NPPL Do You Care??????

[Rooster]

As far as a league for Pro akin to the NFL for paintball, i think the power five promoters can provide that. The players really have nothing to do with the whole process, other than being the vehical for creating cash. All the teams are sponsored by companies, they play for prizes and cash from companies, and companies get business becuase of them.

If a players league is created, they should take a page from the college paintball association and concentrate on making tournaments cheaper, and more available so there will be a good pool of future pro players, even at the expense of prize packages. $100 a player is just too expensive to play in a nice tournement, for most people. On the otherhand, the smaller leagues have no standards, and can be very poorly run, and have no over-sight. Also a national league would make a national database possible to rank teams and players that can't afford to travel across the country to play each other (much like the USA today national high school football rankings).

A players league would be about providing tournaments to the players for a reasonable price, not more advertisements for promoters and their sponsorship.

[Troy]

I beleive the nppl and the promoters are still going to workout a deal. I have played in NPPL tournaments since 1997. The problems (reffing, cheating, players complaining...) that have been stated about the nppl are also true and are even more of a problem in any other event that I have ever been at. The Zap AM Open has had the worst fields, reffing, and cheating of any tournament that I have ever attended. Challenge Cup in 1998 was set up so that everone would just sit back and shoot alot of paint(there was no bunkers in the center of the field). But I would like to know how many people that post these comments have ever played in a nppl tournament. Because while the nppl has its flaws it is still the best thing out there. It has the best refs the best format and most importantly the best players. The nppl may have been slow to make changes in but every year since I have been playing it has improved. In response to people who say the nppl should be more like the NBA or NFL. I think the NPPL is better than both. The NPPL alows your every day Am. team go out and play against the best players in the world. Something the NBA or the NFL will never allow.

[Ninja B0Y]

The pro players MAKE the NPPL. The NPPL wouldn't be the NPPL if it weren't for the pros. There's a reason why it's called the National professional Paintball Player's League. It's a league for the big boys, and nothing less. It's straight up balls to the wall in your face paintball and it's not something for the faint of heart. The NPPL makes paintball go around. Their sponsors make jerseys, guns, gadgets for their players, you see those players with all the stuff and you buy it.

It's so revered by tourney players because you can't find any other better competition in the world, period. We have the best players, everytime we go over to Europe, we always whoop their arses and take their prizes and trophies. If we take away the pros who are we going to fill in their spots, you guys?

You take away the pros, you take away the Am A teams, the Am A teams walk then the Am B teams walk. If you've ever been to an event with big name teams then you would realize that alot of them are really just one big family.

[LaW]

Originally posted by Troy
I beleive the nppl and the promoters are still going to workout a deal. I have played in NPPL tournaments since 1997. The problems (reffing, cheating, players complaining...) that have been stated about the nppl are also true and are even more of a problem in any other event that I have ever been at. The Zap AM Open has had the worst fields, reffing, and cheating of any tournament that I have ever attended. Challenge Cup in 1998 was set up so that everone would just sit back and shoot alot of paint(there was no bunkers in the center of the field). But I would like to know how many people that post these comments have ever played in a nppl tournament. Because while the nppl has its flaws it is still the best thing out there. It has the best refs the best format and most importantly the best players. The nppl may have been slow to make changes in but every year since I have been playing it has improved. In response to people who say the nppl should be more like the NBA or NFL. I think the NPPL is better than both. The NPPL alows your every day Am. team go out and play against the best players in the world. Something the NBA or the NFL will never allow.

Welcome to AO troy :) oh yeah don't forget to check the website because I'll be updating it about the nationals. I don't think we're playing before them.. Just matt and I but that's for another team we play for now. April 27th at cpx :)


On the issue at hand I can't completely make a decision here. I'd pick 5 but then again i'm not completely into nppl events because i havn't played in one yet. It sounds that the nppl is already pretty big and important. I would say it sounds like improving upon the established league would be the most direct solution to any problem... just to make it work.

[raehl]

Just what exactly makes a pro player?

Currently, it's the willingness to pay extra entry fees and forfiet your amateur status. That is *ALL* that makes a pro player - in fact, if my teammates at Skyball had been willing to pony up the extra $80, I'd be a pro right now too. (We play one tournament a year, skyball, so it's not like our amateur status matters any.) If you want to have a true pro league, you need to have a limitted number of teams with a financial interest in winning. They'll then do what it takes to get the best players for their teams - and you'll then know who the pros are.

Of course, personally, I think option #7 is best:

Put all those sponsorship dollars towards the college paintball league, where every single perceived problem with NPPL/PSP has already been solved.

Players are separated from the responsibility of insuring the integrity of the league but maintain ultimate control of the league by electing a Board of Directors who appoint and oversee officers. The officials do not play in the league - they are hired and paid to be officials and only officials. The league is also incorporated as a non-profit organization.

The teams have names that everyone, paintball player and non-player alike, recognize. They've built up rivalries after years of competition against each other, and due to the nature of the league, their rosters are actually fairly stable. If a freshman is playing on a team, chances are very good they'll still be there four years later.

Unlike NPPL and other proam leagues, the college league is structured to push its own growth through the college club structure. Currently about 80% of college players are college club rec players recruited and trained for college teams. Other leagues have no mechanism for creating new players in place. The added bonus for the sponsor here is that every college team represents 10 to 300 recreational players back at the school. They don't just play paintball, they run recreational clubs and outings, scenario events, their own tournaments, and in some cases their own on-campus fields.

All of the on-and-near field BS has been quashed. The teams weed out the bad-apple players before they get to the tournaments, and on the off chance one slips through, there's a structure in place to get rid of them and penalize the teams who brought them to prevent the problem from repeating. College teams keep the bad-apples away from the tournaments because they can't compete effectively if they can't recruit new players because they all quit after going to their first tournament due to the bad attitude they have to deal with. And no team wants to be the team who brought the one *** at the tournament with them either.

The college league is in a unique position to run paintball as a sport: The events are all sub-$100/team and sub-$75/case. Nationals this year is free entry/air and $65/case. That means it's MUCH closer to a situation where the athletes compete for free than anyone else.

Due to the appeal of college team names to the public and the steps the college league has taken to insure appropriate player behavior, the college league is also in a much better position to get companies outside of the industry involved.


That's just a few of the advantages I see. Of course, since I'm currently the President of the NCPA, I'm also totally biased.

But fortunately, you don't have to take my word for it. The National Championships will be on April 27th at Challenge Park Xtreme, so come and look for yourself. (Tom, since it's right near you, you don't have an excuse ) 35+ college teams, plus 25+ high school teams.

It's not as big as the World Cup yet, but if you come, I'm sure you'll agree that it is in many ways better.

The only downside is this only solves the problem for players around 22 or younger. On the upside through, the college (and high school) leagues create quite a few more 23 and older players for everyone else.

- Chris

[MikeCouves]

Wipe er clean. I think they should start off with maybe a different name to attract lots of attention :). Maybe they will gain sponsers again, because you need money...

[cphilip]

Believe it or not I think options one and two. How you say? Compromises!!!! and a more legitimate split of the authority and equal representation of the two groups. I personaly thought NPPL was moving in the right direction with a Pro Ref leauge formation and that could solve some of the player issues. I do not see how it all can continue if both sides are not in agreement. They need to get some good leadership in to break the stalemates. Someone who can stay neutral and even represent both sides but who lets the two factions hammer out the details. Someone to guide them towards a common ground.

[soilent green]

2 or 5

I think the nppl is a good Idea but it needs a little revamping I have not yet played in an nppl sanctioned event but I have been to one it seems to me their is some corruption in the organization and the refing is not always very good it depends on who is reff they need more rules on the refs.

[thecavemankevin]

Originally posted by edweird
3 and 5

A League ran by industry leads (no offence) will not lead to overall advancement and development of the sport. I see it only as a way to lead a Player league is to designate a nonaffiliated nonbiased balanced committee to make rulings and then have a deticated industry supported promotion team to find and develop ways to make the sport more public and take the violent sterotype away from it. Also once a "Pro" team league is formed the players must be undercontract with the teams and the teams must be held accountable for their team. Much like other pro sports. We cant have pro players acting like buffons and not feeling the pains of it.

basicly for a true league to work on a large scale everyone from the orginization to the player must work as a unit to get this rolling.

I don't think i could have said it better myself!

I also think that a new league should take over and scrape the NPPL. I think this league should be run by one person from every major manufacturer (AGD, WGP, 32*, Centerflag, Zap (and some honorary members such as Bill Mills)...and on and on....) and NO distributors (National PB Supply, paintballgear.com...and on..)

The manufacturers seem to have more of a player/advancement of the sport motive. I know i know that, they are also in it to make money but that is why we have honorary members on the board to help keep that goal focused on the sport.

THE NPPL HAS PASSED IT'S PRIME!


Furthermore i think paintball should maintain a PG-13 image, non of this chick on chick/dominatress deep throating a barrel. I know sex sells and i don't mind images like that KAPP girls, or Amy. I don't see crap like this at any of the major sporting events i attened (Baseball/Football/Nascar).

[DarkRipper]

Well, as a NPPL player I've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the dust to clear.

The promoters should buy the NPPL name from the NPPL people and keep it going. It's what people know and it's what people will expect.

It'd be like AO's forums not being supported by AGD anymore and changing their name.

It SHOULD be the same, right? It probably wouldn't be.

And I agree with Kevin about the pr0n aspect of the current advertising.

DR

[DJSOLID]

You probably don't even care what my opinion is, 'cause I'm not a tourney player, but so far the sport has given me no one to look up to and I could give a flying fudge about it. I'll stick with rec ball. You all sound like a bunch of whiners to me. Money is gonna control it all. It's as simple as that. Those that front the dough will have the power in the league. The NFL or NBA is no different. Sad but true. That dosen't mean that the players can't have their own supporting organization, but it won't really mean anything. It's just not much of a spectatator sport. Making the general public interested in watching the competition should be the first goal, because they will provide the money to fund the sport through ticket sales. That means the format of the fields will have to change. Get the spectators to an area the action can be seen and make it FOR THEM!! I've seen pro tourney videos and they are alot like watching paint dry (pun intended). You can't see where the paint is going, where it's hitting or what's happening. Reformat the game so that spectator's enjoyment will come first, and you've already won this war.

[mac2k4]

how many of yall actually play in the nppl? i don't think ya should really vote on something you don't know about, but anyways richmond italia from diablo has been working on getting "X-BALL" going, its a spectator friendly format of paintball
check it out here x-ball

[liigod]

5

[thecavemankevin]

I was checking out that x-ball site and that is very similar to a game formate i had in mind. It goes a bit more in depth and i really like this idea. It is truly awsome!

DJSOLID---go suck a lemon!

[nuggy43]

Of corse 5, it's the best way to go.