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...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Trend of Trends
Let's face it, paintball is one trendy ass sport, probably more so than other popular sports either traditional or extreme. The most popular trend in paintball is the trend to not look like everyone else by looking like everyone else...yeah, you read that right. If you disagree with me, go back and look of pictures of yourself and compare them with your teammates or other players, you look just like them. Just because your flex frame has neon green trim and your friend's frame has hot pink trim doesn't make you different. Argue all you want but here's the truth; in six months neither of you will have color frames and more than likely both of you will have latched onto some other new trend.
Like all trends, there is some statement being implied but for some reason that statement seems to lose merit or significance over time. Some trends disappear as quickly as they came while others seem to last awhile longer. Why this is I'm not sure but if I were to venture a guess (and I will) I would say that it's because some people are just too damn stubborn or it actually offers a level of practicality, which is an added bonus really. You're fashionable and smart, how often does that happen? However, some people take these trends too far and I no longer find it laughable but discouraging. I know they'll say they were only joking but if you're willing to dress up that much that means at one point you were serious enough to do so...
So which trends in paintball vanished and which ones persisted? Also what are some of the newer trends and what is on the horizon?
Sandanas - This has been the one persistent trend in paintball that will probably never go away and for good reason. The sandana is one of the oldest paintball products behind paintballs, guns and masks. The first reason the sandanas will stick around longer is that it is a practical piece of equipment. The mesh helps your head breath/stay cool and the headband offers some protection when taking a blast to the forehead. The second is that they're fashionable. Camo will never die, never. Despite all our efforts to try and separate out sport from the common misconception of this being a war game, we still hold onto some porition of camoflage like a security blanket. Third, if you can pull it off, then by all means wear it. Not everyone looks good in a sandana, I'm one of them, which is why I don't wear one (also because I don't find them that comfortable). A lot of players seem to not realize this and wear them anyways making me laugh at them and then singling them out later to try and teach them a lesson. It never goes through but their sandana aint so pretty no more.
Du-rag/do-rag/doo-rag - How ever you spell it you probably know what I'm talking about. Made popular by hip-hop/rap musicians, these are basically a poor-man's sandana but for someone who wants a little more flair out of their headgear. These started making their way onto the scene sometime in 2001, grew and then started to phase out. They came in a wide variety of colors and schemes and were dirt cheap. Du-rags also didn't offer a lot protection and some of them didn't really breathe well either. I wore one for a long time as I got tired of going to work on Monday and trying to explain why parts of my hair was pink or orange (hellfire use to stain terribly) so it did have some practical use.
Rockin' the 16 - This was a very short lived trend but it was big, no pun intended. Simply put "rockin' the 16" meant having a barrel 16 inches long and if it was a dye ultralite and/or two piece, well you were ahead of the pack. This also came out during a time when guns weren't exactly compact as they are now and with a 16in barrel, they looked like rifles (ex. 2k2 platform timmys). They made playing tight more difficult and didn't exactly improve accuracy but neither of those things were important to those who chose to "rock the 16."
HK Army/agg - I'm not going to even bother with this as this has been the most popular trend to sweep paintball. If you're not aware what either of these entities are go http://www.pbnation.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=349> here and I can only hope you make it out alive. They are responsible for all kinds of crap and manage to sill be the biggest trendsetters in the game.
Stickers - A pretty basic trend that at one point bore on absurd. Stickers are a great way to rep sponsors and express yourself. They're cheap, easy to apply and when you're tired of them, you can peel them off or just place new stickers on top of them. Well, a long time ago someone apparently noticed that if you put enough stickers on your gun or hopper, you can disguise hits or make them easy to wipe off.
Now, I don't know who thought this was a good idea and I don't know if it actually worked but the league soon jumped on it. At one point you were only allowed one 2'x4' sticker on your hopper or gun but I don't think any ref actually enforced this rule and if they did, I'm sure they were extremely popular.
Pink - For a brief period, paintball's figurative masculinity and sexuality was called into question when the sport went metro. Everything had to be pink to some people. I found it offensive as I watched perfectly fine guns re-anno'd to various shades of pink. It was awful and there are a stubborn few who feel it is necessary to continue in this ridiculous fad.
Area code - Letting people know what first three numbers you dial on your phone and where you're from is important to some, rekonize foo! Place it everywhere you can to remind people and if you feel necessary to do so, chant your area code. This will also help you remember in case you forget.
Florida Capri - This is a very recent trend and one I don't quite get. It's also entirely localized to the state of Florida and only players from Florida do this. Basically, instead of letting the pants go down the length of the leg, someone thought it was cool to stop the cuff sometimes as high as mid-shin leaving part of your leg bare and exposing your white socks to everyone. So far I've found no practical use for this adjustment nor do I believe there is one. Maybe they do this because they live in Florida and it gets hot there. Well, it gets hot here in Texas but I've never felt the need to hike my pants up to cool down. Maybe they do it to add some kind of bounce factor, hell I don't know, it's just weird and I'm sick of people asking me why they do this like I'm suppose to know...
I have no idea what new trend is headed our way and I don't really want to think about it. The fact of the matter is something will catch on, people will run it into the ground to where it's not cool anymore and then the whole cycle will repeat itself with some other asinine idea. Cue Lion King music...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Getting Started...
Hello everyone and welcome to From the Dorito Tape, a tournament paintball centric blog written by a guy who stands on the sideline, a ref. Yeah, I know, how lame right? Well, if you're looking for a unique point of view on the world of tournament paintball (one pov being that paintball would be a lot better at times without players) and for some decent laughs, then by all means, keep reading.
A quick introduction: I started playing paintball in 2001 and since then it has consumed my soul. At first it was for fun and to run around with my friends on Saturdays. I never had any plans of taking it further but that was till I saw Push, a movie about the 1999 NPPL World Cup in Orlando, Florida, and was introduced to the world of tournament paintball. When the movie had finished, a sense of awe had overwhelmed me upon realization that paintball was more than just a fun game with friends, it was a geniune (at least in my eyes) sport rife with intense competitions and tougher competitors...it was just what I wanted.
In 2002, I started working as a referee at the local paintball field, Twisted Texas, as a means to pay for my budding addiction. I even skipped my senior prom to run the field and pay for my first mid-range gun purchase, a Smart Parts Impulse. I continued to play as much as possible with the sole determination to play at the highest level I possibly could. In August of that year I left home to go to school at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, with the intent of continuing to play and possibly even starting a team to compete for Auburn. Little did I know how awful paintball in the state of Alabama was. The level of play and condition of the fields were just pathetic and my passion felt threatened. Luckily, Atlanta, GA is only a hundred miles or so from Auburn and for me, that was a justifiable distance to pursue what I loved most.
Paintball in Atlanta was leaps and bounds ahead of the state of Alabama and on top of that the style of play in Atlanta was exactly what I was looking for; fast, aggressive and dirty. I played in and around the Atlanta area for the next four years but never got to play a national tournament due to a conflict with school. Lame, I know, but I was still optimistic that I would be able to pursue my goal to play at the national level. It was also during this time I met Tim Schroepfer, the ref coordinator for Paintball Sports Promotions.
In 2006, I graduated from Auburn, packed my stuff and headed back home to Houston. When I arrived back home I made a grim realization that I had no job, no money, no team and a nonfunctioning gun. However, I was still intent on staying involved in paintball no matter what. Thankfully, a PSP referee clinic was held at Paintball Zone where I was able to be certified as a ref and convince Tim to let me work the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Open.
It was at MAO where I met those that would be some of my best friends; Amos, Travis, Diaz, Drew and Pig Pen. These guys make working the events worth it and the fun I have with them makes me hate the fact that the events are only five days long. Also at this event, after the first day I was moved up to the Open field and I had the opportunity to ref the first NXL All-Star game. Since then I've been reffing primarily Open/D1 and haven't looked back. Some of the most fun I've had has been being a referee for PSP and I intend to share to share it with all of you who read this blog.
Already posted are some of my event reviews from the previous season and the start of the current season. Also be on the lookout for commentaries regarding the paintball world as a whole. Enjoy!
A quick introduction: I started playing paintball in 2001 and since then it has consumed my soul. At first it was for fun and to run around with my friends on Saturdays. I never had any plans of taking it further but that was till I saw Push, a movie about the 1999 NPPL World Cup in Orlando, Florida, and was introduced to the world of tournament paintball. When the movie had finished, a sense of awe had overwhelmed me upon realization that paintball was more than just a fun game with friends, it was a geniune (at least in my eyes) sport rife with intense competitions and tougher competitors...it was just what I wanted.
In 2002, I started working as a referee at the local paintball field, Twisted Texas, as a means to pay for my budding addiction. I even skipped my senior prom to run the field and pay for my first mid-range gun purchase, a Smart Parts Impulse. I continued to play as much as possible with the sole determination to play at the highest level I possibly could. In August of that year I left home to go to school at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, with the intent of continuing to play and possibly even starting a team to compete for Auburn. Little did I know how awful paintball in the state of Alabama was. The level of play and condition of the fields were just pathetic and my passion felt threatened. Luckily, Atlanta, GA is only a hundred miles or so from Auburn and for me, that was a justifiable distance to pursue what I loved most.
Paintball in Atlanta was leaps and bounds ahead of the state of Alabama and on top of that the style of play in Atlanta was exactly what I was looking for; fast, aggressive and dirty. I played in and around the Atlanta area for the next four years but never got to play a national tournament due to a conflict with school. Lame, I know, but I was still optimistic that I would be able to pursue my goal to play at the national level. It was also during this time I met Tim Schroepfer, the ref coordinator for Paintball Sports Promotions.
In 2006, I graduated from Auburn, packed my stuff and headed back home to Houston. When I arrived back home I made a grim realization that I had no job, no money, no team and a nonfunctioning gun. However, I was still intent on staying involved in paintball no matter what. Thankfully, a PSP referee clinic was held at Paintball Zone where I was able to be certified as a ref and convince Tim to let me work the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Open.
It was at MAO where I met those that would be some of my best friends; Amos, Travis, Diaz, Drew and Pig Pen. These guys make working the events worth it and the fun I have with them makes me hate the fact that the events are only five days long. Also at this event, after the first day I was moved up to the Open field and I had the opportunity to ref the first NXL All-Star game. Since then I've been reffing primarily Open/D1 and haven't looked back. Some of the most fun I've had has been being a referee for PSP and I intend to share to share it with all of you who read this blog.
Already posted are some of my event reviews from the previous season and the start of the current season. Also be on the lookout for commentaries regarding the paintball world as a whole. Enjoy!
PSP Phoenix 2008
Hello and it’s time again for another event review from yours truly. This season started off great with probably one of the best venues I’ve ever been to and it was in the middle of the god damn desert. Yep, that’s right, the first event of the year was held in Phoenix, Arizona at the practice fields outside the University of Phoenix stadium and it was almost perfect. The grass, yes actual grass, was excellent and the weather couldn’t be better, a little windy at times but really nothing to complain about. So for those of you, who will actually read this, let’s get this thing started.
Wednesday – Flew out of Houston and a couple of hours later make a bumpy landing in Phoenix. I grab my bag, wait outside in the nice weather and get picked up by Jim from Paintball Zone. We drive out to the venue, drop my stuff at the Boneyard and already there is Marlene, Ol’ Dave, Porno Paulie, Marcus, Tim and several others. I go and check out the vendors, which are lacking and then go look at the field. I haven’t reffed paintball in a month and a half and haven’t seen the layout in person much less played. I’m a little nervous about this fact but I’m not going to let it bother me. Ray from Chicago arrives, he and I go eat then try to find the hotel we’re staying. At this point in time I’m no longer surprised by the surrounding area that the hotels we stay at are in and this event we’re in the middle of Vatoland with prostitutes and crackheads abound. Seriously, it’s pretty nuts. Everyone else arrives; we go to a Wafflehouse and get ready for tomorrow.
Thursday – Back on the D1 field and returning as well are Amos, Drew, Jeb and Smalls. The "new" guys and girl are Drew from Kansas, Pig Pen, Alan, John, Andrea and Porno Paulie as the head ref. This was probably one of the best crews I’ve been a part of and things went real smooth for us. We started the day with D1, which the league has changed from two 16 minute halves to the same format as D2, which is basically the first to seven in 15 minutes. The first game was between Damage and Vicious and we finished up with D3. Nothing too exciting happened but once again I got to pull the first penalty of the event for my field and it was the wrong penalty as well. I threw a minor when I should have thrown a major but at that point in time, it didn’t really matter. Went back to hotel, cleaned up and ate at a place called El Pollo Loco, which is basically a Taco Bell. Afterwards we went to Marcus’ hotel and sat by the pool and had a few beers while talking about what happened on everyone’s field. Good times...
Friday – This day we started with several D3 matches, which we ran through real fast and then jumped back into D1. Because of the layout at this event there are pretty much no blowouts in any of the D1 games so almost all of them go to time and we start to run behind schedule. Thankfully, this event is different from the rest in that if we have to play the games after the sun goes down its no big deal thanks to the lights for the football field. Our last match of the "day" (I’m using quotation marks because it was played at night) was between Ultimate and United. This was a match that should have been easy to get through but no, it didn’t happen like that at all. Since neither team had a chance to make semis, I guess they collectively decided to do whatever the hell they wanted. First, there were a couple of playing on penalties, then an overshooting penalty thrown by me and probably the most ridiculous thing of all, players shooting at each other from six feet away when the game was over right in front of me, awesome.
During a point the last Ultimate player gets shot out of his bunker and I pull him. He catches a few extra from a United player but apparently it was something to get upset over. So the eliminated Ultimate player turns and shoots his gun several times at the United player. The guy from United retaliates in the same manner because it’s only "fair" to do so and the Ultimate player is about to shoot him again when I grab his barrel and push it towards the ground. Paulie comes over, asks what happened, I explain and Paulie gives each team a major when it should have been much worse. At this point in time I’m pissed and the game moves on with teams continually being penalized for some stupid shit till the game is over. Paulie pulls us altogether, tells us we’re doing a good job and to keep up the good work and continue to be consistent with our calls. We all put our hands in and break with a resounding "Fuck Scott!" as our cheer. Everyone laughs and we had back for the hotel. We go eat at Olive Garden, which took forever to be seated at but ended up being a great time.
Saturday – Getting close to the end of the tournament and that means semifinal time. We run a variety of D3, D2 and D1 semifinal games, which all go rather well surprisingly. I catch some crap from a player playing for Dark Legion aka the Caste about how "not everyone on the team is Russian." I’m still not sure what he was implying by that but it was probably the most ridiculous statement said to me at the tournament. After all that is done, we start our bracket of D3 5-man. I know what you’re thinking, "Oh no! Not 5-man!" but really, it was easiest thing we did all tournament. Each team was respectful and there were no attitude problems that are notorious in X-ball. If a player had a question about a call they asked politely and then thanked you for your answer. It was like something out of the Twilight Zone because this has never happened to me before, ever. We ran through the games real fast and the best part we weren’t picking up any games from any other field like usual, awesome.
Then after all of that the best thing ever to happen at tourney did; a ref game. That’s right; the refs got to play some paintball on our field after the day was done. This was probably the most fun I have ever had at a tournament. A bunch of teams gave us paint they didn’t want and Jerry from RNT All-stars loaned us their guns to play with, thanks a ton Jerry. The best part was probably the insane amount of cheating taking place on the field and ever better was that we actually had a crowd coaching, yelling and laughing. In one game, I got shot in the face, which I proceeded to wipe then run down the field only to get shot in the face again but managed to bunker out another despite being able to see. This went on for probably a good hour till we were kicked off the field by some complaining cleaning crew guys. That night we went to Golden Corral but I missed the "Fuck Scott" toast, which I wasn’t too happy about.
Sunday – The last day of the tournament and that means finals. We started the day with some D3 and D2 semifinal stuff then jumped into the D3 consolation game followed by the D3 finals game, which were both good. Then the same thing for D2 and D1 and everything went fine. I was kind of irritated during the Vicious and CDR game as at one point Vicious was up 6 – 2 and was close to winning but in true Vicious style, the decided to let CDR come back and tie up the game. Thankfully, Vicious scored a 30 second point and was able to win the match with 4.6 seconds left in the game. The final match between Damage and RNT was a rematch from an earlier prelim game that RNT came back and won. This was not the case in this game because RNT laid a beat down on Damage and won 7 – 1. When that last buzzer sounded and RNT ran on the field cheering, my tournament was officially over. I walked back to the Boneyard, turned my jersey into Tim, picked up my check from Marcus and then headed back to my hotel. We ate at McDonald’s, grabbed a few beers, stayed up late messing around and then went to bed.
Monday – I said good-bye to everyone leaving and grabbed a ride with Dave Baker back to the airport. I sat around the airport, had a beer at around 11AM (it was St. Patrick’s Day after all) and then got on the plane to fly back home. Drew and Dave Baker were on the same flight as me but sat in different parts of the plane. We get off and I said good-bye to them and head to baggage claim to pick up my bag still feeling real happy about how well the tournament turned out. I really hope the PSP decides to go back to Phoenix and the stadium complex will have us.
Well, that’s it, another PSP tourney done and gone and another review written by me. For those of you who actually read this, I hope you enjoyed it and to everyone who was there, hopefully I can see you at MAO in May. Later...
Wednesday – Flew out of Houston and a couple of hours later make a bumpy landing in Phoenix. I grab my bag, wait outside in the nice weather and get picked up by Jim from Paintball Zone. We drive out to the venue, drop my stuff at the Boneyard and already there is Marlene, Ol’ Dave, Porno Paulie, Marcus, Tim and several others. I go and check out the vendors, which are lacking and then go look at the field. I haven’t reffed paintball in a month and a half and haven’t seen the layout in person much less played. I’m a little nervous about this fact but I’m not going to let it bother me. Ray from Chicago arrives, he and I go eat then try to find the hotel we’re staying. At this point in time I’m no longer surprised by the surrounding area that the hotels we stay at are in and this event we’re in the middle of Vatoland with prostitutes and crackheads abound. Seriously, it’s pretty nuts. Everyone else arrives; we go to a Wafflehouse and get ready for tomorrow.
Thursday – Back on the D1 field and returning as well are Amos, Drew, Jeb and Smalls. The "new" guys and girl are Drew from Kansas, Pig Pen, Alan, John, Andrea and Porno Paulie as the head ref. This was probably one of the best crews I’ve been a part of and things went real smooth for us. We started the day with D1, which the league has changed from two 16 minute halves to the same format as D2, which is basically the first to seven in 15 minutes. The first game was between Damage and Vicious and we finished up with D3. Nothing too exciting happened but once again I got to pull the first penalty of the event for my field and it was the wrong penalty as well. I threw a minor when I should have thrown a major but at that point in time, it didn’t really matter. Went back to hotel, cleaned up and ate at a place called El Pollo Loco, which is basically a Taco Bell. Afterwards we went to Marcus’ hotel and sat by the pool and had a few beers while talking about what happened on everyone’s field. Good times...
Friday – This day we started with several D3 matches, which we ran through real fast and then jumped back into D1. Because of the layout at this event there are pretty much no blowouts in any of the D1 games so almost all of them go to time and we start to run behind schedule. Thankfully, this event is different from the rest in that if we have to play the games after the sun goes down its no big deal thanks to the lights for the football field. Our last match of the "day" (I’m using quotation marks because it was played at night) was between Ultimate and United. This was a match that should have been easy to get through but no, it didn’t happen like that at all. Since neither team had a chance to make semis, I guess they collectively decided to do whatever the hell they wanted. First, there were a couple of playing on penalties, then an overshooting penalty thrown by me and probably the most ridiculous thing of all, players shooting at each other from six feet away when the game was over right in front of me, awesome.
During a point the last Ultimate player gets shot out of his bunker and I pull him. He catches a few extra from a United player but apparently it was something to get upset over. So the eliminated Ultimate player turns and shoots his gun several times at the United player. The guy from United retaliates in the same manner because it’s only "fair" to do so and the Ultimate player is about to shoot him again when I grab his barrel and push it towards the ground. Paulie comes over, asks what happened, I explain and Paulie gives each team a major when it should have been much worse. At this point in time I’m pissed and the game moves on with teams continually being penalized for some stupid shit till the game is over. Paulie pulls us altogether, tells us we’re doing a good job and to keep up the good work and continue to be consistent with our calls. We all put our hands in and break with a resounding "Fuck Scott!" as our cheer. Everyone laughs and we had back for the hotel. We go eat at Olive Garden, which took forever to be seated at but ended up being a great time.
Saturday – Getting close to the end of the tournament and that means semifinal time. We run a variety of D3, D2 and D1 semifinal games, which all go rather well surprisingly. I catch some crap from a player playing for Dark Legion aka the Caste about how "not everyone on the team is Russian." I’m still not sure what he was implying by that but it was probably the most ridiculous statement said to me at the tournament. After all that is done, we start our bracket of D3 5-man. I know what you’re thinking, "Oh no! Not 5-man!" but really, it was easiest thing we did all tournament. Each team was respectful and there were no attitude problems that are notorious in X-ball. If a player had a question about a call they asked politely and then thanked you for your answer. It was like something out of the Twilight Zone because this has never happened to me before, ever. We ran through the games real fast and the best part we weren’t picking up any games from any other field like usual, awesome.
Then after all of that the best thing ever to happen at tourney did; a ref game. That’s right; the refs got to play some paintball on our field after the day was done. This was probably the most fun I have ever had at a tournament. A bunch of teams gave us paint they didn’t want and Jerry from RNT All-stars loaned us their guns to play with, thanks a ton Jerry. The best part was probably the insane amount of cheating taking place on the field and ever better was that we actually had a crowd coaching, yelling and laughing. In one game, I got shot in the face, which I proceeded to wipe then run down the field only to get shot in the face again but managed to bunker out another despite being able to see. This went on for probably a good hour till we were kicked off the field by some complaining cleaning crew guys. That night we went to Golden Corral but I missed the "Fuck Scott" toast, which I wasn’t too happy about.
Sunday – The last day of the tournament and that means finals. We started the day with some D3 and D2 semifinal stuff then jumped into the D3 consolation game followed by the D3 finals game, which were both good. Then the same thing for D2 and D1 and everything went fine. I was kind of irritated during the Vicious and CDR game as at one point Vicious was up 6 – 2 and was close to winning but in true Vicious style, the decided to let CDR come back and tie up the game. Thankfully, Vicious scored a 30 second point and was able to win the match with 4.6 seconds left in the game. The final match between Damage and RNT was a rematch from an earlier prelim game that RNT came back and won. This was not the case in this game because RNT laid a beat down on Damage and won 7 – 1. When that last buzzer sounded and RNT ran on the field cheering, my tournament was officially over. I walked back to the Boneyard, turned my jersey into Tim, picked up my check from Marcus and then headed back to my hotel. We ate at McDonald’s, grabbed a few beers, stayed up late messing around and then went to bed.
Monday – I said good-bye to everyone leaving and grabbed a ride with Dave Baker back to the airport. I sat around the airport, had a beer at around 11AM (it was St. Patrick’s Day after all) and then got on the plane to fly back home. Drew and Dave Baker were on the same flight as me but sat in different parts of the plane. We get off and I said good-bye to them and head to baggage claim to pick up my bag still feeling real happy about how well the tournament turned out. I really hope the PSP decides to go back to Phoenix and the stadium complex will have us.
Well, that’s it, another PSP tourney done and gone and another review written by me. For those of you who actually read this, I hope you enjoyed it and to everyone who was there, hopefully I can see you at MAO in May. Later...
PSP World Cup 2007
It's that time again in which I write up yet another event review for all of you and this time it's PSPs 2007 World Cup. That's right, the biggest, best and last event of the year. Everyone shows up to play and everyone expects to win making it one of the most intense events ever. The best part of World Cup is that yours truly gets to stand on the side and be blasted both physically and verbally. Well, not so much verbally this year but I still have the opportunity of getting drilled in the head and have no means to make any type of reprisal. So what are we waiting, let's get this thing started!
Tuesday – Fly out of Houston and land in somewhat sunny Orlando, Florida around 2PM. Get picked up from the airport an hour later via Dave Baker (thanks again Dave) and head out to Disney's Wide World of Sports to check out the vendors and fields and everyone I haven't seen since Omaha, awesome. Unfortunately, most of that doesn't happen. Oh I still got picked up by Dave and we drove out to the venue but I didn't get to check out the fields or vendors or meet with people I haven't seen since Omaha. Instead I sat in Dave Baker's truck making sure no one stole our bags while he searched for everyone else. Well, he only found one person and we went back to the hotel, dropped stuff off and I got my hotel room. Later that night, everyone shows up, we go to Sun on the Beach, have a few beers and then eventually go to bed and try to get some sleep before the first day of the tournament.
Wednesday – You know how at each tournament there is at least one day that sucks more than the rest? Always the same problems; scoreboard doesn't work, air stations constantly down, weather goes bad, bunkers get torn up, etc. Usually this day isn't till the third day of the event so you've had some time to prepare for it. Well, not World Cup, because when shit goes down at Cup, it goes down on the first day. This day was just straight up bad or for me at least. It wasn't the usual problems either; it was just the overall play by the teams and job by the refs. Everything just felt sloppy; simple as that. I threw more penalties on this day than I did at Chicago and Omaha combined. I'm almost certain that I threw a total of 13 penalties if not more. We started the day off with a bracket of D2 X-ball and the first two matches, no penalties from anyone. The third match I threw the first penalty of the day, a major and from there it erupted. From that point on every team that played on our field received several penalties for various infractions. After a quick lunch, we were back on the field now refereeing Open division. Things didn't progress any more smoothly than they did in the morning and to top it off in our second to last match the air compressor that runs both for the NXL field and my field goes down. We wait around 40 minutes to fix the damn thing so we can finish a match that was almost done with. By the time everything is ready it is already getting dark forcing us to push the last match to tomorrow morning. This is the second time this has happened to me this season, terrific. Also I threw my voice out and would spend the rest of the event with laryngitis.
Thursday – If you wanted to compare Wednesday to Thursday, you would call it Opposite Day. We started the morning with a bracket of Open division matches and all but the last match were blowouts. Everything was going great till we started the afternoon bracket of D2 X-ball. For all the good calls we made that morning and the great job I felt like we were doing quickly evaporated when the D2 teams came on the field. The worst part of the day came during a match between CFK and Florida Outsiders, where I watched a FO player shoot a CFK player from across the field after doing a run-thru. I signaled his elimination and watched what I thought was Damien and Smalls going in to pull him, which wasn't the case at all. Instead, they wiped the CFK player clean for being spun on by the FO player in the snake never noticing that a couple of hits came from the other side of the field. I go running to have the CFK player pulled and when I get there he shoots the FO player that shot him; commence cluster fuck. After a bit of arguing everything is sorted out, CFK get a penalty, no point, which then in turn lands a player getting a suspension for spiking his mask. Awesome...
Friday – This day was nothing but Open division games and could have been a rather successful day, notice I said could have been. First, before noon I started getting a pretty bad headache and after spending several minutes asking around for Advil, I get it from the one person I couldn't appreciate more for giving it to me, the coach/owner of Impact, Bart. Not only did he give me Advil but also Pedalite to drink to help with my dehydration. Seriously, there are so few people like him in this sport and it's amazing that he would go out of his way for the refs. The best thing I've ever seen at a paintball tournament this day and it was when All-Stars International went on the field with a paintball gun bow and arrow and a paintball pistol for their last point of the tourney. It was seriously the funniest thing I've ever watched and nothing could ever top it. I was feeling great all the way up to the last match. Somehow, someway Jax Warriors and Miami Rage were scheduled to play each other. If I ever needed proof of God's Wrath, this was it. I can't begin to describe how bad this match was despite Rage's opportunity to end the damn thing when they were up 7 to 2 at the end of the first half. It was penalties galore, screaming galore and my headache came back in full force before the match was over. Rage pulled it out 9 to 6 and did so with at least two people in the box for a majority of the second half.
Saturday – We finished up Saturday morning with the last of the Open prelim games and from there things went shitty on us. After knocking out our first Open semi game, we had to sit around for nearly an hour to get score sheets for the D3 semifinals. Soon, we got fed up with waiting and wrote the scores down on a spare score sheet we had lying around. Everything proceeded normally till the monsoon came in during the Vicious vs. Texas Justice League game. The down pour was so bad you couldn't see anything so Jake calls it and we wait for everything to clear up. During that wait lightning decides to strike several times, now we have to wait longer. Then Disney calls and says that we have to leave because of the lightning; now here is where the real fun begins. Rosie was there helping out and he's on the phone talking with someone and tells us to stick around. Another bolt of lightning strikes and we're told once again to leave but Rosie says the opposite and we go in the player's pit and sit waiting to see what the fuck is going on. Finally, we get the go ahead from Rosie to finish the JL game but the match that was supposed to follow will be played tomorrow. The match ends with TJL as the winners going on to the Finals and I go back to the hotel soaked from head to toe.
Sunday – This is it, the last day of the biggest tournament of the year. Everything you worked for, everything you strived for and everything you've wanted since you started playing paintball comes to a head right here. You and your buddies will forever be champions and this moment will be with you for the rest of your life. As for me, I'll be standing on the side watching the whole thing unfurl, sharing both the victory and defeat vicariously through all those players knowing exactly what it took to be there that day. This would have been a good day overall if wouldn't have been the extra four matches that felt like was dumped on us. It felt like we were given no breaks at all on a day that is unforgiving in regards to mistakes being made on the field. As angry and frustrated as it made me to be reffing those extra matches knowing that there was all kinds of down time on other fields, I did them anyway and did so to the best of my ability. I was paid to do a job and I did the job come rain or shine or 5-man, which I didn’t have to do this event, hurrah! The day ended with Avalanche, Entourage and Speedin Dirty being the winners of the event, congratulations to them. Also I managed to get an Impact jersey from Bart and it's pretty damn sweet.
Well, that's that. I've now refereed an entire season for PSP and a total of seven events. I would like to thank Tim for sticking with me and hiring me event after event. I would like to thank Marlene for being so good to me and helping us out. I would like to thank all the guys I reffed those events with and being part of the crew. I would like to thank Amos, Diaz, Travis, Pig Pen, Jake, Becky, Smalls, Drew, Dexter, Jeb, Old Dave and everyone else for their hard work and all the memories that will last me the rest of my life. I wish you all the best and hope to see you next season.
Tuesday – Fly out of Houston and land in somewhat sunny Orlando, Florida around 2PM. Get picked up from the airport an hour later via Dave Baker (thanks again Dave) and head out to Disney's Wide World of Sports to check out the vendors and fields and everyone I haven't seen since Omaha, awesome. Unfortunately, most of that doesn't happen. Oh I still got picked up by Dave and we drove out to the venue but I didn't get to check out the fields or vendors or meet with people I haven't seen since Omaha. Instead I sat in Dave Baker's truck making sure no one stole our bags while he searched for everyone else. Well, he only found one person and we went back to the hotel, dropped stuff off and I got my hotel room. Later that night, everyone shows up, we go to Sun on the Beach, have a few beers and then eventually go to bed and try to get some sleep before the first day of the tournament.
Wednesday – You know how at each tournament there is at least one day that sucks more than the rest? Always the same problems; scoreboard doesn't work, air stations constantly down, weather goes bad, bunkers get torn up, etc. Usually this day isn't till the third day of the event so you've had some time to prepare for it. Well, not World Cup, because when shit goes down at Cup, it goes down on the first day. This day was just straight up bad or for me at least. It wasn't the usual problems either; it was just the overall play by the teams and job by the refs. Everything just felt sloppy; simple as that. I threw more penalties on this day than I did at Chicago and Omaha combined. I'm almost certain that I threw a total of 13 penalties if not more. We started the day off with a bracket of D2 X-ball and the first two matches, no penalties from anyone. The third match I threw the first penalty of the day, a major and from there it erupted. From that point on every team that played on our field received several penalties for various infractions. After a quick lunch, we were back on the field now refereeing Open division. Things didn't progress any more smoothly than they did in the morning and to top it off in our second to last match the air compressor that runs both for the NXL field and my field goes down. We wait around 40 minutes to fix the damn thing so we can finish a match that was almost done with. By the time everything is ready it is already getting dark forcing us to push the last match to tomorrow morning. This is the second time this has happened to me this season, terrific. Also I threw my voice out and would spend the rest of the event with laryngitis.
Thursday – If you wanted to compare Wednesday to Thursday, you would call it Opposite Day. We started the morning with a bracket of Open division matches and all but the last match were blowouts. Everything was going great till we started the afternoon bracket of D2 X-ball. For all the good calls we made that morning and the great job I felt like we were doing quickly evaporated when the D2 teams came on the field. The worst part of the day came during a match between CFK and Florida Outsiders, where I watched a FO player shoot a CFK player from across the field after doing a run-thru. I signaled his elimination and watched what I thought was Damien and Smalls going in to pull him, which wasn't the case at all. Instead, they wiped the CFK player clean for being spun on by the FO player in the snake never noticing that a couple of hits came from the other side of the field. I go running to have the CFK player pulled and when I get there he shoots the FO player that shot him; commence cluster fuck. After a bit of arguing everything is sorted out, CFK get a penalty, no point, which then in turn lands a player getting a suspension for spiking his mask. Awesome...
Friday – This day was nothing but Open division games and could have been a rather successful day, notice I said could have been. First, before noon I started getting a pretty bad headache and after spending several minutes asking around for Advil, I get it from the one person I couldn't appreciate more for giving it to me, the coach/owner of Impact, Bart. Not only did he give me Advil but also Pedalite to drink to help with my dehydration. Seriously, there are so few people like him in this sport and it's amazing that he would go out of his way for the refs. The best thing I've ever seen at a paintball tournament this day and it was when All-Stars International went on the field with a paintball gun bow and arrow and a paintball pistol for their last point of the tourney. It was seriously the funniest thing I've ever watched and nothing could ever top it. I was feeling great all the way up to the last match. Somehow, someway Jax Warriors and Miami Rage were scheduled to play each other. If I ever needed proof of God's Wrath, this was it. I can't begin to describe how bad this match was despite Rage's opportunity to end the damn thing when they were up 7 to 2 at the end of the first half. It was penalties galore, screaming galore and my headache came back in full force before the match was over. Rage pulled it out 9 to 6 and did so with at least two people in the box for a majority of the second half.
Saturday – We finished up Saturday morning with the last of the Open prelim games and from there things went shitty on us. After knocking out our first Open semi game, we had to sit around for nearly an hour to get score sheets for the D3 semifinals. Soon, we got fed up with waiting and wrote the scores down on a spare score sheet we had lying around. Everything proceeded normally till the monsoon came in during the Vicious vs. Texas Justice League game. The down pour was so bad you couldn't see anything so Jake calls it and we wait for everything to clear up. During that wait lightning decides to strike several times, now we have to wait longer. Then Disney calls and says that we have to leave because of the lightning; now here is where the real fun begins. Rosie was there helping out and he's on the phone talking with someone and tells us to stick around. Another bolt of lightning strikes and we're told once again to leave but Rosie says the opposite and we go in the player's pit and sit waiting to see what the fuck is going on. Finally, we get the go ahead from Rosie to finish the JL game but the match that was supposed to follow will be played tomorrow. The match ends with TJL as the winners going on to the Finals and I go back to the hotel soaked from head to toe.
Sunday – This is it, the last day of the biggest tournament of the year. Everything you worked for, everything you strived for and everything you've wanted since you started playing paintball comes to a head right here. You and your buddies will forever be champions and this moment will be with you for the rest of your life. As for me, I'll be standing on the side watching the whole thing unfurl, sharing both the victory and defeat vicariously through all those players knowing exactly what it took to be there that day. This would have been a good day overall if wouldn't have been the extra four matches that felt like was dumped on us. It felt like we were given no breaks at all on a day that is unforgiving in regards to mistakes being made on the field. As angry and frustrated as it made me to be reffing those extra matches knowing that there was all kinds of down time on other fields, I did them anyway and did so to the best of my ability. I was paid to do a job and I did the job come rain or shine or 5-man, which I didn’t have to do this event, hurrah! The day ended with Avalanche, Entourage and Speedin Dirty being the winners of the event, congratulations to them. Also I managed to get an Impact jersey from Bart and it's pretty damn sweet.
Well, that's that. I've now refereed an entire season for PSP and a total of seven events. I would like to thank Tim for sticking with me and hiring me event after event. I would like to thank Marlene for being so good to me and helping us out. I would like to thank all the guys I reffed those events with and being part of the crew. I would like to thank Amos, Diaz, Travis, Pig Pen, Jake, Becky, Smalls, Drew, Dexter, Jeb, Old Dave and everyone else for their hard work and all the memories that will last me the rest of my life. I wish you all the best and hope to see you next season.
PSP River City Open 2007
Well it's that time again for another event review by yours truly...me. This time the fourth event of the PSP 2007 season was held in Omaha, Nebraska and by "Omaha" I mean Council Bluffs, Iowa and by "Council Bluffs" I mean the middle of fucking nowhere. I wish it would have been held somewhere else as my flight cost me a lot and I just wasn't too impressed with the site at which the tournament was being held. Yes, I am aware of what it takes to put on an event. Yes, I am aware that the fourth event generally is the red-headed step child of the PSP series. Yes, I am aware that attendance is always low due to a ranking system that would force lower ranked teams to bump up a division despite being unable to compete in that higher division thus skipping an event so they can play World Cup in the lower division. However, BFI (Bum Fucking Iowa)? Come on...
Wednesday – I get to the airport early and sit around for four hours waiting for my flight. While I'm there I notice several members from Team Speed are there including Tim (the coach) and Ore. Upon seeing them I already know that they're going to be on my flight and with my luck sitting either next to me or around me. I get on the plane and sure enough, they're only a couple rows behind me. My plane then gets to sit on the tarmac for about half an hour which I fall asleep only to wake up to see that we are still on the ground. Finally, we take off and after a two hour flight I'm in Omaha, hurrah (/sarcasm). I go to baggage claim where I eventually meet up with Amos, Alan, Ian, Tyler and Joel. We wait and wait and wait for my bag and it never comes. I go to the ticket counter and low and behold, there's my bag. We then go to the hotel, drop our stuff off and go to the field. At the field, we check in and find out some of the best news I've ever heard; Jax Warriors dropped out of the tournament. HELL FUCKING YES! No Jax Warriors means no PGP and no PGP means no excessive bitching, whining and crying which means a shit ton less to deal with. It also means four less matches to referee, which is always a plus. But with every good thing something equally bad happens and that bad thing was confirmation of an afternoon bracket of D4 5-man...fuck me. Also while at the field I harass Dan Fagan for awhile, much to the delight of Marcus. We leave, meet up with everyone else, eat dinner at Arby's and call it a night.
Thursday – First day of the tournament and typically the easiest. On the first day, the teams are testing the fields and are either playing conservatively or going all out. Yes, they've had time to practice the field layout before the event but that doesn't mean it's going to be the exact same at the event. I'm not saying bunkers get moved around it's just that there are minor details that need to be taken into consideration and those details determine if you go all the way or if you're getting drunk on Friday night because your team is already been knocked out. I have the good fortune of getting to referee primarily Open division once again and I'm excited. Open division means better competition and less chance of getting shot by those players. That's pretty much a win-win situation right there. Like I've said before when you know the teams you know what they're going to do and who to watch thus meaning better faster calls. You can't expect to catch everything but you do catch most of it. The one thing I was not expecting was the heat. Oh my God it was hot and not just hot, humid. It was Houston humid and then some. It bore on unbearable and several refs went down due to heat exhaustion. I persevered despite feeling like shit with and finished the day. I knew that if the rest of the tournament was going to be like that I don't know if I was going to make it the rest of the event.
Friday – Same shit, different day. The tournament continues as well as the heat, the bitching and everything else that could happen at a tourney. Nothing really stands out in my mind except the Damage vs. Speed game where Jerry from Speed collides with a Damage player and gets knocked to the ground, hard. He lays there for a bit till he gets his wind back and we walk him off the field. It's also in this game that I notice a non-rostered person in Damage's pit who happens to be Jimmy Savaria of Strange. I go into the pit and ask him for his ID and sure enough, he's not on the team's roster. I then ask him to leave the pit and stand behind the roped off area as he's not allowed in their pit. He, of course being a pro player and not knowing the damn rules, asks why he can't be in Damage's pit. I explain why and he continues to act like this is a new rule devised moments ago when it's been in the rules for the past couple of years. Finally, I tell him he can leave or I can take his ID and he won't get it back till he pays a fine. Jimmy then takes it away from me and proceeds to cuss me out but he does leave the pit. After the match his over he comes up to me and continues to give me shit till Jake, my ultimate, runs him off. I then see him talk to Marlene and Marcus where obviously the same conversation takes place. Jimmy storms off and gabs about it to as many people as possible and I hear about it from someone else who wasn't even near my field. Oh well...
Friday night – A group of us decide to go eat at CiCi's Pizza with Porno Paulie leading the way. A short 11 mile trip lasts over half an hour and when we get to CiCi's, it's closed. We then look around for a place to eat and decide on some bar and grill place where we have a fun night at the player's expense. If you don't know at this point we, being the refs, make fun of the players a lot. If we're not making fun of them, we're making fun of each other and if we're not making fun of each other then we are either not around one another, asleep or dead. That's our nightlife. Not exactly glamorous or exciting but it is quite entertaining.
Saturday – This day is usually one of the better days and the reason is because games start later for me at least, which means a little extra time to recuperate. We ref two Open semi finals games and then have lunch. After lunch for the first time since World Cup the field I'm refereeing has a bracket of 5-man and not just any 5-man, Division 4 5-man which is the equivalent of rookie. You may think that that doesn't sound that bad but that's far from true. These guys shoot anywhere and everywhere. They run straight up to their bunkers and make it. All their guns are chrono'd way low and their paint is terrible. I also forgot how in 5-man there is no breaks like there is in X-ball. Halfway through our bracket I have to piss like crazy waiting for a halftime that isn't coming. But the worst part is to finish your bracket to find out that adjacent fields are behind and that you're field is picking up their games so that games won't be played in the dark. This isn't a very welcomed situation especially with the heat, being taunted all day by Marlene and getting destroyed by D4 players. We get it done regardless and go back to the hotel.
Sunday – This was probably the most hectic Sunday I've ever experienced. In the morning we have a small bracket of 5-man games and we kill them quick. After that it is D3 semi-finals, which we run with no problems. We scarf down our lunch and run D2 semi-finals followed by the Open division consolation match. After that it's D3 consolation followed by Open final between Avalanche and Aftermath. This match was brutal and all Avalanche; their first win since Chicago 2004. The day continued with D3 finals and the most boring D2 finals game I've ever watched between Drama and Vicious. A total of 3 points were scored in 15 minutes of play. During this game a player from Vicious accidentally had the team's tool pod in his pack, which he pulled and dumped in his hopper. I did everything I could not to start laughing at him. After that the tournament is officially over for me.
Sunday night – We go eat at Fazoli's and the head back to the hotel. We then stay in the lobby for two hours laughing our asses off over various things that happened during the week. Marcus joins us and is no longer horrified that we work for PSP and is actually participating in the conversation. It's a great time had by all and I know that if someone would have filmed us in the lobby, the players might come to realize how stupid they can be at times.
Monday – Get all my things together, throw them in Amos' van and head for the airport. I fly back home next to this big fat lady who takes up part of my seat making for a very unpleasant flight. I get home to write this up for all of you who probably won't read it but it's not like I have anything better to do but wait for World Cup, which hopefully I'll get to go to...
Wednesday – I get to the airport early and sit around for four hours waiting for my flight. While I'm there I notice several members from Team Speed are there including Tim (the coach) and Ore. Upon seeing them I already know that they're going to be on my flight and with my luck sitting either next to me or around me. I get on the plane and sure enough, they're only a couple rows behind me. My plane then gets to sit on the tarmac for about half an hour which I fall asleep only to wake up to see that we are still on the ground. Finally, we take off and after a two hour flight I'm in Omaha, hurrah (/sarcasm). I go to baggage claim where I eventually meet up with Amos, Alan, Ian, Tyler and Joel. We wait and wait and wait for my bag and it never comes. I go to the ticket counter and low and behold, there's my bag. We then go to the hotel, drop our stuff off and go to the field. At the field, we check in and find out some of the best news I've ever heard; Jax Warriors dropped out of the tournament. HELL FUCKING YES! No Jax Warriors means no PGP and no PGP means no excessive bitching, whining and crying which means a shit ton less to deal with. It also means four less matches to referee, which is always a plus. But with every good thing something equally bad happens and that bad thing was confirmation of an afternoon bracket of D4 5-man...fuck me. Also while at the field I harass Dan Fagan for awhile, much to the delight of Marcus. We leave, meet up with everyone else, eat dinner at Arby's and call it a night.
Thursday – First day of the tournament and typically the easiest. On the first day, the teams are testing the fields and are either playing conservatively or going all out. Yes, they've had time to practice the field layout before the event but that doesn't mean it's going to be the exact same at the event. I'm not saying bunkers get moved around it's just that there are minor details that need to be taken into consideration and those details determine if you go all the way or if you're getting drunk on Friday night because your team is already been knocked out. I have the good fortune of getting to referee primarily Open division once again and I'm excited. Open division means better competition and less chance of getting shot by those players. That's pretty much a win-win situation right there. Like I've said before when you know the teams you know what they're going to do and who to watch thus meaning better faster calls. You can't expect to catch everything but you do catch most of it. The one thing I was not expecting was the heat. Oh my God it was hot and not just hot, humid. It was Houston humid and then some. It bore on unbearable and several refs went down due to heat exhaustion. I persevered despite feeling like shit with and finished the day. I knew that if the rest of the tournament was going to be like that I don't know if I was going to make it the rest of the event.
Friday – Same shit, different day. The tournament continues as well as the heat, the bitching and everything else that could happen at a tourney. Nothing really stands out in my mind except the Damage vs. Speed game where Jerry from Speed collides with a Damage player and gets knocked to the ground, hard. He lays there for a bit till he gets his wind back and we walk him off the field. It's also in this game that I notice a non-rostered person in Damage's pit who happens to be Jimmy Savaria of Strange. I go into the pit and ask him for his ID and sure enough, he's not on the team's roster. I then ask him to leave the pit and stand behind the roped off area as he's not allowed in their pit. He, of course being a pro player and not knowing the damn rules, asks why he can't be in Damage's pit. I explain why and he continues to act like this is a new rule devised moments ago when it's been in the rules for the past couple of years. Finally, I tell him he can leave or I can take his ID and he won't get it back till he pays a fine. Jimmy then takes it away from me and proceeds to cuss me out but he does leave the pit. After the match his over he comes up to me and continues to give me shit till Jake, my ultimate, runs him off. I then see him talk to Marlene and Marcus where obviously the same conversation takes place. Jimmy storms off and gabs about it to as many people as possible and I hear about it from someone else who wasn't even near my field. Oh well...
Friday night – A group of us decide to go eat at CiCi's Pizza with Porno Paulie leading the way. A short 11 mile trip lasts over half an hour and when we get to CiCi's, it's closed. We then look around for a place to eat and decide on some bar and grill place where we have a fun night at the player's expense. If you don't know at this point we, being the refs, make fun of the players a lot. If we're not making fun of them, we're making fun of each other and if we're not making fun of each other then we are either not around one another, asleep or dead. That's our nightlife. Not exactly glamorous or exciting but it is quite entertaining.
Saturday – This day is usually one of the better days and the reason is because games start later for me at least, which means a little extra time to recuperate. We ref two Open semi finals games and then have lunch. After lunch for the first time since World Cup the field I'm refereeing has a bracket of 5-man and not just any 5-man, Division 4 5-man which is the equivalent of rookie. You may think that that doesn't sound that bad but that's far from true. These guys shoot anywhere and everywhere. They run straight up to their bunkers and make it. All their guns are chrono'd way low and their paint is terrible. I also forgot how in 5-man there is no breaks like there is in X-ball. Halfway through our bracket I have to piss like crazy waiting for a halftime that isn't coming. But the worst part is to finish your bracket to find out that adjacent fields are behind and that you're field is picking up their games so that games won't be played in the dark. This isn't a very welcomed situation especially with the heat, being taunted all day by Marlene and getting destroyed by D4 players. We get it done regardless and go back to the hotel.
Sunday – This was probably the most hectic Sunday I've ever experienced. In the morning we have a small bracket of 5-man games and we kill them quick. After that it is D3 semi-finals, which we run with no problems. We scarf down our lunch and run D2 semi-finals followed by the Open division consolation match. After that it's D3 consolation followed by Open final between Avalanche and Aftermath. This match was brutal and all Avalanche; their first win since Chicago 2004. The day continued with D3 finals and the most boring D2 finals game I've ever watched between Drama and Vicious. A total of 3 points were scored in 15 minutes of play. During this game a player from Vicious accidentally had the team's tool pod in his pack, which he pulled and dumped in his hopper. I did everything I could not to start laughing at him. After that the tournament is officially over for me.
Sunday night – We go eat at Fazoli's and the head back to the hotel. We then stay in the lobby for two hours laughing our asses off over various things that happened during the week. Marcus joins us and is no longer horrified that we work for PSP and is actually participating in the conversation. It's a great time had by all and I know that if someone would have filmed us in the lobby, the players might come to realize how stupid they can be at times.
Monday – Get all my things together, throw them in Amos' van and head for the airport. I fly back home next to this big fat lady who takes up part of my seat making for a very unpleasant flight. I get home to write this up for all of you who probably won't read it but it's not like I have anything better to do but wait for World Cup, which hopefully I'll get to go to...
PSP Chicago 2007
PSP Chicago
All right I've been meaning to write a review of each PSP event I attend this year and just have been too lazy to do so. Better late than never, right? Here's a recap/review/reminisce of my 7 days in Chicago/Bolingbrook/Joliet for the third PSP event.
Tuesday - I fly into O'Hare Airport and get picked up by Amos in probably one of the worst looking minivans I've ever seen. No offense Amos but holy hell, that's the kind of vehicle that people drive in the former Eastern Bloc. Already in the minivan of doom are Drew and Dexter (most of the people I will be talking about are fellow refs unless designated otherwise) and they look as surprised as I am that we're driving on a major highway in this thing. We head out to Bolingbrook and check out the venue, which seems pretty nice. The field that Amos and I are going to be on is the furthest from the Boneyard/Logistics tent; lame. We find out who is going to be on our field with us and it's the same five guys plus five others we've never reffed with, super. We get our wristbands, meet up with some more refs, go eat at Golden Corral and then go to the hotel in Joliet, where Pig Pen has been waiting this whole time. Diaz and Chris come in late, which means the gangs all here.
Wednesday - Friday - First day of the event till Friday, I'll be reffing nothing but Open division, thank God. Nothing against anybody or any team that plays D2 or D3 Xball but when you get to stick to one format for the course of an event things become slightly easier. You figure out who's who and what bunkers they play and where to stand to get the best angle to watch them. You also get to deal with same bullshit day in and day out. Like Ore from Speed trying to play on/cheat every chance he gets. PGP from Jax Warriors bitching and complaining about calls that were never there. Riptide screaming about we're trying to screw them over despite the fact they're winning a game for a change. Gridlock showing no consistency and finally watching Aftermath, Impact and Avalanche walk right through teams giving us much needed breaks before we have to run the next match. The coolest thing to happen was when the Domino's Pizza promo blimp crash landed on our field during the middle of a game. Doesn't really get much better than that. That's pretty much prelims wrapped in a nutshell and this lasts for two and a half days.
Friday night - Usually I try not to stay up too late and get a decent amount of sleep so I don't crash halfway through the day but Friday night always seems to be the one where we all start acting goofy. Pig Pen, Amos and I were talking about the night before MAO at Jack-in-the-Box when we were teasing/scaring Marcus about messing with teams before/during a match. One involved admitting to binging on drugs the night before then seeing imaginary bees all over the field and radioing anybody for help to fend off said bees. The other involved calling penalties on players from other sports such as traveling, double dribble, pass interference, clipping and signaling "touchdown" everytime the flag was hanged on the startbox. This may not sound funny but when you're exhausted, often accused of not knowing what you're doing and somehow still awake, it's down right hysterical. We go on about this for almost two hours and then finally fall asleep.
Saturday - Just like at MAO, it rained, but not as heavily, and did so for the entire day. However, unlike MAO, the tempreature dropped a bit and got a tad chilly. Thankfully, I only had to ref 6 matches that day and was done before 4PM, not too bad. One of the matches was Aftermath vs Avalanche and we had to run this match on a different field because our scoreboard decided to crap out on us at the end of a previous match (hurrah PSP). The other field happened to be Pig Pen's field and I have no idea how any team played on that field the entire week. It was unlevel to boot and if you were a dorito corner player, sucks for you as you had to run uphill. Anyways, near the end of the first half I throw a major for a player having a nice big hit on this inside of his hopper right next to his face. When the half had ended, Ed Poorman came over and had a word with me about it subtly accusing me of being biased and how we're screwing them over. Sorry if you think that Ed but I don't know how you could considering how one team has served three more penalties than your team and you're still hung up over a call that wasn't there to be made. Whatever...
Sunday - We get to head over to the NXL field to ref finals over there with the grandstand seating. Cool, right? Not really as it is still pretty wet and if anybody actually paid the $15 to watch the games on that field are more than likely going to show up for the NXL All-Star games, which by the way pretty much mean nothing. Well, except respect but who cares about respect it's all about the money, right? So we ref D3, D2 and Open concession and finals and everything goes relatively smoothly. Teams win, teams lose, no big controversy, no bad attitudes, no shit from the crowd, the games are played and the day comes to end. One more PSP event gone and done.
Monday - Get all my stuff packed and head for the airport and wished everyone else a safe trip home, hope to see you at the next event, etc. Wait for my plane, get delayed and fly home to finally get some sleep.
Well, that's that and probably what you weren't expecting but if I were to type up every little thing, it would have been pretty damn long and I doubt you would have read the entire thing.
All right I've been meaning to write a review of each PSP event I attend this year and just have been too lazy to do so. Better late than never, right? Here's a recap/review/reminisce of my 7 days in Chicago/Bolingbrook/Joliet for the third PSP event.
Tuesday - I fly into O'Hare Airport and get picked up by Amos in probably one of the worst looking minivans I've ever seen. No offense Amos but holy hell, that's the kind of vehicle that people drive in the former Eastern Bloc. Already in the minivan of doom are Drew and Dexter (most of the people I will be talking about are fellow refs unless designated otherwise) and they look as surprised as I am that we're driving on a major highway in this thing. We head out to Bolingbrook and check out the venue, which seems pretty nice. The field that Amos and I are going to be on is the furthest from the Boneyard/Logistics tent; lame. We find out who is going to be on our field with us and it's the same five guys plus five others we've never reffed with, super. We get our wristbands, meet up with some more refs, go eat at Golden Corral and then go to the hotel in Joliet, where Pig Pen has been waiting this whole time. Diaz and Chris come in late, which means the gangs all here.
Wednesday - Friday - First day of the event till Friday, I'll be reffing nothing but Open division, thank God. Nothing against anybody or any team that plays D2 or D3 Xball but when you get to stick to one format for the course of an event things become slightly easier. You figure out who's who and what bunkers they play and where to stand to get the best angle to watch them. You also get to deal with same bullshit day in and day out. Like Ore from Speed trying to play on/cheat every chance he gets. PGP from Jax Warriors bitching and complaining about calls that were never there. Riptide screaming about we're trying to screw them over despite the fact they're winning a game for a change. Gridlock showing no consistency and finally watching Aftermath, Impact and Avalanche walk right through teams giving us much needed breaks before we have to run the next match. The coolest thing to happen was when the Domino's Pizza promo blimp crash landed on our field during the middle of a game. Doesn't really get much better than that. That's pretty much prelims wrapped in a nutshell and this lasts for two and a half days.
Friday night - Usually I try not to stay up too late and get a decent amount of sleep so I don't crash halfway through the day but Friday night always seems to be the one where we all start acting goofy. Pig Pen, Amos and I were talking about the night before MAO at Jack-in-the-Box when we were teasing/scaring Marcus about messing with teams before/during a match. One involved admitting to binging on drugs the night before then seeing imaginary bees all over the field and radioing anybody for help to fend off said bees. The other involved calling penalties on players from other sports such as traveling, double dribble, pass interference, clipping and signaling "touchdown" everytime the flag was hanged on the startbox. This may not sound funny but when you're exhausted, often accused of not knowing what you're doing and somehow still awake, it's down right hysterical. We go on about this for almost two hours and then finally fall asleep.
Saturday - Just like at MAO, it rained, but not as heavily, and did so for the entire day. However, unlike MAO, the tempreature dropped a bit and got a tad chilly. Thankfully, I only had to ref 6 matches that day and was done before 4PM, not too bad. One of the matches was Aftermath vs Avalanche and we had to run this match on a different field because our scoreboard decided to crap out on us at the end of a previous match (hurrah PSP). The other field happened to be Pig Pen's field and I have no idea how any team played on that field the entire week. It was unlevel to boot and if you were a dorito corner player, sucks for you as you had to run uphill. Anyways, near the end of the first half I throw a major for a player having a nice big hit on this inside of his hopper right next to his face. When the half had ended, Ed Poorman came over and had a word with me about it subtly accusing me of being biased and how we're screwing them over. Sorry if you think that Ed but I don't know how you could considering how one team has served three more penalties than your team and you're still hung up over a call that wasn't there to be made. Whatever...
Sunday - We get to head over to the NXL field to ref finals over there with the grandstand seating. Cool, right? Not really as it is still pretty wet and if anybody actually paid the $15 to watch the games on that field are more than likely going to show up for the NXL All-Star games, which by the way pretty much mean nothing. Well, except respect but who cares about respect it's all about the money, right? So we ref D3, D2 and Open concession and finals and everything goes relatively smoothly. Teams win, teams lose, no big controversy, no bad attitudes, no shit from the crowd, the games are played and the day comes to end. One more PSP event gone and done.
Monday - Get all my stuff packed and head for the airport and wished everyone else a safe trip home, hope to see you at the next event, etc. Wait for my plane, get delayed and fly home to finally get some sleep.
Well, that's that and probably what you weren't expecting but if I were to type up every little thing, it would have been pretty damn long and I doubt you would have read the entire thing.
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