stand and what their intentions are but everyone is watching everyone else to see who, if anyone, is gonna break ranks first. And if that happens all bets are off. Again.
Okay, now about Procaps. Remember the whole Smarts Parts rigamarole? The on again off again, it's sold, it's not routine that went on for some time? (Months.) Well, it's looking like that may prove to be the case with Procaps. Reports of the sale were premature and it seems three paintball companies put in bids with GI's being the highest in total but not in cash. (According to the latest.) The three companies are the same ones as has been previously rumored; GI, KEE & Tippmann. (Yep, that Tippmann.) It may be knowledge of being the top bidder is what set off the premature rejoicing at GI--but at any rate it's all rumored now to be moot--as the bank (the ever ubiquitous "bank") has rejected all the bids. If so it's back to the drawing board for everybody. Sure, why not?
A potentially important related issue for competitive paintball teams and players is how the sale, non-sale & whoever ends up with Procaps, if it's a paintball company, affects sponsorship deals for next season. In recent years the process has lagged, with the industry dragging its metaphoric feet, and with the whole Procaps thing up in the air there's no telling how it might impact sponsorships.
With respect to the latest RL rumors there's conflicting claims. Middle or so of last season the rumor started floating that Sergey Leontiev (owner of RL) was backing off his prior commitments to the team and that was part of the internal issues going on there that resulted in the poor showing in Jersey, the rumored retirements (I mentioned last time) etc. If that was true to begin with, it is now being rumored that whatever the problems were they've been settled and Sergey (and his money) are back in full force. As to the make-up of next season's roster there's conflicting stories about the U.S. players--did they quit first?--and the apparent factoids that the Russians have been looking at some other non-Russian players recently. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up with an all Russian roster but it also wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.
Finally there's some deep chatter, way deep chatter, about the NPPL making some substantial changes to their format. It may be something that's under discussion but frankly I don't put much, if any, stock in it at present. If I hear more about it and it sounds at any point like it might really happen I'll get into it in more detail--but for the time being it's just a seriously outlandish rumor. (Even for me--and even unvetted.)
Friday, November 25, 2011
Numbers Game
The final numbers are in for the 2011 season major league paintball participation. Back in July I posted on the mid-term--(Buy the Numbers?)--and while the numbers are correct I got it wrong. I predicted by the end of the year participation numbers would stabilize across both leagues and end up similar to 2010 numbers. As it turned out both leagues saw real numbers rise. Good for everybody.
Since my views are already pretty well known I'ma just give y'all the rest of the numbers and you people can fight about what it means, or ought to mean and what comes next. In keeping with prior practice I've left the Pro teams out of both equations. (Read the other post if you want to know why.) I've also broken the numbers down by format; 7-man teams compared to Xball Lite teams (even though 5-man in the NPPL doesn't directly compare to Race 2-2.) In four events PSP averaged 160 teams and the NPPL averaged 79 teams. [There is a discrepancy however. NPPL's team list for Vegas had (has?) 136 teams but after the event the league only ranked 103 teams in the various division rankings. They left out the new D4 7-man so I used the Team List number of 15. And then of course Mutiny was a no show which left Vegas turnout at a potential high of 135 to a low of 117. Similar discrepancies exist between the Chicago & DC lists and final rankings as well with the lists in all 3 cases being the larger number. The total plus/minus over the season is 33 teams. I used the rankings because those numbers reflect post event results and seemed to me more likely to be correct with respect to teams that actually competed. To be consistent I also checked both the APPA's paid list against PSP's ranking results and those numbers matched for each event.] For the NPPL it was a significant bump. Between 2009 and 2010 NPPL 3.0 only improved by four teams per event average whereas this past season the bump was up 13 teams per event on average (although virtually all the gains can be attributed to HB & Vegas.)
The direct format comparison saw an average of 53 7-man teams per event and 90 Race 2-X teams. That is an 7-man increase of 9 teams per event over last year. So of the plus 13 teams per NPPL event 9 were in the primary format. And the 90 Race 2-X is a decline of 3 teams per event over 2010 but the PSP more than made up that difference in Race 2-2. Much of the PSP losses in recent years have been from the 5-man ranks and the gains of 2011 were plus 21 teams (80 versus 59) over 2010.
So there you have it.
I would ask one question though. While I know the industry wishes for a single national league what exactly do the players who want one league think it will do either for them or for paintball? Riddle me that.
And just so the Eurokids don't feel left out--it seems one CPL spot is already up for sale and if this off season mirrors last year the MS will be scrambling to try and find teams. I suspect it won't be as bad--assuming the goal is to hold the line at or near 2011 team numbers--because the league had event limits in 2011 that were below 2010 attendance numbers (for the most part) and if the Euro trend is similar to the U.S. (which saw rising participation numbers) there should be teams to fill in the spots that might otherwise have gone missing from normal attrition. (It's a good thing too since the MS went far and wide last year scouring the east and all the distant corners of near Euroland for replacement teams already so that is an option that won't be available again in the near term.) Of course all bets are off if the failing eurozone economies explode the Euro and the whole things starts tumbling like falling dominoes.
Since my views are already pretty well known I'ma just give y'all the rest of the numbers and you people can fight about what it means, or ought to mean and what comes next. In keeping with prior practice I've left the Pro teams out of both equations. (Read the other post if you want to know why.) I've also broken the numbers down by format; 7-man teams compared to Xball Lite teams (even though 5-man in the NPPL doesn't directly compare to Race 2-2.) In four events PSP averaged 160 teams and the NPPL averaged 79 teams. [There is a discrepancy however. NPPL's team list for Vegas had (has?) 136 teams but after the event the league only ranked 103 teams in the various division rankings. They left out the new D4 7-man so I used the Team List number of 15. And then of course Mutiny was a no show which left Vegas turnout at a potential high of 135 to a low of 117. Similar discrepancies exist between the Chicago & DC lists and final rankings as well with the lists in all 3 cases being the larger number. The total plus/minus over the season is 33 teams. I used the rankings because those numbers reflect post event results and seemed to me more likely to be correct with respect to teams that actually competed. To be consistent I also checked both the APPA's paid list against PSP's ranking results and those numbers matched for each event.] For the NPPL it was a significant bump. Between 2009 and 2010 NPPL 3.0 only improved by four teams per event average whereas this past season the bump was up 13 teams per event on average (although virtually all the gains can be attributed to HB & Vegas.)
The direct format comparison saw an average of 53 7-man teams per event and 90 Race 2-X teams. That is an 7-man increase of 9 teams per event over last year. So of the plus 13 teams per NPPL event 9 were in the primary format. And the 90 Race 2-X is a decline of 3 teams per event over 2010 but the PSP more than made up that difference in Race 2-2. Much of the PSP losses in recent years have been from the 5-man ranks and the gains of 2011 were plus 21 teams (80 versus 59) over 2010.
So there you have it.
I would ask one question though. While I know the industry wishes for a single national league what exactly do the players who want one league think it will do either for them or for paintball? Riddle me that.
And just so the Eurokids don't feel left out--it seems one CPL spot is already up for sale and if this off season mirrors last year the MS will be scrambling to try and find teams. I suspect it won't be as bad--assuming the goal is to hold the line at or near 2011 team numbers--because the league had event limits in 2011 that were below 2010 attendance numbers (for the most part) and if the Euro trend is similar to the U.S. (which saw rising participation numbers) there should be teams to fill in the spots that might otherwise have gone missing from normal attrition. (It's a good thing too since the MS went far and wide last year scouring the east and all the distant corners of near Euroland for replacement teams already so that is an option that won't be available again in the near term.) Of course all bets are off if the failing eurozone economies explode the Euro and the whole things starts tumbling like falling dominoes.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
What Doesn't Happen In Vegas
I don't have anything new on the merger (Kaboom!) front but when has that stopped me before? If, in fact, this signals the end of serious talks about a merger for the foreseeable future--and there seems little doubt that it does--then a post mortem is in order. And if it's all some sort of misunderstanding--I didn't know she was your wife when she stepped out of my shower--we can consider it just another one of those wacky Vegas misadventures along the rocky road to happiness--but it's not. But seriously, odds are, given the rumors exploding last weekend in Vegas, and the sudden posting of an HB event schedule for 2012 it sure sounds like everything went Kaboom! So what happens now? Is top flight national competition paintball in trouble? And what about some of the reported rumors? And how does the sale of Procaps effect national level competitive paintball, if at all?
While I'm not privvy to any first person insider info--go figure--I think there are a few reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (and I'm willing to climb out on a limb and offer a few up.) Back in September I posted a couple of merger-related posts. The first one, Merger Counterfactual, addressed the possibilities of what happens if there is or isn't a merger. I stand by that post and have a rumor or two to toss into the pot as I go all in. In Monday's post I alluded to the rumor that KEE was threatening a hard line with its sponsored teams if there was no merger. A hard line that favors the PSP. (There's even been some talk of a united industry--minus PE--determined to break the 2 league sponsorship cycle--but color me skeptical of that one.) If true that would mean KEE would likely pressure teams like Dynasty, Infamous and XSV to abandon the NPPL. (Of course the reverse could also be true but that isn't the way the rumors were flying.) And think of all the teams shooting Axes & RPS paint. That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the NPPL's future success.
Merger Machinations was also posted in September. In that post I identified some impediments to the merger I believed to be accurate. (And I've had no reason or received any info to suggest otherwise since.) Admittedly there are more current rumors but only the folks in the room discussing the merger know what actually happened and why and I would be very surprised (shocked actually) if the whole process wasn't covered by non-disclosure agreements. [I use them with some regularity and while not foolproof non-disclosures provide some extra legal protections again sensitive or proprietary information being leaked.] That is however just a supposition on my part. That said all the "insider" rumors about the meeting are coming from one side; the NPPL side.
What's perhaps more interesting than speculating about exactly what happened is speculating about what will happen next. Rumorology has suggested (for some time now) that there will be more events next season--rumor says 5 but who knows, is back to the old schedule of 6 events possible? I would guess not but that would only be a guess. Further I would expect the PSP to maintain the status quo when it comes to rules and format and such. After a reputedly successful 2011 (and the general playership aversion to change) a little continuity would likely prove quite popular. (Although a return to the shorter field might be change everyone could appreciate--and would help reverse the more paint, fewer points trend of 2011.) And then there's the sale of Procaps. Richmond has always flagshipped his paint brand with high visibility sponsorships--the current GI Sportz line-up for example--and there's no reason to imagine that will change. The question really is--will DraXXus be retained as a separate brand line (that incidentally ends up competing with GI) or will Procaps be subsumed into GI? And what happens to DraXXus sponsored teams as a result? Does GI spread the wealth and go with the numbers or focus their resources on a few well chosen teams? (Last year, KEE picked up a number of teams on the relative cheap with their Axes & RPS deals because there wasn't any real alternatives available.) Will the Procaps sale force further belt tightening and if it does what will that mean? In the Pro division it will likely mean a number of the NPPL only Pro teams won't have any real option about where they play; it will be NPPL or nothing.
And then there are the players. How many players play for multiple teams? How many teams are made up largely of players who also play elsewhere? Back in the day the NXL attempted to restrict player movement and I can imagine a time, in the not so distant future, when that becomes a more viable policy. When the NXL tried to restrict player movement there was too much money and too many options available to make it stick but that isn't the paintball universe of today.
Recently the league wars have been relatively mild low grade conflicts, schoolyard pissing contests if you will, but if the industry really does pick a side will it signal a heating up of the war? In the aftermath of whatever caused the merger to fail are there hard feelings, bruised egos and bitter recriminations? Frankly that's the stuff of paintball wars past--will it be the basis for a hot war going forward?
So many questions. So much unknown and/or uncertain going forward. At least there will be something to talk about over the winter.
While I'm not privvy to any first person insider info--go figure--I think there are a few reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (and I'm willing to climb out on a limb and offer a few up.) Back in September I posted a couple of merger-related posts. The first one, Merger Counterfactual, addressed the possibilities of what happens if there is or isn't a merger. I stand by that post and have a rumor or two to toss into the pot as I go all in. In Monday's post I alluded to the rumor that KEE was threatening a hard line with its sponsored teams if there was no merger. A hard line that favors the PSP. (There's even been some talk of a united industry--minus PE--determined to break the 2 league sponsorship cycle--but color me skeptical of that one.) If true that would mean KEE would likely pressure teams like Dynasty, Infamous and XSV to abandon the NPPL. (Of course the reverse could also be true but that isn't the way the rumors were flying.) And think of all the teams shooting Axes & RPS paint. That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the NPPL's future success.
Merger Machinations was also posted in September. In that post I identified some impediments to the merger I believed to be accurate. (And I've had no reason or received any info to suggest otherwise since.) Admittedly there are more current rumors but only the folks in the room discussing the merger know what actually happened and why and I would be very surprised (shocked actually) if the whole process wasn't covered by non-disclosure agreements. [I use them with some regularity and while not foolproof non-disclosures provide some extra legal protections again sensitive or proprietary information being leaked.] That is however just a supposition on my part. That said all the "insider" rumors about the meeting are coming from one side; the NPPL side.
What's perhaps more interesting than speculating about exactly what happened is speculating about what will happen next. Rumorology has suggested (for some time now) that there will be more events next season--rumor says 5 but who knows, is back to the old schedule of 6 events possible? I would guess not but that would only be a guess. Further I would expect the PSP to maintain the status quo when it comes to rules and format and such. After a reputedly successful 2011 (and the general playership aversion to change) a little continuity would likely prove quite popular. (Although a return to the shorter field might be change everyone could appreciate--and would help reverse the more paint, fewer points trend of 2011.) And then there's the sale of Procaps. Richmond has always flagshipped his paint brand with high visibility sponsorships--the current GI Sportz line-up for example--and there's no reason to imagine that will change. The question really is--will DraXXus be retained as a separate brand line (that incidentally ends up competing with GI) or will Procaps be subsumed into GI? And what happens to DraXXus sponsored teams as a result? Does GI spread the wealth and go with the numbers or focus their resources on a few well chosen teams? (Last year, KEE picked up a number of teams on the relative cheap with their Axes & RPS deals because there wasn't any real alternatives available.) Will the Procaps sale force further belt tightening and if it does what will that mean? In the Pro division it will likely mean a number of the NPPL only Pro teams won't have any real option about where they play; it will be NPPL or nothing.
And then there are the players. How many players play for multiple teams? How many teams are made up largely of players who also play elsewhere? Back in the day the NXL attempted to restrict player movement and I can imagine a time, in the not so distant future, when that becomes a more viable policy. When the NXL tried to restrict player movement there was too much money and too many options available to make it stick but that isn't the paintball universe of today.
Recently the league wars have been relatively mild low grade conflicts, schoolyard pissing contests if you will, but if the industry really does pick a side will it signal a heating up of the war? In the aftermath of whatever caused the merger to fail are there hard feelings, bruised egos and bitter recriminations? Frankly that's the stuff of paintball wars past--will it be the basis for a hot war going forward?
So many questions. So much unknown and/or uncertain going forward. At least there will be something to talk about over the winter.
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