Why paintball will never be a "real" sport

[thefool]

Just come to Australia and play with us and leave your troubles behind

If that happened australia would be the home of aberiginese, paintball players, and criminals :P

[Lohman446]

I started playing 15 years ago for fun, I still play for fun be it scenario, rec or tournies. Yeah tournies can be tense at times but if it consumed as much negative energy as it appears it does to you then you should back off a little and play it for the reason you first started... cause it was fun. You seem to have lost that along the way.

I have quit, verbally at least several times in the last few weeks. The problem is this... I remember how fun it used to be, how much I used to love the game. I remember getting to the field four hours early to help get things ready. I remember when it was better...

Which makes quitting, that much harder

[wimag]

I have quit, verbally at least several times in the last few weeks. The problem is this... I remember how fun it used to be, how much I used to love the game. I remember getting to the field four hours early to help get things ready. I remember when it was better...

Which makes quitting, that much harder

with that said you should drive up towards Milwaukee in a few weeks and go to Paitball Sams big game. That game alone would bring you back into why the game is fun.
Pretty much walk around for hours blasting people

[Cow hunter]

i eveery once and a while play tournaments, and there is cheating, i dont, but there is cheating, and when people get away with it, most of the time, they win. hell just last weekend there was a mock tournament for sponsored teams at a field, i reffed, and there were players who cheated right in front of me, i saw the ball hit him on the outside of the arm, it was barely noticable, and he tried to wipe it on a bunker by switching sides, i called him on it, but not for playing on, because i really dont care.... but my point is, i dont care if others cheat, as long as i play a fair game and have a good time, ill still go play, because thats what its about

[iambored]

"I'm sorry because this is going to exclude a lot of great people. Age restrictions... adults contribute to the problem, but not as much as that annoying twelve year old child trying to impress everyone by acting like the whiney teenagers (and adults) on the field. 18 would not hurt my feelings much. The funny thing is, one of the players I respect most, is under that age. Sorry"

What? Teens that admit when there out and not whine can't take like a test or somethin'
I've seen plenty of kids that don't cheat but its the ones who think playing like a pro is what wins the game need to be taught somethin

[50 cal]

Heres an idea....play the game, have fun, and dont worry about the BS...if people wanna worry about how they look then let them.,..if they wanna cheat dont play them or just shoot the **** out of em...**** the politics of it all just have fun

Nice idea. Too bad it won't see the light of day. P-ball will never be seen as a "professional" sport. Having reffed a lot of games on the National level, you can see tourny directors overturn a refs call because a team captain is an expert whiner or threaten to never come back. Seen it first hand. I've walked from tourneys for the same reason.

Seen thrown guns, just plain childish behaviour on the sidelines. 15 and 16 year olds cussing like sailors in front of other people.

I stopped playing tourney ball and reffing because of the childish behaviour of players and tourney directors alike.

[quasimorte]

From what i have seen of tournament and upper level play i agree with all of what you guys are saying. the solution is what i am thankful to have at my home field. it is a stacked structure and started with te fiels owner. where i play the guy wants to make money but he isn't doing it by letting every agg kiddie ramp till the day is done. he does it by creating an environment where even the rookies have a fighting chance. from there his reffs are all volunteers, if they screw up they don't ref again and may not be let back on the field at all. but they also know that what ever call they make the owner will back them even if they are wrong. finally there are the regulars, i don't reff but when i am sitting out a game but if anybody tried to intimidate the field reffs they know there are almost always three or four regulars that will back them on any call on the field and physically if needed. though i have never seen this happen. finnally there is everybody else that comes to the field. the regulars are good enough that unless you can really rock you aren't going to own a field very easily and alot of the time that is all the upper level players are looking or in a day of rec ball.

so how does all this fix the industry? it can't because almost every field owner, tounament sponsor, advertiser, and everybody else putting money into the sport wants more money out of it. the easiest way to do this is hype and fast fire. get the pros shooting 20 BPS and everyone else will want to, then hype your reskinned marker as if it were entirely new, and finnally make it so even when your hit your not hit so you still get to shoot.

My advice to anybody fed up with the sport is simple, avoid the new, get back to roots. if this means you sell all your stuff and go buy a pump ok do it, but if this just means you turn off ramping, kill you eyes, put your camoes back on and hide in the woods for a few games do that. get away from you normal fields and go to one that you have never been to before, be a noob some where or some how for just a little while and i can tell you without a doubt you will realise why you started playing the sport in the first place.

anyway thats my rant. i'll shut up now :)

[REDRT]

I just think if a player was held accountable for his/her actions by sponcers, refs, field owners, team captains ect. Things could be way better. Most all of us know right from wrong. What the rules are and what is cheating per them rules. The day when a player no matter what level is held accountable then in short order positive change would be on the way.

[MicroMiniMe]

with that said you should drive up towards Milwaukee in a few weeks and go to Paitball Sams big game. That game alone would bring you back into why the game is fun.
Pretty much walk around for hours blasting people

Seconded. You'll find more seasoned rec players and some old school guys here on AO playing. It's a mag field of old and still is. September 30 and October 1 this year.

[-=squid#2=-]

So apparently Lohman is still an idiot.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

I have quit, verbally at least several times in the last few weeks. The problem is this... I remember how fun it used to be, how much I used to love the game. I remember getting to the field four hours early to help get things ready. I remember when it was better...

Which makes quitting, that much harder

Lohman, maybe you just need to try a new field. Get away from all the regulars and meet new people. Take pride in helping out newer players, etc. That is, of course, if you only played at one field and such.

Even I feel the same way and I have only been playing for 5 years. I remember back when wiping was not even a consideration. I had never seen any evidence of it. One of the better ways to get away from it is to lay off the forums, get a new hobby as your primary one. Then, occasionally you go play paintball and it feels alittle better than before.

[iambored]

Go to a military base field (that way you are selective and have less brats)

[AzrealDarkmoonZ]

Play with a different group. I generally play only when there is a high percentage of friends/people I know playing. And lots of fun ensues!

Az

[dahoeb]

Go to a military base field (that way you are selective and have less brats)

not true everywhere!
the one on my base has more civilians than service members! the cheating is so bad, i haven't played there in months!

[hitech]

Now its "the refs job to call me out"

Just so you don't think it's somthing "new", that was the first thing I discovered when playing my first tournament, in 1988...

It was actually getting a little better for a breif period. When I was reffing I saw improvements. When I stopped reffing it all went to hell....