Serious Issue: Anger on the Field

[FatMan]

Hello AO'ers!

I have a serious issue to ask about. Have you experienced or witnessed anger on the paintball field? I'm not talking about the "Darn, I got hit" or "Shucks, I missed that guy" or "Gosh, my marker broke" kind of anger (hope that makes it through the filter ). No, I'm talking about ANGER. Yelling, cursing, throwing things, refusing to shake hands after a game. Anger.

Is there any room for anger in paintball? Paintball is an aggressive sport. We are out there to eliminate our opponent. There is taunting, there is testosterone, there is adreneline, we get all pumped up. But after the game, we are usually laughing and shaking hands "Yeah, you got me! WooHoo, but I sure got him!" and all that stuff.

But what about the times when things don't go so well? "I KNOW I got him, I SAW it break!" or "That's out of bounds!" or "I'm OUT! I held my hand up, why are you still shooting me?" or "That gun is HOT! Look at the welt it gave me!" Its really hard to keep cool in some of these circumstances, but how do you react? How do others react?

At our club's field we don't tolerate anger. All games are friendly games, and if something goes wrong, we assume it was a mistake. Recently we had an incident with a new member who became enraged when he thought a player had gone out of bounds and then came back in to eliminate him. Turns out he didn't understand the boundaries - it was a legal move - but the issue is he got into a shouting match with the ref. We dealt with that. The player now knows what we expect at our field.

What about at commercial fields? I've witnessed that kind of thing many, many times at commercial fields. How about you? Do you witness this kind of thing? How do you feel about it? I'd like to get your opinions and feelings on this.

Hope to hear from you all,

FatMan

[manike]

I think it is one of the bad issues that is holding our sport back.

It should not be tolerated. Swearing abuse should invoke a 1-4-1 and physical acts should be punished much more severely.

People need to conduct themselves better. I look to Rugby as a reference, it is a very physical and adrenalin filled sport, but if you swear you are penalised. If you commit acts of violence you are sent off and suspended, sometimes even done for assault.

There is no need for it in paintball it just drags our sport down.

manike

[synreal]

I agree that aggressive behavior and paintball go almost hand in hand (we are shooting large, painfull objects at eachother at very high speeds for crying out loud), but this is no excuse for rude inappropriate actions. You can be plenty intimidating and aggressive and still be civil about it, play hard but play nice.

One key factor that I feel is in play is yelling, its just a fact of the game, you yell to communicate, you simply have to. It's rather tough to yell at someone in a loving tone (possible, maybe, but I haven't perfected the art yet ) And since most emotions tend to snowball, it is easy to see how you screaming commands to your team, and trash talk to the other can evolve into something a bit hostile. Yelling by nature is a bit hostile, add to this "guns", adrenaline and a healthy dose of men and women eager the rush onto the battlefield to destroy the opposition and you can see how things can/will get carried away.

Is this an excuse? Not at all, but in the heat of "battle" it is easy to get lost in our emotional response to the situation around us. We are putting our bodies into a fight or flight situation and expecting them to behave normally, this isn't going to happen most of the time.

We as players just need to remember that no matter how much pride/prizes/free booze will be ours if we win the game, in the end it is just that, a game. If the sport is no longer fun because you are too busy being p***ed at the other team to enjoy yourself, then what is the point in playing at all? Feel free to put a little extra paint on wipers, or tell the ref that a man broke the rules, but try not to fly off the handle over what may turn out to be a non-existent issue or a simple misunderstanding.

[manike]

I think yelling is not really the point here. That's not the same as showing anger, cussing or being physically violent which happens far too often in this sport in my opinion.

Throwing equipment is downrigh dangerous. I think people that throw guns with tanks attached should be banned for a year. I don't want to be on the field with anyone who is going to risk my life. I think a year is just long enough for them to contemplate how stupid they were. This should be rigorously enforced on the pro's also...

manike

[Spaceman613]

We toyed with a "red card" and "yellow card" for a local tourney. We HATE when things get out of hand and when it does, we "strongly urge" the hostile people to leave the field or sit for a while. Usually thats all it takes.

But I really think that the only way paintball will grow is to improve the language and attitudes. I see videos of NPPL games, and the swearing is horrible. I can understand one slip onow and then, but constant and loud swearing needs to be punished. If it grows into physical contact... Well then the player should be banned for a specified time.

Also, sponsors need to look at their teams. I would never sponsor a team that has a reputation for bad attitudes.

Maybe the curcuits need to start fining people. Money and winning seem to be high on the priority lists. So hit them where it counts. Points deductions and cash.... Heck, give the cash to charity or use it to pay refs... Just do something to clean up the language and attitudes on the tourney fields...

[synreal]

I agree completely that throwing equipment is both ludicrously childish and very dangerous (I don't feel like getting hit by shrapnel from some kid's tank because he got marked, ticked off, threw his rig at the ground a hit a rock), and should be dealt with appropriately.

But, I also think that next to safety, keeping your mind/body/anger in check while you are on the field is one of your most important task when you play. I you get lit up, chances are you are going to be a bit upset, people just have to be conscious of it and learn to do something productive with that energy (like making it to the 50 off the break) instead of throwing a hissy fit.

[Potatoboy]

I agree with manike in the regard that throwing a marker with a tank attached should be a bannable offense.

Even in the heat of the moment one has to remember that if you crack the neck on one of these tanks you've just created a missle.

I think that the type of aggressive behavior talked about in this thread hurts our very fun, relatively harmless sport, and can turn it into a very dangerous affair.

[tremis]

I have always thought the best way to handle problems with the other team is through the head ref of the particular field you are on. If you approach them in a proffesional manner they are more likely to do something. You go to them screaming and they are likely to tell you to shut up or you'll get the boot. Not really a solution to being wronged by the other team. Maybe thats why cheating works so well. Team A cheats against team B. team B throws a fit, refs tell team B they are about to get kicked out for being unsportsmanlike. Team A now are the good guys.
Now as far as players on my team, I get angry with them. Its not the refs job to tell them they are being stupid, that would be mine. This great sport of ours is not cheap. Not by a long shot, in fact its the most expensive hobby that anybody I know has. So when One of my guys does something stupid and it wastes my money, I'm gonna get mad. I never had rich folks who bought me anything I wanted, and Now I work really hard for my money. In my eyes, somebody wasting my money is no different than somebody stealing my money. I have never been in a physical altercation with a teamate, but yelling and screaming has occured. At the Pitt NPPL in 97 in the middle of the 5 man, we kicked a guy off our team, told him to get his crap and beat it. All for doing stupid stuff. Its fine for him to throw his money away, not mine. But then again, you always hear about families that fight amongst themselves, but nobody else dare fight with one of them. Similar situation here. These are my teamates, we'll handle our problems our way. It's not how we handle problems with others. I feel that I should handle problems in whatever way is most likely to help with that problem. The only place that I have found getting mad to work was within my own team. And that may not be the case with everyone, but it has been whats worked for my team.

Tremis

[gimp]

I get angry sometimes, but just at myself, you know, for not doing that cool move, or doing something wrong. All my own mistakes. I get frustrated a lot with other players, but oh well. I never start swearing and throwing markers and such. That never happens on my field either, we'd probably beat the guy up who did that. hehe

[gmag]

You always have to think of the impression these 'hotheads' make to newbies. I know that if I saw these actions when I was a newbie, I wouldn't be playing paintball right now. Never forget about the young kids watching onto the speedball field with awe-expressed faces, when you begin to curse and yell. Think of the impression you're making to the future of our sport.

And of course, safety is an issue. If someone throws down their marker and tank they have no regard for their own safety and the safety of the people around them. They should be sent home immediately...if not permanently banned.

~Brett

[hitech]

I did not witness it, but the field owners son at the field I play at was punched by another player. Needless to say the field owner was shocked and very concerned.

[Army]

As far as I know, nearly all league rules have sections about bad and/or dangerous behavior.

If a ref sees a gun being thrown down, I think that team should be eliminated on the spot, and all other teams adjusted in the rankings accordingly. This is such a severe safety issue, that it should not be taken lightly by anyone.

Excessive cussing should be a 1 for 1, same as arguing with a ref. All disagreements with a play or call should be done off the field in a neutral area.

I understand that paintball is an "extreme" sport, and the "anti-authority, hooligan behavior" baggage seems to accompany it. To be taken seriously at any level but ours, the rules must be fairly enforced with a strong hand. All too often you see a ref looking at a player and seeing this behavior, but doing nothing about it. If the head ref sees one of his refs not enforcing the rules, or favoring a friend, that ref should be eliminated too and his team penalized if he has one.

As long as nothing is done about safety or behavior issues, they will continue as "normal" until someone gets hurt badly, and THEN we will hear all the "How could this have happened?" crap. Let's take care of it now. If you see or hear someone being a jerk, tell him to knock it off. Sure you'll make some guys mad, so what. YOUR personal safety is a much greater concern than some dweebs show of bravado.

[cphilip]

Save your anger for your kid. He probably deserves it! Just kidding.

Yes... well... I wasn't there when what Walt is describing happend and in fact was quite shocked when I heard about it because we never ever had an incident like that happen before. New guy first time out. I am a bit worried about this being an issue with him again. This same new group one of them had a real hot marker too. One of our guys took a nasty shot to the head and my kid one to the shoulder and the marker was checked at 380 fps after that. No it was not hot on purpose it seems. Malfunctioning reg is what we think.

You know I realy hate to see good equipment of any kind abused. We have kids out there who cannot afford to play and some spoiled brat ruins his. I say a piece of abused equipment should be immediately confiscated and donated to a poor kid who will apreciate it more! I quit Listening to Garth Brooks when he went into smashing guitars. I got no use for people ruining prefectly good things when others would love to have them.

[Hysperion]

Well i have to disagree with most of you here....what do mean language is holding our sport back? The main reason people don't want to try paintball is because you are running around shooting at people. This is not exactly politically correct and most soccer moms won't let there kids do it. And also the cost. I never played paintball until I got a job because I couldn't afford it. Paintball is a high intensity game and swearing goes hand in hand with that. When I get shot and it hurts I'll probably say some expletive. Ever watch a game of football? The players are swearing all the time.... In my opinion there is a difference between swearing, and using abusive language towards other people. And a very big difference in being abusive towards other people and actually getting physically violent. Most often you hear alot of swearing when someone gets lit up. It happens... The same with swearing: it happens - O well...I mean what is swearing hurting honestly. If we ban swearing I want to ban ghetto thug music (well not really but) where all the talk about is killing. And even more importantly ban country music at all fields, that hurts my ears much more then any swear ever could. And about breaking stuff the funniest incident I remember was when some huge 11 year old kid was playing his first game with a brand new angel his dad bought him. His teammates weren't moving up and he started to get pissed off so he took his angel and threw it in the dirt which in turn cracked his hopper in half that his dad had bought him 30 minutes earlier. At the end of the day his dad bought him a new revvy.

*I thought Tremis had a very good point about just talking to the head ref about swearing.*
I mean, if I'm swearing and someone politely asks me to stop I'll probably stop, especially if there's little kids around.

[Spaceman613]

I wasnt talking about swearing in the heat of the moment. I aadmit I do it sometimes. What I have a problem with is CONSTANT swearing for no reason whatsoever. I was watching a video of (I think) Gettyburg. One of the pros, a real young one. Got hit. He proceeded to stand up, walk and SCREAMED "F***" over and over.... This was excessive at the very least. I can understand if he said it just after he got hit, but he waited, and screamed it repeatedly. This makes us look bad. Why should these kids (yes kids) be able to get away with it on the paintball field when they wouldnt be able to do it anywhere else?

We arnt talking about general swearing, we all do it. But that doesnt include screaming it at the top of our lungs just for the sake of screaming it.

Also, we all said "ban the player" if they throw a marker or get into a fight, but there are so many leagues, that the player or team can just switch leagues. NPPL bans you, switch to another, its simple. There needs to be some cooperation in the different leagues. Not just with bad players, but with rules.