IT'S ALIVE!!!!

This blog has been awesome hasn't it? In its 6 short weeks we've built our GFH brand up nicely and given ourselves the most fun job on the planet. To read, watch, chat, write and post anything and everything that we can about paintball. But the blog wasn't enough. So, we hammered web design as development in 2 weeks an have built something that will start us off just nicely.

The new website is loud, simple and easy to find all the cool stuff. You're only ever one click away from something you like.

So, unfortunately this blog will now sit here with this as it's final post here...BUT the Propaganda blog lives on in the new site and looks sweeter than ever!!

Check it out and look out for some seriously amazing content over the next few weeks.

Www.gfh-hq.sqsp.com

Ciao!!

IT'S ALMOST TIME....

Al's been super busy over the last couple of weeks sorting out the new GFH website. We've amazingly already outgrown the blog and I can't believe what he has achieved with the new site in such a small space of time! It takes the GFH to a whole new level and will be going live TODAY!!!!

Stay tuned and watch this space for an update as soon as we unleash the beast!

BITBURG FIELD LAYOUT

The Millennium has just upped the field layout for the Bitberg German Masters event. Perfect timing so all the fields that are training at the weekend can get on it early as the event is only on the 24th - 26th of next month.

It seems to follow the current PSP trend of no large back centre bunker and has opted to put a small cake there just to make those big back player curse... DAMN YOU!!! I kinda like this though as from what we saw at the last PSP and Millennium, and from the word we're hearing back from the MAO field layout practices, these sort of fields are super aggressive. And that my friends is what we here at GFH HQ are all about!

Other tasty bits on the field are the 4 D-side bags that are set up so there's a line straight down the tape. This should make for some awesome gun fighting and bumping up action, and probably a few good bunkering moves to boot! The snake looks pretty good and is more or less nicking the MAO layout with its 50 bag. Once the snake charmers get into that their are gonna be G's dropping all over the place as either they're gonna start feasting or all the guns are gonna turn and the D-side can bring the pain!

Either tape looks pretty decent, but I've a feeling the snake could be the dominant one with all those mini M's and then the bag. Lets see how weekend practices go and whether the teams that play it are loving the setup....

DAILY PUMP

So while Al's busy with the new website design I guess I'd better get on with it and post some more ballin footage.....

A lot of you probably keep hearing us both go on about the CPPS. Well it's our main UK league, and is head and shoulders above any other UK league we've ever played in. Last event we were impressed with how professional the whole thing was, and you'll be glad to know that the guys over at OKPBTV have got the whole thing on film for your viewing pleasure.

The footage is of all the different brackets so there are a lot of different levels of play but you can see that everyone really brought their game! The Elite division is where it's at though and damn where some of those games good to watch.

Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy.....

ALL CHANGE AT GFH HQ.

Quick bit of noise and exciting goings on at GFH-HQ as we move into operation web design. Yep, the blog was thrown together quickly so we could get the GFH machine rolling hard, which it actually has and thanks to everyone that helped us reach nearly 3000 hits in less than 2 months. But, we want a nice website that we can build on so we've been working hard to design and build a cool place to get involved and enjoy more GFH!!

Don't worry though, we're huge fans of keeping things simple so we won't be following some of the other ballin' sites lead by trying to fit as much ugly content into every square pixel of space that we can. Ain't gonna happen. It's gonna be loud, clean, simple and easy to find all the stuff you wanna read about. The blog element is still the main bit but other things like reviews and interviews will be pulled out separately to make them easier to access.

There'll be teething problems and my love of tinkering means it'll no doubt change as we go but hopefully it'll be a better place to hang out.

Watch this space y'all!!

DAILY PUMP

Been searching everywhere from some decent footage from the recent NPPL at Huntington Beach California and not really been having much luck. You can always count on the guys over at Social paintball to get some footage up sooner or later though.

So here it is. It's all of the dudes on Sacramento DMG during their HB battles, tearing up D2 and D3. Both the D2 and D3 teams managed 3rd places, which is pretty good.

Lets hope someone gets some more footage up soon of other teams and preferably the Pro bracket. I for one am dying to see some as there was no webcast!

LEARNING CURVE.

We're back. It's official and I know I don't just speak for myself when I say it was the best decision we've made in a long time, well that and getting off our asses to make the GFH blog happen.

Have we learned anything so far this year now we're ballers again? The answer is yep, shit loads if I'm honest and we got some werk to do. We've always stayed in touch with the game and seen new teams come and go, rules change and the shift between the original XBall style of play to how teams play now and there are definite differences.

I used to skate, and I loved it!! I gave it up a long time ago then paintball replaced it for my adrenaline buzz. A year or so ago I went for a skate again with my old gang and picked it up again pretty quick. You can't really do that with paintball. Why? Well for one, your board doesn't change the way you deal with it and challenge you every time you try a trick but with paintball you have another group of guys shooting at you, being more aggressive and being more tactical. This is even before you remember what you should do when you make the 50. If you get there at all.

You see, the game's moved on. There's a much more collective mindset across all skill levels, not the huge talent gap like there was half a dozen or so years ago. The teams who would never even think of aspiring to play the top boys are actually playing the same game, albeit without quite as much desire to be the very best. So you don't get an easy re-introduction; you have to fully 'compete' to ease yourself back into the scene. Which is hard, but if I'm honest, exactly what we want and need.

So where does this leave us and what are we gonna do this year? Simple. We always want to play the very best we can and have a ton of fun doing it. It would be awesome to move up the ranks with the Planet Eclipse factory team, the SandBaggers, and play some exciting paintball that is great to watch, super fun to play and a little bit scary at times for our opponents. This won't happen straight away, we learned pretty quickly that our guncraft needs some werk and our fitness is lacking, but these things are easy to fix. We're planning a few training days over the next few months to brush up on our winning skills and there should be a clear difference in how we play, even at the next event. Once we're back on form there should be no stopping the GFH from whuppin' a few asses.

Has the progression if the game put us off a full blown competitive comeback tour? Hell no!! If anything it's made us want it so much more.

GFH: Coming to podium near you. Soon.

DAILY PUMP

Been a bit quiet on the pump front recently but were back with a sweet little video from the guys at KanyFilms with some footage of the Nor-Cal Fuzion D2 team.

Me and Al have had our eyes on the Fuzion camp for a bit now and they seem to be doing things right when it comes to pushing their plays to the next level. Shame they missed out on a spot in the PSP Challengers division, but I'm sure with the effort they're putting in, they should be pushing for a spot for the 2014 season.

This is only their D2 teams Dallas highlights and the D1 teams vid should be dropping soon. Pretty sure that'll get a DailyPump spot too!

PSP MAO FIELD UP

The PSP just upped pics of the Mid Atlantic Open field, and it's another crazy one!

There is a back centre this time, but it's not one that the larger back players have been praying for....It's a small cake! Looks like no one is gonna be stacking people up in that for delayed breakouts so maybe this I'd gonna be another aggressive field?

The D-side is looking pretty good too with plenty options. There's even a row of stand up cans just infield of the D's to block a few lanes, or maybe even nip into for the more adventurous players?!

Snake side is a bit different as there are some good stop off points at the mini race's, but the 50 D is gonna freak some of the snake boys out! It's on the wrong tape!!! Ha, sure they'll figure it out, but one things for sure, once they get into that point every gun on the field is gonna turn onto them!

Some other interesting bits are dotted about, and I wonder if more people are gonna take advantage of the centre race this time. Only a few teams used it to their advantage in Dallas, but when they did, it seemed to work real good. What do you kit think? Any crazy breakouts or plans that come to mind? Drop us a comment and let us know your top plays...

DAILY PUMP - HIJACK

Yup, it's me again stealing the airwaves with my old school balling pumps. We know that, no matter what age the film is, we all love a good balling clip so I'm trawling through some awesome Traumahead footage to see what we can pleasure you with next, until the slick nu-school fancy kids do some more NASA shit.

Check out this one from 05 for Huntington Beach, see I can have some kind of modern relevancy, interesting to see how things have changed in 7 years. Seems less aggressive these days.

Until next time, have a good wash and always keep it GFH.

GEO3. WHAT DO WE RECKON?

Following on from our other mini product reviews we thought we should give our ballers eye view on our new toys. The Planet Eclipse GEO3. Before we go any further, if you're after gas efficiency specs, weight figures or ball on ball accuracy numbers then you're gonna be massively disappointed. Our reviews are very much what we think about the product, not necessarily supported by accurate figures. So yeah, pretty useless I suppose. But don't let that spoil a good read though eh.

Prior to our GEO3 hook up we shot our GFH Edition EGO05s which were awesome!! Accurate, fast and easy to use with a good feel about em on the field, plus they look sick in GFH Green. Moving to the GEO felt a little strange because of the massive size difference and the fact they shoot completely differently. Obviously the EGO is an open bolt design whilst the GEO has the spool system. What difference does this make? Well the gun seems a lot smaller with a lower profile and all the magic stuff happens inside so you don't see a bolt buzzing back and forth as you let rip, which is something I thought I'd miss.

On the field the GEO feels light and almost like an extension of your arm because of this lower profile. There's pretty much zero kick to it when opening up, you really do almost forget it's in your hand. The last CPPS event was the first time we even shot them, so no road test, no practice shooting, no trial run or anything. Real Pros. We wanted to do this to see just how much of a difference it made and how easily you can adapt to it. VERY easily is the result of that little test. Chris had a couple of issues with his but the Planet Techs made a quick tweak and he was off again.

Running and gunning, diving, crawling, gun-fighting; all this felt super natural with the GEO without any clumsiness or awkwardness that some gats have. We bonded with these bad boys instantly. Zero breaks, zero leaks, zero problems. Incredible!! And I usually break stuff.

The GEO sits pretty much at the top of the food chain when it comes to markers and for very good reason. We saw lots of other top end markers go down at the weekend which shouldn't really happen when you spend upwards of £1000 on one. The GEO was faultless, even with 5 star grade tournament paint that broke on clouds.

Ok, so maybe a bit of tech stuff. Ball on ball this thing was awesome. Snapping, wrapping, laning and feasting was easy with steady streams flying everywhere. With a trusty Flash Signature trigger job this is such an easy gun to shoot and to keep shooting. I pretty much kept mine rolling constantly without a splutter or fear of breaks...when I was alive that is.

Gas efficiency was hard to judge as I used my 45; I only ever plan on living for 2-3 minutes a game. But on a 3k fill I managed 3 pots and half a loader which only used around 12-1500 psi so I reckon if you're a 5 pot ninja you're good with a 45.

Good points:
Light, small, fast, looks pretty cool, simple to fix (not that I ever get into that side of things), bullet proof, zero kick.

Bad points:
Doesn't come in GFH Green...yet, maybe a little too quiet and kickless? Cost. That's about it.

Verdict:
Awesome piece of high end kit that feels as much a part of you as Ash's chainsaw in Evil Dead 2. Easy to shoot, hold, play with and feast with. Plus, you get amazing support from Planet Eclipse as always if something does go wrong.

So there we are. Pretty much no technical specs at all, just our experience of coming back into the game, strapping on some GEO and getting out there. We can't wait to get back out there and add a few more kills to the belt.

The only thing that DOES need to be put through its paces is us. But we'll get there.

DAILY PUMP - HIJACK!

Ok, don't tell Chris but I thought I'd jump in and hijack his daily pump today. He's been super busy and, well let's be honest, a bit of a GFH slacker this week so I'm gonna steal all his glory!!

And what can I bring to the table? Some OLD SCHOOL BAAAAAAWLIN!!!! Straight from 2004 yo, here's a little Traumahead treat.

Yep, bad quality video, no fly-by cams, no slo-mo or dub step just raw, noisy Trauma Trauma Traumahead Sportz.

Awesome!

NPPL. WHAT'S THE SCORE?

Well, as per my boy Chris' post and the lack of anything to get us involved with the NPPL as it happened, we come to final score time. The Breaking News feature at the top of the page is updated as soon as we know basic headlines, so we were all over that literally as soon as we knew. But, here are the full rundown of who finished where at the NPPL Huntington Beach 2013 event.

I'm still pissed that we didn't get a stream of live games. Maybe next year...or maybe there won't be a next year?

Pro:
1: San Antonio XFactor
2: Vancouver Vendetta
3: Portland Uprising
4: Fort Wayne Outlaws

D1:
1: Impact Echo
2: TCP Machine
3: Xclusive
4: Regime

D2:
1: Hawaiian Heat
2: Tippmann Effect
3: Capital Edge DMG Red
4: Team Wicked

D3:
1: Miami Devious
2: Xtreme
3: Capital Edge DMG White
4: Tombstone

D4:
1: Animal Factory Team
2: SoCal Stealth
3: NBK
4: West Coast Sharks 4

D5:
1: P4 Posse 2
2: Farside Kids East
3: Cen Cal Alliance
4: Destiny Army

And there it is. Gotta be a better way than typing in all these names hasn't there.

Until next event remember, stay safe and always ALWAYS have a live webcast, no matter what you're doing. Yeah, especially that.

SO WHAT WENT ON AT NPPL HB?

To be honest, I've not really got much of a clue. There was no live webcast, which when even the Millennium series is managing it was a bit of a letdown. There were no live score updates on the NPPL website, they had results but were slow updating them. The only info we could really get was from the actual teams and players from their own Facebook and Twitter feeds! Go bless social media huh.

From the pictures the event looked really sweet. AstroTurf on the Huntington Beach sand with what looked like large crowds gathering to see what all the crazy guys with guns shooting at each other was all about. It always seems to portray the ideal ballin' image we all want to live and be a part of. The best looking event on the calendar, and one the public can engage with. Just a shame that the ballers who weren't there struggled to get any info, especially with how new media means we can be right on the money, at all times.

Some of the main news that we could gather were things like Dynasty dropping out Sunday morning to Uprising in a game that Ryan Greenspan described on twitter as 'an embarrassing loss.' Doesn't sound good, but from what I can gather Oliver Lang got a penalty that I think cost them the game. Thing is I've no idea what it was for? Anybody?

The final was the Texan boys from San Antonio X-Factor, who struggled in the first PSP event, facing off against new Pro team Vancouver Vendetta. Vendetta where stoked to make it into the finals but X-Factor's experience proved too much for them, taking X-Factor to their first win this season. Awesome job X-Factor! Hopefully they can bring it to the next PSP and really start to show their teeth.

Also it would be real nice if the NPPL could sort it for the Chicago Open in May to be webcast. Or maybe at least get some sort of live scoring thing going on for all us fans who can't make it over. They did it for a few events last year, and whilst it wasn't quite up to the big money showing the PSP put in with the awesome Paintball Access, it was still pretty good. Not having it at HB is a huge trick missed by the NPPL and one they need to get sorted quickly.

If this was the last Huntington Beach event by the NPPL, they didn't help things by not inviting the rest of the paintball world to their party.

THE SCORES ARE IN!

Ok, so the weekend's Millenium Series Mediterranean Cup is officially OVER!! Where we there? Nope. Maybe one day we'll be able to go to more BIG events and post live reports as they happen, but for now we can only watch streams, read reports and see what's happening in other ways.

From what we saw, the event looked good. The standard of play seemed high and even better was the fact we played the same field set-up at last weekend CPPS event, so it was great to see how the big boys played the bunkers.

The guys at the Millennium Series had a crack at showing a live feed which, if I'm honest, wasn't as good as what Paintball Access do, but those guys have some dollar bills behind them and that is pretty much what they're hanging their hats on. The LiveStream they did set up though was a damn site better than NO feed. Hats off for making the effort and I for one enjoyed the games I managed to catch.

Our boys did awesome and managed solid showings across all divisions considering the quality that was out there. Not even starting to make any Brit excuses on this; we've always been seen as being at the back of the pack when it comes to high end balling with a tiny talent pool, but for the past few years we've started to build a much stronger presence with some seriously talented ballers coming through. Very exciting times for us to get back into the game and see it all unfold.

Right then. Here are the results. Take them as you will but the big result of the event was Ton Tons taking down the awesome Edmonton Impact, 5-3 in the CPL Final. They showed some fantastic paintball with powerhouse moves and solid tactical play.

Next results update will be NPPL Huntington Beach, where it seems some shock teams are in the final 4.

For now, Millennium Mediterranean Cup Results:


CPL. 
1: Toulouse Ton Tons
2: Edmonton Impact
3: Art Chaos Moscow
4: Polar Bears Tarko Sale

D1: 
1: London Defiance
2: Scorpions Milano
3: Instinct Gemoss Riga
4: Bad Boys Oss

SPL: 
1: Force Majeure Moscow
2: Offenberg Comin At Ya
3: London Tigers
4: Hellwood Paris

D2: 
1: Elite Ile D Oleron
2: Diaspora Vilnius
3: Lucky 15s Staffordshire
4: Extreme Neapolis


D3: 
1: Apocalypse Brussels
2: Bulldog Alencon
3: Hitsquad Europe Limburg
4: Evil Men Toulouse

Thanks to PB Live Scores for the full information.

GFH DOES A LITTLE HADOKEN.

A few weeks ago we went for a nice walk to our local for a bit of Sunday noms with the fam; me, my wife, sister and sister's fella, and he'd seen the flash-in-the-pan craze of Hadokening on TV. We walked, we talked then decided to have a crack at it and take a few snaps.

For those who don't know, it's super easy and a bit of a laugh; just have one of you throw out a Streetfighter Hadoken move, or any Streetfighter move to be honest and pretend you're all getting owned. Simple.

This was fun. Then the GFH got involved and we decided the CPPS needed to feel some GFH Hadoken love. Which was also fun. Until we nearly missed a game, but hey you gotta live a little right?

Anyways, here are some pics, have a giggle, have a go and don't forget to #hadoken.

I'm off to Yoga Flame my Tiger Uppercut out of my Hundred Hand Slap. Too much spicy food you see.

CPPS ROUND 1. THE SKINNY.

UK Paintball is dying on its feet.

BULLSHIT!! Whoever spread that rumour is an asshole!!

Our opinion may be biased as we're only playing the CPPS this year but if that one event is anything to go by, UK Paintball is very much alive. Screaming, kicking and punching alive.

Which was actually a problem for us. We'd kinda expected to come barging back into the scene after 6 or so years out and smash fools up. Oh how wrong we were. We did a bit of smashing, played some pretty badass ball but overall...we kinda sucked!! And we aren't too proud to admit it. We've always wanted to play against the best and there was always a huge gap between the best and the rest. That gap, for whatever reason just got a whole lot smaller.

The guys at the CPPS have done a staggering job of building a series that consistently delivers a level of events that we haven't seen for a long time. You'd play your standard UK events that were good at best, then hit up the Millenniums for something 'proper'. Which is probably why the talent gap was so big. Now, the CPPS is gifting us with a series that has given teams without a ton of money or sponsorship something big to play regularly. And it shows. From Elite right down to Division 5, you get to watch and play against teams that all seem to know what the deal is. All teams worked together, all teams seemed to know how to hold and shoot a gat, all players were running and gunning, shooting both handed and moving quickly up the field. Everyone knows their shit, which is super good to be a part of. And it can only get better.

This progress at lower levels means the top boys really gotta shine to show the difference, and after catching a handful of Elite games they really do. London Tigers have a fresh squad of ballers including the 04 legend Kyle 'milk tooth' Milton who play solid, fast and controlled ball. London Nexus always a joy to watch especially with another of our 04 compadres, Clint Moore, being on the top of his game these days. Birmingham Disruption are a bunch of great guys having fun who can turn a game around with pace and aggression and the new all star GI Sportz team; London Defiance had some real talent there with the likes of 2012 PSP rookie of the year, Jason Wheeler, showing us how the Russians do things. Really top drawer paintball from the Elite boys and having a long stint out of the game helps you appreciate it all the more. And, if I'm honest, it gives you something to aspire to.

So, the SandBaggers, how did we do? Our Div4 team came 3rd whilst we played in Div2 and came...5th. Sounds bad but once we'd realised that zero field knowledge, zero tactics and zero trigger time meant it was a pretty fair result. We won 3 and lost 2 games in the Race to 2 format, which was fun. We smashed our win games 2-0 in all three and lost 2-1 in both lose games. I lost count of the times we were eliminated for false starts or running out of bounds so we could have easily been top 3, but for now it is what it is. The teams we played just played better together, tighter, more controlled and more aware of their surroundings which we need to sort out. The teams below Elite all played good solid paintball. Which is awesome to see.

On to the event itself.

Good points: Amazing set up, great fields, staging areas were fully sorted for each team with plenty space, great viewing areas especially the mound and the refs made sure the rules were followed.

Bad points: Not many really. Not enough toilets I suppose, some dudes weren't stoked about the food but we brought our own, but other than that...nothing wrong.

Verdict: The guys at CPPS have genuinely built a series that really gives UK paintball a boost and a stage to shine on all levels. Worth every penny. The guys are chatty, honest and welcome criticism, the only egos there are the ones being shot on field. It's also a great event for appreciating and watching some good paintball, at all levels, whatever the age.

Our event could have gone better but we expected that. We knew we were rusty, still full of confidence in our skills and game but we definitely need a bit of freshening up.

Special thanks to Ledz and Planet Eclipse for all the incredible gear. From pants, shirts, gloves to pads, packs and more importantly our GEO3s, we had everything we needed to bring it. Also thanks to GI Sportz for paint and VForce Grillz.

Playing with the SandBaggers was a ton of fun. The guys on the team are buddies old and new and can really play ball. Thanks to those guys for having us join in the fun an here's to some great ballin' action for the rest of the season Won't be long before we're tearing fools up. It was great to have the first of the K2Kids with us, Jack, who's Chris' first born and LOVES his paintball. Won't be long before he's tearing up the d-side with his dad.

Event 1 done. Lessons learned. Good times had. More to follow. Until round two, we out!!

Check out CPPS on Facebook and for SandBaggers capers click the tab at the top of the page.

GFH DALLAS PSP MVP.

That was a mouthful!!

So the poll is closed and no surprise, our favourite Dynasty OG Ryan Greenspan came out on top.

There were other ballers in the mix who kicked some serious asses in the first PSP event of 2013. Tyler Harmon with his airborne flying ninja skills, J Rab with his badass balling up the field and Spicka with his fresh snake game for the kids in blue all showed huge potential and gave us a look into just how exciting this season is gonna be.

So, mister Greenspan (who was also my choice) we tip our caps to you, shake you by the hand and kiss the ground you walk on.

NPPL Huntington Beach is gonna be a riot!

Thanks to everyone that took part in the poll. We'll have an NPPL Huntington Beach one up later today.

STILL GOT IT?

Sort of. Well, yes but man were we rusty.

Of course, today was the start of the GFH homecoming tour at the first CPPS event of the season and it was AWESOME!!

We've actually championed the progress of the UK scene recently, even though others bash up on it and I tell ya something, we're right!! Don't get me wrong, we were under no illusions that we would turn up and just smash fools, we knew we had some work to do but after today, the standard is really high across the board. Most teams take it seriously and play some solid paintball. It's brilliant to see.

Anyway. This is a quick post to touch on the awesome day we had playing with the Sandbaggers and that we're all on. 150% back in the game!!

Full event report to follow but for now...it's on!!

LOVE THE SMELL OF PAINTBALL IN THE MORNING.

It's on!! The GFH are officially on our way to our first event of the season. The CPPS is THE only series to attend in the UK, with a real Cup Event feel to it, making every leg feel special for all divisions.

We got two SandBaggers teams in this event, one in Div4 and the one we're ballin' with in Div2.

I'd forgotten how much the 4:50am starts hurt but I'd also forgotten how AWESOME that paintball morning vibe feels.

Just waiting to see the sunrise and the paintball mist rising from the cool dewy morning ground.

We'll keep you posted as we go, but for now it's on!!!!!

I'd also forgotten how bad paintball ass smells too.

DAILY PUMP

Wait..What?!? We just did one? Well I'm afraid this bad boy just dropped and I've been waiting for it since the Dallas PSP. I could see from the webcast that Cassidy Sanders was right in there getting some sweet footage, and boy has he done a top job of putting it all together.

The HK army vids are some of the best out there and they've really gone to town on this one. Might have something to do with the fact that their main team, Dynasty, owned the event! Have a look and if you like it stick a comment under it and we'll love ya forever!

DAILY PUMP

Sick of everything all about the pro's? Fancy something from the lower divisions to float your boat. Today's pump is from the Dallas div 3 final featuring the Dallas Jets on their home turf battling it out against the dudes on Syndicate. My money is on Syndicate, but only cos I think they have the best playing tops in paintball!

The vid is just raw footage courtesy of the guys over at Social again. Can't beat just watching two teams go at it and bust each other up for all the gold and glory. 

NEW MAVERICK FOR TOPGUN

I know, I know that's the worst title you ever read! But it's kinda true? T1 Topgun Union (now Trenton Topgun Union) have just announced that they have managed to re-sign an ex superstar player. Ryan Martin of the LA Ironmen is returning home to the team that he helped kick some major ass with during the 2011 PSP season.

Now that Topgun have popped up into the new Challengers bracket they're gonna need some established Pro blood to give them that boost they need and smooth the transition, especially after loosing a couple of their more experienced players.

Look out for Ryan Martin smashing the D-side in the first Challengers event. Hopefully the guys over at Paintball Access will bring us some of the Challengers bracket action at the upcoming Mid Atlantic Open early next month. It should be a real interesting division!

BAG OF NERVES?

It's almost time. It really is. Just two days to go before the GFH make the first event of the year and as pumped and excited as I am, the 'paintball nerves' have just kicked in yo. C'mon, you all know EXACTLY what I mean.

What is it with paintball nerves? I mean we aren't scared of getting shot, we aren't scared of winning or losing so why do we get those feelings before an event? Some say its just pure adrenalin, you brain is working overtime getting you all worked up and that chemical reaction has to do something to your body. Others say it IS to do with failure. No one wants to be the guy shot on the break every point, or the guy that's bunkered outta the snake or d-side, or the guy who didn't shoot anyone for five points straight. And this doubt has an effect on your body. Either way its your brain going crazy with scenarios and your body paying the price.

So as I sit on the train, about to start a busy day at work I'm already preparing myself for the odd moment of 'paintball nerves' throughout my Friday and I'll be honest...I LOVE IT!!!!

PUSH YOURSELF.

Now, I gotta admit I do like to reminisce...a lot...but that's mainly because I love to look back on good times and never want to forget them. I think it's always good to remember the good stuff you've experienced as that is what shapes our lives. Never, ever forget the things that make you who you are. Ever.

So why's this relevant? Well, I introduce something very dear to our hearts and shaped our lives as ballers. PUSH.

Like all the great skate videos I used to watch when I was busting myself up like a stuntman, PUSH has that 'coming of age' feel about it. It doesn't just show you something and how to do it; it captures the whole emotion and feeling of that era of paintball, which I'm pretty sure anyone playing around the 12 year mark will completely understand.

What is it then? Well, pull up a chair, grab a pack of biscuits and a cup of tea and let me tell you a little story.

When we played Bully's Series in 2000 we set up a fresh little team called K2 (we'll do a post all about K2 soon, you'll like it). All buddies, getting together to play paintball once a month for fun. This then became hugely competitive and we started to take things more seriously, playing the Mayhem Masters, Campaign Cup, French Masters, ZAP European Indoor and more, but still having a ton of fun at the heart of it. During the week we'd all hook up at Chris' house, watch paintball vids, talk about our plans for the weekend and basically LIVE paintball. Good times; no, GREAT times. Traumahead Sports VHS tapes, yes kids actual video tapes, were our vice. We loved em. Watching hours of event footage from the states to copy how the big players did things and trying out some of their tactics really helped us build a team that played pretty solid paintball. Watching these videos defined our 'golden days' of paintball as we grew into the sport. We loved Traumahead, but a certain mister Patrick Spohrer decided one day to create a totally new way of telling the paintball story, that became so much more than simply showing games. Enter PUSH.

I remember the night well. Most of the K2 mob were there and we played it. First impressions were that we just wanted games and we were a bit miffed by it. It seemed a little too artsy. So we played it again, and again and I think we almost watched it 4 times back to back that night, which set the tone for our love of this movie. What Patrick Spohrer, Bryon Benini and their crew had achieved was incredible. A road movie that embodied the very soul of everything that paintball means to every single paintballer on the planet. The hunger to win, the love of playing, the passion for the game, the upset that comes with loss and above all; the bond that paintball creates between every member of every team. And its this bond between team mates that PUSH captures so, so well.

This film itself came out in 2001 and is a documentary style film following the journey to the 2000 World Cup. It follows the stories of the biggest names in paintball history, who's teams and players pretty much laid the foundations of tournament paintball as we know it. Avalanche, Ironmen, Image, Aftershock and the All Americans take centre stage to show us, through the eyes of their superstar players, their stories.

Chris LaSoya, Rocky Cagnoni, Shane Pestrana, Mike Bruno, Billy Ceranski, young Matty Marshall and Todd Martinez; all the big old school names who were the dominant role models give interviews, tell stories and talk about their feelings before and after key games in the run up to the Cup. There's footage of players goofing around outside of ball, having a laugh together and sharing their paintball roller coaster ride to the Cup, something that just hadn't been done to this standard before. It truly was...IS, a groundbreaking piece of film making that set the tone for how new paintball films were to be approached.

Then there's the soundtrack. Every single track, when you hear it even now, strikes a chord of emotion right through you. Maybe it's because of the good times we had then, maybe its the awesome film sections related to the tracks that makes you feel all gooey inside, whatever it is the soundtrack is amazing. So much so that we've managed to find most of the tracks and created a Spotify playlist in the sidebar. I gotta admit, the night before every event from 2001 to the present day I always listen to one particular track. It gets me in THAT place...you know what I mean.

I could literally go on all day about PUSH and how much it means to us. But I won't. And I'll be honest, I love PUSH so much but no review could ever really do it justice. You should experience it for yourselves. We love to see all the new school documentary series' that are now being pumped out monthly such as the Artifact Series, which do a similar thing. They take us into a world that some of us have tasted, that some of us never will and that some of us aspire to reach. And this, my compadres, is all because of a film called PUSH.

Is this a good watch?
No, it's an AMAZING watch. The action, although dated now is brilliant and features some of the games most eye opening moves, such as Cagnoni's snake attack. The stories are superb and ones that we can all relate to, even now.

Highlights:
So, so many. This film is loaded with gems and one liners. Look out for Rocky Cagnoni diving the snake, Danny Love crying like a baby and Renick Miller getting all confused with his Aftershock maths.

Verdict:
This is a must-see for any self respecting paintballer, more than ever if you ask me, with all the big money moves and career balling that goes on nowadays. It captures the very soul of what paintballing is to everyone at every level and for that alone is worth it.

Right, I'm off to watch it again and have a little cry.

NPPL UPRISING

So the NPPL has suffered a bit this year with the loss of some of the top dog pro teams to the PSP. Mainly XSV, Impact and Dynasty deciding they aren't gonna play, but instead concentrate on the PSP race to format. Well now some of the remaining teams are trying to step up and break open the NPPL league.

One of those teams is Portland Uprising. They just announced that seeing as most of the PSP teams are not gonna play the NPPL, they are taking the opportunity to sign 3 very high profile players. So it's Dave 'The Beast' Bains, Alex 'Mouse' Goldman and Corey Bornstein! They're still gonna stick with their regular PSP teams for that series, but just hop on Uprising for a trip on the NPPL train. With these guys on board Uprising should be able to take that next step to getting on the podium or maybe taking a win or two this year.

Huntington Beach is gonna be a bit of an eye opener this year as we should see which of the new NPPL pro's is gonna bring it and which are gonna get crushed!

DAILY PUMP

Today's pump is Derders new Dallas Friday headshot. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with it. Footage and player interviews are as good as always, but it's being let down badly by the commentary! Usually Derder Robs dry but funny commentary cracks me up, but the guy doing this one sounds like he's gonna take a nap halfway through! Not what you need to get the audience into it.

Give it a watch anyway cos the rest of it is sweet like the Derder crew normally do. Action packed moves and good game coverage.

DAILY PUMP

So the boys of Upton 187 Crew didn't do too well at Dallas, but it still doesn't stop them being one hell of an entertaining team! They've always been one of my favorites cos everybody loves an underdog, plus they tend to leave it all on the line. They push like crazy and that to me is good entertaining balling!

Here's Social paintballs latest vid covering 187 at Dallas and damn they make them look pretty good. Not too sure on this season new colours, compared to last years 187 jerseys, but I guess that's personal taste. Anyway check it out ...

APRIL FOOLS OR BREAKING NEWS?

So I saw a little rumor earlier, but can anyone really take anything they see on April 1st for real! It involves a certain Mr Ryan Greenspan playing for Huston Heat in the Millennium series. Allegedly cos Federov plays for Art Chaos in Europe they've drafted Greenspan in to make up the numbers.

Now we all know Ryan loves a trip abroad so it wouldn't surprise me if he made the journey over to France for the first Millennium, but if he plays for Heat it's gonna surprise the hell out of everyone, me included!

Think this can well and truly be taken with a pinch of salt, but they always say there's some truth in every rumour, so you heard it here first ;)

DAILY PUMP

Well, I guess YouTube is still here so it musta been an April fool ;) Good thing is the DailyPump continues!

How about some raw Dallas PSP footage of two of the higher ranked teams. Courtesy of the guys over at Social Paintball who bring us the semi final game between Damage and Impact. This was their second meeting of the tournament. During the first match Damage got the best of them, but lets see if Impact can even the record.....

THE END OF THE DAILY PUMP?

Crap. Just as we got started too, but I think this news affects more than just a few carefully selected paintball videos by our supremely tasteful eyes.

It affects EVERYONE!!

For those who've been spending the last 8 years trying to become a YouTube sensation, or been creating amazing footage from kids crying and falling over, right through to the latest compilation of the sickest paintball moves at the latest PSP event...it's all about to come to a triumphant end.

But, at least we got our looks right? Here's to an awesome April guys and gals.