|
03/31/00 NPPL Finally came to
their senses. 'Turbo-Mode' is no longer allowed in tournament play. Unless you
are a stranger to this page you know my sentiments on 'turbo-mode'. Incase you
don't recall, I'll recap. 'Turbo-mode' is the biggest load of bull to hit the tourney scene in a long time. Read my rant 'Sucking up to the Super-Semi's' if you want my full opinion. I still think the All Americans should have their stripes pulled for this one. But low and behold NPPL finally decided what I've said all along. That 'Turbo-mode' violates the one shot, one pull of the trigger ruling. If you are going to allow 'Turbo-mode' you might just as well allow Full-Auto. What does this mean? Well, with any luck it means the death of 'Turbo-Mode' all together. After all, if turbo has no place in tourney play then it has no place on the recreational field. Look at it this way. An experienced tournament player has two things going for him or her presumably. 1: Is a smattering of experience. That boils down to this. An experienced player doesn't expose himself to easy hits like a newbie does. As an experienced player, when was the last time someone actually hit you in the center of the chest? Doesn't happen too often does it? No, for an experienced player, most often it is the gun, arm, or periphery of the goggles/headgear. Occasionally a knee or foot slips in there. New players are the ones that take the truely punishing chest/neck/head hits. Second thing the experienced player hopefully has going for him/her is fire discipline. While this could be argued, one at least hopes that a truely experienced tourney player knows not to 'light-up' an opponent. Why do I bring these things up? Because most of the 'crying' I've heard about the outlawing of turbo comes from tourney wannabees. Punk kids who don't have the skill or the brains to be 'real' tourney players. They just have a $$$ paintgun and a bad attitude. They are the one's that worry me the most. They show up at rec ball fields carrying way too much gun and just looking for an opportunity to light up some poor newbie out to play his first game. Maybe it isn't a problem in parts of the country where fields have a large turn-out. Games can be broken up into new and experienced classes of players. But around here, twenty people is a good weekend turn-out. Just about enough people to get togther a good game. Not enough to split everyone up based on equipment and skill. First time players with rental guns are often pitted against tourney vets and wannabees. Risk of injury aside, it is not good for the sport. I've spoken to too many kids who tried the game once but won't play again because some hormonally challenged looser with a hot-rod gun lit them up. Is this really what we want for the sport? To chase away half of the people who give it a try and leave them with the impression that it's a rough sport. Think about it. Bright-eyed little Johnny Moppit begs his Mom for months to play paintball for his birthday party. Reluctantly Mom consents and makes the arrangements. Johnny gets a brand new Model 98 and a Paintball Birthday party. Johnny and his friends gather at the field for their first time out. They want to be on the same team so the referees find themselves with the unenviable task of trying to balance a group of experience players with their own gear against a group of first timers with worn-out field rentals. A massacre ensues. Johnny Moppit gets bunkered by Rod Magrat with his overtuned RT. Johnny goes home with 2 dozen welts delivered at close range and his desire to play paintball enternally doused. He tells his Mom. He Hocks the Model 98. Mom is not pleased. Unfortunately for the rest of us, Mom also holds a seat on the City Council. Better hope that nothing paintball related comes up for a vote. This scenerio certainly isn't fantasy. Every wonder why there are so many 'Used Once' paintball guns up for auction on eBay?
Best we can hope for out of NPPL's change of heart is that 'Turbo-Mode' and high speed semi-autos die out all together. I personally believe that it is in the best interests of the sport. 10+ BPS is not needed. It is not even desireable. It's just machismo B.S. Paintball should be a game of skill, not a game of firepower. |