NPPL Chitown Webcast?

Lost to the Blogger hiccup were some of the comments to the Burning Question below. A couple of which were very interesting because they appeared to be predicated on information similar to the drips and drabs passed along to me.
What we know--the NPPL, less than a week away from the event, has made no formal announcement about any sort of webcast. One commenter claimed there would be a webcast. Another claimed that the numbers from the HB broadcast weren't sufficient to entice ESPN3 to pay for future broadcasts out of their pockets. Which is an interesting way of framing a response. It implies ESPN3 made a decision not to move forward. It also (kinda) implies the HB viewer numbers didn't reach their targets. It also avoids being an outright falsehood--at least given what I think I know--which suggests to me the commenter knew what he was talking about.
Here's where it gets tricky. This story is a big deal for competitive paintball and could have greater implications for the league as well--but at the same time the league wants to keep what it considers its business private until it has something to promote in a press release. Yet here we are less than a week away from the Chicago event and there has been no news about anything. Given that the NPPL and its member teams, along with numerous other paintball websites, made a very public and concerted push to get the paintball community to sigh up and watch the HB live broadcast on ESPN3 it seems to me they owe that same community some sort of response as to what happened. Or that some of you people (yes, you) would show some interest and start demanding some answers.

I am not--at this time--gonna tell you what I've been told about all this because I don't have permission to use the info for a VFTD post or postings. (If I get it, I will.) But here are a couple of questions worth asking, and re-asking. If there is a Chicago webcast will it be affiliated with any outside of paintball broadcaster or media company? If not, does that mean the latest attempt to gain the interest of a company like ESPN--not to say ESPN itself--has failed? Is there any truth to the rumors the viewer numbers exceeded the target numbers?

Baca's Mailbag: The HB Commercials

Dear Baca

I loved the Huntington Beach broadcast on ESPN3, especially on Friday, but ... with all the time in between games it wasn't long before I was alternating between wanting to kill everyone and anyone involved in making those weak ass paintball commercials we saw over and over and over again and wondering if the ceiling fan was sturdy enough to support my body weight if I hung myself. In retrospect it sounds extreme, I know, but I'm already worried about what might happen if I watch a Chitown broadcast. I want to support paintball. What should I do?

signed,

Off my meds

Dear Off

I am not a doctor and I haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately but I feel confident in suggesting you reconsider getting back on your meds. If they are anything like mine I sympathise with your predicament but you get used to that fuzzy-headed disorienting sensation in time. I chase mine with a couple of beers and pretend it's the 80s again.

If that's a non-starter for you let me recommend you prepare your home in advance for next time. (It goes without saying that we will support any paintball broadcasts ...) Remove all the sharp objects, rope, weapons & give your car keys to a trusted friend or family member for the duration. That should minimize the potential harm you might do to others or yourself.

It might also help if you keep in mind how annoying and moronic real commercials frequently are and try to cut the paintball kids some slack. They are making an effort to contribute to a better paintball future--even if repeated exposure to their commercials makes you suicidal.

PS--If some of you are wondering if I know something you don't because I mention a hypothetical Chicago broadcast--the answer is yes, I know some things you don't but not about any future NPPL broadcasts.

Big Brother: NPPL Division

The NPPL giveth and the NPPL taketh away. Or, in my case, they tooketh but are now giveth-ing back. (That was awkward.) Rumor reached the paintball public yesterday regarding plans for a monitoring chip the NPPL wants to put in everybody's marker--but just the Pros for now--5 days before the first event of the season. Oh, and the prelim schedule is now posted as well. Here's how my current arrangement with the league works: In exchange for nobody telling me much of anything I agree not to discuss league matters until they are made public through another source. Seems more than fair to me. About the chip--it's the real deal and a few pro teams have tested them (or something very similar) in match conditions over the last few months. We had them (or something very similar) in a test sample of our guns briefly last season. And there was some effort made at Galveston to have the chips installed in Pro team guns. [We had tentatively agreed but our Friday schedule didn't allow for the time as it turned out. I don't know how many teams had them installed in Galveston either. And I am hedging my assumption it's the same chip because, while it seems to be performing identical functions, it appears the two leagues are interested in it for different reasons. It is the same manufacturer in both cases however.]

UPDATE: Virtue sent the ProPaintball kids an email claiming Damage had chips in some guns in Galveston. Since they say we did I don't doubt it's true. My comments above were based on what I thought I knew--and it wasn't something I followed closely once I was comfortable that it wouldn't affect our guns.

Every indication I have seen suggests they work as advertised though I don't think we had them in long enough to judge potential impact on battery life. Even so, as a practical matter it seems to me any concerns of that sort are probably over-stated.

That said (typed) (keyed) (whatever) I do have some concerns. The timing is poor to say the least and if I were on a team that had no prior experience with the chips I would flat out refuse to accept them at this late date. I might be otherwise convinced if the purpose was purely testing at HB and I had the option to opt out if it appeared there was any loss of marker performance. But that's just me. Beyond that we have no idea how the ROF will be enforced. Let's agree the chip accurately monitors the firing of each and every paintball. So what? There is a 15 bps cap on a gun shooting in a semi-auto mode. [In the PSP with ramping guns enforcement measures the time gap between shots. A dirty little secret is most ROF violations are both unintentional and outside the player's control.] It seems to me semi-auto mode assures inconsistent gap times between shots while the cap theoretically will limit a marker to 15 bps regardless of how fast the trigger is being pulled. So my question is what constitutes a ROF violation? How does the chip monitor for that? And how does that data result in pulling the appropriate penalty? Finally there's the question of the collected data. The idea is that accumulated data has potential value. If so, who is collecting it and how does the league assure it won't fall into the wrong hands? Or is it the league's intention to make all the data available to anyone who wants it?

And what about the schedule? Yeah, buddy. At HB the league is not only beginning the 2011 season it is undergoing a critical test with a live streaming webcast on ESPN3 and chooses to go with a new format in which up to one third of all the scheduled games may not be played. Looking at the schedule there is already extra time plugged into it--I'm assuming for some extra TV type stuff like interviews and player info--but still, if those third (and deciding) games aren't routinely happening I can foresee a lot of empty air time. Fingers crossed.

The Lazy Slacker Re-post of the Week

It's not that I don't have items to post. I do. But the fact is I'm busy. Yes, I do in fact have a life. I know that may come as a surprise. Regardless, it's true so I'ma dump a re-post on you today and hope to get to more new content before too long. Besides, given the latest TV talk once again on the horizon today's re-post may be more timely than ever before. (If you want to check out the original comments the link to the Feb 2010 post is in the post title.)

THE GREAT DIVIDE
First appeared the moment–yes, the very moment–someone saw competitive paintball as sport and sport leading to money. That moment may not have arrived for everyone at precisely the same time but close enough for horse shoes and hand grenades. The initial efforts to position themselves to take advantage were the NXL and The 18. The NXL began as 10 franchise teams that owned equal shares of their league. The 18 was NPPL 1.0's response; the league restricted access to the pro division and structured the upper divisions to function kinda like UK soccer leagues with promotion and relegation. In both cases it was leagues and teams preparing for the next step in competitive paintball’s development; quasi-mainstream sports acceptance and outside granola. While we know how that’s worked out so far the great divide is something that isn’t often discussed though it still exists, and if we’re lucky, will one day be a real problem.
The NXL was modeled on mainline American sports; the 18 on European club sports. If the NXL had succeeded there would have been a single entity with multiple partners and a well worn path for growth and development, cooperation and profit sharing already built in. If the 18 had succeeded things likely wouldn’t have been as smooth and this is where the great divide comes in. NPPL 1.0 held all the cards, controlled promotion and relegation and but only offered a promise of trickle down success–if the league scores the TV prize "we" all win. Well, yes and no. The league certainly would have been a winner but no matter how you slice it the structure pitted the pro teams against the league in the effort to gain sponsors. And still does. It is the state that exists today and has existed since the league(s) went from sanctioning body to event promoter(s). And that conflict is the great divide. Ignored when times were flush, ignored when TV was right around the next corner and ignored until it was too late when the sponsor dollars stopped raining like pennies from heaven.
Today’s landscape is a little different, in some ways the roles are reversed. A different league has an ownership group made up of teams while the other has no answer for what comes with success–but it isn’t yet a meaningful great divide. NPPL 3.0 could be poised on the brink of success but it will only come from outside sponsors–but never did when there was more hoopla, more teams and more money committed to making it happen. Realistically all the teams’ own is the dream and the debts they are collecting operating a league on an outmoded model that features a dying format. But such is the potential power of the great divide. Some portion of the team owners want control, some want a sense of self-determination but all of them want a piece of the pie should a pie fall off the baker’s truck as it drives by. Regardless of the league all the pro teams have paid a price, some more than others, some for longer than others, and they don’t want to see their effort and contribution come to nothing. And should success in outside sponsors or TV or a billionaire philanthropist ever show up they feel like they’ve earned a share and that without them ultimate success is impossible. (If sporting success comes to any major league it will almost certainly benefit all eventually–but that’s another post.)
One can debate the relative merits but it’s almost irrelevant. The great divide isn’t going anywhere and should success come it could easily tear elite competitive paintball apart. (Not that we’re in danger of that particular fate at the moment.) Or, you know, it might be worth a minute or two to consider what sort of response would be reasonable and practical in the eventuality. Of course just because it’s not operating today the old NXL franchises still exist and who knows ... Or if worst came to worst others have managed with a players union. I’m just saying. It’s not a problem today but what if--

Btw, if you're a glutton for punishment or interested in some related paintball history there's a few pieces in the Dead Tree Archive that might interest you. Take a look at 'The Pro Dilemma' or 'New Pro Paradigm.' Or for specific on the leagues as they were, try 'The 18' and 'Living the Dream.'

Watching so you don't have to

I'm talking about the broadcast today (in some areas around the country) of the 2010 NCPA A Championship featuring Drexel vs. Long Beach State. You got the email, right? Did you DVR it? Are you curious? Do you feel like you sorta have to watch in order to be supportive of paintball? I feel your pain. Take a deep breath and relax. I watched it so you don't have to.

Here's the thing. It wasn't horrible. It even had some good qualities. It integrated some paintball education in bite-sized, easy to swallow nuggets. It provided enough basic information without being deadly boring to give non-ballers a framework for watching. It had big name stars like Matty (the voice of paintball) Marshall, Ollie, Pony and Florida's own Rocky Cagnoni behind the microphone(s) and in front of the cameras. It even had Patrick "Monkey with a Gun" Sporher doing his best to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. (The production didn't have the resources the PSP used to make the hopefully-only-on-hiatus webcast.) The problem wasn't the production values (slim as they were), it wasn't the talent, it wasn't lack of expertise, it wasn't a failure to put the pieces together. Good, smart, creative people did their best with the available resources. The problem was it was a paintball show and despite the best efforts of all those creative people presentations of tourney ball have yet to capture the intensity, grit & action of the game. The fundamental weakness remains the struggle to put the play of the game into a suspenseful and recognizable narrative that tells the story of a match, point by point. Even so, if you're a fan of past paintball programming this will not disappoint. It just doesn't advance the ball any (not that it was supposed to.)
Here's a suggestion for next time. One I don't think will add great expense but might help improve the game vibe. The sounds of the game. Loud. Let's hear some blazin' guns. Players screaming info across the field. Refs shouting for eliminated players to leave the field. Coaches on the sideline. I know, it's there now but it's mostly background noise. Not a part of the play of the gun.

End result: the show is a worthwhile primer of tourney ball for those already interested but inexperienced--and even then, the sooner they get on a field and play the game the better. Oh, and congrats to Drexel. NCPA A division champs for 2010. And runners-up Long Beach State who did it the hard way.

Making the Team

Before I get started on this post topic I want to address posts that haven't yet appeared. (Are you still with me? I didn't think so.) There will be 5 posts coming in the next couple of weeks on the topic of paintball media. (The first was coming today until I decided to do this one at the last minute.) There will also be at least two posts on the PSTA. (I didn't pursue the phone interviews I need to do because of Extravaganza going on this week.) There will also be an xball How-To coming up as I haven't done any nuts & bolts stuff in a while. So there you go. [Btw, the way this works is now that I've told you what to expect--some of which you were already waiting on--it buys me a little more time to procrastinate. Because I am--a lazy slacker.]

In yesterday's spur of the moment post about rugby on Spike TV--rugby for crying out loud--the comments reminded me of my favorite idea for promoting competitive paintball on TV. An idea I originally pitched 3 or 4 years ago in the pages of PGi magazine. An idea I unashamedly stole and modified for paintball because it's already been done and it works.

The concept is simple: making the team. The show opens by briefly setting the stage; tryouts for a brand new D1 team are about to begin. A short action montage with voice over puts the tryouts in context. First couple of shows introduce characters who may or may not make the team and in the process of the tryouts you also introduce the fundamentals of the game. Later, after some number of players have been chosen--a number that needs to be whittled down to a final roster--that process begins to reveal how the game is played--even though the focus remains on the players. The larger idea is that putting names and faces and personalities on the game is the best way to draw in ballers & non-ballers alike. They don't have to play, they just have to have a rudimentary understanding of the game and get caught up in rooting for their favorites to succeed. Once the final team is formed you move on to the actual events and throughout the process one step leads to the next progressively and naturally. Having worked so hard and beat out the other potential players the drama is now in the team's success or failure on the field of competition and all the action in the pits and the scene surrounding every event. And you began with D1 because it's more accessible to the average player and it offers the option of continuing with the team for additional seasons either as they struggle to make the grade or take on new challenges in the semi-pro and/or pro divisions.

It's practically perfect. The show format personalizes the competition, educates in a non-pedantic way and makes competitive paintball accessible and the potential drama visceral. And, best of all perhaps, there's no reason you couldn't do a variation of the same thing with a scenario team.

Live from Disney's Wide World of Sports

Or a patch of netted, battered grass beside the immense parking lot--It's ... PSP TV! On the web and in your heart. I'm rather surprised this hasn't gotten more attention but I'm sure somebody has released a shiny new something so I guess I'm not really surprised after all. And people wonder if hypnosis is real.
Course, most folks are probably imagining this is just the PSP covering territory already covered by the NPPL and why wouldn't they? PSP hasn't made it clear that it is in the process of attempting a grander vision that doesn't stop when the last bonusball (or ten) explodes on the back of some unlucky head. Then again it may be wise to not raise too many expectations when they haven't done this before. And, whatever you do, don't infer anything from what I'm saying here. I know a bit of this and bit of that but exactly how this will roll out and how quickly and effectively it all ramps up even I wouldn't hazard to guess.
Let me say this--be cautiously excited. It has the potential to be an important step forward.

Channeling Sam

I've been concerned about the NPPL. For real. And now there's the whole hurricane thing thumping Houston and damaging the stadium. Thank God the parking lot is okay so far as we know.
My concern began before the current regime. It began when registrations event-to-event, year-to-year started to slip. But then Pacific Paintball stepped up and took over and everyone felt sure a corner had been turned. Pacific was backed by a large forward thinking advertising company and the word was they had a plan. A plan only a chosen few were privy to (I sure as hell wasn't included and no reason I should have been) but even so everybody said these were the guys to save paintball. With their secret plan.
So what did they do?
Took all the goodwill of positive press and being the new guys and did the same damn things that contributed to sinking the old guys; change nothing but hype it like crazy--aw--awwwwwh, turned a blind eye to (obviously) poor reffing--Awwwwwwhhhh, while insisting they do so have effective gun rules--AWWWWWHHHHHHHHH!
Find themselves hemorrhaging divisional teams and offer discounted Pro Division entries.
But they --aw--awwwwwh--Awwwwwwhhhh--AWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHH!--have a secret plan!
See the 7-man format struggling and decide the way forward is to directly compete against themselves with the XPSL.
But they--aww--awwwwwh--AWwwwwhhhh--AWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHH!--have a secret plan!
Buy a magazine to promote their vision when virtually every dead tree print publication in existence is concerned about its survival.
But they--awww--awwwwwhh--AWwwwwhhhh--AWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHH!--have a secret PLAN!
Focus on another paintball TV show (they insist the network is paying to produce) that to every appearance hasn't made one iota of difference!
But they--awww--AWwwwwhhh--AWWWWWWHHHH--AWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHH!--HAVE A SECRET PLAN! AND THEY ARE MARKETING GENIUSES!

Aw, I feel much better.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sam Kinison check out the link. Rated:R
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P1QtBmPHGw

Extremely Paintball: Beyond Something or Other--the NPPL on FSN

That's pretty close, right? Truth is I couldn't remember exactly and I'm too lazy and impatient to wait for a couple of mouse clicks to get it right. Anyway, odds are you know what I'm talking about.
Anybody who has aspirations and hopes for the future of paintball as sport has to be glad paintball, of any sort, is on TV. And FSN isn't chopped liver. The larger focus this season on personalities is also, without doubt, a wedge to making paintball more accessible and potentially interesting to a wider audience. And, of course, the paintball being featured is the sort of paintball we prefer. It's all good, thank you NPPL and I wish there was more of it.
But...
Unfortunately there is a difference between intention and execution. Paintball on TV has a brief (disappointing) history of the best of intentions and every effort to get it right and yet--
end of the day not so much.
For this particular excursion into alienating my peers and betters I'm gonna focus on 4 specific characteristics of the current TV show.
Let's begin with the featured personalities. Great concept. The problems begin with the time alotted to the featured player. It's too short, it's too scripted and too constrained. As engaging and entertaining as Markus is asking the guys twenty questions and editing down an up close and personal look at the players mostly doesn't work. It's strained and in some cases it's painfully obvious certain players weren't chosen because they were expected to be good on camera.
Each episode has approximately 22 minutes to communicate what it wants to communicate. This season's shows are trying to show tourney action, explain the game, introduce some of the personalities of paintball, promote the events, mention the sponsors, offer some of the flavor and pageantry of the NPPL and package it all as the Next Big Thing. It turns out to be both too much and too little in the effort to try and cram everything paintball into each show.
Alas, as is now the norm the games themselves are reduced to incomprehensible snippets and cuts of paintball action stitched together, Frankenstein style, with voice over narration. Even when you know what you're looking at it's not particularly engaging. Hey, I'm sorry but it just isn't. I wish it was. This isn't a new problem, it's the original problem of filming and televising paintball and no new ground is being broken here.
Lastly, there is the esoteric and difficult to quantify Coolness Factor. Or, uh, actually the lack thereof. The show tries to be all things Paintball and it wants the presentation to be attractive, appealing, hip and cool. And that's just it. In trying to be hip and cool it's almost impossible to be hip and cool. (I will gladly admit this one is purely subjective but c'mon.)
Or, you know, it could be that paintball just isn't cool.

There you have it. If your first reaction is that old stand-bye "Why don't you go do it yourself if'n you're so smart" then you don't have a solid grasp on what smart means. If I were inclined to throwing good money after bad you'd sooner find me burning through fast women and faster cars.
On second thought maybe I'm being too hard on the NPPL/FSN crew. Maybe I'm just disillusioned by past efforts that for whatever reasons failed to fulfill the dream. Maybe I'm not seeing it because I don't believe anymore. But then I think to myself you can't manufacture excitement and sport on pure unadulterated hype--well, except for that whole X Games business.