Magic 8 Ball Says

Expect the PSP Chicago layout to bear a remarkable resemblance to the MS London Masters layout.

Banning of HD 2

VFTD has received further communications from Ulrich S. of the MS that clarifies the league's view and offers a justification for their actions after the fact. He reiterated, "Whatever a participant might think, what another participant (player, official, media, vendor, spectator) has said or has not said, will never justify such a deliberate attack. The MS Board will take measures, such malicious assaults will not be repeated by the same persons again."  VFTD certainly doesn't have any issues with that and I can't imagine that anybody else does either, but--I continue to question the way it was done. Mr. Stahr continues to insist that there is a distinction between physical contact and physical assault in justifying the banning. If we were simply going by word definitions he would be correct. However, the MS's guide is their rule book, like it or not, and their written definition of 'physical contact' covers this incident.
I could nitpick the rules issues to death but I am confident that it has reasonably been established that the Board's actions were outside the written leagues rules--and that most paintballers aren't all that concerned about it. So why the immediate action? After all, by rule HD was both ejected from Bitburg and suspended for London. That left plenty of time to take a measured by rule approach if the MS decided further actions were necessary. Or for the appropriate commission of the EPBF to meet and respond.
The precipitating events continue to be disputed. Mr. Stahr insists the referee in question did not lie or misrepresent his or HD's action in pulling HD's card. There is also some question as to just when Mr. Stahr appeared on site. (I am trying to confirm these details simply to establish an accurate record.) While those events do not alter or excuse HD's actions they do potentially reflect on the league's willingness to acknowledge some responsibility and more importantly, act to make productive change.

International tournament paintball as exemplified by the MS and the EPBF are attempting to establish recognized institutions aimed at legitimizing paintball as sport to the international sports community. The foundation of this effort is the rules; rules that define the game played and rules that define the institutions themselves. In VFTD's view this is why the league's failure to act within their established rules matters. Hopefully one upshot of this incident is a renewed dedication by the league to actually be what they claim to aspire to.

On the unrelated issue of the incident involving my players I am informed that at least one ref has been identified and the MS is "interrogating" him. Time will tell what if anything comes of this. At a minimum the known ref was plainly intoxicated and that alone is a violation of the standards of conduct taught, according to Mr. Stahr, "in each Euroref Basic Ref Training Course."  It remains unclear whether any penalties enforce the standards of conduct. And while Mr. Stahr says the standards of conduct aren't secret they also aren't published anywhere or commonly known to the average participant. Perhaps now would be a good time to remedy that.

Bitburg Update

I have reviewed all the video I have and unfortunately none of it has what I was looking for. It was shot from outside the net on the spectator's side and while of decent quality it doesn't have sufficient detail to highlight any potential problems. It also only covers one not two of our prelim matches. (When I mentioned it the first time I thought I'd be getting 2of 3 matches.) Additionally the videographer somehow chose to film the other team half the time cutting the amount of potentially useful material in half--again. The match in question however is the one where two refs high fived one another after calling a major on us--but apparently that happened during one of the points when the other guys were being filmed. (I know, pics or shens.)
Should anyone else have raw footage they'd be willing to share I'd love to see it.
VFTD is still waiting for a follow-up response from Ulrich S. of the MS. In the meantime I have gathered some more information, from both public and private sources, related to the incident in question. A couple of interesting side notes; both Ulrich and Jabba, the field ultimate, were (apparently) present and part of the dialogue that led to the punches being thrown. And the ref who was punched was seen later that evening hanging out with a group of his fellow countrymen (and women) in front of the hotel seemingly no worse for wear. The former suggests that MS reps know exactly what was said and what wasn't and the latter suggests that perhaps the damage done has been overblown in some quarters. (No, that doesn't alter the fact the punches were thrown in the first place.)
I have also passed on information regarding the behavior of at least one CPL ref as it relates to a contact with some of my players initiated by the ref and others with him off the field during the event. The one individual should be very easy to identify. It will be interesting to see what the MS does, if anything. More as it comes in. And if I do not hear from Ulrich or another rep of the MS in the next couple of days I will assume they no longer have an interest in sort of dialogue.
[Should they be concerned about fair treatment--and considering how they've treated me so far I'd be worried--they should look at the interview conducted by VFTD of Mr. Steve Baldwin a couple of years ago. It was scrupulously fair and gave Mr. Baldwin (an MS board member who had threatened VFTD with legal action) final review over what was published in the blog and even privately recommended he consider amending some of his remarks so as to put him in a better light. Whatever our disagreements VFTD has a record of fairness.]

The Banning of H.D.

At the recent Millennium Series Bitburg event a long time pro player, H.D., was involved in an altercation with a ref that resulted in H.D. punching the ref. Bits and pieces of the details can be found at PBN. While I am aware the name of the individual has been made public I'll be sticking with his initials. The point is that from my perspective the who isn't important. I have no intention of arguing the specific details or the merits of the ban given what transpired. My interest is twofold; documented rules that make enforcement transparent and consistent and a curiosity regarding league standards of conduct with respect to their representatives.
Okay, here's where it gets really tedious. Yep, we're delving into what passes for the MS rules. Sorry but it's necessary. All I can find is the rule book (2006) plus changes that are available on the MS website. In conjunction with those the MS also lists player suspensions for the current season. None of the changes listed includes any relevant to this situation documentation. Consequently I am relying on the only documentation I could find.
Throughout the rule book the phrase that is used for this situation is physical contact. See Penalties and Additional Penalties. Under section 39 [Suspensions, Ejections, DQs & Fines] it goes so far as to identify "intentional physical contact that could be construed to be assault & battery" in subsection 39.04 which results in an immediate ejection from the event and a one event suspension. The only place the language changes is in section 40 [Decorum] subsection 40.02 that stipulates up to a one year suspension can be handed out for a physical altercation. Those are the two areas that speak most directly to the H.D. situation. Within the commonly available rule book there is no banning penalty option--of any duration--unless you use ban for suspension interchangeably. Nor even a multiple event suspension option as 39.06 makes clear that continuing unsportsmanlike conduct after an ejection and/or suspension is to be handled with a fine. The only possibility of multi-event suspensions within the rules is covered in 39.05 that stipulates that should a player be suspended a second time in the same season [player] "will be banned for at least one more event." This could be interpreted as opening the door to multi-event suspensions but only under the very specific circumstances of a second suspension within the same year.
EDIT ADDED: Round 1 of contact with Mr. Ulrich Staehr of the MS is concluded. I neglected to ask permission to duplicate or paraphrase his responses on the blog so that portion will have to wait. With respect to multi-event suspensions the MS cites rule 39.04 as justification. In re-reading the sections highlighted by Ulrich it appears the league can reasonably make that case if one of the two events is currently being played at the time of the ejection and suspension. There is much more coming thanks to Ulrich's willingness to engage on this subject.
Btw, having found no supporting rules in any available variant of the MS rules I checked to see if the MS was subject--as a member of the EPBF--to any written EPBF rules governing the subject at hand. Turns out there aren't. Any such rules. (For your own look see go here.) As the EPBF appears to be intended to have direct oversight of Eurorefs I took a look there too for any applicable information or guidelines. That portion of the EPBF is to date incomplete. (See here.) And since the EPBF is (at some future date intended to operate) under the auspices of the UPBF as the world governing body I even took a look there. Sorta. Turns out I could have upbf.com from GoDaddy today. (I passed.) The best information I could find on the UPBF is here. Bottom line, from all sources available it appears the decision of an 8 year ban is outside the parameters of the league's own rules. You may argue so were the actions involved. I would disagree given the language in some of the rules provisions. Regardless the point that remains is if the league can mete out arbitrary penalties to H.D. they can do the same at anytime to anyone else too. And that should be recognized as everyone's problem--and one that needs to be dealt with before a similar situation occurs.
If you don't think the issue is one that should concern you take a look at this page on the MS website. It's the current suspensions list for 2012. You will note that to date this year 3 players besides H.D. have received multi-event suspensions--contrary to the written rules.
EDIT ADDED: As noted above I rescind my claim that the MS has no basis for a two event suspension under the conditions that one of the two events is currently being played.
Now about that other business. Does the league hold its refs and other reps to any kind of standard of conduct? The question arises because part of the story that is coming out claims the ref who got punched lied (prior to the punch) in order to justify pulling H.D.'s card on the field (which constituted an automatic suspension and ejection.) If true it doesn't justify H.D.'s actions. It does go some way to explain how the situation escalated to the point where a punch was thrown. Again, if true, it seems to me to have a bearing on the final outcome. It means the ref shares some portion of the blame and makes the league complicit with the only guy paying a price for his actions, the customer. After all if lying about what occurred on the field is okay with the MS what else is okay? Drunken refs? Refs under the influence? If there are no standards there is no accountability.

In an attempt to assure accuracy and perhaps get a statement regarding the Mill's thinking in leveling a ban of this duration I have contacted the league's head of rules & officials with a series of short questions and a request for a clarification. I asked about justification of the ban in accordance with the current rule book. (Yes, I know but this is serious business so no laughing aloud--or allowed.) I asked about the outcome of any similar past incidents and I asked if the league had any formal or informal standards of conduct for their referees. When that reply is forthcoming VFTD will revisit the topic.

Countering AC in Bitburg 2012

I hesitated briefly before deciding to follow-up the last post with our game plan to counter the AC game. In part because the score didn't favor us in the end and in part because I'm not talking paintball specifics at Bitburg so I can't offer any explanation. Even so, make of this what you will. I remain convinced it was the right call and an effective plan. We won the first two points in less than a minute combined and forced AC to make changes to counter us.

Part 1 of the plan was to mirror AC's breakout in ways that avoided early risk and recognized what their OTB objectives were. The blue circles reflect our core primaries. (Although once established on the snake side we were able to safely reach the other primary options as well, like the corner CK.) As you can see a lot of similarities in the breakout primaries.
Part 2 was aimed at blunting their primary attack and forcing them to do something different. In order to achieve this goal we wanted to do two things; beat them to the center of the field and deny their secondary rotations. Consequently we pushed a player upfield OTB every point and used our widest snake side and D-side players to focus early in the point on the inside angles relying on our Home shooter and upfield presence to control wide movement initially. (Also in the early points expecting AC to be taken by surprise at least for a point or two.)
Part 3 was to attack "weak" points with the purpose of denying AC the opportunity to bring their power to bear. One of the strengths of their inside/out game is that it progresses in very natural, easy and for the most part safe steps that keep their guns rolling and build momentum that finally allows them to sweep down the field irresistibly. The danger of playing a consistent inside/out game is that you get beat wide and give up dominant edges or you lose key bodies early before the momentum builds. For AC the momentum began building as they were able to shift their Home players into their secondaries, or follow-up the wire leads with support guns. We felt that two players in a Home CK was subject to attack along with the D-side Can.
Objective: counter AC early with a more aggressive version of their basic game plan and force them to change. Since they were attacking the center consistently we wanted them to have to force bodies wide OTB or soon thereafter. We also wanted our first eliminations to come from the D-side Can and/or back center. If we were consistently getting an elimination there the result would naturally blunt the force of any AC offensive push.

Art Chaos: MS Bitburg 2012

Red circles indicate a primary position taken more than 60% of the time OTB. In the case of Home & the D-side Can it ranged between 80-100% of the time. And the orange circled TCK on the D-side developed over the weekend into a near constant primary OTB. Otherwise orange colored props were alternative primaries used at least 25% of the time. The two that are also green indicate the principle secondary props. The light blue SD was an unusual primary OTB as was the snake corner CK; they were used primarily to break their previous patterns and get wide guns up asap.
From the color coding it's easy to see that the basic Art Chaos (AC) strategy OTB is to minimize early risk and get guns up quickly for lane control. What is less obvious is that AC consistently played the D-wire as the strong side of the field--by that I mean they tended to commit their 3rd gun to that side even when the intent was to go up the middle. They also preferred the majority of the time to fill the upfield middle props via secondary rotations once they could make a decision about where to commit their guns after either getting an elimination or gaining clear control over a portion of the field with their guns.
Here's the basic breakout: red T, 2 guns at Home, the D-side insert Can plus either upfield TCK or Can or the D-side TCK. The most common choices were the D-side TCK and the upfield Can. In purple you can see the primary lanes shot OTB (with some minor variations). The plan is simple enough; keep 5 bodies alive OTB and play early contain. The red T played wide can control rotations to the corner or snake and if played on the inside can counter secondary moves up the middle. Both sides of Home shoot constant lanes either keeping the opponent inside or forcing them to move thru the lanes risking elimination. With two shooters at Home there are players in reserve who can move either direction to fill for eliminated teammates or take up secondary positions that begin to lock the field down. For that purpose the preferred route was the upfield D-side Can. The snake shaded TCK was used less often and frequently earlier, as an aggressive secondary move, to increase the pressure on the opponents in their primaries for eliminations and as a change of pace. The principle attack was a direct line to the D-side of the M followed immediately--or as nearly as possible--with a sweep up thru the doritos. (Occasionally vice versa) Snake side play looked to bump wide to the wire and if a snake option presented itself--due to previous eliminations mostly--a closing sweep along the snake wire could be incorporated in the close out.
There were some tactical options that largely amounted to adjusting the timing of certain actions in order to alter shooting lanes either OTB or in expectation of countering an expected move, etc. In any event the basic game plan is as described. If any AC matches become available to watch, particularly prelim matches, you will plainly see the core pattern and follow-up execution outlined here.
If you have any follow-up questions don't hesitate to ask in comments.

Bitburg 2012: Sunday

After we finished playing it was back to the hotel for quick showers and to pack. The plan was to head back to Frankfurt in order to get in some sight-seeing and be closer to the airport for our morning flight to DC.
[Since I've written all these MS Bitburg posts without the paintball filling I'ma give y'all a special event layout post of Bitburg and a breakdown of how Art Chaos played--and plays.]
On the way out of town we took a brief detour to grab lunch at the local Burger King which had excellent fries. The burgers in Euroland always taste a bit odd though and the German mayonnaise was virtually inedible for some reason while the French equivalent was both spicier and quite tasty. (For the Eurokids: If you like mayo on your fries get a decent brand of ranch dressing and try that instead. You can thank me later.) In exchange for the ranch dressing America could really use the multi-passenger vans that are ubiquitous in Euroland. Bigger than an American minivan, taller and narrower than a full sized van our rental Renault diesel was roomy, reasonably comfortably and gobbled up enormous amounts of gear. And it was more fun to drive than a big American van.
The drive back was frustrating. I was trying to capture some of the countryside on video as we drove and it was almost impossible. The Germans have very efficiently grown screens and windbreaks of trees and foliage along the sides of the highway which no doubt preserves the countryside from the unsightly roads and noise but also makes it nearly impossible to get uninterrupted views. (I haven't reviewed any of that video yet so perhaps I got a few good bits.)
Returning to the Frankfurt airport we stayed the night at the Hilton Garden Inn located in The Squaire. The Squaire is an ongoing project that intermingles hotels, restaurants, shopping and business centers just off the highway next to the airport. It is one enormous glass and aluminum structure that looks like crashed alien spacecraft meets Bauhaus or perhaps a futuristic cruise ship run aground and stripped bare by the dystopic remnants of civilization. Inside there is direct access to the airport concourses and an underground train station. The Garden Inn was ironically named as the only hint of greenery or the outdoors came in a repeating leaf motif illuminated in pale blue fiber optics on the wall behind the front desk. In every other respect it is a superb hotel. Well, there is the one thing. A thing common to every Euroland hotel and restaurant I've ever frequented and that is the very (I mean very) leisurely pace the meal is provided. Even without the necessary courses to validate the meal's length it seems to be an habitual European practice to extend meals as long as possible. Here's a hint: Americans are gauche, especially a crowd of (mostly) young men. All they want is their food now.
For fans of the UFC when we were clearing customs in DC we saw Rampage Jackson doing the same having arrived from Madrid. He looked tired. So tired even his trademark scowl was drooping a little. I never would have expected the Hello Kitty luggage set. (kidding) Dulles was kind enough to give us something to do while we waited for our Tampa flight--we got to play musical gates as our departure gate was changed 3 times during our 3 hour layover.

For those of you who took the hint about video from Thursday I have some games downloaded and will be reviewing them in detail over the next few days. I'm not sure what the quality is but if I have anything good you can count on it being posted.

Bitburg 2012: Friday & Saturday

Friday
The law in Germany requires markers not to exceed 215 fps. For years tournaments were played on U.S. military bases to avoid complying with the law. With the DPL currently consisting of over 300 teams and fields open all across Germany I am reliably informed they are not all competing or even playing at the legal limit. I mention all of that as it is the most commonplace explanation for how the MS found this place and why we were there. Supposedly as a former U. S. air base it still conferred diplomatic immunity (or whatever) on all the otherwise “illegal” markers in action over the weekend. If that strikes you as odd and kinda silly on its face join the club--but hey, it's as good an explanation as any.
Vas ist ein air conditioning? Only available in your car as it turns out. This isn't anything new or out of the ordinary for Euroland (it's only warm a couple months of the year, right?) but it continues to amaze me--as does the cuisine--or lack thereof. Shouldn't small town Germany feature German food? Okay, there's a sampling but it seems like much of the (limited) menus instead tend to feature generic, dare I say universal (sorta) fare. Although, to be fair nobody in America is gonna put 'rumpsteak' on their menu. I know some Euro-types (and others) object to imperialistic American cultural hegemony--as well they might--but if y'all ain't gonna fight the good fight where it matters--on the menu--where will it all end? Mediocre pseudo-American food the world over. Want fries with that?
In checking the Sunday match-ups I've been scouting Group A teams. We also played a couple of matches today. We brought our pit crew and organizationally we're set. Is it normal for refs to high five each other when dishing out 2-4-1's? Sorry, that's verboten paintball talk.
After dinner I spent a pleasant evening in the Biergarten. The local Pilsner is a bit on the bitter side for my taste but the wheat beers are quite good. Not cold enough but good. As is the lemon infused Polish vodka a friend brought with him from--Poland. By midnight the room is reasonably comfortable with the windows open. It's simple but modern and reasonably sized--unlike the beds which were small singles.
Have I mentioned that the Eifel Stern operates on coupons? It's apparently a commonplace practice. Want to purchase a meal in the restaurant? A drink in the Biergarten? Buy a coupon at the front desk. With cash.
Saturday
The weather remains ideal. Pristine blue skies and crisp breezes are the order of the day. Quite nice really and it's a good thing given that we're only playing 3 prelim matches of Race 2-5 over two days. There's time to do other things. Like a team autograph signing at the GI Sportz booth. The team signed free T-shirts and pods. Much of the time there was a small crowd around not in the waiting line because they didn't know how much the "free" stuff would cost. Once informed it was a freebie they were all over it.
We went into Bitburg today. It's a holiday weekend so most of the stores and restaurants are closed. Over here holidays are prime shopping opportunities. Not so much over there as it turns out. We ended up in a district of patterned brick and stone we thought was pedestrian only. Turns out a few adventurous cars including a couple of taxis decided otherwise but mostly the streets were empty. We found a tiny hotel with a first floor restaurant that was open. It promised more traditional German fare with real leaded glass windows and blooming Geraniums in window boxes. The kids had mostly been eating the ubiquitous ‘rumpsteak’ and spaghetti Bolognese. The bratwurst and smoked sausage I’d had the past two days from the event concessions were disappointingly conventional massed produced meats--I hope. While the kids continued to eat cheeseburgers and rumpsteaks with herb butter sauce I had a terrific pork schnitzel with a dark mushroom and onion sauce with a side of potato pancakes.
What, you want paintball talk? Tell the Millennium kids.
There are a couple of incidents I can relate. Rumor has it a Lisbon Benfica player punched a ref on the CPL field or in the pit area. The story has it the player grabbed the ref on the field and then later in the ref's area of the pits punctuated his objections with the aforementioned punches. Rumor also has it the league is backtracking to keep the lid on this by claiming the ref would have been more severely hurt if he'd been punched and in fact it was maybe more like a slap or something. Late Saturday a small group that included at least a couple of CPL field refs and a Millennium photographer accosted some of my players in front of the hotel. There are a number of benches in front and some of the guys were sitting around when this group approached them. They appeared to be drunk. The photog was identified by his league authorized jersey and the kids recognized a couple of the others as refs. They began by insulting my players and one ref in particular tried to incite a response by throwing elbows, punches and kicks--that didn't connect--at my players. they continued to insult and curse at them until my guys got up and left. (If the league wants a description of the refs in question I'll be happy to supply it--but I won't be holding my breath in the meantime.) Tell me again how fair and even-handed the officiating is again.

Bitburg 2012: Thursday

(It's Sunday night and I'm sitting in my hotel room in Frankfort. Each day's report was written on the day it occurred except Sunday--which I haven't finished yet.)

It seems the MS didn’t care for my St. Tropez reports. So much so in fact they had one of the team’s sponsors deliver the message along with the hope it wouldn’t be repeated in Bitburg. A reasonable person might consider such an effort an act of censorship. While I may or may not be all that reasonable all my faculties remain relatively intact and I don’t think it rises to that level. It’s only censorship if it works. At present it’s more of a naked power play--and an attempted act of censorship. It’s also one I take seriously given that the message was delivered through a sponsor. (It wasn't Dye.) So much so in fact I will not be reporting on any of the paintball played. Good, bad or indifferent. It makes me wonder too. If mere words on a solitary blog frighten them so much aren’t they terrified of video? Perhaps we’ll see.
By the way, I didn’t post anything during the event because the price of internet access was exorbitant.
We left Tampa Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Frankfort at 9 am Thursday morning. A front moving up the east coast kept us in our Frankfort-bound plane an extra hour before we were able to take off. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant flight after getting off the ground either. Amazingly enough we discovered meals worse than those offered at the Oasis Village in the south of France. This time served up by the airline. (It's initials are United.) Much of the flight crew were German and I couldn’t help thinking that even when the crew attempted to be solicitous they were really annoyed at having to serve these boring pedestrian people. (Or maybe I was just projecting.) We were also reminded more than once that the first two words of English every German learns is “not possible.”
Having been in the Frankfort airport before--though just to pass Customs and switch concourses in order to reach a connecting flight--my first impression had been of order and symmetry--even a sort of functional aesthetic. Those impressions were replaced this trip by a modernist parody of Pan’s Labyrinth. After clearing customs and collecting our luggage we hiked what might have been miles of twisting corridors and up and down levels to the (lonely, isolated, subterranean) rental car desk. It was easy to conceive that all the underground parking with its constant twists and turns had been dug by urban miners out of the concrete foundations of the airport.
The German countryside was exceptionally lovely with nary a Panzer in sight--all replaced by (supposedly) Gaia-friendly enormous wind turbines that look like--because that’s what they are--gigantic propellers. Even so the country really was beautiful with verdant rolling hills, fir clad chasms and gorges amid swaths of meadows, cultivated fields, Mosel vineyards and speckled by traditional towns and villages huddled around ancient church spires. (I think with a smattering of German one could enjoy a very pleasant and leisurely vacation traveling the by roads of rural Germany visiting the small towns and historic monuments.
The venue is in an industrially zoned area that was once a United States Air Force base. (And an active base remains nearby.) Many if not most of the buildings have been revamped to other purposes--like the Eifel Stern hotel. There's a light industrial and agricultural machinery seller and a decorative brick wholesaler, a taxi service and a low rent strip club in the neighborhood.There is a sign that claims the area is also a sportsschule. The evidence is a few soccer fields, an oval track, some support structures, dorms and a nearby bowling alley. I was told the first year of the Bitburg tournament it was held on the grass verges of the airstrip. Now it appears to be within the grass center of a dirt oval track. It is, on first impression, better than the St. Tropez venue but it also is in the literal middle of nowhere and being a step (or two) up from the Oasis Village site is an achievement nearly impossible to avoid unless one enjoys caravaning in war zones. To be fair it's also a far better venue than the last NPPL event held at SC Village and on a par perhaps with the San Bernadino PSP of some years past.
Once on site we registered, borrowed some guns and thanks to Instinct & Outbreak got in a good hour’s practice. Afterwards we collected our legally stamped event guns and headed for the hotel. Not having eaten since “breakfast” on board the plane everyone was starving. The dining room didn’t open until 6:30 pm. I almost forgot. “Not possible.”

Monday Poll in Review

If you are moderately observant you may have noticed there is no The Monday Poll this week. Not even a special Tuesday edition of The Monday Poll.. Mostly because I don't feel like doing one--and I don't feel like it because I'm going to be in Germany for the next week or so and didn't have an inspired poll topic anyway.
Last week's poll was an interesting one however. In the wake of the UWL banning of a player for (unrepentant?) cheating I was curious to see what you lot made of it so I asked what the most important lesson learned from the incident was--and supplied a few choices with the usual caveat that you could include your own in comments. (Which seldom if ever happens. Either my choices are perfect or you people are simply lazy slackers and even I won't go so far as to suggest my poll "answers" options are perfect--all the time.) In any case my ulterior motive was to get a reading on you the voters.
Option 1: Never argue with the Ultimate (a somewhat tongue-in-cheek choice) received 1% of the vote.
Option 2: All leagues should drop the hammer on cheaters collected 6% of the vote.
Option 3: Assigned penalties, especially high profile ones, need to be consistent with the rules grabbed 17% of the votes.
Option 4: All leagues should have clear cut rules in place for dealing with on field infractions garnered 15% of the votes.
Option 5: In this day and age anything you say or do can end up on the internet was the choice of 8% of the voters.
Option 6: Zero tolerance for cheaters at every level of paintball took a whopping 33% of the vote.
Option 7: Paintball players second favorite past time is taking the moral high ground received 8% of the votes.
Option 8: It wasn't a big deal and got blown out of proportion was the choice of 7% of the voters.

A vote for options 1,5,7 or 8 (25% total) suggests a voter not taking the situation too seriously for whatever reason.
A vote for either option 3 or 4 (32%) chose to look at a specific incident in terms of its Big Picture general application.
Votes for options 2 or 6 (40%) applauded the banning and think more of that sort of rules enforcement would be good for paintball in general.

The 25% voter is/was clearly the sanest and most well adjusted voter for refusing to get too caught up in any of this nonsense. The 32% chose reason over emotion in choosing an option with universal applicability minus the hang 'em mentality. The 40% voter is probably your run-of-the-mill knee jerk hypocrite but may also be too invested in a simple game to have a rational point of view. And if you think I'm overdoing it with the hammer droppers consider this: nearly everyone is going to define what a "cheater" is slightly differently and I have yet to run across a player who hasn't run afoul of the rules, even unintentionally at least once or twice. Only walked halfway back to the reinsertion point before starting to play again? Is that cheating? Ref pulled both players, the guy making a bunker run and the player in the prop. Did they both really shoot each other at the same time or did somebody play on? Is everyone who plays on with a pack hit a cheater? A hopper hit? Ever used an "illegal" paintball? Or gun? Ever done anything in the heat of the moment that would get you designated as a "cheater"? At best enforcing a witch hunt mentality will ultimately see an ever dwindling group of the purest of the pure playing a game that isn't much fun for anyone anymore. Which isn't to say that rules shouldn't be enforced but that rules need to be written--and enforced--from a proper perspective; a perspective aimed at promoting a fun fair game for everyone and anyone as opposed to this silly rule breakers must be punished to preserve the integrity of the game nonsense. Games don't have integrity, (some) people do.

NPPL Chicago: Sunday

By now either you've heard--or you haven't. Infamous won, we finished fourth. Good for them, less good for us but given the way the rest of the results unfolded (according to my back of the napkin calculations) we should be first in series points heading into the second half of the season. And that's not a bad thing at all.
Our first match Sunday versus Arsenal couldn't have played out any better and I think everyone was feeling like maybe we'd turned a corner. We repeated the process we'd begun Saturday night on site to get ready for our semi-final against Infamous. While both teams played a similar game on the layout Infamous was considerably more patient and the points dragged out. We played well but made a couple of small mistakes, an ill-advised move, a foolish penalty that ultimately cost us a shot at the title.
In one respect it was a frustrating weekend because--with the exception of the Arsenal match--we never seemed to be putting our game together with any consistency. On the other hand we did a very solid job as a team talking through the game plans and visualizing as a group how we wanted to play. It's not like that has been a weakness in the past but when teams and/or players struggle it almost always impacts everything the team does. This time we handled the struggle as a team with what I thought was a lot of maturity and a unified effort focused on our shared goals. Something positive to build on.

I mentioned this on VFTD Facebook too. Mentioned what? Oh, yeah. The vast yawning sound coming from the competitive paintball community in response to the just past NPPL Chicago event. Or is it just my imagination? The shared forum at PBN with Living Legends is 90% Living Legends. The regular league forum is mostly dead and that includes the lead up to the event, during the event and in the immediate aftermath of the event. I realize the league isn't helping their cause--and no, NPPL guys, being the messenger doesn't make VFTD responsible. So what is the cause? Team participation numbers remain consistent if not spectacular. And sure there isn't the same kinda media coverage as there once was. And the best the NPPL could manage was Facebook photos and scores updates but still--it wasn't that long ago that players and paintballers were sufficiently interested they made an effort to keep up to speed. If there is no webcast does the event really exist?

I still have stats stuff to cover too. Both the rof-fi chips at NPPL and the comparo between the two leagues. Not gonna happen until after the Millennium's Bitburg Open.

One final comment on the reffing. I still think the pluses outweigh the minuses of the improved energy and activity level but--it was also a glaring reminder that consistency must be the highest goal. Compared to past events the refs were definitely flag happy and in the instances when it occurred the lack of flags (for similar offenses) produced a more obvious imbalance. Which was one of my issues with the Mills refs. If the refs are going to be extremely strict any failure to apply the same stringent standard results in a less consistent and more unfair result.

If there are any event related questions feel free to post them up in comments and I'll try to answer. Warning: I know zero about the bikini contest, the player's party or men in kilts or what they were or weren't wearing underneath.

NPPL Chicago: Saturday

Okay, I'm 0 for 2 on Dynasty rumors. Lang ain't here but Mouse is (d'oh!) playing with Arsenal--just like he was in HB.
If all that matters is playing on Sunday it doesn't matter that we backed in via the back door. 'Cus that's exactly what we did. We split matches again today beating Mutiny and losing in the last seconds to Impact in a very tight taut match 1-2. That match was seconds away from going into overtime when one of our players carelessly spoke after he was eliminating--and receiving a 1-4-1--taking teammates with him when we could least afford the lost bodies. While still a loss it also meant we played one of the best performing teams in the prelims to a virtual standstill. And that means we aren't too far off. We need to get better and we will have that opportunity Sunday morning as the matches become win or go home. After dinner we held a short team meeting to review our first match on Sunday, our opponent and how we want to play along with the adjustments and counters we will make should certain situations arise. However you get to Sunday everyone begins fresh and everyone has the same chance to win. What could be better? Actually winning of course.

In related news the reffing continued to be the source of disagreement and general debate, both on and off the field. The long hours, heat and relentless sun definitely took a toll on the refs over the course of the day. By late in the day too the sun was blindingly low in the late afternoon sky. None of which is an excuse but it definitely a factor. The questions really boil down to whether or not the "new" "improved" officiating really is--an improvement. Yes, mistakes are still being made on occasion. (As they are at every tournament.) But are the mistakes a result of the effort or process? I don't think so. It seems to me the effort has been high and the general calls fairly consistent. I remain inclined to consider the quality of officiating an improvement but if today demonstrated anything it's that even the best of refs, with the best of intentions, cannot perform to their peak effectiveness when they are tired and worn out (and worn down.) Same as anyone in a similar situation.
More tomorrow (or Monday.)

NPPL Chicago:Friday

Wow, some wacky scores, eh? A lot of hard fought close matches today. Partly due to the layout and partly due to more aggressive officiating. I heard a few objections during the day but most of the teams didn't seem to be too worked up with the fairly rigorous and active approach taken here in Chicago. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a topic for further discussion after the fact although that will almost certainly only happen behind closed doors. I'm good with the calls and the effort and believe it's an improvement for the league as a whole. Others may disagree. The only downside I'm seeing is that in their zeal to stay on top of the action and players the refs tend to bird dog the players and one of the elements of play on this layout is the ability to get "lost."
Changing the subject--the Dynasty rumor (from yesterday) was only partially correct. Alex is here but Ollie isn't. Nor is Mouse. That's it in 'Rats news except the kids in blue are 1 of the 4 teams that went 2-0 today.
XSV & Damage dropped matches today as did Infmous, Legend and X-Factor. Xplicit got a split on the day and Uprising is 2-0 after two tough well fought victories. Avalanche is a surprise 0-2 today but all that Friday accomplished was to give some teams an easier path to Sunday. Nothing is settled yet and nothing will be settled for sure until the last match is played tomorrow. It may be a cliche but it's true nonetheless.
In losing our first match to Xplicit (1-2) we took it as a Cliff's Notes guide to what we were doing wrong. We sat down together afterwards and tore down what we were doing, decided what we needed to be doing and made the appropriate changes in personnel and focus. And if/when it sees us through to Sunday it will have proven to be that rare worthwhile loss. But it all depends on Saturday for us, just like it does for all the rest of the competing teams.
The weather was great today; hot but not too hot (though my sunburned face might disagree) as a periodically stiff breeze provided a cooling reprieve.
More tomorrow but it's gonna be a long day. Our second match is at 6pm so no telling when I'll get around to catching up here.

NPPL Chicago: Thursday

The best thing about very early, early morning flights is ... nope, can't think of one good thing much less more than one or a best thing. But we arrived at O'Hare (yuck!) with very nearly all of Thursday still available. Which was a good thing as we had a practice scheduled, needed to register, check in to the hotel, walk the event field and conduct a post dinner team meeting to review plans and personnel for Friday and make sure everybody is on the same page. (I conducted the team meeting by myself--best meeting ever. That's a lie. I actually spent the time getting Brandon up to speed as he arrived late in the afternoon and missed the practice session. How's that gonna go? Ask me on Sunday.) Oh and there was some unscheduled nap time in there as well.
Turns out CPX put up a practice field so teams could get some last minute practice. (Thanks guys!) Turns out too they wanted $250 or the purchase of 10 cases of paint for the privilege of practicing on it. (Somebody has been taking Millennium lessons I see.) Next time they might want to keep in mind that at least the Mills kids are allowing teams to play on the actual event field. Our practice field was unnetted and bore only a passing resemblance to the event layout. (Same props, same general locations but a precise gridding is kinda important. Maybe next time, eh?) Regardless we got in some good competitive games with Infamous and overall it was a positive practice that included walking the event layout. If you're wondering how it could be considered a good practice when the layout was off there are other factors to consider. Fitting players to positions. Getting them used to the basics of the layout--or similar. Going through the game play routines like communication, etc. Having real competition shooting paint from the other end. Opportunities to try out breakout options in advance. Any practice time is better than none.
The venue is more or less the same as last year. More grass and less gravel. It's on the nearest patch of the big grass field just past the overflow parking lot on your right as you enter the CPX Sports complex. More where it was two years ago and less where it was last year. Word is there was indeed a modest uptick in the total number of teams competing but the event will still fit on two fields. (I'll try to get a solid count after the event.) The vendors line the woods edge boundary of the overflow gravel lot to form a giant L shape with the two fields and paddock area. If teams and guests alike are allowed to park in the gravel lot it will create a compact and ideally accessible small tournament environment. The only early sign of the coming Living Legends onslaught was the presence of Dye and Empire with big rigs and their full boat traveling circus and tent store(s). They are located in the closest corner (to the NPPL event) of the main parking lot nearly equidistant between the two events. By this time tomorrow the paved parking lot will be packed to overflowing.
For the curious here's a little advance info on the fallout from the HB finals; J-Rab will receive a 2 match suspension to be served on Friday. The team will not be required to play with 6 while Justin is out. Odds are you won't hear this anywhere else as I strongly suspect the league would rather not comment at all. Make of it what you will--I'll have more on the general subject next week.
What with a lot of uncertainty surrounding our roster coming into this event--work, school, stuff--we ended up with extra bodies when we were initially concerned we might be short. (Speaking of B. Short we were pleased to be able to pick him up for this event from fellow Dye-sponsored team, the Ironmen.) Now we have to decide what group is best suited to make a run at the Chicago Open title. The games begin tomorrow and part of our process will be winning matches as we evaluate various roster options.
Rumor has it that neither Fraige or Lang will be playing this event with Dynasty.

Midweek Musing

I'm outta here tomorrow early headed to Chicago and the NPPL Chicago Open (and Living Legends 5--or is it 6?) at CPX Sports Park. We should get some practice time in Thursday afternoon. The schedule is out. Links are available at the NPPL website (of all places.) As far as I can tell it doesn't look like there will be a webcast. I've heard nothing about one for Chitown and can't find any indication there will be one. (Although after the weird business with the UWL Facebook page the other day I'ma little paranoid.) I should have daily reports up on the event over the weekend.
It also looks like the 5-man Race 2 experiment in the NPPL is just about kaput. Last I checked 8 teams in D4 were signed up to play. Be interesting to see what comes next given that the DC event has consistently been the weakest on the schedule. Would expanding the Race 2 for lower divsion 7-man teams pump up the volume?

In visiting a few paintball sites around the web this morning I discovered that PaintballPhotography.Com now has (more or less) equal billing on the banner with Facefull--at Facefull's site. Has there been a coup nobody told me about? Is Gary B. secretly (or not so secretly) determined to monopolize paintball photography? If he is maybe a different logo, that starburst thing just doesn't do anything for me.

Over last weekend the DPL was competing on the MS Bitburg layout and all the action was available to watch live here. It also remains available to watch in time blocks if you're curious. (Same link.) I've watched about 90 minutes worth over the last few days because I wanted to see if anyone would do anything unexpected--the MS event is less than two weeks away--and to see how similarly, if at all, German league play was compared to Millennium play. Unsurprisingly it looked much the same and in the 10 or 12 matches I watched across multiple divisions the routines became highly predictable--though that wasn't altogether a lack of imagination, more a matter of responding to the dictates of the layout. Regardless it's an interesting watch for students of the game. (Thanks to Nick B. for the head's up and original link.)