Some Days

This is gonna have to be short-and maybe bittersweet. It's easy from the outside looking in to romanticize the pro paintball player (and teams.) In the sense that those are the guys who get the majority of the attention and have the highest profile in the sport it's true. But if HK has taught the army of agglets anything it's that the paintball lifestyle is accessible to anyone who embraces it. And some days the pro paintball grind is just that, a grind. The team is in Sacramento for the weekend practicing the Ironmen. For most of us Friday began in the middle of the night Thursday. Our flight out of Tampa scheduled to depart at 6:30 am. Some guys stayed up all night. Some of us got a few hours sleep; 3 or 4 was the norm. Early morning is one of the two busiest times of day at Tampa's airport. I was the last one into and out of security arriving at the gate with 15 or 20 minutes to spare. It was 2 hours on a full flight to Houston followed by a ninety minute layover. Then 4 hours to Sacramento. Collect the rental cars after picking up our bags; hotel to check in, Subway for lunch and to the field. Capiltol Edge to practice the Ironmen for the rest of the day. Only to discover delivery of our paint was delayed by a snowstorm to the north. Arrange to make enough paint for Friday appear anyway. At which point it's been a fifteen hour day already. Except J-Rab missed his connecting flight when his flight out of D.C. was delayed with icy wings. For him the majority of the day was spent in airports waiting. He arrived Friday night around 8:30 pm. Some days. Saturday is the all day grind and Sunday it will be get in one last morning of practice prior to Galveston leaving the field around 1 pm. In order to get everyone home in time for work Monday morning our return flights have 2 or 3 scheduled stops and we'll hit the tarmac in Tampa just before 7 am. Assuming everything goes as planned.