I’m sure that there will be some people out there who will scorn me for starting this article on a relatively negative note, but here it goes anyway.

XSV was in no way ever supposed to be in the current state that it is in today.

Originally starting as an idea, XSV did what others dreamed to do by assembling a full roster of superstar tournament players. The team became an immediate favorite due to their underdog rating, popular roster, and appeal to the public. Every time these guys stepped onto the field, there was always a boat load of fans in the stands cheering them on. This, more or less, I would attribute to the roster at the current time of XSV’s climb to fame. Simply put, it was impossible not to like XSV as there was at least someone on the team’s roster who you were a fan of. It was that great. There were veterans to the game like Rich Telford, Matty Marshall and Micah McGlocklin. There were current stars like Davey Williamson, Neile Eberle and Jon Richardson. And finally there were future stars like Thomas Taylor and Nicky Cuba.

The same however cannot be said today.

It is hard to say exactly when things started turning south, but it is safe to speculate that towards the end of the 2006 season the ice began cracking. 2006 for XSV contained player controversies, contract conflictions, and sponsorship woes. Talent began drifting away, and apparently so did the team’s spirit. However, 2007 was a new year and XSV was determined to bring itself back to the top of the ladder, and secure spots on the podium once again. New rookie talent was hired onto the team in order to replace the veteran members who made their leave. The motiff behind this was probably:

1. They needed players (mainly)
2. Rookie players placed into the pro division would be “hungry” for a win and play harder than the lax veterans who recently quit.
3. They needed players

XSV however pushed out very poor standings in all three major leagues. At the end of 2007, they were ranked:

• 15th in NPPL (Out of 18)
• 11th in PSP (Out of 16)
• 15th in Millennium (Out of 16)

Needless to say, things didn’t work out as best as to what they had hoped. 2007 was a sketchy year however, so you can’t really blame XSV as a whole due to all of the problems they had with sponsorships, their constantly changing roster, and other random problems that shouldn’t have happened had the team been properly managed.

So with all that being said, 2008 is here and XSV still has yet to impress. I actually defended XSV’s performance last year due to all of the internal problems that they had to deal with. However, for 2008 they dropped out of the NXL, and aren’t currently playing the Millennium series. This means that they only, really, have to worry about the five, NPPL, seven man events this year. They don’t have to worry about training for Xball and the Millennium formats, traveling to those locations, or all of the hassle that is involved with playing the two other leagues. The NPPL is their turf, and they have yet to reclaim it.

So what do I see currently? I see XSV, after dropping two leagues, playing the same game as they did in 2007, despite them not having excuses for doing so. I see smaller companies replacing major brands as official XSV sponsors; desperately trying to cling to the memory of XSV as a top team in the name of marketing. And finally, I see current original XSV members playing for other teams, in other leagues, in order to keep their personal ranking and status up.

So tell me: What do you see?

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Right on schedule, Paintball Sports Promotions is gearing players up for the third Xball event of the year (June 25th to 29th) by releasing the field layouts for the Chicago Open.

As with the Mid-Atlantic Open layouts, the PSP is causing much controversy by changing the fields to the point where there is an equal amount of approval and disgust from players for the new designs. One of the main complaints currently with the Chicago Open layout is the lack of a proper snake design.

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derder fans were slightly disappointed after the PSP Mid Atlantic Open due to a “headshot” not being released. For those not familiar, derder is known for producing short event re-caps that usually feature an excellent overview of an event’s games and scores, and, as of 2008, a celebrity performing the games commentary.

It seems however that derder has chosen to spice things up by changing event venues and releasing their second Headshot as coverage from NPPL’s second event at Jacksonville, Florida. As with the first headshot episode, from the PSP Phoenix Open, derder has contracted a celebrity to perform the commentary, and it is none other than paintball veteran, Chris Lasoya.

Download video for iPod (Right Click -> Save Link As)

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While browsing around the other day, looking at some information on some upcoming products, I stumbled across this old skool commercial from our friends at Crossfire Inc. Crossfire has been in the game of producing high quality regulators and compressed air tanks for a long time, and this video backs up that statement. Now I’m sure there will be some elitists out there who will disagree with me, but I’m sure that there will also be a lot more people who will agree that:

• Original Angels
• Automags
• Revvys
• Huge drop forwards
• Ten man
• Truck tires for bunkers

spells old school. It’s always nice to remember where we come from in order to appreciate the current state of where we are with professional tournament paintball.

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The month of June is somewhat of a rest period for paintball players. With only the PSP’s Chicago Open (June 25th through 29th) to worry about, players can dig down hard and prepare themselves for when things kick back into gear in July. For a surprising change, the Millennium Series has just released the field layouts for the third event in Toulouse, France, July 4th through July 6th: the Millennium World Cup.

When compared to London’s field layout, the new design seems to strip away back field cover, while offering more blocking bunkers on both the snake and dorito sides. One of the more interesting things about the field is the way it is setup into two “rings” of defense. Whereas London’s design featured some center field cover, Toulouse’s design strips away most of the center field bunkers in order to implement a second circle around center fifty.

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