Speedball will die...

[hockeynoodles020]

Over the past few months i have seen very many speedball videos. All of the videos show cheaters, foul language, and complaining. I have not seen a single pro player call themself out unless it is COMPLETELY obvious. One player was hit in the middle of his goggles with orange paint. He clearly new he was out, however he shot for about 10 more seconds(more than enough paint) before a ref finally called him out. I was shocked! The team wasnt penalized or anything, he could have shot over 150rds in that 10 seconds with the speed of markers today. Of course cheating leads to foul language, which is not allowed in most public sports. I mean minor swear words everyone uses, but major swear words(we all know which ones) are not praised in public. Parents dont want there kids to listen to "Ef this" and "Ef that" I used to swear in just about every sentence, then i hit puberty and realized how immature i sounded swearing so much. When you swear at home, or in a non public place, it is perfectly fine. However it disturbs some people when they hear foul language. Now i keep swearing to a minimum, it makes you sound smarter(even if you are not). My final point is complaining, not just simple complaining(like mine ) but accusing, and downtalking. When there is a questionable call, the first thing a player does is go right after the ref. I know this happens in all sports, but I would be scared out of my pants if someons like Rocky from the naughty dogs, was up in my face wanting to kill me. Half the players dont even want an explanation for the call, they just want it changed. I like to ref rec ball, but i would never ref a tourny. The typical response i hear from players i know that play tourneys when i ask them how they did was "We did good, but the refs sucked!" Reffing is tough, knowing when its a hit, or a rub. I couldnt handle the complaining, foul language, and threats that go on in the typical speedball tournament. If i were a ref i would just quit. My main point is respect the golden rule(treat others as you would like to be treated) Everyone makes mistakes, whether we choose to admit it or not is up to us. I love to play speedball, i think its much faster, and more of a rush than Woods. However if somthing doesnt change, im afraid speedball may die. Just wanted to express my feeling of speedball, without a field all i can really do is go to paintball forums, watch videos, and play games Thanks

[shartley]

Over the past few months i have seen very many speedball videos. All of the videos show cheaters, foul language, and complaining. I have not seen a single pro player call themself out unless it is COMPLETELY obvious. One player was hit in the middle of his goggles with orange paint. He clearly new he was out, however he shot for about 10 more seconds(more than enough paint) before a ref finally called him out. I was shocked! The team wasnt penalized or anything, he could have shot over 150rds in that 10 seconds with the speed of markers today. Of course cheating leads to foul language, which is not allowed in most public sports. I mean minor swear words everyone uses, but major swear words(we all know which ones) are not praised in public. Parents dont want there kids to listen to "F*** this" and "F*** that" I used to swear in just about every sentence, then i hit puberty and realized how immature i sounded swearing so much. When you swear at home, or in a non public place, it is perfectly fine. However it disturbs some people when they hear foul language. Now i keep swearing to a minimum, it makes you sound smarter(even if you are not). My final point is complaining, not just simple complaining(like mine ) but accusing, and downtalking. When there is a questionable call, the first thing a player does is go right after the ref. I know this happens in all sports, but I would be scared out of my pants if someons like Rocky from the naughty dogs, was up in my face wanting to kill me. Half the players dont even want an explanation for the call, they just want it changed. I like to ref rec ball, but i would never ref a tourny. The typical response i hear from players i know that play tourneys when i ask them how they did was "We did good, but the refs sucked!" Reffing is tough, knowing when its a hit, or a rub. I couldnt handle the complaining, foul language, and threats that go on in the typical speedball tournament. If i were a ref i would just quit. My main point is respect the golden rule(treat others as you would like to be treated) Everyone makes mistakes, whether we choose to admit it or not is up to us. I love to play speedball, i think its much faster, and more of a rush than Woods. However if somthing doesnt change, im afraid speedball may die. Just wanted to express my feeling of speedball, without a field all i can really do is go to paintball forums, watch videos, and play games Thanks

ADDED:

[ThePixelGuru]

As much as some of us hate to admit it, speedball is an "extreme sport." And it's doing its damnedest to uphold the stereotype.

[cpt]

ya

I went up to Area 54 in Michigan and played a Saturday. Just some woods ball and some other longer area games. The owner sat down and we were talking and I told him it was nice to play where there was no cheating or attitudes. He leaned over and said you want to know the secrect? Sure, I says. We don't play speedball till the last 1/2 hour. That, my friend, really opened my eyes.

[Lohman446]

Not that there are not exceptionally good examples of people who are under 18 as players and as general sportsman, and of course the same goes to bad examples over 18...

Ban anyone under 18 and the attitude of normal rec day would increase dramatically,.... ... and a lot of places would go out of business from lack of people...

[cdacda13]

I hate the persona that speedball has gotten, but, it has earned it.

For the record, I have the mouth of a truck driver, but try to avoid using the language if there are kids there.

[muskratjim]

hey cdacda13, I AM A TRUCK DRIVER, and i don't talk like that in public(in my truck screaming at you fing four wheelers is a different story)

[TDonovan]

Haha, whatever dude... You watch a bunch of videos and you think speedball is going to die because everyone argues and cheats?

Forget what you've seen in videos, go to a field, and play.

[WARPED1]

Speedball may die, but XBall is the future of our sport. Why? Because the non playing public can understand the game. The non playing public finds just speedball boring. There needs to be harsher penalties for cheating, like in any major league, including major fines, like $10000 at a time kind of stuff.

[yakitori]

ya, thats funny. Speedball is going to die. Why do you care so much about cussing? Is it that big a deal? I cuss all the time. I dont use it when its not appropriate or impolite.

In that case, football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer are ALL going to die. I hear more cussing in football than paintball. Same w/ basketball. And dont even get me on hockey or baseball. Those guys brawl. Hockey is more frequent, but baseball has its share of bench clearings. All it does is get spectators excited. They feel the intensity when its like that.

And yes, I hear cussing and bad attitudes at woodsball fields too. I dont go as much as I used to, but when I did, there was always someone arguing or wanting to start something w/ someone because they didnt know a rule, etc.

Speedball will not die.

[WARPED1]

ya, thats funny. Speedball is going to die. Why do you care so much about cussing? Is it that big a deal? I cuss all the time. I dont use it when its not appropriate or impolite.

In that case, football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer are ALL going to die. I hear more cussing in football than paintball. Same w/ basketball. And dont even get me on hockey or baseball. Those guys brawl. Hockey is more frequent, but baseball has its share of bench clearings. All it does is get spectators excited. They feel the intensity when its like that.

And yes, I hear cussing and bad attitudes at woodsball fields too. I dont go as much as I used to, but when I did, there was always someone arguing or wanting to start something w/ someone because they didnt know a rule, etc.

Speedball will not die.

Well put!!!!

[Aslan]

Agreed

ADDED:

I saw the same thing when I watched a speedball practice a couple months ago. I've seen (and been a party to) some less than sportsmanlike talk/play...but NEVER like I saw at that practice.

I play hockey, and yes, you get the same kind of thing in hockey...but hockey is a contact sport. People hit each other the wrong way, things get said, but at the end of the game, everybody shakes hands (most of the time). This practice (AND IT WAS ONLY A PRACTICE!) was out of control. Nearly every game ended with 2-4 guys screaming at each other because one guy thought another guy was out earlier in the match or something along those lines.

Speedball won't die...it gives immature kids with $2000 guns something to do...and it probably has helped make the sport more popular. But I do see stricter rules, referee certification, and stricter penalties in the near future. As more and more tournaments turn into "near brawls"...you'll see a re-emphasis on sportsmanship...especially when you start to see a decline in the younger kids because their parents don't want to get them involved in a "cuss-fest" that doesn't teach their kids good sportsmanship.

[master_alexander]

about swearing... somebody screws up and it makes them feel better.,...

but with the cheating thoes people arent good enough to play without cheating. or are so obsessed with winning they will do annything.

with newer technology compes better equipment. (by better faster and lighter) and then we get into cheating again, like ramping.

so all in all.. its just a matter of taming the players...

and i dont really think it will end, but mabey evolve to a sport that is impossible to win or impossible to lose when not followed by the rules.

[elpimpo]

im an nppl ref... everything you said there is a no no in nppl. the first thing when he got gogged and played on... 1 4 1 or if the ref thinks of it as game altering 2 4 1, next thing, cheating aka wiping 3 4 1 or ramping gun, 12 game expoltion, high velocity 1 4 1, 2 4 1, 3 4 1, or even a 3 game suspention, next swearing, first word either warning or pulling of the player every word after that a player is pulled from his/ her team, next, and complaining... ive actually had that situation with rocky up in my face... its as easy as telling them to go talk to the head ref and its done, if its done during game play, we pull there players, they will eventually shut up, but arguing after the game in inevitable (sp?) a pro team is playing for 20k so its bound to happen but i think we take care of it effectively. speedball will not die... its our only chance of getting on tv and actually brodening our horizons

[RingOfScale]

speedball does seem to magnify those problems, but it wont be the end of speedball.
there is no possible way tournament paintball will ever go back to woodsball, they are basically two seperate games now. if speedball every goes away, it will be in favor of a new format, but i cant imagine any other way to play speedball other then woodsball and speedsball.

((Edit: the bonuses of speedball over woodsball as a tournament format, or even as a format that is enjoyable to play (in most people's opinion) are so much greater then that of woodsball, that a bit of swearing or bad sportsmanship won tbe enough to bring it down))