"Rookie" tournament in CT - sounds like PBSL..

[ketzer7]

Up front: I have no affiliation with this in any way. I happened to see it shared on Paintball Wizard's Facebook page. I'm not on Facebook, so I can't contact the guy that posted this to ask questions.

Anyways:

I don't know who this guy is, but I do know who Jeff Stein is - formerly the team manager/president/el jefe of the NE Hurricanes. Not sure what people's feelings about him nowadays are, but I remember 20 years ago there being a fair number of people who didn't get along with him.

In any case, I feel like maybe they are slightly ripping off the idea of what PBSL is trying to do. It's too bad they can't combine forces to promote the format instead of fragmenting more, but it is what it is.

Just posting this as an FYI. YMMV, etc.

[Jonnydread]

I'm not the biggest fan of Matt's, but I like the style of tourney with guns being limited though I agree with you about how it's competing with PBSL. If we want these low & slow tourneys to take off we need to be cooperative.

[Shaftski]

Noel played on the hurricanes.

Not sure about the concept of a rental tournament. Strange idea. Is there even a market for this?

[ketzer7]

He must have been around after I quit playing in 2002. I only knew them peripherally when the Hurricanes, and the team I was playing on at the time (Apparition), were hired by Anthony @ Boston Paintball to be staff refs essentially for the entire NEPL season in 2001.

Agreed this seems weird to require people to use the gun they provide. Like I said, why they can't just connect with the guy doing PBSL and promote this jointly is disappointing.

[Shaftski]

LOL, thought your profile pic looked familiar. This is Mike who played with you on Apparition for a couple of NPPLs.

[fullofpaint]

Noel was a Hurricane and 187's coach.

I wouldn't really see it as fragmenting PBSL. At least in SoCal, PBSL is a fairly high skill league just a little more laid back from your typical WCPPL or NEPL event. Beginners are certainly welcome but the majority of guys are long-time players.

This seems much more targeting the gap in the NEPL/Foxball/OPS leagues. There's no real beginner league/events anymore. When I started out we played a bunch of random 3-man events at Fox 4, Airsports, BOLP, etc. Never even stepped onto a NEPL field until we had gotten a few tournaments under our belt. Nowadays though, there's nobody doing these kind of beginner 3-man events, except for NEPL AFAIK.

We ran a couple rental tournaments at Xtreme a long time ago. They went over pretty well, the setup helps even out the playing field. We didn't get a huge turnout but we never really marketed it either, was jsut kind of a thing for the locals.

[ChuckLove]

This is a strange concept in my opinion. Not against it, but it seems flawed. This field also does 10 man with NXL standard rules as opposed to classic rules. There is always a struggle to bridge the gap around here. I’m not sure if it’s related to money or people are just set in their ways. Trying to setup walk-on tournaments or even mech/pump days, I’ve encountered disinterested from field managers and owners.
PBSL in New England is mostly a NH/Mass deal. Personally I believe it should just be PBSL New England but that is not up to me. Why limit it to just two states?
Hopefully this turns into something fun!

[ketzer7]

Shaftski You mean these guys?? 😆

[Shaftski]

Man I look like such a dork in those glasses. There's still pics of us up on Warpig from Chicago.

[ketzer7]

Oh I know . That was my 15 minutes of fame.

I know Skip is still around because I've seen his profile on pbleagues, but I haven't spoken to him. Jon doesn't play anymore I don't think, but I'm connected with him on LinkedIn - he works as a contractor in Stoughton, MA, now. Steve still owns Gilley's in Portsmouth, but I haven't talked to him since I quit playing in 2002. Chuckie was living with Dellas for a while in a house in Raymond, same town I was living in at the time. I ran into him at a gas station in Candia one night of all things. And I'm sure you know Dellas later ended up on the Hurricanes briefly, I guess. I dunno whatever happened to Scotty, Dmac, or JJ. Have you crossed paths with any of them?

[Shaftski]

I stopped playing in '02 also, work took up a lot of time and all my teammates kept retiring. Scotty, Skip, and I were together on a 5-man post devil dogs for a few events but things fell apart pretty quick. Just started up again this year, only teammates I've bumped into so far are the paintball wizards guys and you.

Come to a pump event some time, they are a blast and we'll catch up. Lots older players from that era. There is one at OSG coming up, even if you don't have a pump people bring extras to loan out.