Never Say Never

Farewell to the Hurricanes. Once New England's finest and a beacon for all Northeast teams has called it quits. I had the good fortune to coach a few Hurricanes and always had a soft spot on my head for the brash boys from Mass. To Jeff and all the 'Canes, you done good.

The Future of Paintball?

No, probably not--the future of paintball, that is--but I wanted to grab your attention and shake you like a rag doll. No, you (yes, I mean you) didn't do anything--that I know of--to make me angry--but if instead I start talking about politicians, automatic weapons and steel-jacketed ammo the next thing I know jackboots will be kicking in my door and ruining what's left of a bad day.
Some days I decry the future of this stupid game and other days I mock the pitiful efforts made to save it and still other days I think I could have had a V8--and not one of the fruity ones either. Some of you will recall that a fairly concerted effort was once made to keep the milsim and paramilitary overtones of some elements of paintball out of the public eye like crazy uncle Harry locked in the basement when the neighbors dropped by for a visit. That day is over, both from the industry and at the retail level where a lot of paintball stores sell Airsoft side-by-side with their paintball gear. One upshot of that trend may have been the recent California bill aimed at toy guns that originally included paintball markers--and could again. While paintball dodged that bullet--this time--paintball is clearly headed down a path that will further entwine our game with guns of all sorts--and it won't be to paintball's betterment.
But that isn't what I want to rant about today. While paintball looks to relive the Vietnam experience (or D-Day or whatever) minus all the ugly and, you know, deadly parts for fun and recreation Hasbro & Nerf are flat ripping us off. No, I'm not kidding. Here's the deal: check it out. (Watch the short video.) Not convinced, try here. Or here. (Watch this video too.) Getting the picture? Hasbro has taken Nerf to the next level and they've done it by looking at tourney paintball and recreating a Nerf version currently aimed at kids. It's cheap. It's clean. It's easy to play and it might even be fun. And they've taken a giant step or two past that with an annual tour of event stops to play in regional events with a chance to win a trip to Disney's WWOS (Wide World of Sports)--you may have heard of it--for the annual championships and a chance for the winning team to take home 25 grr. The tour, btw, is the Dew Tour featuring a line-up of so-called extreme sports.
Dart tag regional events compete with the other sports on the Dew Tour with regional winners eligible for the championships in Orlando. They play inside inflated, netted arenas with inflatable bunkers, penalty boxes and referees and score points by capturing an opponent's nerf something and returning it to their Home base in a timed game that offers multiple breakouts. Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, in paintball land after 20 years TV treats us like the hired help and our industry is all monkey see, monkey do without being able to agree on anything that might be in everyone's best interest all the while leaving a crumbling retail network to fend for itself.
Is nobody either ashamed or offended that Hasbro is kicking paintball's ass? Hasbro? And Nerf?

Of course, it also begs the question of whether dart tag and the other Nerf products are precursors--potential gateways to paintball--or, as silly as it may sound, the foundation of an easy to play, energetic, painless variant of tag that will pull potential paintballers away from paintball. And if nerf tag kids are potential future paintballers will anybody do anything about it or are we too far gone with our picatinny equipped replica AK-47s and battle vests to care?

H/T to Steve Davidson for bringing Nerf Dart Tag to my attention. Like there aren't enough things in the world that already aggravate me. Thanks, Steve. I owe you one and I will get even.

A New Perspective on Paintball

The title of this blog post is a very (very) insider gag. Damned funny but don't bother. You're not going to figure it out. Anyway, here's the thing. VFTD never took a wrong turn either pointing out Paintball's failures or mocking the same--but I've been forced to reconsider my editorial stance regarding the industry, leadership & direction of Paintball--if we can even say such things truly exist.
For purposes of this blog VFTD tries (mostly) to stick to topics related to competitive paintball although I do, on occasion, sprinkle the posts with commentary, metaphors and jokes based on things occurring in the big wide world apart from Paintball. All that extra stuff though is secondary (at best) to talking paintball. But paintball doesn't exist in a vacuum.
In the guise of security the TSA gropes children because it's inappropriate (and un-American) not to believe that every 5 year old or grandmother with an underwire bra is as likely a terrorist as anyone else. Militarized police conduct warrantless midnight raids into people's homes and threaten, assault and arrest citizens for videotaping their public actions. Everyone giggles (VFTD included) at the hubris and foolishness of (ex-)Congressman Weiner cyberstalking young women on Twitter with pictures of his package and the latest celebutant arrests or incarcerations, weddings & divorces. Less entertaining are the immediate family ties of the ex-congressman's wife to the Muslim Brotherhood. Or Delta Airlines plans to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to their SkyTeam Alliance which would compel Delta to screen for Jews and/or holders of Israeli passports. Or the ATF assisting in the sale of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels in an operation code named, Fast & Furious. And that's just the run-of-the-mill stuff. There are big ticket items like the fact the Congress has failed to pass a budget in over two years or that the GNP includes debt in the calculation for "growth" and if you take out all the "money" the Feds have dumped into the economy in the last three years out of the equation our growth disappears like a magician's sleight-of-hand. Or that there are six sets of statistics kept on determining unemployment and those out of work but the media routinely only reports on two sets of figures. Or when CPI indexes begin to hint at inflation the Feds change the calculus--they've changed their methodology threes times (at least) in the last twenty-five years.

And that's just in the good old U.S. of A. All I'm saying is look around. Is it any wonder Paintball is frequently a mess? By comparison it's practically a well-oiled machine. Now there's a scary thought.

CAPSC

I thought about posting on this subject yesterday and resisted the urge. Yet here I am doing it today instead. Entering acronym hell--and that's the least of it. But first a modest disclaimer.

Disclaimer: VFTD is in no way opposed to the efforts of individuals and industry to secure paintball's place in the state of California as a recreational & competitive activity.

If you hadn't figured it out yet the title refers to the freshly minted special interest group and lobby, the California Paintball Safety Coalition. (A link to the latest info at ProPaintball is in the title.) What disgusts me in this process is (the apparent) default to automatically playing their game. If the title of the group reflected reality it would the Coalition to Keep Paintball Safe from California. Instead it's "1984" quality doublespeak wherein everyone pretends we all share concerns about safe paintballing and want to work together in the best interests of all Californians when in fact businesses and industry dependent on paintball are scrambling for their very livelihoods. With no immediate redress other than to hire some parasitical "lobbyists" in order to gain access to some (moronic) politicians the whole thing bears the imprimatur of law but as a practical matter is little different from the local thugs selling "insurance" to neighborhood businesses.

Frankly it makes me want to puke and probably means I don't have any future career options in politics.

(Another) Lazy Slacker Re-post of the Week

Man, I wish I'd thought of this repost gimmick a long time ago. What a racket. Thing is there's not really much happening. Nothing making me angry. Nothing exciting me with new possibilities. So instead of cranking out some lame crap I'm recycling some not-so-lame older original material. (Another WELT piece.) Besides, there's new readers everyday--there are so--and just because they're new doesn't mean they should be deprived of past VFTD wisdom. And for all you whiners out there insisting on fresh VFTD material I am finishing up on Bacaball--the ultimate in tournament play--which should be ready for posting in the next couple of days. I steal the best ideas from the world of paintball and kick in a couple unique elements.

Lastly, a brief disclaimer: No, I'm not contributing to the anti-social, punk ass behavior of pint-sized tournament wannabes. It's their current default setting. And the only thing worse than them thinking they've earned the right to anything is you people whining about it. So shut up and read.

I'm not a Hater

I'm not a hater. Really I'm not. Just misunderstood. Oh sure, if you're at the other end of the field all I want you to do is die. I know it sounds bad but it's not like it's permanent or anything. But if you get blown up, lit up and pissed off I'm okay with that. Something for the next guy in your place to think about. But it's nothing personal. Honest.
Seriously, I'm really not a hater. Off the field I'm a swell guy. Ask anybody. Well, almost anybody. Just because I don't smile, offer to shake your hand or wish you good luck before we play doesn't make me a hater. It just means I'm not a hypocrite. I don't want you to have good luck even if you're gonna need all the luck in the world. On the field we're not enemies but we aren't friends either. On the field you're the guy who wants to take something away from me and I'm the guy who is gonna do his best to see you fail. But that doesn't make me a hater.
After the game I may apologize for those shots to the neck but I'm not really sorry. (That's not completely true. I am sincerely sorry if you're a friend of mine but I ain't sorry I did it.) Doesn't mean I'm a hater. You got bunkered. Live with it. If you're gonna be mad be mad at your guy who didn't back you up. Truth is I'm coming over the top as up close and personal as possible and that patch of bare skin is just begging for it. It's screaming shoot me and there's no way this guy tries to spin–so that's what I do. And you know what? It usually works.
It ain't my fault if the referee doesn't make the call you wanted or even the one you (and half the peeps watching) are positive was the right call. Did I get that second kill after I was hit? Could be. But it is what it is. Doesn't make me a hater. If it happens fast enough who can say exactly who shot who first? And if you haven't figured out yet that the refs favor the aggressor consider this a necessary lesson learned. While you're at it ...
Quit your whining. You did not get overshot, you didn't stop coming. What do you expect if you try to run my boy down and don't stop when I shoot you? When you stop running I stop shooting. See how that works? I'm not a hater, it's your own fault you look like an avalanche of paint fell on you. If you didn't know the score before you do now. You were determined to make that move count and I was determined to make you pay the price. That ain't hate, that's paintball the way the big boys play it. And the extra five or six to the back? You earned those too.
What's a few bonus balls among competitors? If that puts you off your game then it did what it was supposed to. It ain't me being a hater. It's intimidation–and maybe even a little bit of respect. Not that I'll ever admit it.
Look, I know this brand of paintball isn't for everybody. But when the stakes are high, when the competition is tight, when the difference between winning and losing is razor thin this is the way the game is played. It ain't about hate, it's about winning.

Paintball Around The Web

I look around the paintball web some days (like today) and think if only you lazy slackers would clue your friends in on the wonder & wisdom that is VFTD it would put a substantial dent in the level of mind-numbing ignorance out there. And then I come to my senses. Like you have any friends. (No, I don't care what your Facebook says.) Besides, most of you are only interested in the pictures. Without you lot what would happen to all the paintball magazines? Oh ...

Today's examples are: Gee, what's happening to all the pro teams? & (in a tie) The PSP doesn't pay a thing for the Phoenix venue/We need the 2011 PSP schedule yesterday. It's a matter of life and death (and if the league really cared they'd get this done on my schedule.)

Anybody remember Bolingbrook? PSP finally stopped returning to Bolingbrook 'cus they kept raising the rental fee. Phoenix is on that same arc and the likelihood of returning to that location is very tiny, practically microscopic. (I don't care what your friend was told by a guy who knows a guy.) Yes, it sucks. The Phoenix venue was swell.
About the schedule; everybody would like to see one as soon as possible, from the players to the regional leagues. But here's the thing. Phoenix, if it's still Phoenix, is likely to be a new location. As will Chicago. And there are almost certainly opportunities to minimize the cost to the league while still getting an acceptable place to play. One that needs to meet a variety of criteria to be suitable. Is that an excuse? No, it's just a fact. The PSP has more work to do to get venues this season and the decisions made now may make things easier and better for years to come. Does that mean the PSP (in this instance) is above criticism? No, of course not. It's just that the dim-witted whining of the uninformed isn't really criticism. Just saying.

Now about those pro teams--hey nimrod, where you been? This is not a new phenomenon. It's not even "new" news. Go back and read the first paragraph of 'CPL meltdown?' D'oh! You know, these things aren't happening in isolation. Frakking retards.

UPDATE: Just letting off a little steam, kids. Allow me explain the pro teams thing in more detail. Last year some time Magued backed off running Joy on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, over the course of the year it was clear they were struggling with a sponsorship gap with Angel unable or unwilling to supply the support they needed. Toss in GI Sportz and a very abbreviated association with small ball and the circumstances weren't improving. Now add an aging roster with little interest in or ability to transition to a new generation of players and the outcome shouldn't surprise anyone. It is, unfortunately, a pattern being repeated over and over.

The Sky is Falling

The sky is falling. Woe be unto us. Everything is doom & gloom. Paintball is dying. It isn't what it once was. Paintball had its chance and blew it.

So said Chicken Little. (Okay, just the part about the sky falling but I'm working on a metaphor here.) So say more than a few paintball types these days as well. And yes, a case could be made to claim that VFTD has been as negative as anybody else. But there is a difference. One I'll get to later.

If you've been playing less than 5 years--shut up. If you're not even 20 years old yet--shut up. If you are some angst-ridden emo dork who can't see thru his bangs and is tired of cutting himself--shut up. If all you do is reflexively regurgitate what ten other people tell you to think--shut up.

Did I say I was fed-up with the whiners, naysayers & crybabies?

Yeah, things are different and (seemingly) not for the better if all your doing is counting numbers. They are also different from how they were twenty-five years ago yet I'd be willing to bet most of you would prefer today's game over the antique game. Hell, many of you don't have a clue what the game was like twenty-five years ago. So we're on the farside of competitive paintball's heyday--paintball's first heyday. But I'm reasonably certain there is no cosmic law of the universe that says paintball gets one chance and one chance only to go mainstream. And even if that were true, so what? Most everyone playing the game plays the game because they enjoy it. They aren't looking for the big score, the mega-million dollar mainstream or dreaming of being on Sportscenter. National level tournament play has declined but the biggest World Cups happened before the xball era. The move from 10-man to xball reduced participation but I don't recall anyway proclaiming then that the end was near. And the xball team turnout this year is the third largest ever. Fewer teams played WC in 1999 than will play Cup next week. Was national level tourney play supposed to grow and grow and grow? Forever getting bigger and bigger? The tourney format never could sustain unlimited growth. Things are different. Some high profile teams are gone. As are chunks of the PBIndustry. If you look at the history of the game the aberration was the huge growth in the early part of the last decade.

The sky isn't falling. The world of competitive paintball is changing. Has changed. Some of the changes were intentional and others weren't. What comes next is opportunity. Yes, it remains difficult in many portions of the industry and there are no guarantees things will improve for everyone or that everyone still in the game in whatever capacity will still be in it day after tomorrow. That's life. For those who wanted a change in the Old Guard there's a better chance of that happening tomorrow than there ever was yesterday. For those who want greater diversity within the game that was never going to happen when the status quo was such an all-encompassing success. Today's turmoil is the breeding ground for tomorrow's solutions. It isn't the end of the (paintball) world. It's still just the beginning.

VFTD has, over the years, attempted to look at paintball and the competitive game in particular without the hardcore fan's rose-tinted glasses. Without buying into the industry hype. Without blindly following the crowd or getting hung up on the status quo. So, yes, I've been critical of lots of things. Mostly 'cus they were wrong or being done poorly. (In my estimation anyway.) The point has never been to be needlessly contrarian or negative. It's always been about the game and making it better and in a game where the movers & shakers want to act in secret there's nothing wrong with an open, honest discussion.

The B* Word

The first articles I recall seeing in a paintball magazine itemized what belonged in your gearbag, how to treat snake bite and how to avoid burnout. That was at least 15 years ago. At least two of those articles could appear in any current magazine--even Rich Telford's Wide World of Paintball (Facefull for those of you outta the loop)--and not seem out of place. I bring up the ancient history to demonstrate that even in paintball there are few things that are new, including today's topic, burnout. The B* word. Burnout isn't anything new. But the way we talk about it--or don't talk about it, is.
Back in the day burnout was a common topic in magazines and conversations throughout rec and tourney paintball. The definition of burnout was a generic malaise and loss of excitement and desire to play--and could as easily effect the guy who played rec ball a couple times a month as the hardcore traveling pro or the Big Game aficionado or local 3-man superstar. I can't recall there was much effort to explain the causes, more like it was just assumed that some ballers would catch the burnout bug so most of the talk was about how to deal with it and (hopefully) come out the other side once again a happy baller. Much of the advice I remember seemed to boil down to "man up" "walk it off" and "take a little time off."
So when did things change? When did we stop talking about burnout as a commonplace occurrence and start obsessing over the causes? And has it done any good? It was a different paintball world when I started playing so I'm wondering if all the modern supposed causes of people losing interest in playing (burnout) are just the latest "answers" that may have little to do with the real causes. Are there 'real' causes or is it just the nature of the game and the players that interest wanes for some over time no matter what we do or don't do? If burnout is something that will always be with us maybe we need to reconsider some or all the "fixes" we bandy about for saving the game.

Social Media & Paintball

All social media (except blogging--d'oh!) get the big thumb's down official badge of disapproval from VFTD. (Trust me, I do so have the big foam thumb in a closet someplace. Along with a few foam fingers and I have a particular finger in mind for some of the more egregious offenders.) I have tried to be understanding--no, not really--but it's getting out of hand, going too far.
It seems Paintball discovered social media about a day late and a dollar short, as per usual, but is desperately making up for lost ground--and I don't know about you--but it's beginning to piss me off. Okay, I lied again. (I lied the first time about all those foam fingers but that doesn't mean I don't still have one, a finger, available for you.) It's not beginning to, it's been pissing me off for awhile now but I wanted to be the kinder, gentler VFTD and show some paintball solidarity but .. but ... I've had enough.
If the idea of social media is easy-peasey interactive communication networked via shared interests, friendships, etc. the reality is Paintball is using it like a bludgeon to beat me senseless with their (mostly) commercial messages or like a home invader intruding through every portal to inundate me (and you) with time-wasting rubbish. Knock it off--or at least dial it down a notch or two.

Is Tippmann Killing Paintball's Future, Phase 2

Today's post was going to be about playing dead zones (as previously promised in the WCPPL field #2 post) but there's an interesting dialogue going on in comments from yesterday and I want to pick up on that and see if we can't take it a little further. (I will still get to the dz post but it may have to wait until next week as I'm leaving later today for NPPL Chicago and a long weekend.)

Before continuing read the comments attached to yesterday's post. There is a faction (led by Faction---otherwise known as chris raehl) advocating higher per ball paint prices, at least at the local field retail level. The idea is to improve margins, provide fields with greater pricing flexibility, put a passive break on use of high ROF guns of every sort & alter the general sort of paintball played. (I was going to say intensity but that's subjective to the player.) The advocates include industry peeps from different strata as well as a field owner who purposefully uses paint prices to restrict or modify his typical customer base--and he does it in an environment where there are other paintball field choices. In effect what he is doing isn't gouging his customers on paint prices--which is the standard complaint of the must have cheapest paint possible crowd--he is using paint price to control the paintball experience available at his field. And apparently it's working, at least in his area.
Keeping in mind that nearly everyone seems to agree that the use of high ROF guns in the recreational setting (and perhaps even in some competition settings) has been, to one degree or another, responsible for driving players out of the game and also driving potential or newbie type players from the game. Under such circumstances it seems like a no-brainer to implement something like what the faction has advocated, and yet...
Companies like Tippmann don't make guns capable of 15 bps because nobody is buying them. And I continue to wonder if what works for Reiner will work anywhere. I also wonder how you put the cork back in the bottle with online stores and even manufacturers selling direct at such low prices the local pro shop & field is behind the 8-ball before the potential customer even reaches the front door. And the majority (or at least a significant percentage) of today's players don't know any different sort of paintball than the way it was played when they started in the last five years. Or what becomes of the paint companies currently selling high volume on low margins. Where do they find an acceptable equilibrium in a shift to higher price, lower volume of production? The whole developmental history of paintball has led to this place. Is it possible to backtrack? To even agree on what needs to be changed or "fixed"?

Could the next wave of industry innovation be vertical integration?

Is Tippmann Killing Paintball's Future?

Any takers on the over/under for irate (and possibly threatening) communication? It's gotta be in hours, right?
Are you wondering how I could even ask such a question? Am I kidding? Just trying to be provocative? (Well, yes. Partly.) But in fact if you take certain assumptions as a given it's undeniable.
The argument that crazy high ROF guns in the hands of tournament ballers is ruining the game and driving away other players is pretty much the conventional wisdom these days.
Another item of conventional wisdom is that tourney ballers are but a fraction of all paintballers, the tail wagging the dog--and a nub of a tail at that--what I've taken to calling the One Percenters.
Leaving aside the total number of high end markers sold compared to the total number of competitive players--those sorts of stats probably don't exist--a visit to virtually any rec field in the country will demonstrate that not all those guns are in the hands of tourney players. That means part of the original argument begins to break down. We still have the high ROF guns but they aren't exclusive to tournament players.
Perhaps we can modify the argument and claim the problem is high end high ROF guns in the hands of tournament ballers and emulators of tournament ballers. But if we're going to go down that road I'd like to have some idea how many high end high ROF guns are out there compared to the total of all paintball markers and players because it seems to me that if the "problem" can be that easily isolated to some small percent of players and guns it should really be easy to fix. Just quarantine that group and the problem is solved. So why hasn't it happened? Is everybody involved in paintball so dumb the obvious eludes them? Or is it something else?
For starters there are loads of non-high end high ROF guns in the marketplace, added to on a daily basis--by Tippmann, among many others. Some are tourney-type markers, many are not. A brief review of the Tippmann product line reveals 5 basic markers (discounting the pistol) all of which either come with or can be accessorized with an e-grip or reactive trigger mod advertised by Tippmann as capable of up to 15 bps. The same or something similar go for Kingman/Spyder and BT to name a couple other high volume brands. High ROF markers are ubiquitous--they are everywhere at virtually every price point.
Of course, it isn't just Tippmann. It's pretty much everybody. I only used them because they don't make competition markers and everyone routinely associates them with the recreational market, the entry market and newbie rentals. Paintball's problem, assuming there is a problem, isn't out of control tourney ballers shooting mysterious, magical super expensive high ROF markers at unsuspecting newbs. If there is a problem with high ROF markers it's PBIndustry's problem because everybody is making high ROF guns in every possible guise and selling them as fast as they can ship them out their doors. And if there is too much paint being flung too fast across fields around the country the vast majority of it is from guns and players that have nothing to do with competitive paintball.

So what's next? Either the industry is killing itself--or it isn't. If it is then blaming the the smallest segment of players won't solve it, only absolve those truly responsible.

Keeping it Real: The Rest of the Rant

Last Friday, short on time and more than normally agitated I posted Keeping It Real in which I had begun intending to make one point but (sorta) made another one instead. The point I was intending to make is that all the qualities that sports fans admire are the very same qualities that drive more than a few pro paintballers to give up virtually everything but paintball. If you truly admire drive, desire, dedication and an indomitable spirit to succeed then which athlete is putting more on the line to win; the guy making millions or the guy eating baloney sandwiches so he can go to practice?

I'm not saying these guys deserve to be idolized or that I think it's the wisest option for the future but it's easy to idolize the super rich super famous sports star and I'm wondering if the object of that adulation isn't getting all mixed up in some peeps minds. Because you can't say Kobe Bryant is great because of the traits he displays on the court if you won't say the same for a player like Alex Fraige. Do you admire their character and the qualities that make them great performers or do you admire (and envy) the result? For every kid out there talkin' about the grind there's three others belittling their motivation and unwillingness to compromise. So which is it?

Keeping It Real

If you stopped by looking for a new Pro*file check back tomorrow. (Yes, Friday is the regularly scheduled day when I have some and I do--but not today. I'ma little busy.) The Pro*file was getting bumped a day in order to post on this weekend's WCPPL field layout--which should play well except things may bog down a bit in the snake--only I simply don't have time to do it right and do it today. Should be posted Sunday (or Monday) so y'all playing the event can tell me if I got it right or not.

What I do want to comment on today is a conversation that occurred on one of my local sports talk radio channels while I was on the road earlier. The subject was LeBron James and what a loser he is. How he'll never be another Michael Jordan or even another Kobe Bryant even if he is a billionaire by the time he's thirty. The conversation annoyed me on so many levels it's hard to keep track of them all. How much I despise the star system that is the modern NBA; how much some sports figures are deified; how easily and superficially the same guys are then crucified and over the most trivial of things. How completely detached from reality do you have to be to see things that way? I guess that makes Mr. Local Sports Radio Talk Guy the ultimate loser 'cus he isn't ever going to win or lose anything of a similar nature while he pulls down that not-quite-a-major-market-afternoon slot-on-an-afterthought-station paycheck. And could somebody please tell me how many championships Mike won all by himself? Just what is it that affords the Jordans and Bryants and opportunity to be idolized? What if Jordan wasn't a basketball player? What if, instead he was a car salesman or a garbage collector?

Look, I agree with this much--if LeBron has to win a title carrying a team and a city on his back it isn't going to happen. It's foolish to believe otherwise because it doesn't happen--not even for Micheal Jordan. And James isn't Jordan. He doesn't have the iron will or the pathological self-confidence. Yet, despite appearances it remains a team game. But what's really at the bottom of all this? If Michael Jordan or LeBron James were paintball players some would still idolize them but mostly they'd be told to grow up, get a life, quit wasting their time and figure out before it's too late that paintball is a dead end.

Follow-up on Interesting Times: Wednesday Edition

Are we having fun yet? Personally I'm finding the assorted ankle biters a bit tedious but c'est la vie. Your mileage may vary. At any rate Mr. Miller of Brimstone is taking a much more entertaining and media savvy tack given the circumstances with a veritable media blitz. If I cared I'd be feeling left out right about now.

However, I have a couple of clarifications. Nowhere did VTFD include field operators as potential end user targets of a Brimstone lawsuit. VFTD has no interest in any lawsuit between Brimstone and Adrenaline Games or the outcome. I do have a player's interest in what the pursuit of secondary parties might mean to competitive paintball in this economic climate.

On that score I'd like to point out a couple of things. Over at PBN there is a PB News thread on this topic. On page one (and elsewhere) is a copy of a statement byMr. Miller. His first point is--"1) There is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that Brimstone Enterprises (Ultimate Airball) would EVER consider suing all of the Game Field Operators who use Patent infringing products." If Mr. Miller meant to say that Brimstone has no intention of suing field operators it was not necessary to parse his statement by including the word all as that implies his statement may not apply to 'some' and is unnecessarily ambiguous. If Mr. Miller means exactly what he says his statement does not preclude suing some field operators. Words mean things, kids. (Stay in school.)
On the subject of potentially suing league operators Mr. Miller says on page 6 of the same PBN thread (post #109) "Our Ultimate Airball Patent for tubeless, stand-alone inflatable bunkers was granted in 2007. These things take time. We notified all of the Leagues and Competitors that we were open to an AGREEMENT." For the reading impaired that means Brimstone approached the tourney leagues as well as the other manufacturer(s). The implication is that if the leagues approached failed to enter an agreement with Brimstone they face the same liability as an infringing manufacturer. It also means by implication Brimstone foresaw this possibility to begin with and so far all Mr. Miller's statements carefully avoid specifically mentioning what their intentions are with respect to "infringing" tournament promoters and/or leagues.

Whatever the upshot of litigation against infringing manufacturer(s) if Brimstone is not intentionally reserving the right to litigate against "infringing" tournament operators and/or some field operators perhaps they ought to say so, plainly, clearly and unequivocally. Just a thought.

As always if Mr. Miller or any other official Brimstone rep wishes to respond they are welcome to do so.

Btw, anyone who wishes to quote VFTD content is welcome to do so as long as it's identified as such and adding a link would nice. Thanks.

Interesting Times: Monday edition

Were you paying attention when JT Europe was sold to Cybergun? Or when XSV's sponsorship wasn't renewed? Did you realize that upwards of 50% of all JT sales had been through Walmart? That the word on the street when JT Sports underwent a top to bottom restructure beginning a couple of years ago that parent company Jarden decreed each division (Viewloader, WGP, etc.) needed to be profitable to remain in operation?

The latest word whispered in my favorite dark alley is that the windows will be shuttered and the doors locked and closed on JT Sports for good on Feb 1 2010. Caput! No word on the availability of any of the pieces (like Viewloader) except the paint manufacturing element which apparently has two bidders at the moment. (I'll tell you who they are tomorrow.) I hope Rodney and World Famous Entourage collect on their sponsorship in a hurry. What's that all about?

UPDATE: If you're new to VFTD you might want to browse a bit. This week's rumorology isn't the blog's stock-in-trade, more a reflection of the time of year. And if you have a particular interest try "search" (but it doesn't work very well) or drop me a line any time (link on sidebar at the top.)

NE Hurricanes

Earlier today Jeff announced the pro team would no longer be competing. For those following the pro game this should not be a great surprise--perhaps which teams survive and which don't might catch some by surprise but the current environment isn't encouraging or supportive. Fortunately in this case I am not as saddened as I might be because I know Jeff intends to remain a part of competitive paintball.
I wish the Hurricane players all the best and hope their futures include as much paintball as they want it to and I will look forward to seeing you guys on the circuit.

The Canes aren't the first and they won't be the last. I hope I'm around to see them back on top in the future.

Support Paintball

Now all we need is the bumper sticker. Support Paintball. Who knew it was that easy? I mean once we's united in our support of paintball everything will be swell. Won't it?

I don't know about y'all but I just want to tear my hair out when I read some of the mindlessly myopic well intentioned blithering spewed out on the internet. Fortunately I have so little hair left it's hard to get a good grip ... but anyway. The current source of my all-out-of-proportion and increasingly violent urges is the vapid notion that all that is required to put things right is for everyone to support paintball. (Stupidity make Baca angry. And you wouldn't like Baca when he's angry.)

Of course it gets even worse when some of these geniuses start fleshing out the details of their support. Support paintball by playing a tournament series. Support paintball by buying more stuff. Look, I'm all for supporting paintball but I have no patience for empty platitudes or marketing slogans masquerading as a call to action. You want to support paintball first stop for a second and try and figure out that supporting paintball doesn't necessarily mean blindly supporting the status quo. You want to support paintball? Get some of your friends together and go play.

Here We Go Again

Spike will be airing the NRL playoffs and championship match starting tomorrow night. NRL is, of course, the National Rugby League but if you’ve never heard of it before don’t be too surprised. It’s not our National Rugby League (although there are a couple of U.S.-based rugby leagues. Who knew?) It’s coming to America from Australia. (How can they do that? I thought we had a monopoly on calling our leagues national. It’s very confusing.)

Rugby is apparently quite popular in Australia but how many people in the 100 million homes Spike reaches even know what rugby is much less how it’s played, what the rules are or, least likely of all, find it captivating sports entertainment? Heck, is it more popular in Australia than Australian Rules Football? Inquiring minds want to know because once upon a time during the dark ages of cable sports ESPN used to broadcast Aussie Rules Football in the middle of the night.

I suppose paintballers should have realized–and when I say paintballers I mean me–the position competitive paintball was in when you could watch Major League Lacrosse on basic cable. But rugby? C’mon! That’s like putting soccer on TV! Oh, wait, they do actually put soccer on TV, don’t they? I mean what does rugby have that paintball doesn’t? Other than stuff like an actual league, national federations, fans and somebody who talked some Spike executive into putting them on American TV. Other than that.

I’m gonna DVR it not because I’m particularly interested in rugby but I do want to see the commercials.

Sunday Special: Paintball & the Law

As posted on the Nation and over at ProPaintball information has gone public on various lawsuits filed by Heckler & Koch (a manufacturer of real firearms) for an assortment of mostly trademark infringements against a number of Airsoft and paintball companies. In addition H&K has filed suits against two other arms manufacturers, Professional Arms and Cotarie Arms. All the suits I've seen so far date from December '08 thru June '09.

The really interesting bit--from a paintball perspective (okay, my paintball perspective) is that on May 18 Kee Action Sports filed a similar trademark infringement suit against Heckler & Koch. Did Kee file preemptively expecting a similar filing from H&K? Who knows?

Anyway, more thoughts on this latest spate of legal wranglings involving paintball tomorrow on Baca's Blog over at the Big Bullet.

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.