Bad press for paintball

[hadji]

in the new issiue of ESPN the magazine they asked the guys who started the X games to explain why some sports were left out and paintball was on the list and this is what they had:

"paintball
test run: nineteen ninety never
Leafy forests. Rainbow colored "blood". Nice visuals, sure, and certainly popular with suburban dads itching for a GI Joe moment. But a sport? PaintBall.com's Blake Musser owns up on the talent pool: "Basically the guy with the biggest gun wins." Which is why the paintball pitch went straight into the not in this lifetime pile."




I cant even begin to start on this guy and the X games. If anyone knows this Blake guy kick him in the nuts for ruining our sports chance to be on TV again and draw in more people. I suggest everyone email espn about this idiot and correct them.

[Budha]

I am so appauled at this. Dude, now that is what can ruin us. Not some stupid man hunt show. If x games wont take us, no one will. Damnit. What did that Blake guy do anyway?

[fightinomish16]

We dont really need the xgames. We've got the nppl and many other tournament circuits, the sport is growing strong, prices are getting better because more companies are getting involved, and many more fields are opening. It doesnt look like paintball is going to leave anytime soon as long the players love sport the way they do now and probablyy will for a long time. Paintball doesnt need the support of the x-games to be recognized. and with everyone worrying so badly about the image of paintball wouldnt they wanna steer clear of being one of those "extreme" sports?

ps. that is still a **** article, but what issue and page is it in?

[fightinomish16]

but i do want paintball on tv. I can only play once a week so on sunday i bum a ride out to the field (1/2 hr away) and watch paintball, if only i could sit at home on my couch and watch reruns my favorite pro team beat up on amateur teams.........
but i dont see paintball going on tv for a long time

[Sport_dude]

I e-mailed ESPN before about how paintball should be shown sometime on TV, and I'll e-mail them again. I hope that guy loses his job though...

[bad-karma]

well it's just another obstical for the sport to leap over sooner or later, i think if we as paintball playerz want this on t.v. that the company's/manufacturers should try to help out in some way.

but that artical suck big time, he probably hasnt even seen paintball exept in the woods. what a crack head man. i e-mailed espn and i hope they give me some sort of response:mad: :tdown:

[Low Down]

That article really really bothers me because we (the paintballing community) didn't to anything to deserve it. It's just a bunch of misconceptions about paintball.

The quote from Blake Musser sounds like it was taken out of context because anyone who's ever seen pro or top amatuer tournaments knows that EVERYONE has a big gun( mostly . ;) ).

I think that paintball has a lot of obstacles to overcome before it's ever on tv as a regular program, but i don't doubt that someday it will happen.

[hadji]

Originally posted by fightinomish16
what issue and page is it in?

the Fall issiue page 152

[BM2K MaYhEm]

What a Phuckin typical sellout ***** motherphucker! I would hate to see anyone get in trouble for hitting that guy with a mack truck!! Damn first off I am not even starting to say his lack of knoledge is obserd and if he knew a god damn thing about the sport and the fact that paintball is second in the world as the most expensive sport right under golf!! then he would god damn know that raitings would shoot through the roof!! and what pisses me off even more is that a couple of years back espn used to be all over pball like white on rice and then all of sudden it stopped and now I know why !!! oh this one is the last draw!! ITS A WAR PEOPLE AND WE HAVE TO FIGHT IT ! AND NOT BY EMAILS BYE PROTESTS AND ANY MEANS NECCESSARY I DONT CARE IF I AM THE ONLY GOD DAMN PERSON OUTSIDE THAT BUILDING MAKING NOISE YOU BET YOUR ANGELS ILL BE THERE !
THIS STARTS TODAY AND I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO STOP THIS BECAUSE I HAVE CONTACTS WITH ESPN AND KNOW WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RUNNING THE X GAMES AND THIS GUY AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED DOES NOT DO ***** GOT THAT ***** BUT I WILL HAVE ANSWERS! EMAIL ME AT UT_PB@MSN.COM TO BECOME A SUPPORTER FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS SPORT AND NO MORE BAD PUBLISHINGS AND MORE SHOWS ABOUT IT WITH MORE AIR TIME AND BIGGER AND BETTER TOURNEYS HELD IN FOOTBALL STADIUMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE WHOEVER IS WITH ME ! MAIL ME!! I WILL NOT BE UNHEARD!!!

[fightinomish16]

Originally posted by hadji


the Fall issiue page 152

which issue is that? its like a weekly or bi-weekly magazine

[fightinomish16]

ohh whoops my bad, i thought you were talkin about SI

[Iceman999]

i dont think you should really try to get paintball on espn right away. first it shoul go on local networks and stuff or not so popular sports channels. or put it on pay-per-view so when people order it espn will see how much people watch the sport and they might think about putting it on their channel.


my 2 cents
thanks for reading

[Kepow'Ob]

lol, if it makes money by putting it on pay per view, they will make sure they keep the rights to it. You can make a lot of money off PPV compared to regular TV.

Like formula1 in some of Europe is only on PPV now cause they know people will pay for it.

I do like the idea of trying to get local channels to cover it, but that will only work if a tourny is being held close by IMO, but I'd still like that.

[Punk-Sk8er]

ok everyone needs to atleast e-mail espn and get that ****** Black Musser fired and send as many e-mails as u can, send 50 of them if u want. Cuss that mother fuc.ker out

[thehead]

now, you're wrong there. People who email a company and cuss wildly don't get ANYTHING done for their cause. They'll look at you like you're a 12 year old moron who just learned the meaning of c**t. Be polite, and get your point across without TOO MANY CAPS, and something will actually come of it. Think before you flame.



Head

[bad-karma]

yea, cussing the network out will just fuel the fire. not a good idea:(

[RadioActive04]

espn has no idea what the sport is about ...

[Vagabond Soldier]

First off why are you all going after the network like they insulted you? The only reason they made there desision was based on a players comments. If you want to flame someone flame that Blake Musser guy. He is the one that said the things he did. Oh BTW I can't get into painball.com so that sould tell you how reliable his information is.

I could care less if paintball is on TV but to here it bashed by a player really pisses me off.

[p8ntballer15]

does any one have this blake guys email

[Vagabond Soldier]

Reply from Blake@paintball.com about ESPN magazine article

Actually it was a 30 minute interview and that was a quote taken out of context. yes I did say it but what I was summing up was the general buying habits of the players.

What kind of gun do you shoot? More than likely if you are the average tounament player you have a gun worth around $1000 to $1500. My contention was that until players begin to propagate the sport as opposed to allowing the greedy manufactures run the show it will never make it into the Xgames.

The only way to get it there is to standardize the rules and the marker used. Bring out the skill of the player by evening the field. It's just like car racing. You have good drivers and you have bad drivers, but put a bad driver in a formula one and a good driver in a VW bug and who wins the race? Nascar evened the field and it is paying off.

Once paintball does this you will see the sport take its next step. Will it ever happen? I truelly dought it. Why? Because players are too caught up in the dream of sponsorship and being a pro to propagate their own sport.

I get hundreds of emails asking for sponsorship and how to get sponsored every day. I get 0 that ask how to help make the sport stronger.

I am sorry for the late reply, I was out of the country.

Be Safe, Play Hard, Play Fair,

Blake
Paintball.com

[Volcov]

I'll admit that a lot of times it seems to be firepower over skill, but why would Blake, the woner of a popular paintball website, try to give paintball a bad rep?!