Over on the main page of the MS website the announcement of the venue for the first event of 2012 reads: "We are pleased to announce that our 2012 opening event will be held on the French Riviera at “Parc Saint James Oasis Village”, Puget-Sur-Argens." (If you want to see what it's like the title is a link to the venue's website--and a bit of exploring--at the website--will give you a sense of what else is in the general area--but not the amount of traffic to be overcome to visit various sights.)
All in all it looks pretty fantastic and if the Millennium can manage to put the fields on some nice level grassy ground it looks like a winner. Since it will be at least an hour's drive from Houston to Galveston if I have to drive--and I do--I know which destination I would prefer even though I'm not a big fan of Provencal cooking or wines.
VFTD would like to hear from the Eurokids; what do you think of the venue? More trouble than its worth? Too pricey? Or a nice mix of paintball with an appealing destination?
Showing posts with label venues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venues. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Back to the Badlandz
A PSP press release yesterday announced that the Chicago 2010 event would be a blast back to the past, to be held at the Badlandz, OG home of the original Chicagoland tournaments. Drawing on tournament history and tradition it was one part nostalgia and two parts challenge. A reminder of past glory and a gauntlet thrown down for the younger set to prove they have the kind of heart today that the Old Skoolers had in their time. All in all a couple of steps up from the usual blather. Not that this isn't blather too but it is a better quality blather than the norm. And it probably would have worked pretty well any other time. (Heck, it may still work pretty well but there are a couple of things working against it, too.)
For those paying attention it ain't news that until yesterday there had not been an announced venue for the Chicago event. For those paying less attention the PSP has held the popular event next to a water park in Bolingbrook Il for the past few years and a return to a rural paintball field sounds like a step backwards. The real news is Bolingbrook was almost certainly not going to be the venue this year due to rising rental fees and the league was reviewing other possibilities. And personally I am inclined to think (based on zero official information) that the Badlandz is a conservative fallback option predicated largely on the significant decline in numbers seen in Phoenix. If Chicago numbers rebound the Badlandz can handle it (for the most part) and if they continue to be soft the Badlandz won't be an economic albatross around the league's throat. It is a prudent if not ideal choice.
Besides the obvious comparison players will make between the expected venue and the one they's gonna get there's also the unfortunate timing--of the NPPL 3.0's return to Chicago--prior to the PSP. The NPPL Chicago event is scheduled to be held at a paintball venue too; CPX Paintball Park in conjunction with the high profile Big Game, Living Legends, over the Memorial Day weekend. The PSP event will held end of June (as usual) and in conjunction with a UWL event. This means potential participants have two Chicago events within a month of each other to consider attending and it seems to me it's an open question as to the appeal of the two choices. Will NPPL 3.0 draw off local one time 5-man teams? Will a comparison of the venues sway undecideds? Time will tell.
For those paying attention it ain't news that until yesterday there had not been an announced venue for the Chicago event. For those paying less attention the PSP has held the popular event next to a water park in Bolingbrook Il for the past few years and a return to a rural paintball field sounds like a step backwards. The real news is Bolingbrook was almost certainly not going to be the venue this year due to rising rental fees and the league was reviewing other possibilities. And personally I am inclined to think (based on zero official information) that the Badlandz is a conservative fallback option predicated largely on the significant decline in numbers seen in Phoenix. If Chicago numbers rebound the Badlandz can handle it (for the most part) and if they continue to be soft the Badlandz won't be an economic albatross around the league's throat. It is a prudent if not ideal choice.
Besides the obvious comparison players will make between the expected venue and the one they's gonna get there's also the unfortunate timing--of the NPPL 3.0's return to Chicago--prior to the PSP. The NPPL Chicago event is scheduled to be held at a paintball venue too; CPX Paintball Park in conjunction with the high profile Big Game, Living Legends, over the Memorial Day weekend. The PSP event will held end of June (as usual) and in conjunction with a UWL event. This means potential participants have two Chicago events within a month of each other to consider attending and it seems to me it's an open question as to the appeal of the two choices. Will NPPL 3.0 draw off local one time 5-man teams? Will a comparison of the venues sway undecideds? Time will tell.
Friday, July 24, 2009
It's Official
I'm a hypocrite. For years I've been saying venues don't matter, competitive paintball matters. And I still believe that but--but-- SC Village may be a famous paintball site. (It is.) It may have hosted historic events (it has) but seriously, the place is a godforsaken dump in the middle of freaking nowhere. It's piles of dirt on top of more dirt and the parking lot may have been an open pit mine at one time.
Like it or not the venue matters in a couple of ways. There aren't too many 4 star restaurants at truck stops. And I'm now unsure whether or not there can really be a major league event at a place like SC Village--which is otherwise a perfectly acceptable rec field--except, again, for being out in the middle of freaking nowhere. Did I mention it was out in the middle of freaking nowhere?
Granted I'm used to lots of green grass and big leafy trees but that really isn't the problem. Back when NPPL v.2 was touring NFL parking lots I didn't think that was a good idea either. So obviously I'm just impossible to please. The thing with the stadiums was they were supposed to attract spectators and supply competitive paintball with some cache. (There should be an accent over the e but I don't know how to do that in Blogger.) What it did was cost too much and distract from more important concerns--at least from my point of view. It wasn't that they were bad venues--sometimes they were very cool venues--but if the venue was a higher priority than say, the officiating, that's a problem.
So maybe the thing about a venue is that it does have a place in the overall scheme of things competitive paintball related. And maybe after every place paintball has been in the last decade an SC Village simply doesn't cut it anymore. Or maybe it does and I'm just being difficult. At the same time from what I've seen of the location for the DC Challenge it looks pretty damn good.
What's the answer? I'm not sure. Maybe this ought'a be the next Monday Poll. If venue matters, how much? Does a major league event have to have a major league venue? And just what qualifies as a major league venue?
Is the PSP's MAO a major league venue? Or the Phoenix Open on the soccer fields outside the Arizona Cardinals' stadium?
Like it or not the venue matters in a couple of ways. There aren't too many 4 star restaurants at truck stops. And I'm now unsure whether or not there can really be a major league event at a place like SC Village--which is otherwise a perfectly acceptable rec field--except, again, for being out in the middle of freaking nowhere. Did I mention it was out in the middle of freaking nowhere?
Granted I'm used to lots of green grass and big leafy trees but that really isn't the problem. Back when NPPL v.2 was touring NFL parking lots I didn't think that was a good idea either. So obviously I'm just impossible to please. The thing with the stadiums was they were supposed to attract spectators and supply competitive paintball with some cache. (There should be an accent over the e but I don't know how to do that in Blogger.) What it did was cost too much and distract from more important concerns--at least from my point of view. It wasn't that they were bad venues--sometimes they were very cool venues--but if the venue was a higher priority than say, the officiating, that's a problem.
So maybe the thing about a venue is that it does have a place in the overall scheme of things competitive paintball related. And maybe after every place paintball has been in the last decade an SC Village simply doesn't cut it anymore. Or maybe it does and I'm just being difficult. At the same time from what I've seen of the location for the DC Challenge it looks pretty damn good.
What's the answer? I'm not sure. Maybe this ought'a be the next Monday Poll. If venue matters, how much? Does a major league event have to have a major league venue? And just what qualifies as a major league venue?
Is the PSP's MAO a major league venue? Or the Phoenix Open on the soccer fields outside the Arizona Cardinals' stadium?
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