Thank yous to everyone

Its been a great couple of days. I have been asked to be a contributing writer on 2 US paintball websites something which really blew me away. I will write more about it later. It was my goal in 2008 to try and get more US based readers and I was really happy that I'm now getting over 50% readership stateside  and to be asked to write for 2 paintball websites is indeed a great honor.

I want to thank everyone who comes and reads my blog - everyone from the states all the way to people from Panama to Ghana and not forgetting those who also hate me. The hits on my blog went through the roof from a daily average of 200 to 400 when I posted G-No's letter and the pro players ins and outs this week. 

Thank you to all the pro players like G-No and Junior Brown who also wrote and sent compliments and supported me by helping out with answers and information.

I want to wish all the teams playing in the 3 man Federal Territory Day Tournament up in KL Malaysia and the teams playing in the SPNS in Singapore all the best for this weekend.

I am working on 2 stories at the moment - Im gathering 'official'  team rosters from the pro teams and I'm also writing a story on SACpaintball.com and Junior Brown.

And lastly Matthew- I owe you a review on the Furious Barrel, I have not forgotten you - just been trying to get photos taken of the barrel. I will post my review soon. 

Have a good weekend paintballing everyone - all those playing in tournaments in KL and Singapore and I know all the pros would be practicing this weekend too for PHX.

Thank you everyone from all over the world for coming in to read my blog.

This is the number of hits and returning readers to my blog. September and October was the highest with an average of over 8500 page loads that month.

A Good Day + G-NO'S RETIREMENT LETTER TO INFAMOUS

I am finally back in Singapore in 'normal' weather. I was rather amused when I realised that last night I was walking around the main shopping street in cold Guangzhou China and tonight I was walking around Orchard Road in the cool night air.

I got home to find 2 messages which really humbled me and I am stokked to receive. Junior Brown of XSV wrote to say "love the blog" and invited me and everyone to go check out his forum www.sacpaintball.com. I will sign up and plug it a bit later.

And G-No sent me the letter he sent to the Infamous on why he is leaving the team. It is a personal letter from him to the guys on the team. It is very generous of him to share and give us a glimpse of the life of a pro and how he has to balance his paintball life and his personal and family life.

We all don't see the other side of our favourite pro players - that they have to make a living and not everyone can live off paintball and they have families to take care of.

G-No would like me to mention that he thanks everyone who supported him and the team.

Thank you to G-No for your generosity and trusting me with the letter. I am sure you will be back sometime soon when things have worked out and settled down. We will all miss seeing you in the Doritos. Thank you also Junior Brown for the support.

Below is the letter:

as most of you already know, at the ripe old age of 24, i have decided to "retire" from paintball. most of you also already knew that my family and i were struggling financially. so at first, i was being forced to quit paintball, the sport we all love and hate at the same time. however, even when we were finally able to get ourselves out of the **** hole status that we were in, instead of playing paintball and living the way i had the last couple of years revolving everything around paintball, i decided to take this opportunity to better my life and of my family. where i want to be in life, career and financial wise, is being slowed down by paintball. it's hard to try to go to school, work full time to pay bills, and be a father at the same time. throw in paintball, which takes away time from all three, and takes away the days that i can make most of my money(weekends), then i'm just living day by day to get by and not for my future. even though i am currently capable of playing paintball this year, i didn't want to wait for another financial or whatever problem to occur and be in that same **** boat of being forced to quit. with things hard as it is this year for the team and paintball in general, i didn't want to be one of the people being spent money on to fly and take up a spot which i could not fully commit to. it's not fair to you guys, and it's not fair to people that would kill for my spot.

with that being said, i am thankful for getting to know everyone. i know it's been said a **** load of times and might not mean anything to you guys, but to me, all you guys were like older brothers. with the exception of the old guys, baldar and pozzi, who were more like uncles. i have no real friends other than katie(baby's mama) outside of paintball. i lived everyday waiting for the weekend to see my only friends. so it is really really sad for me to not be able to see you guys anymore. it'll be especially sad for me not to be able to see my girlfriend who is still currently living with slasher. she's an awesome girl and a great skier.

for the original guys that watched me grow in paintball and decided to take a chance and pick me up, thank you. for those who made the decision to pick me back up after i had originally left, thank you. for those that understand why i'm yet again leaving, thank you. i wish you all luck this year and i hope you all have fun. don't play if you're not having fun.


ps
if you guys start slackin on those dorits, i'm might just have to gear up again... lol so don't suck!

END

JANE IN A PAINTBALL VIDEO ON YOU TUBE

Jane you're famous!

Thanks to Ryan who dug this one up.

If you go to You Tube and search for "Paintball Videos" and or specifically "Why We Play Paintball" you'll find many versions of a video that apparently started off by a guy called Dan Kirken as a tribute to paintball and paintballers.

This version has photos of players and scenes from all over the US and the NPPL and on the 58 second mark it has a photo of Jane taken by Resident Evil Chef of Jane at a Paintball tournament in JB 2 years ago.

Jane is seen shooting ropes with a Spyder Mech marker and making the kill on the guy you see in the background.

INFAMOUS PLAYERS LEAVING

Ok I scored a bit of an exclusive here - Shane Howe replied and told me that YES it is confirmed that he will be leaving Infamous and will be joining his old team mates from his old Northern California team called Mommas's Boys who are currently on the OC Bushwacker's roster (Ryan, Nate, Prince and Martin).

Shane practices with the Bushwackers all the time as everyone lives near Dave Baine's field in the Nor-Cal area. So it made sense for them to ask him to join them. Shane spoke to LB about it last week and Infamous are going through a restructure with some players leaving and budget re adjustments etc. The decision to leave was only made on Saturday - so we got the news pretty quick.

He also confirms that Jon Richardson has moved to the Ironmen furthermore he also told me that G-NO has retired. Steven Slasher has moved back to South Carolina which makes coming to practice that more harder thus we're not sure if he will be on Infamous this year.

EDIT WED
I spoke to G-no and he confirms that he is indeed retiring and he also corrected that Slasher moved back to South Carolina and not Virginia- which is where G-No lives.

AND Slasher replied on my Infamous thread in PbNation and said that he has moved back to South Carolina BUT he will be on the team for 09. GOOD STUFF!

PRO STATUS QUO

I am saddened to find out that JR (in the pic above; far right) and Shane 'Infamouse' Howe (third from the left) is leaving Infamous as well and Greg Sewiers and Jonny Perchack have been cut from the Ironmen line up.

OAKLAND INFAMOUS
Jon Richardson has signed up to work at Dye and therefore will play for the Ironmen. Shane Howe is going to join the OC Bushwackers. This is to be confirmed after he replies me about moving over the the 'wackers.
EDIT- Also just found out that LB and Rusty will not be playing 7 man this year.

LA IRONMEN
In efforts to cut costs - Dye boss Dave Youngblood has decided that he wont fly in players to play for the Ironmen - thus Greg Sewiers and Johnny Perchak are the casualties of this policy. #17 is still on the team and will be taking a 'big pay cut'. Rumour also has it that Billy Wing will hang up his 'wings'.

SAN DIEGO DYNASTY
Johnny Perchack will rejoin his buddies in blue from the Ironmen. Not a bad swap.

OC BUSHWACKERS
Picks up Shane Howe from Infamous. And Greg Sewiers from Ironmen.

XSV
Micah Mcglocklin who was 'semi-retired' - will officially come out and play for XSV probably in one of their semi pro teams. Well he did come over to Malaysia with XSV last August for the NPPL Asian Invitational anyway. Also coming out of retirement will be Ron Phipps.

OAKLAND BLAST
After picking up the Bornstein brothers (Jason and Corey) mid season- they will also welcome another player out or 'retirement' - Luke Daily formerly of Ballistic.

AFTERMATH
EDIT: Thomas Taylor said he will be playing in XSV only this year. So he's out of Aftermath.

Has announced that they wont be playing in any 7 man tournament (read:USPL). Which leads to:

PHOENIX UNITED
Aftermath player Bobby Aviles moving over to guest for Phoenix United in the USPL while still holding a spot on the Aftermath's PSP team.

USPL ANNOUNCES 6 DATES FOR 2009

The newly formed 7 man professional paintball league- the USPL has announced an ambitious six dates for 2009 starting off with the ever popular Huntington Beach venue on the first weekend of April.

It looks like they are trying to cater for teams on the west and east coast by alternating between both sides of the country. With the last two legs in the west coast finishing in October. It is a pity they didnt go some where mid west or Texas nor Florida but six dates is better than no league.

Leg 1
Surf City Open
Huntington Beach, CA
3 to 5 April 2009

Leg 2
Pev’s Paintball Park
Washington DC
15 to 17 May 2009

Leg 3
West Coast
Location to be determined
12 to 14 June 2009

Leg 4
Boston Paintball
Boston, MA
31 July to 2 August 2009

Leg 5
West Coast
Location to be determined
28 to 30 August 2009

Leg 6
West Coast
Location to be determined
2 to 4 October 2009

For SB

This is for SB to see. MR NPPL found a place to get Miami Rage NXe Packs. Only 60 were made for the team and never released to the public. At a whopping USD70 each for a 3+2.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PBWAREHOUSE

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR FROM CHINA

Hello from Qijiang 綦江县 village in Chongqing Province - its 8 degrees c indoors. I haven't had a shower for 3 days because its too damn cold. I have been eating weird food like hot pot which is so hot it makes your tongue and mouth numb. In the hot pot goes various foods like cubed ducks blood, ducks intestine, fatty pork bits, fish skin that look like lizards to name a few.

The specialty in Qijiang Village is this hot pot or salted vegetable stew with fish in it. You dip the fish in this sauce which has salted vegetables and peanuts and nuts. We've had that like twice already in the 'best' restaurant in town. I used the toilet at the restaurant and there was like bits of ham and pork part hanging all over the bathroom and in the bath tub. Nice.

The village is like 2/3 streets and its all muddy and dirty and everyone walks and spits on the street. People here also chew sugar cane and spit the fibres on the street. They also drive and ride their motorcycles with the horns on all the time because people here walk all over the places. Its get irritating to walk on the streets especially when a bus comes by and blares its horns.

It's a rural country town- everyone knows everyone- everyone says hello on the street and offer each other food and fruits. There is a abundance of fresh fruits, mandarins, bananas and pomelos are on coffee tables to eat as you watch tv. They have 60-80 plus channels - all in Mandarin Chinese of course except for 1 channel which is CCTV the official state tv which has news and programmes in English. There is 1 sports channel showing the Australian Open tennis so I can watch people sunbathing and being in the heat like a typical hot January in Australia. I don't miss those days.

My bed room is about 6 degrees just before sunrise and the house is about 8-10.5 degrees. They like to leave doors open for some reason and it gets drafty. They made me wear this Chinese Army jacket indoors and thick slippers because if you foot touch the cold floor or your skin is exposed to the cold air- "you'll get sick". I'm getting sick of getting nagged about "getting sick" and at the same time they walk in and leave the doors open and let the freezing air in.

I had a bad back ache because the bed i slept in was too flat- but they said that its because i am sick and that I have a cold. On of the uncles is a massage acupuncturist and they made me go see him. He poked and prodded and put his elbow into my back and really went full on into it. The pain from the punching and kneading was worse than the back ache so to me- that made the back ache seemed like nothing.

What is the paintball link to this post? When my American team mates told me that they played Paintball in the snow and that they prefer playing in the heat in KL and Singapore. I said I'd like to try playing in the cold weather. Well I take that back- it's only 5 degrees above freezing and I shit hell wont want to be playing paintball in this weather.

Anyway its Chinese New Year Eve in rural china. There isn't anything to do.*
I'd like to wish everyone and Happy and Successful Chinese New Year.

*ps well we have this big box filled with all sorts of fireworks and fire crackers we bought last night (RMB850 worth) to light up and everyone plays mah jong all day - which fortunately I know how to play.

[will post photos from my phone when i get home and download them]

SEBURO'S PAINTBALL QUIZ - ANSWERS

Greetings from Guangzhou China!

This is a day late but here are the answers to the Quiz.
To see which division you scored in look at the score card below.

Thank you to all who took time out to help with the questions and those who played and emailed me their answers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. What is Ollie Lang's Jersey Number?
17 - everyone got that right

2. What is the flavour of Dynasty's Brand of paintballs?
BANANA

3. Davey Williamson, Glenn Takemoto, Jon Richardson and Rusty Glaze were former team mates. What was that team?
XSV

4. Which of these pairs are not brothers?
Bob and Zach Long
Rusty and Gator Glaze
Matt and Bart Blonski
Corey and James Bronstein
Gary and Nick shows
Scott and Mark Kressin

BOB AND ZACH LONG, GARY AND NICK SHOWS ARE FATHER AND SONS.

5. What is the initials "HK" in HK Army and Hollywood HK stand for?
HOSTILE KIDS

6. What is the significance of the number 305 on Miami Rage's jersey?
AREA TELEPHONE CODE

7. What was the icon that was in common that was on Team Icon's and the Tonton's jersey?
THE WOLVERINE - MOST OF THE MEMBERS CAME FROM ORIGINAL FRENCH TEAM CALLED THE WOLVERINE

8. Who coined the team name “Infamous”
JON RICHARDSON

9. Where does Dynasty practice- what is the name of the field?
TODD MARTINEZ'S RAZA PARK

10. In 2008 there is only one us based pro team that played in the CPL in the millenium series. They are an amalgamation of 2 us based pro teams - what are the 2 teams?
PORTLAND NAUGHTY DOGS AND PHILY ALL AMERICANS FORMED THE PHILY DOGS. SOME MEMBERS WORK FOR SMART PARTS HENCE THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO TEAMS

11. Which Semi Pro Team did Maximus Lundquist guest for in the NPPL?
MOD AKA METHOD OF DESTRUCTION - THEY BELONG TO JERSEY AUTHORITY'S FAMILY.

12. Who coached the Aftermath team to their victory at Huntington beach last year?
RICH TELFORD

13. Who were the 2 American pros who guest for Moscow Phoenix in the CPL?
GLENN TAKEMOTO AND CHRIS LASOYA

14. Budapest Bullets have 3 foreigners in their line up. Who is the third apart from Ollie Lang and Mr U? Ok this is a hard question - you can see him in in the side bar on the right in the FACEFULL 64 banner.
JAN BERANEK WHO IS CZECH

15. Chris Lasoya has played in over 8 teams - can you name at least 4 of them?
MIAMI EFFECT, INFAMOUS, BALTIMORE TRUAMA, ALL AMERICANS, AFTER SHOCK, Image, AVALANCHE, and AFTERMATH

16. Who 'infamously' left the Russians for the Americans?
KOSTATIN FEDEROV

17. Which Dynasty player guests for The Russians? Bonus points if you know his nickname.
DAVE "THE BEAST" BAINS

18a. Mike Carthy was listed on 2 team line ups in 2008 Name the 2 teams.
NEW JERSEY AUTHORITY AND TAMPA BAY DAMAGE

Bonus point if you can tell me which team played Mike Carthy played on in 2007
CHICAGO STRANGE

18b. Infamous' G-No Benedico played on the same pro team as Billy Bernnachia in 2007- what was that team?
JACKSONVILLE RAIDERS

19. Before Dye came out with the Rotor- the Ironmen did not have a loader contract and everyone could use that they liked. What loader does Nicky Cuba use and still uses?
THE PINOKIO

20. Name the only two pro teams that shot private label SL8Rs in 2008
NEW ENGLAND HURRICANES AND EDMONTON IMPACT.
ICON ALSO HAD A FEW ICON EDITION SL8RS MADE.


SEE WHICH CATEROGY YOU SCORED
20 CORRECT ANSWERS PRO
15-19 DIVISION 1
10-14 DIVISION 2
BELOW 10 -DIVISION 3

MR NPPL AND HIS SWEAT PANTS

There you go..he said he'd wear his sweat pants and he also wore a nice lavender coloured t shirt given to him by his girlfriend. Yes sorry ladies- this guy is spoken for. Always the professional- plugging his sponsor GANGSTAR - too bad he didn't know how to help me program the Gangstar Chip on my Vlocity. *doh* :P

Will type more later plus the answers to the Quiz.

I'm on my way out to go to China for 2 weeks. Hope to get some time online to blog but if I don't - HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR to you all.

A GREAT DAY FOR PROFESSIONAL PAINTBALL

I have been waiting for something substantial to talk about in regards to all the rumors and theories about a new 7 man league. Everyone was talking and hoping for a new 7 man league to replace the NPPL. We had a hint of something in the process when we got a message from Junior Brown asking for support for the 'new league'.

There were other various stories like Camille Lemanski was spotted meeting all the big wigs of the sport- Alex Fraige, Chuck Hench and Rich Telford. And there was a leaked team list for the new league to get everybody excited.(The only missing big name from the team list are the Ironmen)

Well here it is- the big news. The announcement of a new 7 man paintball league called the USPL and headed by Chuck Hench and the big difference is that this time the league is owned by the players and teams. Hopefully this time they don't be tempted to sell out to another business entity.

The swift return of the 7 man format proves that it is one of the most important and popular format among teams and players and for fans. 7 man simply will not die and fade away and I for one am elated that it is back.

Another great news is that the first USPL event is already on the calendar and the USPL season opens in April with one of the best and popular venues in tournament paintball - Huntington Beach. WOW

I am excited. I would like to wish all the best and thank yous everyone who worked so hard in the last 2-3 weeks to set this up. It is indeed a great day for for professional paintball.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Paintball League (USPL)

(Huntington Beach, CA) – Sixteen Professional Teams have invested heavily in forming the US Paintball League (USPL) – your paintball league. The player-owned league is dedicated to growing the sport of paintball across the United States by offering 7-man play from Division 3 to the Professional level in addition to a division of 5-man.

Season Opener Confirmed: Huntington Beach, CA April 3 - 5 2009
The 2009 season will consist of six events held across the United States. The following teams will be competing in the 2009 Pro Division:

Chicago Legend
D.C. Arsenal
Edmonton Impact
Indianapolis Mutiny
Los Angeles Infamous
Miami Rage
Oakland Blast
O.C. Bushwackers
Phoenix United
Sacramento XSV
San Antonio X-Factor
San Diego Dynasty
San Jose Explicit
Scottsdale Elevation
St. Louis Avalanche
Tampa Bay Damage

The 16 teams have formed a five-member Board of Directors to oversee the league. The USPL has recruited some of the most experienced promoters in tournament paintball; Chuck Hendsch, Camille Lemanski and Tom Cole.

Hendsch, former president of the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) has been named Commissioner of the USPL. The Commissioner will handle executive decisions and report to the Board of Directors. Lemanski, former Vice President of Media and Marketing for Pacific Paintball, will be handling the day-to-day operations of the league as the General Manager. Tom Cole, also a former President of the NPPL, will be the Ultimate Official.

Alex Fraige of San Diego Dynasty said “although this league is owned by the pros, the mission is to make it your paintball league.”

The 16 owners have already discussed many changes to satisfy all players interested in playing the 7-man format. Rich Telford of Sacramento Excessive went on to explain that “much emphasis has been placed on catering the events toward the lower divisional teams and making the series as affordable as possible. Highlights include lowering entry fees, adjusting the schedule to reduce time away from school for younger players, streamlining the registration process to make it easier and more enjoyable for teams to check-in and walk the fields, introducing an exciting, faster-paced schedule of games and setting up a Steering Committee with representatives from all divisions so everyone’s voice can be heard.”

Individuals interested in serving as a representative on the Steering Committee should email info@uspaintballleague.com with his/her team name, division and phone number.

More details on the league and the 2009 season, including the registration opening date for Huntington Beach, will be released in the days to come. In the meantime, please email info@uspaintballleague.com for more information.

US Paintball League is a player run organization that governs Paintball tournaments and play. The USPL in conjunction with the Pro Team Association will host 6 events in the US where Paintball teams compete and are awarded points in four divisions Professional, Division I, Division II and Division III to determine an overall Paintball champion in each division. The USPL is committed to setting rules, standards and guidelines for safe, competitive, fair Paintball competitions worldwide. For more information call 714 858 1923.

SHOUT OUT TO DYE ASIA

Tonight our sponsors Dye Asia will be having this annual dinner in Taichung Taiwan.

I would like to post a shout out, thank yous and congratulations to all at Dye Asia:- Dave Youngblood (who has been in Taiwan this whole week), Ellen, Steven, Claire and Egi.

Happy Chinese New Year you everyone too.

DM X

"Ollie Lang" and "Nicky Cuba" show sneaks of the next DM marker.

The Next DM will be called the DMX (code named the Xump). It will be 90% lighter than the DM9. It has no metal parts, no electronics, no pneumatics and does not require a tank thus it saves a lot of weight and time gassing up.

It won't shoot faster than the DM9 but it will shoot twice as much in one trigger pull.

And you wont need to carry pods

RED SEVENS AIR MAX BRUIN

Remember these guys? Well we might be actually getting them! Remember Lulu who is Egi's (from Dye Asia) girlfriend? Her dad makes shoes for Nike and I asked her if she can get shoes with "RED SEVENS" on them done. She said she will ask her dad. So I'll need everyone in the Red Sevens to email me their shoe size ASAP so I can send them to Taiwan.

MR NPPL WEARING SWEAT PANTS TO BTO

SBEN> Check it out- Mr NPPL has a Miami Rage NXe pack!

This is going to be interesting. This Sunday we will have somebody who I'll refer to as "Mr NPPL" come and BTO at the field. And I told him to wear his NPPL Team Jersey.

MR NPPL: So are we playing this weekend?

ME: Yeap - bring your gear Mr NPPL and wear your jersey

MR NPPL: I don't have anything here besides my jerseys lol. I'm wearing sweatpants and my jersey.

ME: I'll bring pants for you

MR NPPL: I wanna wear my sweat pants lol.

ME: I'll be taking photos

END.

NOTE: BTO is Basic Tournament Orientation which players have to go to to be certified as a 'tournament player' in Singapore as required by the Singapore Police. All BTO certified players will be allowed to play in a regular speedball field without the centre border. Under normal rules- there is a border line in the middle of the field which non BTO certified players cannot cross for 'safety reasons'.

PSP Releases PHX Field Layout

With more than a month - 35 days to be exact to the opening event at Phoenix - PSP has already released the field layout. There is only 1 layout that will be used on all fields which is what the MPOC has started to adopt. Now it would b great if the field plans would be picked and released a month early so that we could practice on them.

CUSTOMISED DYE SUBBED C9 JERSEY

Just when I thought Dye sould be making Custom Dye Subbed jerseys this year.... (they were not making custom jerseys before 09) this one pops up and it is sick.


Thanks to Zach for sending this to me.

WTHeck I need a laugh....

JUNIOR CALLS FOR SUPPORT FOR NEW 7 MAN LEAGUE

Junior Brown has come out and called for fans to support the project to start a new 7 man league. The NPPL might be re born with one less 'P' as the NPL.


"XSV & The new 7 man league
As some of you now know, XSV are one of the pro teams who have joined together to form a league we believe in; a paintball league for us all to have a say from Pro to Divisional. XSV have been working for weeks with other PRO team owners on ways to create a league that runs lean with a small but effective staff, cut wasteful spending, streamline the registration check-in process, ease the burden of time and financial commitments from lower divisional teams, assign committees to focus on ways to improve scheduling, make it easier for the industry to support us, address concerns and ideas from teams of all divisions and focus on the competition and excitement that is 7-man. This is our way of giving back.

The league will be a national series consisting of six events with four divisions of 7-man play and one 5-man division. A steering committee will be formed of representatives from all divisions to make sure this league will always be your paintball league. More information on the league, including the league name, venues, pricing and much more, will be released at the end of the week.

On behalf of all XSV I encourage you to support this league in any way you can. Again, this is a league we can all believe in.

Sacramento XSV "

QUICK PRO QUO

Okey got some tasty news

RUSSIANS ARE COMING TO EUROPE
Unconfirmed rumour has it that the Russian Legion will take over Moscow Castle's slot in the CPL and play in the Millenium Series for 2009.

XSV CONFIRMS PLAYING IN PSP SEMI PRO DIVISION
This was inevitable- with the demise of the NPPL- pro teams like XSV will have to play in the PSP or risk fading to oblivion. XSV however will have to take their place and play in the Semi-Pro division. The Pro division has already been locked in with 12 teams. I think XSV will smash through 09 and earn their pro spot for next year.

LASOYA SIGNS FOR DLX
Yep say good bye to those Stripper Editon DMs and say hello to Stripper(?) LUXES.

DLX SIGNES UP SAN DIEGO AFTERMATH
Woah this is huge news. With Lasoya already snapped up. DLX also took Bobby Alives and Kenny Rosenberg in Aftermath. There will be an Aftermath limited edition LUXE coming out pretty soon.

AFTERMATH LOOKING TO EUROPE
Mike Hingeman have confirmed that they are "in the process of buying a spot" in the CPL.

DYNASTY SIGNS TO SHOOT THE LUXE FOR 09
Ok everyone saw that coming - it had to happen. The NXT Shocker is now considered a mid range marker to the LUXE. So it was a natural progression to move up to the LUXE officially for 09. Half the team were shooting LUXES in 08 anyway.

TONTONs ANNOUNCE LINE UP
The TonTons are back as "Toulouse TonTons". They have announced their line up for 09 minus Stephan Brun but with a new recruit Damien Gravaugel from Grenoble vision.

Frank Mouren
Fabrice Colombo
Fred Halmoné
Seb Duvivier
Damien Gravaugel
Loic Voulot

And you can see what the new Tonton jersey will looklike with DXS and Energy Batteries as sponsors.


And while Im here- here are some of the TonTon's PL DM9s. I havent some across any "official" PL DM9s so - the Tontons PL is the first ever that I have seen. Not counting the GOYARD Edition DM9.


The signature Tonton PL colour on their old Shockers was yellow/blue fade - this is a clear to yellow fade DM9


And this is Frank's Personal DM9 with laser etching.

ICON WILL SHOOT GEOS for 09

TEAM ICON NEWS
Good timing - Junior found these pics of the ICON EGO9s and sent them over last night and Cyril Job just replied. ICON will be shooting the GEO in 2009, however they also already have their ICON Edition EGOS.

And they picked up DRAXXUS as a sponsor and will be officially called ICON DRAXXUS for 09.

No new 09 ICON Jersey is in the works yet - they will be using the Paris Edition for now. I guess the new jersey will be from Draxxus

RAMPING MODE IN D3 POLL

The Ramping Mode Debate in D3 has gone into a vote on Xtion's forum.

The Big Questions is:
DO YOU WANT TO HAVE MILLENNIUM/PSP RAMPING(CAPPED AT 15) ALLOWED IN DIV 3 BY THE 2ND LEG OF THE MPOC 2009?

MPOC RANKING AFTER LEG 1

SEBUROs PAINTBALL QUIZ

I wrote this a while ago at the end of last year. Took me a while to narrow down the questions. Thank yous to Jon, Daryl and Calgar for helping me with the quiz.

Here are 20 questions to determine how much you know your pro paintball.
There will not be prizes as i think its all too easy to google or search my blog for the answers.

I will post the answers on Sunday. If you cant wait- email your answers to seburo55@yahoo.com and I will reply with the correct answers.

Have fun!

We'll start with something simple:

1. What is Ollie Lang's Jersey Number?

2. What is the flavour of Dynasty's Brand of paintballs?

3. Davey Williamson, Glenn Takemoto, Jon Richardson and Rusty Glaze were former team mates. What was that team?

4. Which of these pairs are not brothers?
Bob and Zach Long
Rusty and Gator Glaze
Matt and Bart Blonski
Corey and James Bronstein
Gary and Nick shows
Scott and Mark Kressin

5. What is the initials "HK" in HK Army and Hollywood HK stand for?

6. What is the significance of the number 301 on Miami Rage's jersey?

7. What was the icon that was in common that was on Team Icon's and the Tonton's jersey?

8. Who coined the team name “Infamous”

9. Where does Dynasty practice- what is the name of the field?

10. In 2008 there is only one us based pro team that played in the CPL in the millenium series. They are an amalgamation of 2 us based pro teams - what are the 2 teams?

11. Which Semi Pro Team did Maximus Lundquist guest for in the NPPL?

12. Who coached the Aftermath team to their victory at Huntington beach last year?

13. Who were the 2 American pros who guest for Moscow Phoenix in the CPL?

14. Budapest Bullets have 3 foreigners in their line up. Who is the third apart from Ollie Lang and Mr U? Ok this is a hard question - you can see him in in the side bar on the right in the FACEFULL 64 banner.

15. Chris Lasoya has played in over 8 teams - can you name at least 4 of them?

16. Who 'infamously' left the Russians for the Americans?

17. Which Dynasty player guests for The Russians? Bonus points if you know his nickname.

18a. Mike Carthy was listed on 2 team line ups in 2008 Name the 2 teams

Bonus point if you can tell me which team played Mike Carthy played on in 2007

18b. Infamous' G-No Benedico played on the same pro team as Billy Bernnachia in 2007- what was that team?

19. Before Dye came out with the Rotor- the Ironmen did not have a loader contract and everyone could use that they liked. What loader does Nicky Cuba use and still uses?

20. Name the only two pro teams that shot private label SL8Rs in 2008

EDIT - I had 2 no18s so I split them into 18a and 18b. - Apologies for not knowing how to count above the number 15

WELCOME BACK TO KL YOSH & DAVEY!

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Yosh Rau and Davey Williamson of Dynasty to KL.
I hope you guys have a great time in KL and Bangkok which will be awesome.

From your friends down south in Singapore.
THE RED SEVENS

Reviews and Thank yous

I have to say a few thank yous to few people

Thank you to Dennis of KCHL for sponsoring us Eclipse Paintballs.

Daniel "Junior" for lending me your Vlocity Select Force loader with Virtue Chip and Virtue Crown installed to try out. And thank you for the Gangstar Chip too of which I have installed in my Vlocity but yet to try out in a game. And for lovingly cleaning and caring for our markers.

Thank you to Matthew of Furious Paintball for handing me a Furious Barrel to try out. I am humbled that you want my opinion on the furious Barrel. I did use it in Quarter Finals and I will have a write up of it shortly.

Thank you also to Ben Todo of Pro Paintball for helping me fix the valve on my tank - again. And thank you too for giving me the JT Barrel Sock which I used with much pleasure.

You can Suck it

"If you ever start to feel too good about yourself - they have this thing called the Internet. You can find A LOT of people there who don't like you."

I just heard Tina Fey saying this in her acceptance speech at the 2009 Golden Globe Awards for winning Best Actress in TV Musical or Comedy – and I love it for obvious reasons.

This goes out to all of you who 'dont like me'. I love you guys too because I know no matter how much you hate me – I have great satisfaction in knowing you will always come back and read my blog.

I know that I have to maintain a standard of which my fans and detractors expect. You all have taught me valuable lessons in how I approach my blog.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT

Logical Progression

At the Captain's meeting last Friday night- a proposal was bought up to allow ramping mode in Division 3. This caught me by surprise but I guess it was coming.

In Taiwan for the first time we played on ramping mode capped at 12 BPS ala Millenium rules. I found it wasn't much of a difference with or without the ramp mode. It wasn't that sa big deal - just that it was "easier" to get the ropes up. And you'd have to pod up more and faster.

I also noted that ramping made the game faster and more exciting. Trigger skill was sacrificed for the sake of more adventurous play and strategy. The Taiwanese guys moved and bumped up faster with more confidence despite facing ramping paintballs.

One thing that makes a difference is the quality of the markers. We started off using a compact marker in Kaohsiung and they were quickly replaced with more reliable and accurate PMRs and M7s. Jane even chose to carry a heavy Dynasty Shocker over the lighter compact marker. We realised that having a reliable marker with good software and capability of the Regulator to pump a consistent rate of paintballs is the minimal requirement to play in Ramping mode.

I for one am for ramping mode- it will push the standard of play higher. The Red Sevens started their first MPOC tournament with house markers and made it to the second round. After house markers were dropped from D3 it push the standard of the teams to another level because everyone played with emarkers and compressed air.

I think the next step is ramping mode. But not "uncapped" - I think we should still cap it at 12 or 15 to give every one a sporting chance.

I would also like to add that in order to make having ramping mode in D3 and even better success - we should also be talking about playing on turf.

Think about it.

MPOC1 - Red Sevens

2009 MPOC 1- Congratulations to PPS Syndrome

FIRST and foremost I'd like to congratulate the boys from my home state - PPS SYNDROME for getting 2nd runners up in D3. I am very proud of you guys.

Despite losing the first game in the semi finals - you guys came back and put up a very good fight and took it to one all with eventual winners JB Syndrome. It was a good fight. Even though JB Syndicate took game 3 and moved on to the finals. I knew you guys had it in you to move on and get that podium place. And Im so prouod and happy for you and Paintball in Sarawak.

So congratulations to Richard and the guys- I am sorry I didn't get all your names - I promise I will the next time we meet.

Lost in Translation

Following is like a Tarantino script - transcribed after we got back from the field on Sunday and we're all cleaning our markers at the hotel room. Kiko was having problems with the ball dents in his beloved SLG.

Kiko: I lost the spring to my ball dent, anyone got a small spring? I had problems with my ball dents.

BBen: Do you have a problem with your eyes?

Kiko: I have a problem with my ball dents

BBen: So you have a problem with your eyes?

Kiko: I have a problem with the dents.

Ben: So you have...

Me cutting ben off: Fuck you la its not like a bloody Eye Pipe. His SLG has seperate eyes and ball dents - not like your DM8 with the eye pipe.


The Dye Eye Pipe saves the need to have eye and ball dent covers on the sides of the marker. It is an all in one eye and ball dent and its fits DM8s and DM9s and it slips into the marker from the front without the need for tools.

Kiko – my hat is off to you SIR - you have more medals than we have markers :)

World Cup Asia Paintball 2008 DVD Preview

Finally!

Thanks to Ryan for finding this.

YOSH + DAVEY IN KL NEXT WEEK

Yosh Rau and Davey Williamson of Dynasty will be in KL next week. They are stopping by KL on their way to Bangkok to conduct a Paintball Clinic organised by Patrick of Pro Paintball on the weekend of the 17th and 18th Jan.

If you want to meet up with Yosh and Davey have a chat and get something autographed- drop by Pro Paintball shop from Tuesday to Friday 13-15th Jan. I think there are some Dynasty Jerseys for sale in the shop which would be great to get it signed on the spot and a neat photo taken with Yosh and Davey.

Please give them a call first at the shop to make sure they are in.

AND Desmond will be going up to Bangkok to take photos of the Dynasty Clinic - be sure to check his website for pictures the week after the clinic.

www.propaintball-shop.com

+603 7803 2407

Quick PRO (Teams) Quo

PSP Expands Team Rosters
With the demise of the NPPL- the PSP have expanded their team roster to include the Bushwackerss - fan favourite XSV and a third team yet to be named.

US Teams crossing the pond
DC Arsenal and Miami Rage have announced that they will be playing in Europe in 09.
Yay for the 305 crew making it across the pond to try their luck.

New Name
NPPL Championship Paintball 2009 will be renamed Millennium Series Paintball Championship 2009.

ICON AND VICIOUS PL GEOS

I have been waiting for the 09 Icon markers and here is the ICON Editon Geo




The Vicious GEO is straight black with the signatue Vicious Logo stamping.


This one I like very much- its a Vicious Ego9- clear with polished red parts- SWEET.

Vicious Egos are avalable from DSS Sports
www.store-dss.com

JT's a new logo

JT has gone through a revamping process with a new logo- its much sleeker and simpler.
They also re vamped and re launched their website.
Can't wait to see the new JT logos on Dynasty, Rage and Syndicate Jerseys.


www.jtusa.com

Russian Roulette

Today I played Russian Roulette PB style on the chat with Jon

ME: If you can guess which jersey i wore to work today you can have it 4:18 PM

JON:wah lau you crazy ar? you have so many 4:18 PM

ME: thats right i change everyday 4:18 PM

JON: i'll only guess once lol 4:19 PM
XSV 06

ME: hahahhahahahhah!!!!! 4:19 PM
i wore THAT YESTERDAY 4:20 PM

JON: right 4:20 PM

ME: today is Syndicate 4:20 PM
ME:phew that was closeeeee

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

WRITTEN ON THE 29th DEC

This my new years resolution

I have always said that I don't see myself playing in Division 2 and now for sure I will not be playing in any division in the MPOC come 2010. I think the MPOC and the MY NPL is good for the sport in Malaysia but I think my paintball has evolved into something else.

I just don't find playing in the MPOC fun anymore. Its the same old thing we face and same old mud we play in. I spoke about this with a couple of team mates and ex team mates and we all agreed that it is not as fun as it used to be. Personally I don't feel the need to measure up with other teams 5 times a year. Before you get me all wrong and slam me for being arrogant – I think there are many teams that are better than us and they deserve all their success and credit. I just don't feel the need to compete in the MPOC anymore.

I mean no disrespect to anyone who plays in the MPOC and I don't wish to belittle them and the MPOC. I'm just saying that my direction and my priorities has changed. I feel my money is better spent in other aspects of the sport. I would like to travel more and play in other places and with other teams and experience new things. I don't want to be stuck playing and training in the same muddy field again in 2010.

In 2008 I had the best time ever in paintball and they all happened away from the MPOC. The NPPL Asian Invitational in Desaru and the Asian Paintball Invitational in Taiwan were great events for me and my team mates and friends.

The NPPL Asian Invitational was a pro paintball fan's festival - we all got to meet and hang out with all our heroes and made friends with them. How many Captains can say that they had lined up in a row of honor with all the other captains that included the likes Lb Fow of Infamous, Niel Eberly of the Bushwackers, Alex Fraige of Dynasty? Even the small matter of having breakfast sitting across the table from Rusty Glaze was mind blowing. So yeah The Flora Fest invitational was a blast and it'll be something that we will remember for a long time.

There was great sense of pride playing in Taiwan because we were all there to represent paintball and show that it was good enough sport to be included in the World Games. The bonus of the trip was meeting and playing with Taiwanese friends and against Taiwanese teams - that opened my eyes to what sportsmanship and respect was truly like. The friendship we came away with from Taiwan is something we treasure dearly.

Paintball to me is about meeting new people and learning their culture, their language, making friends and sharing what we love about the sport is what its all about to me.

I want to travel more and play elsewhere – in other states – in other tournaments and in other countries. I want to support paintball in my home state and play back home in Sarawak. I want to travel to Japan and play paintball in a totally new environment. There might be opportunity for me to travel to a PSP event in Chicago. That would be great if I could go to all these places and share my experiences with everyone.

So rather than wait till the end of the year and then announce this – I would like to clearly state now that I am not quitting the team nor will I ever play for another team however just that 2009 will be the last year that I will play in the MPOC.

Special Edition 1 of 1 Goyard DM9

I finally managed to get my photos from Taiwan downloaded from my phone and here is a (bad) picture of Steven's Goyard Edition - custom wrapped DM9. Goyard is a French luxury luggage maker and the DM9 is wrapped in Goyard's signature monogram design.

Men's Goyard Wallet

www.goyard.com

SEBURO'S 2009 PAINTBALL SEASON CALENDAR

HI Everyone
I have put up a 2009 Paintball Season Calendar on my Yahoo
Here http://calendar.yahoo.com/seburo55

VIEW EVENTS BY LIST

VIEW BY MONTH

At the moment I have Dates for the PSP/NXL League, MPOC Malaysia League, Millennium Series, Centurino Series now called the GRAND TOUR. I will be adding the My-NPL dates soon.

If you have a series/league/tournament/birthdays dates to put up- please email the details to me at:-

seburo55@yahoo.com

You can also add me into you Yahoo/Msn Messenger chat with this email.

Thanks

Millennium Series to be on Eurosport

Happy New Year Everyone.

I have always thought that European Paintball should be featured on Eurosport and The Millennium Series website recently announced that Paintball TV will be featured on Eurosport 2. They recently showed the coverage of the French Open on the 23rd December.

Eurosport is available on Starhub Channel 113 in Singapore
and on Astro channel 814 in Malaysia.