VFTD Update

I'm back. For a minute. On the road last week we were without internet access most of the time. (You'll hear about it in an upcoming post.) I'm back but only for a day and a half. Then it's off to HB.
Stuff is piling up and the simple truth is it's probably gonna take a while to catch up. With respect the recent Millennium event I will be inundating y'all with no doubt more knowledge than you'll likely want but that's okay--'cus it's my blog. But in consideration of you're attention deficit disorder I'ma break the reportage down into almost bite-sized chunks. I'm also going to divide the Euro coverage into three categories; TBD's experience, The Event & The State of the Millennium. That decision revolves around a couple of things; one, our experience isn't (wasn't) the sum of the event by any measure and two, there are a number of interesting things to talk about irrespective of the game play. (Hint: we had cameras on 4 of our guns that delivered some interesting footage.) (Hint: I also had an extended conversation with Laurent Hamet.) So expect Millennium stuff here & there for the next couple of weeks.
Regarding am division reports from Galveston there will be one D2 report. It looks like weather, circumstance and perhaps the difficulty of putting it all into words meant VFTD received only the one report. VFTD will continue to make space available and continue to encourage anyone who wishes to submit your views after any major league event you participate in to do so because I'd still like to see the divisional teams get more love. I will post the Galveston D2 report later this week.
In comments I was asked about the stats that came out post Galveston. I haven't had any opportunity to look at them in depth so I can't offer any review or analysis yet--but I will get to it. In general though I remain staunchly in favor of the idea. I'll have a much better idea after Phoenix when I can match stats against a reasonably large sample of matches played and the notes I keep. I can note that the sample posted at ProPaintball--our match versus Vicious is missing at least one bench penalty--which is the sort of thing that potentially skews how one might "read" some of the stat values for individual players, for example.
In looking at the Pro schedule for HB it looked a bit odd at a glance so I charted out the match-ups to see what it would look like across the board. Turns out it is, in fact, based on two brackets of 7 teams. And broken down further pairs from each bracket play the same teams numerically. For example Dynasty as the 1 seed plays the 3, 5, 6 & 7 teams in its bracket. Impact as the top seed in its bracket also plays the 3, 5, 6 & 7 teams. The same pattern follows but the results still seem a bit odd. Take the ranking of each team Dynasty plays and add them together then divide by the number of matches and the result is the average place of Dynasty's opponents. (In this case approx. 10) Given that Dynasty is the overall  top seed their's should be the easiest path to Sunday. Critical, as the new kids and seeded 14th face an average opponent placed 5.75 and everyone else should more or less fit in between those numbers. And they do. Sorta. Except the 5 & 6 pairing and the 9 & 10 pairing. For example, Uprising, ranked 6 has a schedule that matches Critical's at 5.75 while Avalanche ranked 7 is at 8.25 and Mutiny ranked 11 faces an opponents average of 8.
Perhaps of greater interest is exactly how these prelims will lead to Sunday and how many teams will make it through. A review of the new rule book was not helpful. Apparently we'll all find out when it happens.
Hopefully I will be able to post daily HB reports.
Finally big ups to Friends of VFTD Argentine team LOD on their CSP win last weekend. Way to go guys!

MLP Divisional Reporters

A brief word. I've heard from some of you that your reports are in the works. To all of you let me suggest a couple of things. Post event reports begin losing their appeal relatively quickly so the sooner you can get something to VFTD the better. Also, if you are concerned about the quality of your submission--don't sweat it. Facts, details and observations are what's needed, not lasting prose. At this point feel free to spend some more time on your reports as I'm off to France in a day or so but for future reference, sooner is better. I'm looking forward to the reports and to posting them asap. Arizona is already on the horizon ...

PS--just in case the photog flap has you in a tizzy and you're wondering if VFTD plans to co-opt your submissions and leave you bereft--yes, I do. No, not really. VFTD requires only one time publication rights and editorial oversight. All submitted materials remain the copyright property of the authors in the form originally submitted.
Who knew paintball could be so complicated?

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.

VFTD Lite

Lite on posts in March, that is. I want to take this opportunity to warn the regulars awaiting their VFTD fix that you may suffer the occasional withdrawal pang in March. Looking at the calendar it seems I will be home 12 days in March. The rest of the month it's twice to Cali (starting tomorrow for a practice with the Ironmen at Capitol Edge) (& HB at the end of the month), once to Texas and over to France. That's not gonna leave much time for blogging though I should be able to handle the Galveston Divisional stuff--with help from the volunteer correspondents (could use a few more)--and some event comments. We'll see how it goes.
Also wanted to let y'all know that I will be providing Social Paintball with a monthly update on what's happening with Tampa Bay Damage. Since I seldom comment here about the team as a matter of unofficial blog policy I've agreed, with official blessing, to cover the team for Social. I'm going to try and manage a monthly update and include some pics (and/or videos) for Social to use as they see fit. I hope to have a Pre-Season Update to Social in the next few days before Galveston.
Finally a little light housekeeping. VFTD would like to welcome the newest members of the DPA (Deadbox Puppet Army) to the ranks. Greetings and welcome to Nisbah Rupa, Matthew Schultz & Stacy. Thanks!  Your roles in the coming World Domination will be sent covertly using the latest carrier pigeon technology. New identities will be provided along with access to our super-secret YouTube channel of inspirational songs and Do-It-Yourself world conquest video series.

December Will Be Mailbag Month!

December posts will be devoted to Baca's Mailbag. (Unless timely & interesting news demands a comment or two.) All postings in December will be in response to questions, comments, observations, etc. either posted on VFTD's Facebook page or delivered to my own private Tora Bora via the email link on the sidebar. So it's up to you, slackers. If you want some VFTD to occupy you through the dark days of winter you know what you have to do--hope somebody else sends in some stuff.

VFTD Needs You

Not really, I'm just lazy but there is one thing you could do. Next week's Monday Poll is going to ask about your favorite online paintball websites--and not because I'm hoping VFTD will win--I will be leaving VFTD off the list. (Since respondents all visit VFTD at least often enough to respond to the Monday Poll I don't want to queer the result.) (Haha. He typed "queer." Haha.) (Yes I did.) What I don't want to do is leave off any other viable candidates simply because I may be unaware of them. So here's the deal. If there's a website or two (or more) you visit regularly that I don't have on the sidebar somewhere please mention them in comments so I can check them out and add them to the list for next week's Monday Poll. Hard to screw that up so I'm especially looking forward to see how some of you manage it.

Latest Blog Changes

Aight, slackers. I am more or less done fooling around with VFTD. For now. There is now a link to my VFTD Facebook page down on the sidebar by the Twitter link and the Feedburner. While way too many of y'all are plugged into Facebook I know you're all still slackers. So for those of you who can't be bothered to join the Deadbox Puppet Army and haven't yet registered for Facebook if you like VFTD do me a favor and click--one time--might take two seconds (you got two seconds to spare, right? You know you do)--the "like" button on the sidebar right below About. What could it hurt? VFTD will not collect your personal information, sell it to any third party or harass you with spam. Go on, it's safe. Besides, you know you like VFTD. It's a guilty pleasure.

UPDATE: Almost forgot. There's a new picture on the sidebar below Baca's buisness card. In keeping with my ongoing one-sided feud with Catshack Reports I wanted everyone to know that VFTD is not Catshack approved. (It's also a link to the site.) and, yes, it's a silly joke. If you were a regular follower of VFTD on Twitter you would be used to the occasional litter joke--and worse. Paintball needs to be more fun so lighten up.

Ask Baca

No beating around the bush. No clever misdirection or subterfuge. This time. I was reading the Sports Guy yesterday--as I often do--and it struck me, not for the first time, what a sweet gig it is to do columns responding to reader questions, comments, etc. And I want in. Look, I confess--content is hard. Especially when you promise not to do some stuff. For example, there's a burning question I really want to ask about Dynasty and T4 but it could possibly be construed as sorta disrespectful so ... it's a no go.

That means I need your help. I need questions--any old sort of paintball or paintball-related questions you can come up with will be fantastic. And instead of you guys commenting on my posts you can send me your opinions for my comment. What'd'ya think? This could be your big break. It'll be fun. So help a poor tired blogger out, okay? I got a new toy today--a compact camcorder--and you know, could be I'll do some special video features for VFTD--but only if I have the time. Ya feel me?

If I'm back from Chicago it must be Tuesday

First, apologies for the long, empty weekend. The wireless at the Fairfield Inn was mostly connection-less as well. And our scheduled return last night resulted in missed flights due to a combination of bad weather and on field success--so I'm not complaining, just explaining. Over the next couple of days VFTD will be catching up on the regular stuff & I'll do one or two posts on the NPPL Chicago event in combo with Living Legends (of which more than a few were in evidence. Living legends that is.)
Second, I'd like to thank Rodney, the Entourage kids and their entourage for their generosity and kind words last night after the event at the restaurant and hotel. And for keeping some of my boys company while they all took turns making nuisances of themselves and generally having a good time. And here's hoping that little video starring J-Rab finds a spot on the internet.
More soon.

VFTD Needs You

I need your help. Yes, you. (Okay, maybe not you specifically but hear me out.) I'd like to hear from players, captains, owners of teams that have played 2 or more national events in the last two years but have not (yet) played a national event this year. Drop me a line at Baca's email if you would. I'd like to ask you a few questions. I will be posting on the responses but won't post any reply or comment for attribution without prior permission. Who better to help explain the current environment than the people and players who have been there and done that? And if you know somebody who fits the bill but isn't a regular reader please encourage them to participate as well.

Also, took care of a little light housekeeping. There were a few noticeable cobwebs gathering in the corners. I've added a new link to Paintball Sites Around The Web with Infopaintball. Looks like Vince has a bit of all sorts of things going on. I've also dropped a few Paintblogs due to extended periods of inactivity--and I could have cut the numbers further than I did--so if your paintblog is still there but you've been slacking I hope this encourages you to be more active. (Or else.) Besides, I could use the company.

On Negativity

Every so often I'm told how terrific VFTD is but how much better it could be if I could be less negative. Sometimes they leave out the terrific part. While I have no problem at all with reader critiques--in fact I practically used to beg you lazy slackers to post something, anything--I think there's a basic misunderstanding at the root of that particular criticism. Or, you know, I could be wrong. (I say that in order to appear reasonable and even-handed but we both know I'm not. Wrong, that is.)

I will concede one thing: if VFTD was among the leading paintball sites online and lots of everyday paintballers got their info here I'd consider moderating my tone on occasion. However, that isn't VFTD and it's never going to be VFTD. I'm interested in competitive paintball and that's what this blog is about. (Including, occasionally, how industry and the broader paintball landscape impact competitive paintball.) And, as we are regularly reminded tourney ballers are a tiny fraction of all paintballers--ergo VFTD is highly unlikely to be unduly bringing ballers down. (Whoa, buzzkill alert.)

What I won't concede is the commonplace notion I like to call the Theory of Happy Face Paintball. You know, the feeling that if only everyone would be positive and say positive things why, pretty soon, things would turn around and really be positive. Which is fine. And to an extent, a superficial and transitory extent, it might even appear to work but what it really does is offer cover for the weasels, incompetents and the rest who are just plain mistaken. I will concede it doesn't make sense to swamp newbies with the minutiae or politics of the game and it's possible a few have dropped by and been psychologically damaged but hey, that's the internet for you. If you can find VFTD I assume you're capable of being responsible for yourself. (Yeah, that's kinda self-serving but it's not like I spend any time promoting the site.)

The fact is Happy Face Paintball never got anything accomplished. It never got a promoter to at least pretend to act responsibly and consider the players. It never pushed anybody to get serious about officiating or rules. Happy Face Paintball never held anybody accountable or told the average player what's really going on. It never started a dialogue or made anybody think. As one-sided as things may sometimes seem paintball remains in its infancy and there is a real opportunity to be a part of the game's growth and maturation.

Finally, I will confess a certain fondness for sarcasm and ridicule. But I see that as more a matter of humor than negativity. Perhaps negative humor but humor nonetheless. You might disagree. But it can be more than that, too. For example, I mock the MS in part because they've proven to be unresponsive to much of anything else but it's hard to ignore when you are relentlessly made fun of. (Even by a little old blog.) Besides, it's fun. And easy. And there's a nearly endless supply of material.

Not exactly a defense, I know, more of an explanation. And in case you were wondering if this means VFTD will make any effort to mollify the critics or reach out to the mob--that would be y'all--the answer is no. Embrace the negativity. Come over to the darkside.

New to VFTD?

Only recently discovered VFTD? (The statistics generating programs that attempt to track blog traffic all agree that the readership numbers have bumped up a fair bit lately--though they don't agree on the exact numbers.) Just started dropping by? If that's you--or you've been hanging around for a while but still find it all very confusing--check out the sidebar for the basics and a link to a brief overview of what to expect and the blog rules. (For the regulars there's really no new info there but I have changed the content so if you've got nothing better to do--I pity your empty existence--take a look.)

Baca's Biz Card

Looking for a little anarchy? Just for fun (and since paintball gigs aren't what they used to be) I thought I better get Baca's new business card out there. Almost endorsed by Richmond Italia and definitely inspired by him I thought it had a certain ring to it. If nothing else I can probably get a job with Homeland Security.

I've got a completed 'Ask the Coach' I'm trying to get processed but the animation site is currently down. Soon as it's up again the new episode, "Practice," will be ready to post.

If you're tired of waiting for the PSP's latest or word that the stake has finally been driven thru the NPPL's heart (it's a small target) I've also got another new tourney player graphic coming up--hopefully this week--so look for it soon.

Oh yeah--Baca's biz card is on the sidebar below the archives section. Check it out.

This Week at VFTD

Listed below is the likely schedule for this week's posts. Other stuff could come up but at a minimum these posts will be posted sometime on those days--even if I have to back date them--and, yes, I can do that. (I've done it before. It's the blogging equivalent of playing the grey.) (In fact I did it with this post--by about 45 minutes to keep 'The Monday Poll' on the top of the page.)

There is also the regular Monday post over at Baca's Blog on the Big Bullet. This week's post is about the latest batch of lawsuits to hit the industry.
UPDATE: It's been posted (finally) and it's called, 'Looking Down the Barrel.'

Monday– The Monday Poll
Tues– MLP Weekly Update
Wed– Paris field breakouts (or something quite like it)
Thurs– PSP Chicago layout: taking control, an option
Fri– Return of the Pro Loser
Sat & Sun are currently open--and I usually skip posting on Sundays. (To, eh, give y'all a chance to catch up if you missed a day or two. Yeah, that's the ticket.) (It's also so I can do Baca's Blog on Sundays but you already know it doesn't usually work out that way, don't you?)

Paintball Sucks!

Before this goes any further, or anywhere at all really, I'd like to make it clear I don't have an ax to grind on this issue. Or even a paring knife that needs sharpening. And I have every intention of opening myself up to charges of hypocrisy as soon as I get around to it--which could be any day now excepting, of course, that like you, I am a lazy slacker.

Hang on, I've missed something. Oh yeah, it would probably be a good idea if I explained what this issue is, otherwise all my non-ax grinding clarity will go to waste. The cause du jour is the recent practice of paintball companies "sponsoring" media peeps. And if you are inclined to favoring consistency of thought and deed the same concerns apply to virtually all traditional paintball media. (Some relatively recent changes in our internet universe have altered the basic equation a bit--more on that part a little later.)

My issue with this may surprise you. I'm all for anybody involved in paintball coming out ahead on the deal. And I have no problem with PBIndustry making every effort to promote their products within the limitations of the law. (To be totally honest I'm not really all that worked up about the law biz either unless consumers are being blatantly ripped off. Hey, what can I say? I'm a laissez faire kinda guy.) I'm also okay with sponsorship (generally) though we're getting closer to my concern. Part of my concern is some of these media peeps run the serious risk of compromising themselves and/or simply becoming shills for their sponsors when they accept money and/or product with the expectation they will look favorably on the sponsor/advertiser. Now I'm not particularly concerned about any individual media type as I am with the wider potential impact on paintball and the ongoing discourse about paintball. You see, if what passes for paintball media undermines its own integrity in the eyes of its audience everybody loses. The media types lose. The audience loses. Paintball loses and even PBIndustry loses because everything is perceived through the skeptical/cynical lens of how are these guys trying to manipulate me today.

Of course this isn't a new problem. It's mostly more of the same old problem that has afflicted Paintball and others as long as there has been an unequal media/industry relationship. Take for example one of my favorites; car magazines. I've been reading them forever and for as long as I've been reading them there are regular comments to the editor(s) questioning a magazine's integrity with regards to one review or another or their treatment of one brand compared to another and the magazines have been open to that perception because the bulk of their advertising support comes from car makers. Same with paintball and it's a legit concern because it's largely unavoidable. Realistically, the best a news or magazine type format can do is offer their product, acknowledge the issue and leave it to their consumers to decide how honestly they are doing their job. Some consumers don't care. Others aren't perhaps particularly savvy to how some of this stuff works--like kids--and others, like me, tend to survey everything with a jaundiced eye while the truth probably resides somewhere in between. Today, though, things are changing with most of paintball media being virtual mags and online media of all sorts. And I'm specifically pointing out the personality driven paintball media because that is where VFTD lives.

I am convinced that a dynamic and diverse paintball-centric media is a key ingredient to paintball's future success. A suspect media cannot succeed because it can't broker open and honest discourse. Neither can a co-opted media. That is why this issue concerns me. Further it strikes me as dishonest not to address the issue when you--okay, not you, I, fully intend to get mixed up in it. (As I said, I'm not too worked up over what anyone else chooses to do, only what the cumulative impact might be.) At some point in the hopefully not too distant future I will be looking to develop an advertising model to help support this site but at the same time I will not let that alter what is posted here and I don't want it to alter how you perceive what is posted here. At any rate, now you know.

One last thing--If you didn't enjoy Ask the Coach, tough. I laughed myself silly and you can count on seeing more episodes in the future.

The Evolving VFTD

'For the Players By the Players' will be posted later today.

Lately I've been thinking about adding some structure to this site. On the order of stuff like the Tuesday MLP Held Hostage updates. I've decided, with some input from those of you who aren't always lazy slackers, to add one new monthly and one new bi-monthly feature. Anyway, as I'm sure this is both tedious and boring, let me get to the point. Beginning this month I'll start doing 2 How-To's for Race2; one each in week 1 & week 3. Field Design posts will become How To Play a particular field layout and I'll do one of those each month in week 2. (For purposes of identifying the week my week 1 will be the first full 7 day week each month. That will give me more time to fit those posts in and hopefully will be less confusing as the beginning and endings of the months don't coincide with the days of the week. That means we are currently in my week 2 so I'll do the HB layout on Saturday. And next week will have a Race2 How-To.)
The other monthly feature I'm considering is an interview; players, former players, movers, shakers, industry guys, Old Skool, New Skool and most things in between. I've got some ideas but I'm open to suggestions. And if you've got an opinion on the whole interview idea--don't be shy.

Also, a couple of quick notes on VFTD's audience. In my recent look at Google Analytics global breakdown of site visitors--which is very cool--I noticed a new first; visitors from Taiwan. Thanks for dropping by. Otherwise the breakdown has become pretty consistent with the majority of visitors from North America followed by Euroland and Asia has recently supplanted South America.

Finally, I would like to the turn the MLP Held Hostage weekly update into a more global review but in order to do that I need a little help. One level of help would aim me at websites and leagues that merit keeping an eye on or that would provide useful info from those parts of the world where I'm not--pretty much everywhere except the U.S.--and another level of help would be dropping me a line from time to time and filling me in on the goings on in your part of the paintball universe. So how bout the latest news from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, Europe--anywhere and everywhere serious competitive paintball is being played.