http://hype.pbguide.com Your source for paintball link resource and latest paintball news Thu, 17 May 2012 02:59:02 CEST en http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/a-photo-tribute-to-referees-everywhere/ Thu, 17 May 2012 02:59:02 CEST pbguide paintball X3 2 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/a-photo-tribute-to-referees-everywhere/ http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/jason-kreisman-leaving-kee-action-sports/ Thu, 17 May 2012 01:59:19 CEST pbguide The Ford Report 2 http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/jason-kreisman-leaving-kee-action-sports/ http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/may-10th-2012/ Thu, 17 May 2012 01:59:18 CEST pbguide The Ford Report 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/may-10th-2012/ http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/millennium-bitburg-soon%E2%80%A6/ Wed, 16 May 2012 20:59:20 CEST pbguide speedball world 2 http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/millennium-bitburg-soon%E2%80%A6/ http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/midweek-musing/ 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.) ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 18:59:47 CEST pbguide View from The DeadBox 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/midweek-musing/ http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/empire-and-jt-paintball-partner-with-the-boy-scouts-to-promote-paintball-at-the-2012-kutztown-university-minsi-trails-jamboree-/ Wed, 16 May 2012 01:59:15 CEST pbguide The Ford Report 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/empire-and-jt-paintball-partner-with-the-boy-scouts-to-promote-paintball-at-the-2012-kutztown-university-minsi-trails-jamboree-/ http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/paintballx3-magazine-march-issue-is-live-free-1/ Tue, 15 May 2012 23:59:02 CEST pbguide paintball X3 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/paintballx3-magazine-march-issue-is-live-free-1/ http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/med-league-bansko-mountain-cup/ Beaucoup de fun et de soleil ( et de grillade au BBQ ) .

Rdv pour la 2eme manche à Bansko pour la Mountain Cup !!! ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 11:59:16 CEST pbguide speedball world 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/med-league-bansko-mountain-cup/ http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/video-le-teaser-du-big-game-a-veckring/
Une belle vidéo est en préparation. Pour l'heure, voici le Teaser ! ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 11:59:16 CEST pbguide speedball world 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/video-le-teaser-du-big-game-a-veckring/ http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/the-super-6-2012-golden-gun/ Tue, 15 May 2012 00:59:19 CEST pbguide The Ford Report 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/the-super-6-2012-golden-gun/ http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/pay-psp-chicago-open-team-entry-by-monday-night-to-save/ Mon, 14 May 2012 14:59:03 CEST pbguide paintball X3 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/pay-psp-chicago-open-team-entry-by-monday-night-to-save/ http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/materiel-ion-2-0-/ Mon, 14 May 2012 13:59:18 CEST pbguide speedball world 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/speedball-world/materiel-ion-2-0-/ http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/rules-order-the-uwl-banning/
I kinda hate to do this 'cus I really like Tom Cole. He is legitimately one of the good guys in paintball. It's unfortunate that an incident at a recent UWL has become such big news--making it useful as an example. So keep in mind the takeaway isn't the UWL incident specifically, it's an opportunity to discuss ways to continue to improve the competitive game. (Even when they play in the woods.)

There's an enormous PBN Paintball News thread about the banning. If you haven't seen I'll save you the trouble. It is predominantly 12 pages and 250 comments mostly by peeps who know pretty much nothing about the actual situation. So pretty much the PBN norm. If you aren't familiar with the situation it seems that a player in the recently completed UWL event (in Utah?) wiped a hit and proceeded (at some level) to argue (the call?) (his intentions?) about something. Eventually Tom posted in the thread. The first was a minimally informative post confirming the open-ended player ban. The second included an additional detail or two.
Now here is where I have a problem. The UWL never made a formal league acknowledged statement. Still haven't. (Okay, maybe Tom thinks he did that in commenting in a PBN thread but that thread got started because there was only rumors floating around.) If the league intended to make a point about how the league intends to operate and its expectations for its players--which is at least implied in one of Tom's posts--it needs (and needed) to be stated unambiguously in a league press release.
More fundamental is how the existing league rules were followed--or not. By UWL rule wiping is a 3-4-1. Which was apparently assessed. Initially in comments it was suggested an ensuing argument is what precipitated the banning but in Tom's second PBN post he writes "Cheating will get you banned in the UWL. If a players is caught intentionally breaking the rules he is not welcome back. Wiping, using a tool on the field to turn gun up, and other such offense will get a player and or team tossed."  All well and good except that's not in the rules. The only rule that allows some unspecified open-ended 'further penalty' is Unsportsmanlike Conduct. However nothing that we know happened fits any of listed unsportsmanlike conduct criteria.
I am not, btw, arguing the call or the banning or any part of that. I am saying that if this is league policy they [or any league for that matter] need to get out in front of situations like this and own their policy. And further that the rules are explicitly followed in the process. In part because that's the way it ought to handled and partly because competitive paintball has a shady history of doing the opposite and conducting unpleasant business in the shadows and frequently left unexplained.

I will have more on this topic next week. ]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 05:59:53 CEST pbguide View from The DeadBox 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/rules-order-the-uwl-banning/ http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/mlp-update-the-movie/ This time the game is to match up any or all of the major paintball leagues with a movie title that you think best describes their current status.
To give you some ideas here's some movies that occurred to me. Yes, just the movies--if you want you can see if you'd match them to the same leagues I would. (I'll post those up later in an UPDATE of this update.) Dead Man Walking. Kingpin. The Great Race. The Circus. Plan 9 from Outer Space. Zoolander. The Poseidon Adventure. Highlander. Goodfellas. High Anxiety. Multiplicity. A Fistful of Dollars. Papillon.
Or you make your own movie matches and post them up in comments. If this works out like past cynical VFTD games--well, you know. ]]> Sun, 13 May 2012 05:59:36 CEST pbguide View from The DeadBox 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/mlp-update-the-movie/ http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/nppl-hb-stats-posted/ Sat, 12 May 2012 05:59:43 CEST pbguide View from The DeadBox 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/nppl-hb-stats-posted/ http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/dye-supports-the-cxbl-as-a-platinum-sponsor/ Sat, 12 May 2012 01:59:18 CEST pbguide The Ford Report 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/the-ford-report/dye-supports-the-cxbl-as-a-platinum-sponsor/ http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/x3-exclusive-anthrax-jerseys-put-to-the-test-by-kristine-andersen/ Fri, 11 May 2012 20:59:02 CEST pbguide paintball X3 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/x3-exclusive-anthrax-jerseys-put-to-the-test-by-kristine-andersen/ http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/the-empire-prophecy-z2-no-excuses-win-promotion/ Fri, 11 May 2012 16:59:02 CEST pbguide paintball X3 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/the-empire-prophecy-z2-no-excuses-win-promotion/ http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/2012-mlp-update/ The series formerly known as The Grand Tour is on hiatus (maybe) or taking a (dirt) nap. Anyway, they do not appear to be promoting events this season. (The new Champions Series out of Italy appears to have a modest Pro division, of sorts, but since they have their own dedicated website--the recently revised and still butt ugly Paintball.com I'ma give them this season to settle in and see if it lasts.)
In PSP news the big news is the formation of Paintball Access and the new expanded webcast and stats roll out. Viewer numbers remain a fairly closely kept total--and last I heard they are still trying to calculate all the viewers from the variety of viewing sources--but rumors abound that the totals are well above last year's World Cup. It all seems quite positive but until we start seeing ads from outside of paintball clogging up the time between points I will continue to keep my fingers crossed. (Has anyone ever been glad to see advertising? That's some cruel irony, that is.)
The PSP is also leading in the stats race--by default so far--the default of the NPPL not posting anything yet from their HB event. As an observer I want dueling stats! As a coach I think it's a damned distraction. Probably good for the game and annoying as hell. (No, I'm not schizophrenic--I just play one on the internet.)
The one thing nobody is talking about so far is PSP event turnout and how things will shake out this year with 5 events. Galveston had very strong season opening numbers (150) and Phoenix fell off considerably with 114 teams. The question is: Why? Did the swampfest put off some teams? Is a fifth event gonna cut numbers at other events? Were they scheduled too close together? Is the Left coast draw weak given their other tourney options and the recent (then) HB event? It's hard to know but a review of the first two events over the last six years shows Galveston had the highest team attendance for a first event and Phoenix had the lowest--despite the popularity of the venue. Current Chicago registration is at 147 teams with approx. 6 weeks to go. Those numbers are ballpark with recent attendance figures but would still trend down unless they improve 10-15 teams between now and the event.
Who knows what's going on in the NPPL. Even with the relocation at HB (north of the pier) and the inclusion of the extra format option (Race 2) team turnout was well down over 2011. Since the NPPL doesn't actually release those figures--for all I know they may not even know for sure--the only way to get a reasonably accurate count is from post event rankings and/or making a team count from the event schedule. Numbers for HB this year look to be right around 100-ish, give or take. The good news for the NPPL is that Chicago may be up over last year. No telling just yet as registered teams aren't paid teams but even with virtually no impact made by the 5-man Race 2 option and the collapse of the previously modestly successful pump division Chi-town turnout may be up. Maybe it's the return, by popular demand no doubt, of the Ms NPPL bikini contest. (It's getting harder to keep track of all the data because the website pages from past seasons aren't all available anymore--or have been renamed.)
NPPL-USPL's Facebook page says event registration closes tonight. It ain't on the website. ID cards from HB will be mailed or available at Chicago. Stats too. The delays are blamed on a broken printer, software issues, a security breach (whatever that means) & the dog ate their printouts. (I made up that last one up but come on. Really? Security breach? Quick, call Homeland Security.) Whatever, we'll know soon as the event begins in a week.
Over in Millennium Land I'm informed our happy little blog was a bullet point on the agenda of an MS board meeting. That's very exciting news though upon reflection they might not have been altogether pleased. (Can't please some people. If they had wanted nothing but adoring coverage they should do what everybody in the industry does, pay for it. Kidding. No I'm not.)
Meanwhile Bitburg is a sellout at 156 teams (with the possibility of 4 additional D2 teams.) I'm privately told all the time that lots o' Euro teams are dissatisfied with the MS and I used to believe it but it's wearing thin. Look, if teams keep showing up in big numbers I'ma start believing the numbers. And good for them. The MS does do a lot of things well.
This is gonna be another "typical" Millennium layout pushing wide open fast play. I'm gonna try to get enough video in Bitburg to illustrate my point about the outta control chasing greased pigs style of paintball played by a lot of the Euro teams. Should be interesting & fun. Will I have to set up a secret courier service to get the video off site and out of Germany?
Oh, and the MS has finally discovered Facebook. Whoopee. Wanna buy a Mills field cheap?

The MLP Update movie version tomorrow. ]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 05:59:42 CEST pbguide View from The DeadBox 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/view-from-the-deadbox/2012-mlp-update/ http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/cobie-smulders-from-new-avengers-movie-had-a-paintball-birthday-hollywood-sports/ Fri, 11 May 2012 03:59:03 CEST pbguide paintball X3 1 http://hype.pbguide.com/paintball-x3/cobie-smulders-from-new-avengers-movie-had-a-paintball-birthday-hollywood-sports/