PB Ethics (AGD please feel free to post!).....LONG

[GT]

Reading another topic in this forum got me thinking…. How professional is paintball?

With the latest PSP ruling I can not say with absolute certainty that the industry is any closer now than it was 10 years ago for the jump into the realm of professional sports. However the sad fact is that there are some people that would like to see paintball stay a well-knit Internet medium based sport. Internet medium? Yes believe it or not we receive most of our critical info via the Internet. We don’t watch the tube and then head over to play fantasy paintball. We as a “collective community” stay tapped into the net for some of the largest changes in the industry. Some of these changes were announcements of new products, emag and IR3, or to simply to watch the latest tourney unfold thousands of miles away. What does the internet have to do with paintball ethics and professionalism? Nothing? Well not necessarily.


When I first started playing about three years ago I did it because it was fun in my earlier days. I actually first started playing when I was in High school, however building cars and playing basketball were a little more important. It was the end of the fall semester of my junior year at Sam Houston state, one of my buddies an I had decided to purchase our first markers I bought a TL+ and he bought a Model 98. We had first started playing at “Xtreme Combat Games” in Conroe, Texas (if any of you Texas folk want to go I will be up there on the 2nd of November). What a great field and staff. The owner, Monte, has a strict set of ethics as well general rules as to what they considered good and fair play. Some of the real nice rules like no cursing or arguing with the refs on the field and if you cheat or your gun is running unreasonably hot they put you in front of a firing squad. Yes theses rules are in forced! My best memory was during a scenario game when some guy was running 325-350 fps. They lined him up about 7-10 yards away from all the players and he had to run about 15 yards in front of all the players while they unloaded on the poor guy. I think he maybe received about five actual hits and most of it was spray from all the noobies blowing paint without a power-assisted loader. There were also some unwritten rules for the more experienced or mature guys. I always felt the need to help out the new kids. This could take the form of help with their rentals, help fill compressed air, or just general tips I learned from experience. Now what does this have to do with ethics?


Shortly after my interest began to increase for paintball I started viewing videos on www.warpig.com. I noticed a startling trend. It had seemed like tourney players would get in the face of refs or the mic would pick up a curse word or to. I can see in the heat of the game at the last game fighting for every single point that the pressure can get to you and maybe a few choice words would be chosen, however that is not how it seems. Streaming web casts one after another started to detail a much uglier picture. Tourney players are just bad sports. Now for the disclaimer, not all tourney players act this way however some do and it brings ALL of US down. Someone whom was not even attending the event 10000 miles away who just found www.warpig.com is now viewing some of the worst behavior in paintball history. I think I have watched more well-mannered criminals on COPS than I did on some of the videos of “professional” paintball players. Maybe the scope of the “professional” paintball players job duties should include paintball ambassador.
So I guess my question is why do we allow this to continue? Who’s fault is it? What corrective actions can be taken to curb this current trend?

I will happily add my comments below after we receive a few replies.

Jason Bible
GTRsi2001@hotmail.com
aim: GTRsi2001

[shartley]

Please go back and double line between paragraphs.... I will not read it as one large block like thatn (have a headache)....

I have to run out, but will hopefully read it when I get back....

Thanks.

[personman]

Sam is stubborn :-p
Well, I havent watched any tournies, nor been in one, but I'll bet this is true. Its really pretty stupid, and all fields should be supervised like that one you were talking about. Mine arent though, one that I know of is based on money and not all customer satisfaction, and the other is a little better about safety, and other stuff like that.
I agree with you though.

[Vendetta]

I don't like the rules against cussing. I never cuss at work or home, but I love to when the adrenalin is pumping during a good firefight.

[raehl]

We will be paying paintball the way paintball should be played. No BS.


- Chris

[Kevmaster]

im going to second your notion. i feel that integrity is a very important aspect of our image. we cant allow these professional/am teams to carry our sport(and yes, these are the people who the media looks at as "paintball players" in general).

as a field manager, i have a direct impact on this. i also emply a set of rules that is strict. a couple of examples(no, they arnt as extreme as those listed above). if you "overshoot", gone for the day. its my discression. i allowed you in, you signed a waver saying you would obey my rule. if someone(especailly a newbie) walks out with over 4 shots, the person(assuming it was 1 person) will not be playing here for the rest of the day. attitudes will not be allowed. someone with a bad attitude will be asked to not come back, regardless of how much money they spend(and usually those are the big customers of 1000rnds per day). in regards to profanity, the "TV Oked" stuff is allowed, although discouraged--like in this forum--but the R stuff will result in you sitting a game. i think its important for me to impress the importance of carrying yourself well while out having fun. i dont tolerate the crap tat many "tournie players" want to give me. (not only that, they expect me to cut them a deal on everything..not a way to keep the field open).

anyways, i too feel that we need to carry ourselves better asan industry. in the NFL or anyother professional league if a player gest all up in a ref's grill, what happens? ejection or suspension. why shouldnt paintball be the same way? eject a player form the tournament. what happens when a basketball player slams the ball in anger? technical foul. what happens when a paintballer throws his gun? nothing. maybe make that a -20 penalty or a 1 for 1.

again, just my 2cents

[halB]

ive been in this sport for a while, and watching it a lot longer. ive definetly seen the quality of the players go down hill. i can still remember the day when you didnt have to worry about someone stealing your gear. i can still remember when you could trust your fellow player. and i can remember when all "pros" didnt act like dennis rodman affected by steroid rage.

just remember this, the vast majority of people you see in the sport, even those in tournies, will NOT be here in 2 months. once you realize that, you can understand why we see behavior, and theft, like that. they dont care about the long term image about the sport. theyre in it while its a fad, and while its the "cool thing to do." after they lose interest, theyre gone.

[Troy]

At the 1999 Vegas tourny the NPPL came down hard on swearing. Basically you were pulled for cussing. They went a little overboard and loosened up a little. I beleive you can still be pulled for cussing. One of the problems is inconsistant reffing.

Lately I have noticed an increasing trend of people saying get the f off the field and other uncalled for stuff. I can see the occasional swear getting out every once and awhile but it seems to be excessive. This is at practice and not at tournaments. I just figure it is the first person that the foul mouth individual has shot all day.

I don't think you can say paintball or any sport for that matter is unprofessional because of the language of a few individuals. I have heard Jose Canseco tell some one to perform a sexual act on him at a baseball game. Does that mean baseball shouldn't be considerd a pro sport. If anything paintball has better rules reguarding this behavior because I highly doubt anything happened to Jose for his actions.