Baby Ollie
04-14-2010, 02:53 AM
Wow... What a great time. It was one of the most exhausting weeks of my life, and I wasn't even playing. I pitted for a D2 team, Part-Time Ninjas. Ended up taking 4th place, crushing some great teams out there (such as TheStoned Assassins).
The tournament life is definitely not for the faint of heart. Staying up past midnight, and then getting up at five each morning to play is very draining. Sunday, we were once again up at five, and didn't end up getting to eat more than an uncrustable until almost nine in the evening. Talk about HUNGRY. Completely worth it though.
Thoughts on the tournament...
The venue was awesome, and yet annoying at the same time. It was literally right on the beach. This was really cool. Nice cool breeze, temperature was amazingly perfect. Gorgeous girls in bikinis everywhere, OMG!!! But... Sand it almost everything. Slow moving unless you were on one of the sidewalk sized plank walkways laid out, and the lack of bathrooms in the pit area was a tad bit annoying. All in all though, the producers, in my opinion, did a good job of setting up the event.
The organization was a little disappointing. Obviously, with 120 teams playing in the event, it wasn't expected that everything run buttery smooth, but it would have been nice to know the schedule for Sunday (finals) before 8:30 on Saturday night.
The paint was another disappointment. For whatever reason, Draxxus has decided to just sponsor the PSP, so we were left to choose between Kee and Valken paint (who were pretty much left to charge whatever they wanted). It was good paint (Marbs, or Ultra Evil) from Kee, but being a Draxxus sponsored team and being asked to pay $55 a case was ridiculous. The price was eventually negotiated down a little, and the ultra evil is AMAZING paint, but the price was a bit steep. Also, instead of finishing out the finals in a reasonable amount of time, it was decided that the refs needed a forty minute break before the the last 3 games on their field were played. After being at the field for twelve hours with a ton of waiting between games, this was very irritating.
There are some other interesting things to know about the NPPL/USPL. With the league being owned by the pro teams, they get a LOT more leeway on what goes on, and get away with a lot of things that the divisional teams do not. One pro team said they wanted to shoot Draxxus and NPPL let them. For anyone else, this would have been a HUGE penalty. The lack of coverage of divisional games was very aggravating as well. There is a huge difference between watching a pro and and a divisional game. The pros don't pay nearly as much to play an event after all of their sponsorships. Watching their matches is fun, but you can tell that they are just not as passionate about it. There is a lot of showboating and other things that go on that you don't see in divisional matches. The divisional guys don't get their stuff payed for by a sponsor. They might get some deals, but they still pay for everything. For them, there is a lot more on the line than just the media attention for a win. In fact, since D2 something like 20 more teams than the pro division, the purses were higher. First place D2 team got somewhere around $6000, while the pro team go $5000.
There are some more complaints, and more praises I have, but collecting my thoughts has been difficult enough as is, and I'm still exhausted from the plane ride back and class I just got out of.
I will say that I learned a LOT. The fun I had hanging out with the team was unforgettable as well. There were so many shenanigans we got up to it was unreal. Wether it be rocking the footy pajamas at the trade show, meeting/partying with other teams at the hotel, singing Miley Cyrus in the Ninja Van or making bets on who can get most girls numbers, we made sure we took advantage of every second we had there.
I would suggest that all of you check out a major, or even local event if you get the chance. Pay attention to the divisional games, not just the Pros. You'll see a lot of great play in the D1-D2 divisions. Take advantage of the event deals, and learn as much as you can. I absolutely love paintball. I love how it has affected my life. The people I've met, places I've been and experiences I've taken from it have truly been best things to ever happen to me. Live to to win. Suck it everyone, I'm out. :) :) :)
Taken from pits
http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs065.snc3/13319_1452398069468_1218774869_31339900_6097323_n. jpg
People walking the fields on Friday
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs045.snc3/13319_1452402549580_1218774869_31339904_328730_n.j pg
Producers setting up netting
http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs045.snc3/13319_1447780074021_1218774869_31328225_7341110_n. jpg
Pit area
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs065.snc3/13319_1452397309449_1218774869_31339898_4092645_n. jpg
VIDEO OF EVENT (not taken by me)
Warning, it is a YouTube video. Naughty language may be found in comments.
YouTube - NPPL Huntington Beach 2010 Saturday Highlights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ChTzjOL-o)
Here's some pics I found of the Ninjas.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/4510320818_1d2a9395eb.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/4509675537_6ece636492.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2275/4510314192_cb6212cb30.jpg
http://splatphotos.com/images/PaintballPics/NPPL-4-10-10-A/images/p4103981.jpg
This kid is a killer. He's drawing pictures of the tops what he sees from different positions of the snake to memorize for play tomorrow. Bunkers, flag poles, etc.... That way he knows exactly where to shoot when he comes up.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4504549126_4c8895fc9b_d.jpg
The tournament life is definitely not for the faint of heart. Staying up past midnight, and then getting up at five each morning to play is very draining. Sunday, we were once again up at five, and didn't end up getting to eat more than an uncrustable until almost nine in the evening. Talk about HUNGRY. Completely worth it though.
Thoughts on the tournament...
The venue was awesome, and yet annoying at the same time. It was literally right on the beach. This was really cool. Nice cool breeze, temperature was amazingly perfect. Gorgeous girls in bikinis everywhere, OMG!!! But... Sand it almost everything. Slow moving unless you were on one of the sidewalk sized plank walkways laid out, and the lack of bathrooms in the pit area was a tad bit annoying. All in all though, the producers, in my opinion, did a good job of setting up the event.
The organization was a little disappointing. Obviously, with 120 teams playing in the event, it wasn't expected that everything run buttery smooth, but it would have been nice to know the schedule for Sunday (finals) before 8:30 on Saturday night.
The paint was another disappointment. For whatever reason, Draxxus has decided to just sponsor the PSP, so we were left to choose between Kee and Valken paint (who were pretty much left to charge whatever they wanted). It was good paint (Marbs, or Ultra Evil) from Kee, but being a Draxxus sponsored team and being asked to pay $55 a case was ridiculous. The price was eventually negotiated down a little, and the ultra evil is AMAZING paint, but the price was a bit steep. Also, instead of finishing out the finals in a reasonable amount of time, it was decided that the refs needed a forty minute break before the the last 3 games on their field were played. After being at the field for twelve hours with a ton of waiting between games, this was very irritating.
There are some other interesting things to know about the NPPL/USPL. With the league being owned by the pro teams, they get a LOT more leeway on what goes on, and get away with a lot of things that the divisional teams do not. One pro team said they wanted to shoot Draxxus and NPPL let them. For anyone else, this would have been a HUGE penalty. The lack of coverage of divisional games was very aggravating as well. There is a huge difference between watching a pro and and a divisional game. The pros don't pay nearly as much to play an event after all of their sponsorships. Watching their matches is fun, but you can tell that they are just not as passionate about it. There is a lot of showboating and other things that go on that you don't see in divisional matches. The divisional guys don't get their stuff payed for by a sponsor. They might get some deals, but they still pay for everything. For them, there is a lot more on the line than just the media attention for a win. In fact, since D2 something like 20 more teams than the pro division, the purses were higher. First place D2 team got somewhere around $6000, while the pro team go $5000.
There are some more complaints, and more praises I have, but collecting my thoughts has been difficult enough as is, and I'm still exhausted from the plane ride back and class I just got out of.
I will say that I learned a LOT. The fun I had hanging out with the team was unforgettable as well. There were so many shenanigans we got up to it was unreal. Wether it be rocking the footy pajamas at the trade show, meeting/partying with other teams at the hotel, singing Miley Cyrus in the Ninja Van or making bets on who can get most girls numbers, we made sure we took advantage of every second we had there.
I would suggest that all of you check out a major, or even local event if you get the chance. Pay attention to the divisional games, not just the Pros. You'll see a lot of great play in the D1-D2 divisions. Take advantage of the event deals, and learn as much as you can. I absolutely love paintball. I love how it has affected my life. The people I've met, places I've been and experiences I've taken from it have truly been best things to ever happen to me. Live to to win. Suck it everyone, I'm out. :) :) :)
Taken from pits
http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs065.snc3/13319_1452398069468_1218774869_31339900_6097323_n. jpg
People walking the fields on Friday
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs045.snc3/13319_1452402549580_1218774869_31339904_328730_n.j pg
Producers setting up netting
http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs045.snc3/13319_1447780074021_1218774869_31328225_7341110_n. jpg
Pit area
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs065.snc3/13319_1452397309449_1218774869_31339898_4092645_n. jpg
VIDEO OF EVENT (not taken by me)
Warning, it is a YouTube video. Naughty language may be found in comments.
YouTube - NPPL Huntington Beach 2010 Saturday Highlights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ChTzjOL-o)
Here's some pics I found of the Ninjas.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/4510320818_1d2a9395eb.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/4509675537_6ece636492.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2275/4510314192_cb6212cb30.jpg
http://splatphotos.com/images/PaintballPics/NPPL-4-10-10-A/images/p4103981.jpg
This kid is a killer. He's drawing pictures of the tops what he sees from different positions of the snake to memorize for play tomorrow. Bunkers, flag poles, etc.... That way he knows exactly where to shoot when he comes up.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4504549126_4c8895fc9b_d.jpg