Hey, long time no see and if you're reading this then you obviously know it's that time again for another event review by yours truly. Once again I headed up to Illinois, Chicago for PSP's third event of the year held once again at the Bolingbrook Recreational Aquatic Center. The event as always had its ups and its downs but all around I felt it was another successful event by the PSP staff. Anyway, let's get started!
Tuesday - I had an early flight to Chicago, which I almost missed, and luckily ended up on the same plane as most of the guys from VCK, who are a local D3 team that play at my home field. After a pleasant flight followed by crappy landing I was able to bum a ride from O'hare to the event. When I left Houston whoever was on the radio said it was going to be the hottest day of the year thus far in Houston. When I landed in Chicago two hours later the same thing applied. It was pretty damn hot to say the least. That's the thing about PSP, just can't catch a break with the weather. It's always too hot, cold, windy, rainy, whatever, etc. Only once can I think of the weather actually cooperating and it was awesome. I run into Marlene and Tim and discuss the week's plan and find out who I'll be reffing with. Once again I was on the good old D1 field with such familiar faces as Amos, Jeb and Adam. New to the field were Seth, Benson, Kaarin (she's kinda new), Doc and three UK Refs, Russel, Gilly and Ant. I'd heard and read a lot of things about the UK Refs so I was kinda interested in seeing and working with them. I also find out that after we finish our morning bracket of D2 games we were moving to the Pro field to ref 8 Semi-Pro matches as the Pro refs weren't showing up till Thursday...how convenient. After spending a good part of the day sweating my ass off and hanging with the VCK guys I get picked up by Amos, Seth and Benson and we head to our hotel.
Wednesday - First day of the event and it can be described as such: HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! I have not reffed in heat like this since RCO two years ago and that sucked something fierce. I've been sitting here trying to remember something from this day but all I can think about was hot it was and arguing with Fagan when we moved to the the Pro field. What was the argument about? I can't even really remember other than it concerned the long ass breaks we would have between matches when all anyone wanted to do was get them the hell done. Intentions aside, all those breaks did was dry me out and bring me out of my reffing element (yeah I agree, sounds lame). One of the worst things you can do someone regardless of what it is they are doing is breaking that person's rhythm. The same thing applies to refereeing and especially on days like Wednesday. Other than that the games went well despite some minor discrepancies with the UK Refs, no biggie though. I made it through the heat alive and feeling ok. I probably drank almost three gallons of water and took several IB Profen capsules, totally worth it. After the day was over Amos, Seth, Benson and I went and ate at Wendy's, went back to the hotel and were asleep before 10:30PM.
Thursday - Lucked out and had a late start which meant we got to sleep in. Those two extra hours certainly helped after a day like Wednesday. Unfortunately, Thursday wasn't much cooler than Wednesday and after finishing our D2 bracket we went over to the Empire field and rotated crews with them but truthfully they did most of the work, which in my opinion, is only fair. Something worth noting was our lunch for Thursday, which were BBQ sandwiches. Why is this worth noting? Well because the sandwich was more grease than it was BBQ. Seriously, the bottom bun of the sandwich sopped up so much grease that it turned back to dough. I'm still not sure how I didn't throw that back up during the day. Also the games on the Empire field were much more intense than the games on our field despite the horribly uneven field. A player from Team Zone did a last second dive into the start station bashing himself good only to find out his team mate got a major thus still losing the game, sorry buddy.
Friday - On this day we start our D1 bracket...right after we ref various post-prelim games and by then that oppressive bastard the sun has effectively fried my brain. Also, Friday was my 26th birthday. Yep, for the second year in a row I spent my birthday reffing paintball, awesome. At least I got a lot of birthday wishes from the staff and fellow refs, even if it was creepy at times from Gilly. Another hot day but the games went by pretty smooth despite once again some discrepancies with the UK Refs, which were mostly just disagreements over calls. When the day was over Amos scored me a piece of cake and we then had dinner at A&W. Then went back to hotel and watched two hours of America's Funniest Videos. Yep, that's how I spent my golden birthday...sigh.
Saturday - Second day of D1 games which had some solid games of paintball or at least I think there were, I can't remember. During the course of the day Benson takes a few shots to the junk and has to come off the field. I volunteer to take his spot and ref about three points of the last match before lunch from the backline, a postion I haven't reffed since my first event almost three years ago. After we finished the last prelim game we waited around for an hour so we could run the two semi final games which were between CEP vs DBS and Palm Beach Venom vs Raiden with DBS and Palm Beach Venom moving on to play for first and second. That's right, the arguably best two teams at the event (CEP and Raiden) were not playing for 1st. When the day was over we went to CiCi's and loaded up on pizza, yum. Also a cold front moved through and dropped the temperature, nice.
Sunday - Last day of the event and with the much, much, much cooler weather, quite possibly the easiest. Started the day with D4 X-ball and yes I mean D4 X-ball. This game was ridiculous and we ended up throwing 5 majors in 5 points, the first major being thrown by yours truly. We then moved onto D3 consolation and finals, which were some pretty easy games to ref. D2 consolation and final was a little tougher but we made it through. The D1 Gentlemen's Final between CEP and Raiden was anything but. No matter how many penalties we threw on Raiden, CEP couldn't take advantage of it and the game went to overtime where CEP really dropped the ball getting a major and minor back to back right at the beginning of the overtime point, which by the way is limitless as far as time is concerned. We then sit around for two hours so we can ref the final match between DBS and PBV on the Pro field. When we finally get our chance it looked like DBS was going to blow PBV right out of the water but PBV held on pushing the game to overtime. DBS pulled out the victory winning their first tournament at the D1 level, congrats guys. Afterwards, I collected my check, said goodbye to everyone and moved my stuff over to VCK's hotel as Amos, Seth and Benson left early to go back home. I go out to dinner with the VCK guys at a pretty nice restaurant and get to sleep in a bed for the first time in almost a week.
Monday - Wake up early, pack my stuff and leave to go to the airport. I check my bags in and decide to take the Blue Line to downtown Chicago where I walked around for several hours, which was kinda fun and better than sitting around in an airport for 5 hours. Get home late worn out and tired with the memories of another event gone and done.
Well, that's it. Sorry there wasn't as much substance as some of the others but there wasn't too many exciting things that happened. Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully I'll get to see everyone again.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, October 31, 2008
PSP World Cup 2008
Hey everyone here's another brief event review of the latest and last PSP event of the year, World Cup. The biggest and (supposed) best event of the year was held once again at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Every year hundreds of teams from around the world show up to this event to play and most of them go home with pretty much for the most part some great memories with their friends. This is my third World Cup and in my honest opinion this World Cup falls right in place with the other two minus the obscene treatment by the players a la 2006 and the ridiculous work load a la 2007. Anyways, let's get this thing over with.
Tuesday - Fly in early Tuesday morning and get picked up by O-town with JT. We drive out to the event, check out some of the vendors who were there, see some other people and then over to the Days Inn, which is the same shitty hotel I've stayed at the past two Cups. We get there, meet up with some other people, grab something to eat and sit around shooting the shit. Eventually, everyone arrives and we start getting ready for tomorrow.
Wednesday - Probably the easiest day of the tournament with a 9:18AM start, nice. We only had 12 games and all D2. The refs were Jake, Jeb, Adam, Jimbo, Andrea, Pig Pen, Logan, myself, Porno Paulie as Ultimate and Will as the "new guy." Several of the teams were foreigners which always makes things a little tricky/aggravating. A majority of the time they don't understand you nor do they understand the rules. The surprise and bewilderment of "what did I do wrong" loses it's humor fairly quickly. As always Naughty Leps decided to stake their claim as Kings of the Major Penalty quite early on leaving me to wonder why they still come to these tournaments. It was a fairly sunny day but nothing terrible. I decided to try out wearing shorts while I reffed and it wasn't too bad. The coaches from Fierce recognized my old ass Redz knee/shin pads and from that point on referred to me as the "OG Ref," to which I just rolled my eyes at. Speaking of Fierce in their match against Pintura Fresca or whatever, a PF player was hit at the X and when I went to pull him the jackass spun on me, pointed the barrel at my face and nearly blew my head off, thanks asshole.
Thursday - Pretty much the same as Wednesday, same teams but now teams that played in the morning play in the afternoon and vice versa. I was pretty impressed by the play of some of the foreign teams like Supremacy as they had a real good showing. They also had a match against Pintura Fresca (I'm not going to look up these guys names, screw'em) where the only english speaking individuals were the refs, hurrah. Raiden and Fierce played really well and Naughty Leps had no intention of giving up their Kingship.
Friday - This day we moved onto D1 and had an earlier start that Wednesday and Thursday. At this event we had 15 D1 teams which is good for one reason alone; no 5-man. RNT for some odd reason decided not to show up for this event while Vipers made a concerted effort to play the best event of their lives. Other teams like Cross Eyed Paintball, Red NRG, Nexus and a couple of others also had a good tournament. All-Stars International made a return showing as once again the whipping boy of D1. I really don't think more things could have gone wrong for them at this event. Their first point played, I catch them with a gun shooting 15.1 bps and from there they became the newest residents of Major City. These guys just couldn't catch a break and at times I feel bad for them because it literally does look like we're picking on them when in reality it's their own fault. A majority of the individuals on the team do not speak a common language nor have they even practiced together. These guys walk on the field together, point to the bunkers they're going to off the break and the proceed to get blasted off the field and pick up playing on penalties along the way. Sorry guys, really, nothing personal just business...
Saturday - Just like Friday but more intense as now a lot of teams tournaments are on the line. Also the day started out raining but the sun was out and shining by noon and it got fairly warm. Missed a wiping call as I was pulling a player and assessing a penalty in the middle of the field, kind of bummed out by that one but not totally my fault. The games went on and the day finally ended. I stuck around and cleaned part of the field with the hose, that was some fun stuff [/sarcasm]. Don't really remember much else from this day, sorry.
Sunday - The last day of the tournament (obviously) and the most intense. We started out the morning with 4 D1 games trying to determine seeding for finals. RNT held on to survive against Red NRG but got blown out against Vicious and Vipers beat out Damage and CEP to move onto the finals. In Vipers' game against CEP the game came down to the wire as both teams were sitting on the points. The last CEP player is assessed a major penalty for playing on in the last 1.4 seconds left in the match. Because of the time limit it is an automatic point swing to Vipers thus Vipers wins 3-2. As Paulie was sorting out the call, I grab my water bottle to take a drink. Vipers who were in my pits asked me what was going on and I explain to them what I saw which was CEP receiving the penalty and giving the point and win to Vipers. Now, I was only 85% sure that that was what actually happened but managed to leave that part out in my explanation. The buzzer sounds, I walk off the field and Vipers start celebrating. As they're walking on to shake hands with a very upset CEP, I walk up to the netting and say, "Oh hey guys, the penalty was against y'all, you didn't win." Everyone on Vipers stops dead in their tracks, mouths drop open and looks of horror and disbelief cross their faces. Before anyone could say a word I said, "Nah, I'm just joking, you won," and then bust up laughing. Of course no one on Vipers thought this was funny at all but I got a good laugh.
The days goes on and we move to the NXL field to ref D3, D2, D1 finals and consolation. Pretty much everything goes smooth till the last game between Vipers and Vicious. This match started out all Vipers going up 3-0 but it didn't take long for Vicious to wake back up and start taking the game away. There was some controversy at the end with overshooting calls against Vipers and then a fight breaking out between Thomas Taylor and Mouse after the game was over but whatever because at this point the tournament was over and that was that. I sat around for a bit, drank some water, said congrats and good-byes to the players I get along with and that was the end of it. Went to the bar that night and got somewhat drunk, that felt good.
Monday - Woke up early and got all my stuff together and got a ride to the airport from good ol' O-Town. I checked my bags, got some breakfast and waited around till it was time for my plane to leave. Didn't have to deal with same bullshit like I did at NEO so that was a relief. Got home in the afternoon, took a shower and went to bed early.
So that's it, another tournament and another season done and gone. I'd like to thank all my friends and colleagues for yet another great season. Thanks to Amos, Travis, Pig Pen, Andrea, Jimbo, Jeb, Smalls, Logan, Adam, Jake, Paulie, Diaz, Tim, Marlene, Marcus and everyone else. Have a great off season, I wish you all the best...
Tuesday - Fly in early Tuesday morning and get picked up by O-town with JT. We drive out to the event, check out some of the vendors who were there, see some other people and then over to the Days Inn, which is the same shitty hotel I've stayed at the past two Cups. We get there, meet up with some other people, grab something to eat and sit around shooting the shit. Eventually, everyone arrives and we start getting ready for tomorrow.
Wednesday - Probably the easiest day of the tournament with a 9:18AM start, nice. We only had 12 games and all D2. The refs were Jake, Jeb, Adam, Jimbo, Andrea, Pig Pen, Logan, myself, Porno Paulie as Ultimate and Will as the "new guy." Several of the teams were foreigners which always makes things a little tricky/aggravating. A majority of the time they don't understand you nor do they understand the rules. The surprise and bewilderment of "what did I do wrong" loses it's humor fairly quickly. As always Naughty Leps decided to stake their claim as Kings of the Major Penalty quite early on leaving me to wonder why they still come to these tournaments. It was a fairly sunny day but nothing terrible. I decided to try out wearing shorts while I reffed and it wasn't too bad. The coaches from Fierce recognized my old ass Redz knee/shin pads and from that point on referred to me as the "OG Ref," to which I just rolled my eyes at. Speaking of Fierce in their match against Pintura Fresca or whatever, a PF player was hit at the X and when I went to pull him the jackass spun on me, pointed the barrel at my face and nearly blew my head off, thanks asshole.
Thursday - Pretty much the same as Wednesday, same teams but now teams that played in the morning play in the afternoon and vice versa. I was pretty impressed by the play of some of the foreign teams like Supremacy as they had a real good showing. They also had a match against Pintura Fresca (I'm not going to look up these guys names, screw'em) where the only english speaking individuals were the refs, hurrah. Raiden and Fierce played really well and Naughty Leps had no intention of giving up their Kingship.
Friday - This day we moved onto D1 and had an earlier start that Wednesday and Thursday. At this event we had 15 D1 teams which is good for one reason alone; no 5-man. RNT for some odd reason decided not to show up for this event while Vipers made a concerted effort to play the best event of their lives. Other teams like Cross Eyed Paintball, Red NRG, Nexus and a couple of others also had a good tournament. All-Stars International made a return showing as once again the whipping boy of D1. I really don't think more things could have gone wrong for them at this event. Their first point played, I catch them with a gun shooting 15.1 bps and from there they became the newest residents of Major City. These guys just couldn't catch a break and at times I feel bad for them because it literally does look like we're picking on them when in reality it's their own fault. A majority of the individuals on the team do not speak a common language nor have they even practiced together. These guys walk on the field together, point to the bunkers they're going to off the break and the proceed to get blasted off the field and pick up playing on penalties along the way. Sorry guys, really, nothing personal just business...
Saturday - Just like Friday but more intense as now a lot of teams tournaments are on the line. Also the day started out raining but the sun was out and shining by noon and it got fairly warm. Missed a wiping call as I was pulling a player and assessing a penalty in the middle of the field, kind of bummed out by that one but not totally my fault. The games went on and the day finally ended. I stuck around and cleaned part of the field with the hose, that was some fun stuff [/sarcasm]. Don't really remember much else from this day, sorry.
Sunday - The last day of the tournament (obviously) and the most intense. We started out the morning with 4 D1 games trying to determine seeding for finals. RNT held on to survive against Red NRG but got blown out against Vicious and Vipers beat out Damage and CEP to move onto the finals. In Vipers' game against CEP the game came down to the wire as both teams were sitting on the points. The last CEP player is assessed a major penalty for playing on in the last 1.4 seconds left in the match. Because of the time limit it is an automatic point swing to Vipers thus Vipers wins 3-2. As Paulie was sorting out the call, I grab my water bottle to take a drink. Vipers who were in my pits asked me what was going on and I explain to them what I saw which was CEP receiving the penalty and giving the point and win to Vipers. Now, I was only 85% sure that that was what actually happened but managed to leave that part out in my explanation. The buzzer sounds, I walk off the field and Vipers start celebrating. As they're walking on to shake hands with a very upset CEP, I walk up to the netting and say, "Oh hey guys, the penalty was against y'all, you didn't win." Everyone on Vipers stops dead in their tracks, mouths drop open and looks of horror and disbelief cross their faces. Before anyone could say a word I said, "Nah, I'm just joking, you won," and then bust up laughing. Of course no one on Vipers thought this was funny at all but I got a good laugh.
The days goes on and we move to the NXL field to ref D3, D2, D1 finals and consolation. Pretty much everything goes smooth till the last game between Vipers and Vicious. This match started out all Vipers going up 3-0 but it didn't take long for Vicious to wake back up and start taking the game away. There was some controversy at the end with overshooting calls against Vipers and then a fight breaking out between Thomas Taylor and Mouse after the game was over but whatever because at this point the tournament was over and that was that. I sat around for a bit, drank some water, said congrats and good-byes to the players I get along with and that was the end of it. Went to the bar that night and got somewhat drunk, that felt good.
Monday - Woke up early and got all my stuff together and got a ride to the airport from good ol' O-Town. I checked my bags, got some breakfast and waited around till it was time for my plane to leave. Didn't have to deal with same bullshit like I did at NEO so that was a relief. Got home in the afternoon, took a shower and went to bed early.
So that's it, another tournament and another season done and gone. I'd like to thank all my friends and colleagues for yet another great season. Thanks to Amos, Travis, Pig Pen, Andrea, Jimbo, Jeb, Smalls, Logan, Adam, Jake, Paulie, Diaz, Tim, Marlene, Marcus and everyone else. Have a great off season, I wish you all the best...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
PSP Northeast Open 2008
Hello to everyone out there and once again I have written up another somewhat entertaining event review for your viewing, no, reading, no, would it be "viewing" or "reading," oh who cares, pleasure. Now, I know I didn't do a write up for PSP Chicago back in June so I'll give you all a quick rundown on what it was like: crummy weather then hot then hot again then hurricane winds then hot again. The Chicago tourney overall was ok, maybe I was a little bummed because my birthday was Thursday of the event and who the hell wants to ref on their birthday? But let's get to the heart of the matter, PSP NEO, which was held at Smart Parts' All American Park somewhere near Pittsburgh, PA and I don't feel like wasting any more time.
Wednesday - Fly out of Houston at 8:30AM for Charlotte where I'll make an eventual connection up to Pittsburgh. Due to rising oil prices which effect EVERYTHING, I had to go cheap on my plane ticket and the cheapest tickets I could find at the time were with US Airways. All I can say about US Airways is this; I hope they go under soon. If anyone who reads this works for US Airways or has a relative/family member/loved one who works for that particular airline, I'm sorry but you or they need to find a new job because US Air sucks. I had to pay $15 just to put my bag on the plane and every damn person who flies on that airline brings a carry-on luggage so it takes forever just to get on the damn plane. We were late leaving Charlotte because several individuals refused to put their carry-ons in the hold. One guy got so pissed off he threw his bag on the floor of the plane and kicked it underneath his seat, what an ass. Finally get to Pittsburgh around 4:30PM and then sit around the airport with Amos, Ian, Seth and Benson for another two and a half hours till we get picked up by Dave Baker. We then drive for another hour to Greensburg (where the actual event is being held) and then I'm driven 5 more miles to where I'm staying with Travis, Jake, Pete and Cindy in New Stanton. Once there, I wait with Travis and Jake for two more hours till Pete and Cindy drive in from Minnesota. Overall, it was an exciting day in sitting...[/sarcasm].
Thursday - Wake up around 5:45AM to drive out to the event which starts at 7AM. We get there to find out that the refs don't even get to park at the event, Pete has to park his car elsewhere and a shuttle will take him back to the event, this is just the beginning of an exciting, bullshit packed event. Pete drops us off, we check in, grab jerseys and head off to our respective fields. Once again I'm on the D1 field (Dye) with the usual crew with some new additions. At this event it was Amos, Jeb, Smalls, Jake, Pig Pen, Logan, Paulie and myself. The new guys to the crew were O-town, Jimbo and Martin making 11 total refs, which ended up being great because for the first time we had a rotation so everyone got a break. Finally got a chance to take a look at the layout and the dorito side was anything but ref friendly. I got destroyed this event, easily, and there were hardly any safe spots. Anyway, started out with six D1 one matches and moved through them pretty easily. Probably the most exciting game was CDR vs RNT with CDR winning 5-4 and Ore from RNT being suspended from the event for spiking his gun, which was very nice of him.
After that came D2 and that's when things started getting interesting and by "interesting" I mean "bad." At this event we had a new scorekeeper, who is no where near as good as Becky is. Even though Jarred is an experienced board operator he hardly pays attention to what the hell is going on and when you have Clipboard (we didn't know his name for the first two days so we called him Clipboard) not knowing what the hell he's doing either, things go ary. In a match between Infectious (Dirty needles! lol) and DC Confidential the score switched FOUR times and by that I mean at first the score was 2-1, then 1-2, then 4-1, then finally settled on 2-1. We had a pow-wow about what the score should be and all the refs agreed it should have been 3-1 Infectious but Clipboard's scoresheet said otherwise. Also sometime during the D2 matches a huge thunderstorm came in and we had to stop games because of the lightening and the field went to shit, I can't put it any simpler than that. Then things seemed to get real sloppy as we progressed through our schedule into D3. In one match between HKN and somebody else we threw 6 majors, six! The games themselves were just ridiculously bad and were becoming an annoyance. All of which we blamed on Logan as he filled in the spot of the person who was sitting out. Screw you Logan and your shitty mojo. We finished up our schedule and then were moved to the NXL field which had lights to mix up with other refs from other fields and proceeded to ref till 10:30PM...10:30PM! That's 15 hours of reffing tournament paintball! Now I've done 10 hours and even 12 but 15 hours, my God there's no way of describing of how tired I felt. Finally, finished for the day we went back to the hotel, had a snack, showered and went to bed.
Friday - Pretty much the same exact same as Thursday from beginning to end. I got to sit out during the Damage vs Vicious game as it was my turn due to the rotation and it ended up being a blow out with Damage winning 7-1, which kinda pissed me off as I was hoping to sit around for awhile. Logan, however, sits out for nearly a freaking hour thanks to another screw up by Clipboard. Damn you yet again Logan. No real problems really other than the field, primarily the snake, going to shit thanks to the rain on Thursday. Another late finish after going to the NXL field to help with the night games.
Saturday - This may have been the worst day of reffing I ever experienced in my career as a referee. Now, I have worked in hot, cold and wet weather and I have had players and coaches threaten me with bodily harm and curse dead relatives I didn't even know I had but nothing compares to this particular Saturday. Started the day on time for a change with 4 D1 matches, no big deal. We finished an hour and a half behind due to all 4 of them went to time. Next, was two brackets of D4 5-man. Now, the past two times I've reffed D4 5-man, it was probably the easiest stuff I've ever done but that's only because I haven't done that massive of an amount of 5-man before this day. We killed the first bracket and went from being an hour and a half behind to just under 30 minutes behind, that's how much ass we kick as refs. We went through a total of 67 games out of a possibly 87 games and managed to almost catch up (in this situation I can use the phrase "catch up" quite liberally because being 30 minutes behind in tournament paintball is fairly normal). Problem is that was just one bracket, we still had another to go but this one was smaller by 27 possible total games to be played. To top it off we have to ref it two guys down meaning we go from 11 to 9. We finish it as well with the sun going down, exhaustion setting in and nowhere near done. We pack everything up and replace the entire Smart Parts field and run their games for them in an effort to catch up. To be fair we didn't run all of their games as we switched out every so often but we ran a majority of their bracket. After Smart Parts came NXL field where once again we substituted their entire crew for ours finally finishing at 12:30AM. Now, let me make sure you understand this, we started working Saturday, August 16th at 7:00AM and we finished Sunday, August 17th at 12:30AM. That's 17 and a half hours of refereeing paintball! The only way I can express how I felt after that is that both the Devil and Death walked up to me and one kicked me in the balls with the other kicking me in the face at the same time. Never again will I do something like this. I will feign illness, injury or both at the same time to get out of this. I will commit a crime that causes me to get arrested so I will not have to ref paintball for 17 and a half hours. I will not explicitly point my finger and blame someone for this atrocity, I will let them stew in their own juices of guilt and angst for making us do this. I would say I wish I wasn't good at reffing so I'd never have to do this but the problem is that I'm not any good, just better than the ones we have currently...
Sunday - After 17 and a half hours (yeah, I mentioned it again) and about 5 hours of sleep, we head back to the field to ref D1-3 finals and consolation, which total at about 8 matches altogether. We got a "late" start at 8AM and people still didn't show up on time. We reffed the first match borrowing refs from other fields just so we could start on time. Half way through the day I started falling asleep so I chugged half a bottle of coke (the beverage for you northerners) just so I could stay awake. We roll right through, finish at around 4PM and do so terribly exhuasted. We turn everything in and I go grab a beer with Roy Sears and managed to miss two rides back to the hotel but it was ok because I sat around with a bunch of the Air/Set-up guys and they're hilarious. Finally get picked up, grab my stuff from the hotel, shower at Amos' hotel and then get in a long conversation with Dave Baker about how and who is going to the airport as we only have one car, fun stuff.
Monday - At around 12:30AM we figure out who is going on the first run to the airport. Travis, Jake and Benson all need to go as they have 6AM flights and I volunteer also to go as I really don't want to sleep in Amos' room as it was fucking filthy. We arrive at the airport at 2AM, walk in and try to sleep on a semi-circle bench in the check-in lobby of the airport. Jake, Benson and Travis all check in and I'm left alone for the next couple of hours. I slept on another bench that was closer to the US Airways counter before Amos, Pig Pen, Ian and Seth finally arrived. We all sleep around one of the departure boards and Ian and I hear some lady say, "Why can't they just sleep at home," which causes me to laugh hysterically. Around 9:30 everyone starts to stir and the airport is starting to get real busy. We sit around talk about various bullshit and then move over to a glass divider that overlooks the security walk through and watch Strange Wilderness on Pig Pen's laptop. It was a pretty funny movie but I probably think that due to the sleep deprevation. We go through security at 1PM, grab some lunch and then eventually head to our respective terminals to fly home. After another connection in Charlotte I get home at 9:30PM and go straight to bed, tired beyond reason.
Well, that's it, another event review of an event I never ever want to do again. Thanks for taking the time to read and to all my friends in reffing, I hope to see you guys soon.
Wednesday - Fly out of Houston at 8:30AM for Charlotte where I'll make an eventual connection up to Pittsburgh. Due to rising oil prices which effect EVERYTHING, I had to go cheap on my plane ticket and the cheapest tickets I could find at the time were with US Airways. All I can say about US Airways is this; I hope they go under soon. If anyone who reads this works for US Airways or has a relative/family member/loved one who works for that particular airline, I'm sorry but you or they need to find a new job because US Air sucks. I had to pay $15 just to put my bag on the plane and every damn person who flies on that airline brings a carry-on luggage so it takes forever just to get on the damn plane. We were late leaving Charlotte because several individuals refused to put their carry-ons in the hold. One guy got so pissed off he threw his bag on the floor of the plane and kicked it underneath his seat, what an ass. Finally get to Pittsburgh around 4:30PM and then sit around the airport with Amos, Ian, Seth and Benson for another two and a half hours till we get picked up by Dave Baker. We then drive for another hour to Greensburg (where the actual event is being held) and then I'm driven 5 more miles to where I'm staying with Travis, Jake, Pete and Cindy in New Stanton. Once there, I wait with Travis and Jake for two more hours till Pete and Cindy drive in from Minnesota. Overall, it was an exciting day in sitting...[/sarcasm].
Thursday - Wake up around 5:45AM to drive out to the event which starts at 7AM. We get there to find out that the refs don't even get to park at the event, Pete has to park his car elsewhere and a shuttle will take him back to the event, this is just the beginning of an exciting, bullshit packed event. Pete drops us off, we check in, grab jerseys and head off to our respective fields. Once again I'm on the D1 field (Dye) with the usual crew with some new additions. At this event it was Amos, Jeb, Smalls, Jake, Pig Pen, Logan, Paulie and myself. The new guys to the crew were O-town, Jimbo and Martin making 11 total refs, which ended up being great because for the first time we had a rotation so everyone got a break. Finally got a chance to take a look at the layout and the dorito side was anything but ref friendly. I got destroyed this event, easily, and there were hardly any safe spots. Anyway, started out with six D1 one matches and moved through them pretty easily. Probably the most exciting game was CDR vs RNT with CDR winning 5-4 and Ore from RNT being suspended from the event for spiking his gun, which was very nice of him.
After that came D2 and that's when things started getting interesting and by "interesting" I mean "bad." At this event we had a new scorekeeper, who is no where near as good as Becky is. Even though Jarred is an experienced board operator he hardly pays attention to what the hell is going on and when you have Clipboard (we didn't know his name for the first two days so we called him Clipboard) not knowing what the hell he's doing either, things go ary. In a match between Infectious (Dirty needles! lol) and DC Confidential the score switched FOUR times and by that I mean at first the score was 2-1, then 1-2, then 4-1, then finally settled on 2-1. We had a pow-wow about what the score should be and all the refs agreed it should have been 3-1 Infectious but Clipboard's scoresheet said otherwise. Also sometime during the D2 matches a huge thunderstorm came in and we had to stop games because of the lightening and the field went to shit, I can't put it any simpler than that. Then things seemed to get real sloppy as we progressed through our schedule into D3. In one match between HKN and somebody else we threw 6 majors, six! The games themselves were just ridiculously bad and were becoming an annoyance. All of which we blamed on Logan as he filled in the spot of the person who was sitting out. Screw you Logan and your shitty mojo. We finished up our schedule and then were moved to the NXL field which had lights to mix up with other refs from other fields and proceeded to ref till 10:30PM...10:30PM! That's 15 hours of reffing tournament paintball! Now I've done 10 hours and even 12 but 15 hours, my God there's no way of describing of how tired I felt. Finally, finished for the day we went back to the hotel, had a snack, showered and went to bed.
Friday - Pretty much the same exact same as Thursday from beginning to end. I got to sit out during the Damage vs Vicious game as it was my turn due to the rotation and it ended up being a blow out with Damage winning 7-1, which kinda pissed me off as I was hoping to sit around for awhile. Logan, however, sits out for nearly a freaking hour thanks to another screw up by Clipboard. Damn you yet again Logan. No real problems really other than the field, primarily the snake, going to shit thanks to the rain on Thursday. Another late finish after going to the NXL field to help with the night games.
Saturday - This may have been the worst day of reffing I ever experienced in my career as a referee. Now, I have worked in hot, cold and wet weather and I have had players and coaches threaten me with bodily harm and curse dead relatives I didn't even know I had but nothing compares to this particular Saturday. Started the day on time for a change with 4 D1 matches, no big deal. We finished an hour and a half behind due to all 4 of them went to time. Next, was two brackets of D4 5-man. Now, the past two times I've reffed D4 5-man, it was probably the easiest stuff I've ever done but that's only because I haven't done that massive of an amount of 5-man before this day. We killed the first bracket and went from being an hour and a half behind to just under 30 minutes behind, that's how much ass we kick as refs. We went through a total of 67 games out of a possibly 87 games and managed to almost catch up (in this situation I can use the phrase "catch up" quite liberally because being 30 minutes behind in tournament paintball is fairly normal). Problem is that was just one bracket, we still had another to go but this one was smaller by 27 possible total games to be played. To top it off we have to ref it two guys down meaning we go from 11 to 9. We finish it as well with the sun going down, exhaustion setting in and nowhere near done. We pack everything up and replace the entire Smart Parts field and run their games for them in an effort to catch up. To be fair we didn't run all of their games as we switched out every so often but we ran a majority of their bracket. After Smart Parts came NXL field where once again we substituted their entire crew for ours finally finishing at 12:30AM. Now, let me make sure you understand this, we started working Saturday, August 16th at 7:00AM and we finished Sunday, August 17th at 12:30AM. That's 17 and a half hours of refereeing paintball! The only way I can express how I felt after that is that both the Devil and Death walked up to me and one kicked me in the balls with the other kicking me in the face at the same time. Never again will I do something like this. I will feign illness, injury or both at the same time to get out of this. I will commit a crime that causes me to get arrested so I will not have to ref paintball for 17 and a half hours. I will not explicitly point my finger and blame someone for this atrocity, I will let them stew in their own juices of guilt and angst for making us do this. I would say I wish I wasn't good at reffing so I'd never have to do this but the problem is that I'm not any good, just better than the ones we have currently...
Sunday - After 17 and a half hours (yeah, I mentioned it again) and about 5 hours of sleep, we head back to the field to ref D1-3 finals and consolation, which total at about 8 matches altogether. We got a "late" start at 8AM and people still didn't show up on time. We reffed the first match borrowing refs from other fields just so we could start on time. Half way through the day I started falling asleep so I chugged half a bottle of coke (the beverage for you northerners) just so I could stay awake. We roll right through, finish at around 4PM and do so terribly exhuasted. We turn everything in and I go grab a beer with Roy Sears and managed to miss two rides back to the hotel but it was ok because I sat around with a bunch of the Air/Set-up guys and they're hilarious. Finally get picked up, grab my stuff from the hotel, shower at Amos' hotel and then get in a long conversation with Dave Baker about how and who is going to the airport as we only have one car, fun stuff.
Monday - At around 12:30AM we figure out who is going on the first run to the airport. Travis, Jake and Benson all need to go as they have 6AM flights and I volunteer also to go as I really don't want to sleep in Amos' room as it was fucking filthy. We arrive at the airport at 2AM, walk in and try to sleep on a semi-circle bench in the check-in lobby of the airport. Jake, Benson and Travis all check in and I'm left alone for the next couple of hours. I slept on another bench that was closer to the US Airways counter before Amos, Pig Pen, Ian and Seth finally arrived. We all sleep around one of the departure boards and Ian and I hear some lady say, "Why can't they just sleep at home," which causes me to laugh hysterically. Around 9:30 everyone starts to stir and the airport is starting to get real busy. We sit around talk about various bullshit and then move over to a glass divider that overlooks the security walk through and watch Strange Wilderness on Pig Pen's laptop. It was a pretty funny movie but I probably think that due to the sleep deprevation. We go through security at 1PM, grab some lunch and then eventually head to our respective terminals to fly home. After another connection in Charlotte I get home at 9:30PM and go straight to bed, tired beyond reason.
Well, that's it, another event review of an event I never ever want to do again. Thanks for taking the time to read and to all my friends in reffing, I hope to see you guys soon.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
14 Days to go...
Two weeks left till the PSP 2008 Chicago Open held at BRAC in Bolingbrook, IL. As of right now registration is winding down and teams are trying to pay entry fees to play traditionally the second largest PSP tournament of the year. The layout has been out a good week and it probably one of the most interesting layouts yet.
I've reffed this layout but don't know it well enough yet. Supposedly, there are plenty of blind shots on the field, which means I'll have to be extra alert. Another good look at it and I'll be set.
Also the PSP is making strives to push them into the forefront of tournament paintball. At this event the league is once again having the NXL All-Star which features the top pro players competing together and is otherwise treated like one big joke by the players. Another new feature promoted by the league for this event is the addition of Premium Box Seating. For $195 you can sit in a special "area" 10 feet off the ground next to the scoreboard on the player's side of the field. You also get two T-shirts, VIP parking, free WiFi and complimentary beverages from the PSP hookers, I mean, um, Girls. The APPA is also trying to jump in on offering more and better to services to the players with allowing players to check in their bags for the low fee of $10 a day. This is America people, there's money to made and the more you get the better you are!
The weather right now in that area is still looking iffy with highs in the mid-80's with chances of rain between 20% and 40% but things have been known to change. I probably need to start going over the rules again so they'll be fresh in my head for the tournament. Still looking forward to the event and seeing everyone there, just 14 more days...
I've reffed this layout but don't know it well enough yet. Supposedly, there are plenty of blind shots on the field, which means I'll have to be extra alert. Another good look at it and I'll be set.
Also the PSP is making strives to push them into the forefront of tournament paintball. At this event the league is once again having the NXL All-Star which features the top pro players competing together and is otherwise treated like one big joke by the players. Another new feature promoted by the league for this event is the addition of Premium Box Seating. For $195 you can sit in a special "area" 10 feet off the ground next to the scoreboard on the player's side of the field. You also get two T-shirts, VIP parking, free WiFi and complimentary beverages from the PSP hookers, I mean, um, Girls. The APPA is also trying to jump in on offering more and better to services to the players with allowing players to check in their bags for the low fee of $10 a day. This is America people, there's money to made and the more you get the better you are!
The weather right now in that area is still looking iffy with highs in the mid-80's with chances of rain between 20% and 40% but things have been known to change. I probably need to start going over the rules again so they'll be fresh in my head for the tournament. Still looking forward to the event and seeing everyone there, just 14 more days...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
T-minus 28 days...
Like the title says only 28 more days till PSP's 2008 Chicago Open. The event is being held at Bolingbrook Recreational and Aquatic Complex for the fourth year in a row (first time was in 2005). To be frank, it's not a bad venue at all, I just feel a teensy bit sorry for the people whose houses are right next to the fields. I know I'd be pissed if I were woken up at 7:30AM on a Saturday to this:
Yeah, I'm sure a normal person would become a huge paintball fan after 5 days of that. I took a look at the weather in that area and right now it's highs in the upper 70s with a good big of rain. However, that will change in a month and by change I mean it could be worse (lots of rain), even more worse (no rain with temps soaring into the high 90s to low 100s) or ok (high 80s with rain forecasted everyday). I know I sound overly optimistic regarding the weather but if I don't put a good face on a possible bad situation, then who will?
Anyways, I'm looking forward to it as usual and hopefully everything will go well. I'll be on the D1 field as usual so stop by, make some slanderous remarks about my reffing ability and/or have a few laughs at my expense. Should be another awesome experience...
Yeah, I'm sure a normal person would become a huge paintball fan after 5 days of that. I took a look at the weather in that area and right now it's highs in the upper 70s with a good big of rain. However, that will change in a month and by change I mean it could be worse (lots of rain), even more worse (no rain with temps soaring into the high 90s to low 100s) or ok (high 80s with rain forecasted everyday). I know I sound overly optimistic regarding the weather but if I don't put a good face on a possible bad situation, then who will?
Anyways, I'm looking forward to it as usual and hopefully everything will go well. I'll be on the D1 field as usual so stop by, make some slanderous remarks about my reffing ability and/or have a few laughs at my expense. Should be another awesome experience...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Good Life
It's time I got back to the good life
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
And I don't even know how I got off the track
-Weezer, The Good Life
Today was a good day. I was able to get off work and play some good competitive paintball with some friends and had a good time doing so. I didn't play so well at first but once I got back into the swing of things, I got better. I didn't make any game breaking moves or stick someone stupid but I did my part to win the points I played and to me that's what is most important. It is what I miss most, doing my part.
I know that sounds odd of all the things I would miss about paintball but it's true. I love the adrenaline rush. I love battling with people. I love the sound. I love the excitement, intensity, aggression and outright insanity that is paintball. But I miss being part of a team even more. I miss going out to the field on Saturday or Sunday, meeting up with your best friends, shoot the shit for a little while then throw your gear on and play some ball. I miss stepping on the field and devising a game plan 20 seconds before it all starts. I miss the moment when after the dust has settled and you see that your team has more bodies then the other team the satisfaction that everyone did their part to win. I miss it, I really do.
This is the good life and I'm happiest after a hot day on the field. I'm soaked, I smell and I'm sore to the bone but I don't want anything else. Not money, not food, not fame, not even a beer (well, maybe a beer), I just want paintball and somehow, someway, I need to get back to it. I don't know what other sacrifice I need to make but I need to do something as this has gone on for far too long. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy reffing but I didn't get into to paintball to ref, I got into paintball to play paintball. I guess I'll just have to suck it up a little bit longer.
Thanks to everyone who was out there today; Carlos, Matt, Max, Jameson, Ryan, Chase, Pelto, Mikey, Kevin and the Texas A&M guys. Also thanks to Kim and the Twisted staff, my home away from home...
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
And I don't even know how I got off the track
-Weezer, The Good Life
Today was a good day. I was able to get off work and play some good competitive paintball with some friends and had a good time doing so. I didn't play so well at first but once I got back into the swing of things, I got better. I didn't make any game breaking moves or stick someone stupid but I did my part to win the points I played and to me that's what is most important. It is what I miss most, doing my part.
I know that sounds odd of all the things I would miss about paintball but it's true. I love the adrenaline rush. I love battling with people. I love the sound. I love the excitement, intensity, aggression and outright insanity that is paintball. But I miss being part of a team even more. I miss going out to the field on Saturday or Sunday, meeting up with your best friends, shoot the shit for a little while then throw your gear on and play some ball. I miss stepping on the field and devising a game plan 20 seconds before it all starts. I miss the moment when after the dust has settled and you see that your team has more bodies then the other team the satisfaction that everyone did their part to win. I miss it, I really do.
This is the good life and I'm happiest after a hot day on the field. I'm soaked, I smell and I'm sore to the bone but I don't want anything else. Not money, not food, not fame, not even a beer (well, maybe a beer), I just want paintball and somehow, someway, I need to get back to it. I don't know what other sacrifice I need to make but I need to do something as this has gone on for far too long. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy reffing but I didn't get into to paintball to ref, I got into paintball to play paintball. I guess I'll just have to suck it up a little bit longer.
Thanks to everyone who was out there today; Carlos, Matt, Max, Jameson, Ryan, Chase, Pelto, Mikey, Kevin and the Texas A&M guys. Also thanks to Kim and the Twisted staff, my home away from home...
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