Rabid Squirrels

[Quickling]

Trying to create a photo thread of the Rabid Squirrels. We have been a pump team since 2003, playing a lot of pump v electro events in the CNY region from 2003 to 2007ish. For a short time we were sponsored by R. C. Congel and then later by Fury Paintball. A lot of people have come out to play with us over the years and honestly I don't even think I could put names to everyone.

Careers, distance, relationships, and parenthood forced a lot of us out of paintball for awhile, but with some middle aged members rediscovering paintball again and dragging new faces with us, it looks like the Rabid Squirrels might live again.

Origins:

Back in 2003 I was a member of StockClassPaintball.com and really wanted to play pump more often. I had my PGP converted to CA by Sam Tussing, but there was nothing for pump play in my area. I was running my dark cocker in rec play against electros at Fury paintball in Camillus NY, but I wanted more. Less paint slinging and more sportsmanship.

Then EMR posted that CC16 would be Pump V Semi and I just flipped a switch and became all about pump. There was a ton of buzz on SCP leading up to the event and I started to recognize some of the familiar names on the forum, but the game would come and go without me meeting any SCP members at the event. The event was a blood bath. Most of the pump guys were running old brass guns, limited capacity and small tanks or 12 grams. I didn't even have access to 10 rnd tubes in my area so I was using PVC pipe with caps in order to carry extra paint. However, I got my hands on a sterling to try and never looked back. I ordered one for myself as soon as I came home. Wanting an excuse to use it I talked Fury Paintball into a private pump only day and posted it on SCP. We had a really great attendance. I remember meeting Target, StrokerAce, Amhildreth, EASix(6), and maybe a few friends that got brought along but didn't become persistent members.

I remember the first game being bunkered by EASix(6) as he did a kamikaze run through the field. I was thinking to myself... "Damn... maybe I am in over my head!"

I don't think I have any photos of that day, but we all returned home full of fire and stayed in touch on SCP. Later in the year, Fury was doing a 3man indoor tournament series, it was cheap at $30 a team and we decided that we would represent the old ways, we would play pumps vs modern gear, and the team was born.

The initial name ideas were Stock Class Partizans and Rabid Squirrels. After going back and forth a bit, the Squirrels won out and StrokerAce hand made our first uniforms using the original team logo that he and Six designed. Our first event, we had enough people turn out that we fielded two teams.

[Quickling]

The Tournaments:

Five members showed up on our first day, StrokerAce was high on a 4 pack of redbull and literally vibrating. Being a member short we started asking around and ended up picking up the team mom from Titanium Fieldmice. A family based team that we would run into for years. The squirrels had no goal other than to have fun and not come in last. The format was centerflag with 3 points for first pull, 1 point for each elimination, and 4 points for hand.

3...2...1.... GO!! I slid into the center 50, completely ignored by the other team as they took the back bunkers and laned paint at our back corners. With no attention on me, I grabbed the flag and though to myself.... "We shouldn't be getting the far... holy cow!"

I broke a ball and was slinging paint in random arcs... got in a gunfight with back center and watched a gooped up ball take a lucky curve and hit back center. "OMG!! We are actually doing it!!" Then I got gogged and did the walk of shame off the field thinking this was the turning point and we would get rocked. To my shock, Target controlled the back and Les snuck down the field and the whistle blew. WE HAD WON OUR FIRST GAME!!!

The other teams were literally silent after seeing pumps just take out electros.

Most electro teams controlled the back and rained paint, favoring total elimination of the other team before focusing on the flag. Our strategy was get the flag, then figure the rest out. This kept us going with points and that event ended with us almost making the semi-finals. Our B team actually completely rolled the A team and bumped us out of the semi-finals. It didn't mater, we all had a great time and came in MUCH higher than we thought we would. Target worked as a boat mechanic and got us sponsored by his employer, then later Fury would sponsor us for their events letting us play for free because we demonstrated the highest level of sportsmanship by keeping a positive attitude on the field.

One of my memories from our first event was when a player on the B team had his gun go down before the start of the game. At the whistle had ran straight for the flag, grabbed it and made a suicide run to hang it at back center of the opposing team. It was such an aggressive run that the opposing back corner player was shaking from the surprise. If I remember correctly, he got completely obliterated a few steps from hanging it, but it was an awesome sight to see.

Our team was all in at this point and we would go on to play a lot of events for the first year, a few less after that, and slowly a little less each year until I think our last event was Headrush's NY cup in 2007. By that time it was StrokerAce and myself most of the time and Target when he could find the time, but we were having problems in that we were always 1 player short for most events and had to grab whomever we could just to get on the fields.

After 2007 our tournament days fell apart and we would only get together a few times for NY Pump days (private games, usually at headrush) or Pump Pandemonium at EMR.

[Quickling]

Photos from our early 3man indoor events.

[Quickling]

When we started, we had no good options for small pods and hoppers. We were buying Talons or blades and throwing them away just to get the pocket hoppers that came with them. The black ones were good and I still have my first one. The clear ones were junk.

For pods we grabbed up any pods that didn't have glued lids, cut them down to 50nds and reassembled them. I remember at PP2 being in a dead box and hearing comments... "Look at how much paint they are wasting on us... he doesn't even have any pods left!" Surprise, I had all of my pods, you just couldn't seem them sticking out of the top! =P

[Quickling]

Photos from our NY Pump days.

I believe that these span 2 or 3 days from 2003 - 2004

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Pump Pandemonium 2

The infamous water wings event. Stroker and I were on top of our games at the time and much savagery was preformed. It was a fun event, but most of the shenanigans happened at the bunk house.

The Paintball Marshalls had to steal a hand from us (the one with the badge inside of it) for major points and social bragging. That of course was after photos were taken of Six defiling the real hand. A second hand was made as a fake and left in more obvious view.

[Quickling]

Pump Pandemonium 2016

I believe this might have been the last PP that EMR hosted, and sadly was the last time the OG squirrels would play together as a unit. This was the 4th PP that I had attended, but I do not have photos of the one in which Stroker and I rode our suzuki Katanas to, which I think was PP3. That was the year I won a phantom and I would go on to use it at the last two PP events that I would attend (you can see it in these photos). More photos were taken, but they were on a FB account of an ex and I will not taint myself to fetch them. Maybe another squirrel will, because there were some great shots of Stroker, Six, and myself playing together.

[StrokerAce]

Okay Ben, I’ll shamelessly get into those photos from PP16.

[StrokerAce]

[StrokerAce]

[StrokerAce]

[Quickling]

NIce! Thank you!!

I think they main reason EMR ended PP is because it was guaranteed to bring a heatwave that ended up being some of the hottest days of the entire summer.

[StrokerAce]

Six was great for his kamikaze moves back in the day - it’s honestly too bad that he has little faith in his physical health these days, I’d love to get him back on the field.

His creation of gear continues his legacy long after his retirement from the field. Aside from my Eclipse Sterling, the majority of my pieces have come from his garage, heavily modified before they wound up in my hands. I met the man while dating his step daughter, and though that relationship wound up spiraling downward, I believe that all things happen for a reason - he’s a great man.

He took me to Castle Conquest 16 - I’d never been to a large event. I’d been active at SCP, so I had an idea of things but never really got onboard. He dragged me along at the perfect time - I was dealing with the breakup, and also just getting my feet wet in the pump scene. I went to the game with an SL-68 II, modified with copper tubing and a feed gate to function as a homebrew modified stock gun. We got rolled hard. But, I met a bunch of SCP forum members, got in with the Paintball Marshals, and the rest is history - more or less.

I met Ben (Quickling) through balling, and through that connection, got involved with the paintball club at SUNY Oswego while we both attended. I didn’t finish school, but that solidified the hardest of our playing - we played every weekend, and still did pump events on the side. The club guys with Cockers and Angels didn’t understand what we were doing.

My dorm RA was on the club team, and when I told him I just had a new gun shipped in - he ran to my room. When I unboxed the Sterling in front of him, he stood there dumbfounded and looked at me like I had three heads.

I was a front player aside Ben - I wound up blowing out my left knee and had surgery in 2005, but recovered in time for NY Cup. Those Titanium Field Mice were also there, and did a great job stirring the pot for us - telling everyone that the pump guys were going to show up and school the shit out of them. We wound up taking 8th out of 20 - not bad for a 3 man pump team.

Those were our prime days.

Man, getting old sucks - but I’m glad we move managed to draw a few new guys into this so we can relive our glory days.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Are a lot of you guys still on the North East? I remember playing those events. I just started to get into pump around that time. I played a lot of pump at EMR I was playing with the Rubber Ducky’s back then.

You guys should check out one of our MCB get togethers. We run pop up pump days at various different fields threw out the North East.

If yah want to relive the glory days of pump paintball we have a really amazing group of players. Guaranteed to have a good time.

[Quickling]

We have started playing as of September. The new people we brought out are all attached to medicine with me. It’s my wife, two of her previous emt partners. Unfortunately one is moving to SC.

Six is retired from paintball. Target passed from this world a few years ago. Amhildreth is in PA somewhere.

I am hoping this group of ambulance guys is will to travel around in the summer and shoot some other pump or mcb events.