Article about Dynasty and paintball in local San Diego paper

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Here is a link to an article that was in a local San Diego paper about Dynasty and tournament styled paintball.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040321-9999-news_mz1c21paintb.html

[Target Practice]

Not too bad...

Well, the article doesn't to too bad of a job portraying the sport, IMO. I mean the "wannabe warriors in camouflage clothing" part was a little harsh, as was the " 'markers' for the politically correct". They are not guns, they are markers. Simple as that.

Also, the whole thing about the woman getting killed (which was news to me), while tragic, was not presented very well. I mean, nothing is said about the nature of the party. The thing about the "holy war" is just stupid (I am refering to the fact that the prosecutors even went there).

The author does show that we are trying to improve the image of the sport. Hell, calling it a sport is a step up for those on the outside. "Paintball, ultimately, is about people shooting other people." Well, if that is how the public is going to view it, then there doesn't seem to be much we can do about that. Personally, I don't call it a "kill", I call it a "hit" or "mark". Oh well.

All in all, a decent article. There have definitely been worse.

[Chojin Man]

"Paintball is like the old schoolyard game Capture the Flag, except instead of tagging opponents, you shoot them with squishy, marble-sized pellets filled with washable dye."

They couldn't resist. Every article on Paintball has to have that sentence in it.

[shartley]

[Gunga]

Re: Not too bad...

Originally posted by Target Practice
They are not guns, they are markers. Simple as that.

Yeah...a midget isn't short, they're 'vertically challenged' or 'vertically handicapped'.

gun

1. A weapon consisting of a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high velocity into a relatively flat trajectory.
2. A cannon with a long barrel and a relatively low angle of fire.
3. A portable firearm, such as a rifle or revolver.
4. A device resembling a firearm or cannon, as in its ability to project something, such as grease, under pressure or at great speed.
5. A discharge of a firearm or cannon as a signal or salute.
6. One, such as a hunter, who carries or uses a gun.
7a. A person skilled in the use of a gun.
7b. A professional killer: a hired gun.
8. The throttle of an engine, as of an automobile.

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Re: Re: Not too bad...

Originally posted by Gunga


Yeah...a midget isn't short, they're 'vertically challenged' or 'vertically handicapped'.

gun

1. A weapon consisting of a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high velocity into a relatively flat trajectory.
2. A cannon with a long barrel and a relatively low angle of fire.
3. A portable firearm, such as a rifle or revolver.
4. A device resembling a firearm or cannon, as in its ability to project something, such as grease, under pressure or at great speed.
5. A discharge of a firearm or cannon as a signal or salute.
6. One, such as a hunter, who carries or uses a gun.
7a. A person skilled in the use of a gun.
7b. A professional killer: a hired gun.
8. The throttle of an engine, as of an automobile.

haha OWNED

[trains are bad]

Markers ARE guns, at least as much as nail guns, blow guns, heat guns, glue guns, paintball guns, etc. "Gun" is a pretty wide term.

I hate when people say marker is a term invented to be politicaly correct. That makes me want to use "gun" just to piss people off.

"Marker" is the correct term within the sport. It's like every other sport that makes up name to describe it's stuff, plays, rules, player, tricks, etc. We invented the word marker, it's a sweet word, now stick with it.

Markers. lol.

best word ever.

[lew]

I thought it was a pretty good article. A little bit of positive media exposure. Needs a little bit of work, though. It's a start. BTW, I say gun, so that's what it is.

[RoadDawg]

I thought the article was great. The whole "wannabe warriors in camo" isn't as bad as you all think. Especially IF YOUR READ THE WHOLE SENTENCE and not focus on one group of words. Here is the actual quote.

Now to me the tourny scene is becoming bigger, the viewing public is increasing, and when the playing public is increasing. The part about "child's play" was more of a play on words. I think the writer used it as a term to point out it isn't child play. The fact the writer said that this is turning into a major business show's that it's not "child's play".

Now I'm glad they didn't go deeper into the death of the lady and terrorist stories. Reason being that this isn't a 100% informative article on paintball. It's about the business aspect and the tourny scene. Not about the tragedies of the sport. I thought the line about the guns being called markers for the politically correct was hilarious. It acts just like a gun and even Gunga pointed out the definition.

Anyways. I'm done with my analysis of the article. I feel like I should write my name on the top and pass it to my English teacher.

[-=Squid=-]

Personally, I like tourment exposure more than recball for many different reasons, not just because I play tournements/speedball. For one, I HATE talking about paintball with other people that dont play, simply because they ask dumb questions like, "Are you a sniper?" I absolutely hate having to explain exactly the style of play which I participate in, and the image it has, to people who dont know anything about it.

Not that there is anything wrong with recball, but simply put, its not what I play, and dont like being put in that group because a certain person who doesnt play thinks its the only style there is. Just because tournements get most of the coverage doesnt mean thats all people associate paintball with... in fact, most people DONT associate paintball with tournement play.

With that being said, I loved the article. Well written, and it focused on the type of play that I want people to associate ME with. Golf clap, everyone.

[shartley]

Originally posted by RoadDawg
I thought the article was great. The whole "wannabe warriors in camo" isn't as bad as you all think. Especially IF YOUR READ THE WHOLE SENTENCE and not focus on one group of words. Here is the actual quote.

Originally posted by RoadDawg
Now to me the tourny scene is becoming bigger, the viewing public is increasing, and when the playing public is increasing. The part about "child's play" was more of a play on words. I think the writer used it as a term to point out it isn't child play. The fact the writer said that this is turning into a major business show's that it's not "child's play".

[Rigster_TBB]

(Shartley) You are dead on the money as usual. Paintball was indeed invented by adults, for adults. It is a shame that the only press paintball gets is Speedball or X-Ball type coverage. Most of the problems and bad press associated with paintball comes from youths playing the sport. I doubt to many adults go around shooting houses and cars, or do the stupid things that end up getting someone hurt. Paintball has never been a kids game. Speedball did not create Paintball. I think Speedball was created so kids with "ADD" could have something to do while their dads played real paintball (in the woods)...
Rigster...

[-=Squid=-]

Originally posted by Rigster_TBB
(Shartley) You are dead on the money as usual. Paintball was indeed invented by adults, for adults. It is a shame that the only press paintball gets is Speedball or X-Ball type coverage. Most of the problems and bad press associated with paintball comes from youths playing the sport. I doubt to many adults go around shooting houses and cars, or do the stupid things that end up getting someone hurt. Paintball has never been a kids game. Speedball did not create Paintball. I think Speedball was created so kids with "ADD" could have something to do while their dads played real paintball (in the woods)...
Rigster...

Yes, but regardless of what gets what exposure, how many non paintballers actually associate paintball with speedball/tournement type play? Not many...

[Target Practice]

Re: Not too bad...

Originally posted by Target Practice
They are not guns, they are markers. Simple as that.

What I meant by this is that "gun" to most people is synonomous with a "firearm". Now, I use paint "guns" and MIG welding "guns" when I do metal fabrication, so I understand the different meanings of the word. I don't see why any journalist has to use the term "gun" in our sport. I don't think it is a question of clarification either. I mean, we don't call a baseball bat a "big stick" befor we use the term "bat" (well, with me, it took half the season to learn to not ask for "the big stick thing" when I went up to the plate ).

I suck at baseball.

[Chris42050]

Too many times the media tries to be "cute" with thier wording at the expense of the truth.