Tournament play & making it presentable to large corporations.

I haven't pissed anyone off for a while. Let's change that. I typed this up as a response to someone else in another forum, but I figured I'd share. Nice guy me.

I want to make this clear. My goals are not to kill tournament paintball. As long as one person says "I'm better than you" there will be tournament paintball. No, my goal is to see paintball do what it's promised since 1991.

Biting the bullet, a slang term "To face a painful situation bravely and stoically." In this case, it's the industry understanding that money spent now means money income in the future.

What basically needs to happen for paintball to be recognized is a few things.

#1 : The sport needs to take itself seriously. Let's start with the clothing. We're still wearing motocross jerseys and roller hockey pants. The jersey evolved from JT's stuff, which was all motocross. They stuffed the Ironmen into colorful shirts and pants, and the trend was born.

The sport also needs to take a new attitude from the players. You don't argue a call and expect it overturned. You don't go after a guy in the parking lot after the game, or throw a punch during it. You are an athlete playing a "non-contact" game. While I'm at it, they could use a media coach as well.

#2 : The sport needs to unify. NPPL, PSP, Super 7, WPL... Garbage. The sport is not a sport when there are multiple leagues trying to say they're the one. "What about arena football? What about world league football?" All are under the NFL umbrella! No sport is taken seriously when the rules change fro league to league, and month to month.

#3 : Separate under one umbrella. Let's use baseball as an example. MLB is the umbrella company. Under the MLB, each team operates independently following the rules that MLB puts down. The players are in a union, and the players will do what the union says because they're looking out for their interest. The umpires are also in a union, separate from MLB. The MLB does not run the umpires. The teams run their own stadiums, MLB does not interfere with how they run business. MLB also does not manufacture or sell the players bats, balls, gloves, uniforms, but they do pass rules as to what they may use on the field.

Paintball, however, the players that ref also play in the league. The rules are made by players, enforced by players, and subsequently broken by them. The players also run the industry. The Philly Americans run Smart Parts, who sells gear to the players who play under the rules they have a hand in making. In most other circles, this is a red flag. Not in paintball. Promoters of events also are in the industry, and run things like magazines (Jerry Braun, promoter of World Cup), DYE (Dave "Youngblood" DeHann promotes too), and more. See the problems there?

Players also need to understand that a "Players Union" is not a bad thing. There needs to be an entity that is SPECIFICALLY looking out for the interests of the players. About 5 years ago Vegas NPPL had rebar and concrete on the fields of play. The players all complained, but they all played. Ribs and arms were broken, and nobody said anything or took a stand. A players union would walk the fields before an event, and give approval for the players to either go or no go. And the players need to go with what the union says.

#4 : Clean up. I suppose that I give the impression that drug use is rampant, it's not. We're not "Trippin on E" as we play. But the weekend tournaments are basically a party. Show up in the morning, play 4 games, go back to the hotel, put on different clothing and go out and drink / party. That's the lifestyle. That needs to change if you want to attract outside companies.

Do you really think PepsiCo will back a sport where it's athletes get plastered before a day of competition, get arrested for drunk & disorderly, and puke on the streets where photographers will see it? How about McDonalds? No. I'm not saying that the sport has to look squeaky clean, just know that when the microscope is dialed in on you the details DO come out.

Leagues also need a publicly printed anti-drug policy. Just saying "no" isn't enough. There needs to be a written in stone policy that will not flex. Large corporations have them, so why not paintball? And large corporations feel good when they see an anti-drug policy. Adopting the WADA code isn't a bad idea either as it would insure players are clean. SNOWBOARDING has to adopt the wada code!

#5 : A code of conduct needs to be drafted, signed, and enforced. Right now there is no code of conduct. I have challenged tournament players to show me where the league made them sign a code of conduct, and they can not. The only one I know of was the USPL in 2000.

I also believe that a 100% separation of tournament and recreational paintball is in order. This won't make me popular (like I care anymore) but unless you draw the line, anyone can be a pro player. I would like to see a code of conduct that tells tournament players that they may not play "recreational" paintball without written consent from the league. So they may play in a big game, if they can get the league to sign off on it. But not jump in with the renters and go nuts.

But at the very least, a code of conduct of on-field activity needs to be drafted, signed and enforced by the league. LaSoya's little "point blank" incident only drew a penalty, all other penalties were from the team and not the league (assuming my current facts are straight on the incident). In football if player tackled another player after the play was over the offending player would be fined and/or suspended by the league. In hockey players going beyond the game are routinely fined. In paintball? "Boys will be boys". This attitude does not fly with people in large family-oriented corporations.

#6 : The technology either needs to be limited or classed. I know, the "PSP" 15/ second rule is in effect, but what it creates is a game with no real skill. You give a monkey unlimited paint and even they will eliminate people on the break. 1 hopper, 1 pod, more than enough. Nobody wants to DO that, saying "THAT SUCKS!" but you know what? NASCAR drivers hate restrictor plate racing but they do it. If boxers had their way the gloves would be RADICALLY different. And just imagine if a hockey goalie could make their own knee and shin guards?

The problem is the players have been the rule makers and manufacturers for so long, they don't understand how interwoven they are. Since the people that play the game also make the rules and the gear, they can make clothing, goggles, headgear and excessive padding that is "unmodified from the manufacturer". Why do you think that the All Americans bought Renegade in the first place? But that's my opinion.

And there's SO much more that needs to be done, but that's a good place to start.