[spydie6]

Well THAT was so much better than a quarantine!

Man it was hot today. I know we all didn’t agree with every ref call…. But I’m extremely proud of our effort today. I had the luxury of standing still all day but my guys ran in, they ran out, they stayed out of the way and they tried to call the most black and white, unbiased event they could. Ill take that effort all year!

During any paintball event its such an emotional roller-coaster. The wins… the losses. The success and failures. The seemingly endless story lines. Players playing against former teams and teammates. Guys playing out of position to satisfy the team dynamic. Guys playing their first event the a new team. Guys playing their last with a particular team? So many moving parts. Im so glad I get the best seat in the house!

In the Beginner Novice Division we saw 8 teams. Definitely a mix of established players playing with the new generation, The rawest of up and comers, and whole squads coming back from the dead. Just missing the finals cut by 4 points (4 bodies) was Detroit Chaos. Just 3 points behind them was Meritocracy (how do you say that?)… followed by Retro AF and Outlaw Cartel. Brain Surgeon Rookies led prelims and earned the #1 seed. They used that to exploit a matchup against Mid-Coast Menace. Menace played really well at times but not consistent enough to quell the fire power of the Rookie Surgeons. Menace was dispatched in 2 games. Mafia made the cut on the strength of some veteran leadership and raw front player guile, but they ran into a Detroit Barracudas squad that worked the field like a classic 7man team. They took few chances, and locked down zones impressively, beating Mafia in 2 games. In finals the Brain Surgeon Rookies and The Barracudas brawled. In game 1 Andrew Libbrecht came so close to getting to the buzzer before time expired. The Barracudas win game 2 like they won most of their games. On-point break shooting and keeping bodies alive for a late push. This put them in a great position to sit and wait out the Surgeons. In game 3 the Surgeon front guys died first coming forward trying to make it happen. Then the mid guys came forward, made some kills and died. It came down to a 1 on 1 and the Barracudas just understood what it took to put it away and played to their strength, giving them their first 5man win and IMS.56 beginner/novice championship!

In the Limited Division Brain Surgeons, Avg Joes1, Latino Heat, and Darkside missed the cut, but this was no slouch division. Knuckles were bloody. Even the last place teams won 2 of their games. This Division is also interesting in the contrast of the teams. There are former champs trying to dial it back in, talented squads finding their way, and a program shuffling the deck trying to put a couple contenders out there. Mid-Michigan Marauders led prelims dropping only 1 game. They played a methodic game and always kept enough bodies available to attack down the snake or at least defend it. In semi-finals they drew a very talented and up-and-coming Rage of Hades squad and dispatched them in 2 games. Avg Joes2 overwhelmed the Reapers with good OTB shooting to set up the finals match up. Avg Joes2 did a good job of changing up their game plan/ break outs and letting Jeff work the Dside, but the Marauders proved to have too much firepower for them giving them the IMS.56 Limited Division crown!

In the Open Class we got some early bad news with our 5thteam bailing. Free Parking players were actually guesting on other lines, and wanted an Open spot anyway so they answered the call! Big props to them for stepping up.

810 goes way back but have been in a several year hiatus while the kids grew up and got jobs! They turned heads today leading the charge and earning the #1 Seed and bye thru semi-finals directly to finals. The Bullies lost some close games and Free Parking missed the cut by just 6 points! Thunder drew Sandos and beat them in 2 games to set up a finals match up of juggernauts. Thunder used their experience to tame the talent of the 810 kids (they’re really not kids anymore but they’ll always be kids to me) to give themselves the IMS.56 Open Class crown!

There was heat. There were tempers. There were even mistakes but im extremely proud of the product we put out of the field.

Thank you to my Refs who worked in Hell today.

Thank you to Tom and Devon for long days, late nights and early mornings. More goes into these things than you can imagine!

Thank you to the players for being where you needed to be when you needed to be there. We ran ahead of schedule and that’s big on a hot day.

Registration for IMS.57 8.2.20 at TC Paintball, Lansing is officially OPEN!

WE’RE GOING TO FILL. SIGN UP EARLY.

Austin C didn’t get a penalty!

AO one… two… three… HEAT EM UP!