Is that a setup or what? I was gonna let it go but it's been a long weekend and a tedious pain of a day so I want to share my irritation and frustration with y'all and kick a league around just for the sheer, unadulterated mean-spirited joy it brings me.
Which league you ask? For shame. It's our pals over at NPPL 3.0 who are trumpeting a sold out event for HB with--drum roll please--the convenient number of all the teams that happened to sign up and pay. The league is claiming 120 teams. As always there's unfair rumor-mongering that a bunch of teams got in on under the table deals but what do you expect when you're accused of doing the very thing you've done in the past? (Btw, I'm not saying it happened this time 'cus I don't know, I don't care and I'm even willing to take Frank's word for it that it didn't happen. This time.) Just saying the rumors shouldn't come as a surprise.
When I first saw the SOLD OUT email I was reminded of last year's efforts when the league set what they thought was a reasonably conservative but still profitable (Maybe? Really? Unlikely?) limit of 160 teams on the event. Which--with no fanfare whatsoever--dropped to 140 then 120. Which wasn't reached last year but turned out to be this year's magic number. The second thing I thought was that nowhere on the website does the league suggest there is--or was--a limit on participating teams. Which, if you think about it, was probably the way to go. Don't put any pressure on yourself and then whatever happens claim victory. Or success. Or that your event is sold out.
Will Chicago sell out too?
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ABOUT
About Baca:
Baca Loco is the forum name I first used at P8ntballer.com and kept when I starting writing for PGi magazine, the late, lamented Paintball Games International. At various times I did gun reviews, event reports, the occasional feature, How-To’s & a monthly column entitled, View from the Deadbox. At one time or another I’ve done most everything you can do in paintball other than own a field or run a tourney series. For the last several years I have coached a number of pro teams and generally made a nuisance of myself whenever possible.
About VIEW FROM THE DEADOX:
One purpose of this blog is to encourage a dialogue about competitive paintball and permitting commenter anonymity is intended to encourage the participation of those who actually know what they are talking about. The rest of you are also welcome, even encouraged, to comment as well. (I don't really need any encouragement.)
The other purpose of this blog is to provide a focus for my attention deficit disorder and hold boredom at bay.
About my views:
Brilliant, visionary and almost always correct. Get used to it. Oh, and I'm humble too. Feel free to disagree as long as you are prepared to be wrong.
Baca's email
VFTD Overview
Blog Rules
Baca Loco is the forum name I first used at P8ntballer.com and kept when I starting writing for PGi magazine, the late, lamented Paintball Games International. At various times I did gun reviews, event reports, the occasional feature, How-To’s & a monthly column entitled, View from the Deadbox. At one time or another I’ve done most everything you can do in paintball other than own a field or run a tourney series. For the last several years I have coached a number of pro teams and generally made a nuisance of myself whenever possible.
About VIEW FROM THE DEADOX:
One purpose of this blog is to encourage a dialogue about competitive paintball and permitting commenter anonymity is intended to encourage the participation of those who actually know what they are talking about. The rest of you are also welcome, even encouraged, to comment as well. (I don't really need any encouragement.)
The other purpose of this blog is to provide a focus for my attention deficit disorder and hold boredom at bay.
About my views:
Brilliant, visionary and almost always correct. Get used to it. Oh, and I'm humble too. Feel free to disagree as long as you are prepared to be wrong.
Baca's email
VFTD Overview
Blog Rules
FAQ
How is paintball like golf? Golf is played outdoors on nice, well kept grass or, if something goes horribly wrong, off in the woods. Same with paintball.
How is a paintball made? What am I, Wikipedia?
Who are your sponsors? Who hasn't been one of my sponsors? I won't be trying to promote current sponsors on this blog nor will I take shots at non-sponsors. I don't give gun, goggle or gear advice so it really doesn't matter.
What's your view on cheating? It's wrong and has no place in the game. That's why I don't play scenario or Big Games.
What's your favorite marker? The free one.
Where did that awesome photo come from in the blog header? It is the work of photographer extraordinaire, Brandon Showers or the vixen with a Nikon (or maybe a Canon) Meagan Foster.
What's your favorite team? Grow up.
Who started the Rec vs. Tourney war? Some will say that's just the way it's always been. Others claim it's natural for the sides to be at odds. I say, aren't we all brothers under the goggles? I'm not sure but ask yourself who benefits? Follow the money. Could it be a covert plot of the Military Simulation Industrial Complex? As long as the war rages on there will be a demand for more paint, more markers and Big Paintball will continue to count its profits instead of the cost. Give peace a chance. That's all that I'm saying.
How do I get sponsored? You don't.
Will you send me any free stuff if I tell you what a big fan I am? No.
Is agg dead yet? Yes, it's time to move on to some new uber hip trendiness that everyone can follow to demonstrate their individuality.
Is it true the inside of Ollie Lang's gearbag smells like roses? No, strawberries and cream.
You don't really know any Pro players, do you? Rats, you caught me out.
What makes your opinion so important? It's my blog, d'oh! And has already been noted I'm almost always correct. There's quite a lot to be said for being right.
How is a paintball made? What am I, Wikipedia?
Who are your sponsors? Who hasn't been one of my sponsors? I won't be trying to promote current sponsors on this blog nor will I take shots at non-sponsors. I don't give gun, goggle or gear advice so it really doesn't matter.
What's your view on cheating? It's wrong and has no place in the game. That's why I don't play scenario or Big Games.
What's your favorite marker? The free one.
Where did that awesome photo come from in the blog header? It is the work of photographer extraordinaire, Brandon Showers or the vixen with a Nikon (or maybe a Canon) Meagan Foster.
What's your favorite team? Grow up.
Who started the Rec vs. Tourney war? Some will say that's just the way it's always been. Others claim it's natural for the sides to be at odds. I say, aren't we all brothers under the goggles? I'm not sure but ask yourself who benefits? Follow the money. Could it be a covert plot of the Military Simulation Industrial Complex? As long as the war rages on there will be a demand for more paint, more markers and Big Paintball will continue to count its profits instead of the cost. Give peace a chance. That's all that I'm saying.
How do I get sponsored? You don't.
Will you send me any free stuff if I tell you what a big fan I am? No.
Is agg dead yet? Yes, it's time to move on to some new uber hip trendiness that everyone can follow to demonstrate their individuality.
Is it true the inside of Ollie Lang's gearbag smells like roses? No, strawberries and cream.
You don't really know any Pro players, do you? Rats, you caught me out.
What makes your opinion so important? It's my blog, d'oh! And has already been noted I'm almost always correct. There's quite a lot to be said for being right.
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16 comments:
PSP has decided that they will absolutely not take any more teams than are willing to pay, so all future PSP events are sold out already.
They announced the 120 team cap back around their webcast press conference, so it's not exactly a post hoc victory claim.
Trying to establish a sense of urgency is certainly not a new strategy. In this case, it may have worked. 120 may be better than what they would have drawn without it. Who knows? Did they shoot themselves in the foot by doing this? Maybe they would have reached 130 or even 140 (doesn't sound like htey would have though). It may also help with future signups. Wouldn't want to miss out on the next soldout event.
It just means that there isn't the interest to add a field. So, for the infrastructure allocated, the event is sold out.
Lets be happy about this. A failure would be a bad thing, right?
I'm with Baca. I found it blatantly pretentious.
Captain Negative is back!
But actually I think we can be positive here. It's a good number. It's round, even, divides nicely. It's very special. The probably consulted this chart when deciding the team limit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/120_%28number%29
But really, that's a great turn out, even if they did screw their most loyal paying, early customers to get it. This is paintball ya know.
The leagues are lucky trademygun hasn't figured out how to get people to sell their used tournament experience for a 100 bux.
what we need is the 2nd league to go away for a year or two, let us recover and re coup and start building again, then if 7 man is so desired or another format then let the PSP run a couple of events.
But as it is at the moment its a senseless waste of time and money for everyone.
We need to be One Global nation of tournament paintball all following the same rules and playing the same style - i really find it frustrating that people cannot see the damage this is doing to us as a sport and indusry.
I presume, my dear husband, that by 'the 2nd league' you are refering to the NPPL? Or are you saying it doesn't matter?
Actually, iut probably doiesn't, as once there is only one league, there is only one format, so no choice to make.
ps. It's your turn to oil-up the leopard-skin love-couch this evening. Last night made the flab under my breasts itch something terrible.
i gotta agree...i just dont see how seven man can survive outside of a few small pockets that seem to be regional. from my perspective, 7 man is an old format played on the west coast and high in the north east. But i'm willing to bet that the north east is even starting to play more 5 man than 7. i know there are a good number of 7 man teams, but i dont see them as being sustainable for a league to count on. The reason this event will work is because of the location. Everybody dreams of playing on HB at some point in time, and even those who dont play in any other 7 man competitions will dust off the old dm4 and 2k5 timmy -- grab a few buddies and head back out to the beach.
7 man is dead/dieing, and with the PSP teaming up with these regional series, it wont be around except in those few regional pockets.
How dead is 7-man?
7-man is so dead that the best NPPL can do for affiliate series is a 2-team event run by Shawn Walker.
I don't get the 7-man is dead philosophy.
I would understand people jumping on that bandwagon if the NPPL had fewer teams than Phoenix, but the very fact that it has more teams is a clear indicator that it isn't dead.
You could say that people only play because it's HB. But then you would be forgetting that HB is a 7-man flagship event, not some kind of accident. Even this argument only stands up if the NPPL fail to get any teams for their other events.
7-man isn't dead. There are just a lot of very partizan people who wish it were. Personally I'm neutral these days, but I don't necessarily see 1 remaining league as a good thing.
In fact, if 7-man were dead, why would our host be taking his team there to compete? Senor Loco is jesting about hanging at the Hilton, just to try to display a satisfactory level of comtempt for 7-man, but come game-day he'll be immersed in the game as his team compete for the win (which I feel they have a great chance with, going by their Phoenix performance. Thats why he's spending valuable team funds to go there, otherwise he wouldn't, right?
I love going to HB, it makes Paintball seem so much more legit to me. I struggle to understand the enthusiasm to see it disappear. What good can come from that?
Missy
First things first. Why didn't you tell me a bout Mister Q? The fact I had to find out on a public forum was embarrassing and hurtful.
Second,
How would you respond to a World Cup turnout of 120 teams? In essence isn't HB the NPPL's World Cup?
The margarita drinking championship is a dream of mine, okay? And also a stand-in for my ambivalence--not about playing 7-man or the league. It's about competing when we are unable, in my estimation, to give the best account of ourselves possible.
Otherwise, for (some of) the pro teams it's a fairly modest investment in the dream.
From my perspective it's a failing format because Cali is the center of surviving 7-man interest and that is being undercut as we speak. It is also a money losing proposition and try as I might I don't see how a league can succeed if it can't pay its bills. And of course I've been suggesting for years that the model of national tournaments where the divisional teams in essence underwrite the pros was destined to fail for a number of reasons.
Since you tangented into pro tournament league models...
I've wondered lately about the big guys setting up exhibition matches between their teams in super high profile areas. Instead of the huge expense in running a full blown multi day tournament come up with a low cost, rapid setup and take down operation that can put on a show for thousands of spectators and get huge press in the process.
Two teams, a handful of refs and support staff.
For instance, fly 6 guys out from two pro teams to do a best of 3 40 minute RaceTo match in front of the Eiffel tower (ya I know I'm just picking an iconic place).
In and out in one day. Do other one day events in high traffic, high tourist areas. The goal would be to attract awareness from both the regulator tourists, etc. but also to get the attention of various big wigs and get awesome visuals that can help sell the sport. (yes, back to the TV dream)
It would be a PR bonanza if you run the micro-events in high profile areas. A single, compacted field means you're not so restricted by space confinements. You could even go so far as to have different teams at each location and make a mini-tour/world series out of it to tie the whole tour together.
I can't help but think that this would have been a better way to spend the money than the NXL, Casino thing, or running the NPPL Super 7 that didn't generate much interest from the outside world.
I would run this kind of pro-exhibition format, which pretty much tears the pro competition away from the national leagues and then run the national league (like the PSP) as the grass routes pay-for-itself style league for the non-pro players.
Totally not on topic I know, and probably not described really well, but it makes sense in my head.
The idea that HB "Sold out" because they had 120 teams is hilarious. What if they had 120 5-man teams? What if they had 120 7-man teams? What if they played Pump on Sunday?
What is scary though is if they are sold out, they have had their final team list for days but don't have a schedule with less than 48 hours until first game, and registration supposedly opening in under 6 hours.
Well......... skinny and white Mmmmm!!
I don't think seven man is dead its clearly not, my point earlier is the industry is paying and supporting something we should not be at the moment those dollars would be better used to build the grass roots player base and then maybe in a couple of years when the climate is beeter come back to it, but have it run by people who run events...
Only in NPPL is your event sold out when a field's games are done at 2:30 PM.
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