Why not Balo B? - A true Story!!

Yesterday after work I went to play at NYC Paintball, none of my friends could make it due to night school. Last time the electronic eye setup on my hopper got busted and i had to switch to rental - but this time i was ready! Paid, geared up and walked into the main area. Right away i saw 5 maybe 6 pro markers - shockers, dm4 dm5 angels ect, in hands of guys, each dressed in paintball clothing worth more than my whole gear put together - damn i walked onto pro-team night, I'm screwed! The rule is that you get better when playing against people better than you, and in my mind i saw myself bruised and sore but with whole new arsenal of skills waking up the next day. Put down my gear i looked around trying to figure out when the next game starts - some kids with rentals were playing the big field. The hi-end players were chatting checking out each others equipment boasting how many of what marker they have, their halo B's flashing green leds, on and ready for action. One of the refs told me to chrono my marker, with one eye on the field watching the kids to end i went to chrono - 3 shots - 238, 232, 232 fps new regulator does its job. Just as i finished chronoing the small kids finished their game - We are next i thought with anticipation! Well it didn’t happen. It took the pros 25 min to get their pro-dressed asses and play 2 games each lasting less than 5 min, we would play more but one of the DM4's started to shoot slow (what ever that means) and we had to call break to fix the marker and shoot some more shit. Meanwhile the kid's dad bougth them another case of paint which they eagerly shot out in next 4 - 6 consecutive games (using standard rental PMI Pirahna's) while the now "pro's" checked, dry pumped and re-adjusted their markers. Lots of field stories and recolections of past games - it was just like irc chat room just live! I started bitching loud that i didnt pay 42 bucks for this, which got refs to hussle the not so eager to play pro's - with poor results. Then it happened! Some guys came over and started to ask about my marker: so i gave them the specs, started to look at my diy hopper so i explained what how and why, then they asked "so why didn’t you just got a Halo B?" that’s when it all started to make sense - these guys are not pros they are people who bought the most impressive equipment, watched most games on dvd and espn, maybe even started teams but all they know is how to pretend to be real players. Why would I get a Halo B for a Pirahna with E-Force frame? It can shoot only 12 pbs, 15 if i get better frame and pray for a miracle! They rely on the fire power of their markers, they want to intimidate by creating an image of top player to be feared. Then like magic the spell was gone and i saw a bunch of pathetic losers standing around looking at their markers having no clue how they work, how to fix them, what mods you can get for them. I bow to people who work on their own markers. Who study tactics and have ambition to score by sneaking sliding or executing some amazing play rather than empty their precious Halo B while plastered to a bunker in furthest corner of the field. Personally i don’t have fear of people like that my goal (as should be the case with any player) is to get good. I will take on anyone any time with any marker, i will give you my piranha and take a battered rental if you think that this will make you play better. I will do 2 on 1 just to see if i can take out both guys on the other team, if i get hit i will say "good game" wipe the paint and go again until i get both of them.

The artwork has nothing to do with the article but enjoy.

Oh yeah, kids undet 18 close your eyes, OK? ;P

Some good articles to read in regards to the story, try Paintball 2Xtremes, May 2005 issue, page 122. (US Release)

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