It’s been no secret that the Bushwackers have been hemorrhaging players for the last several weeks. Super stars such as Shane Howe, Neil Eberle, and Greg Siewers have allegedly left the paintball team. On a squad of 7 guys, the departure of 3 star players is typically the kiss of death. Further, our sources have indicated that the Bushwackers have been on a rough financial footing all season long due to increased costs and sponsorship dollars drying up. Even several of our own staff members concluded that the oldest team in paintball was dead. That was until this showed up in our inbox this morning.

Is this a sign of a new generation of Bushwackers? Will Ron try to recruit his old players or will he build the team with members of the ever expanding pro paintball free agent list. Will the new Bushwacker team be loyal to Ron or will they just be vultures looking for free paintball?

Round 2 of the Super 7 Australian Paintball took place the weekend of August 1-2 in Serpentine, just south of Perth. In what seems to be an emerging trend, we’re going to continue to see many of the US Professional Paintball players traveling down under to enjoy the sun and compete in the Australian event series.

There were 4 teams left in the finals and 3 of the teams featuring US pro paintball players: Geelong Extreme, Menace,  STK, and Hostile Intentions.

• Geelong Extreme featured Greg Siewers of the OC Bushwackers, Marcello Margott of SD Aftermath and Justin Rabackoff of Russian Legion/DC Arsenal

• Menace featured Ryan Greenspan of SD Dynasty, Alex Savino of LA Infamous, and Bobby Aviles of SD Aftermath

• STK featured Scott Kemp of LA Ironmen.

The Semi final match ups were Menace vs. Extreme, and Hostile Intentions vs. STK. Menace and GE played all three games and ended up in a 1v1 between Bobby Aviles and Justin Rabackoff to continue onto the Finals. The 1v1 ended in favor of Geelong Extreme as Bobby was eliminated after running out of bounds.

STK defeated Hostile Intentions in their Semi Final series and matched up against Geelong Extreme in the finals. In just two games Geelong Extreme and guests took to the podium for their First win of the season and also First Place for series points.

The next Super 7 Event is on the South Western side of Australia in Rouse Hill November 27 & 28, 2009.

For more information on the Super 7 Series check out Super7Paintball.com.

BallersCafe is reporting that the OC Bushwackers have quit the USPL 7-man league after just two events. Word has it that Ryan Podesta informed the USPL after the West Coast Open that the team would not be continuing on. Read on for latest rumors from the Bushwacker camp including speculation as to why the team won’t be competing in the USPL and adjustments to the teams roster.

The unofficial word is Captain Ryan Podesta emailed the USPL after the West Coast open informing them that the team will no longer be competing in the 7 man format.

Others have said it’s due to money issues inside the Bushwackers franchise. We know before the last PSP (Chicago) Ryan and the team worked hard getting money together to compete in that event. That should have been the first sign that the team would not be playing anymore East Coast events. [ Link ]

Can’t say we didn’t see this one coming. Initially, the USPL had required the Pro teams to compete in their regional events and attend the series finale in Vegas. After the cancellation of DC event back in May, the USPL issued a revised schedule which counted on the Pro teams to travel to all events. The Bushwackers, already on shaky financial footing, must have thrown in the towel after considering the added cost of travel and competing in two National leagues. The Bushwackers are planning on competing at the PSP World Cup, however, rumors abound that the members of the Bushwackers are on the look out for greener pastures.

Credible sources indicated that OC Bushwacker pro paintball player Jerry D’Amato was practicing with Sacramento XSV throughout the weekend while his former teammates on the OC Bushwackers practiced elsewhere. The Bushwackers are said to have picked up Ron Jackson, former owner of the Rodents X-ball team to coach the team.

As of writing, Miami Rage, San Diego Aftermath and the Orange County Bushwackers have withdrawn from the USPL 7-man series. Stay posted to Pro Paintball dot Com as we continue to bring you the latest paintball news and insider gossip.

It was a long drawn out, fly infested weekend many of us have grown to be familiar with through many seasons at SC Village. Paintball photographers Kyle Johnson and Matt Dawson took to the field with their man soda at 7:30am Friday morning and proceeded to finish out the weekend Sunday evening incredibly dehydrated and with leather necks they had not had just days prior.

Kyle’s gallery below presents many of the emotional moments of the hard fought weekend that is stop 2 for the USPL this season. Next stop, DC Challenge.

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Episode #22 of Eclipse TV has been released. This time around the boys from pro paintball team Chicago Aftershock are featured running their guns at at the Chicago Open event against Tampa Bay Damage, San Diego Dynasty and the Orange County Bushwackers. Episode 22 showcases game footage and interviews with several paintball players including coach Jeremy Salm, Brad McCurley, A.J. Lawhead, Chris Lasoya and more. The video provides a great perspective on the mid-west pro team and is definitely worth watching.

Live paintball news and scores from the USPL West Coast Open for Friday, July 24th, 2009.

Game Updates:

Game 1: OC Bushwackers win against Chicago Legend

Game 2: Edmonton Impact runs through SF Explicit

Game 3: Sacramento XSV loses to Oakland BLAST. Blast closed the game with 6 bodies alive. Ouch!

Game 4: San Diego Dynasty blows out Indianapolis Mutiny in 40 seconds.

Game 5: Impact defeats the OC Bushwackers.

Game 6: Blast beats Legend with 5 bodies alive

Game 7: Blast beat Impact and goes 3-0. Oakland is on a roll!

Game 8: Sacramento XSV beats Impact.

Game 9: BLAST goes 4-0 taking out Mutiny.

Game 10: After a close game, Explicit drops the game to the Bushwackers.

Read on for the latest rumors and gossip from the field.

Josh Davey from Edmonton Impact is missing in action.

San Francisco Explicit is starting the event with 6 guys instead of 7 due to a penalty had by Jesse Lapid at the Huntington Beach event.

Stoned Assassins are a man down. Word has it they were looking for a 7th man early, hope they found someone!

Today is sure to be a hot one and players and fans will need to keep hydrated and stay out of the sun. For those of you reading, try Pedialyte – its straight electrolytes  and works extremely fast. The private label stuff available at your local pharmacy works just as well as the name brand. DRINK UP!

The USPL West Coast Open is quickly approaching and the pro teams are making final preperations for the big paintball event. Read on as we break down the practices, the injuries, and feature a video of Scottsdale Elevation.

Dynasty Entourage vs. Phoenix United: The teams battled it out in 100 degree weather at Action Star Games in Southern California over the weekend. Reports indicated that the field played out very well, and seemed balanced on both the snake and carwash sides of the field. Phoenix United had a few players guesting with the team and there performance wasn’t up to par; Entourage was the clear leader throughout the weekend. The teams had a successful practice and spent most of the weekend trying new plays and breaking the field down.

Tampa Bay Damage spent the weekend training with Guatamala-based paintball team, The Rangers. The rangers were in town for the Central Florida Paintball Series tournament on Sunday and Damage helped them walk the fields and practice for the event. TB Damage will be holding a private practice this weekend at their home field in preparation for the USPL 7-man event.

Scottsdale Elevation: Arizona was heating up and the team got an early start to beat the heat. Nick Slowiak of Chicago Aftershock came out and played against Scottsdale Elevation with his AZPPL team, Retribution. This weekends practice was a hot one with weather reaching above 110+ degrees. The team spent the weekend trying to get ready for the West Coast Open, and is working to put together a trip out to California before the tournament to get in a solid grind against some of the stronger teams in the league. Check out the paintball video clip from practice below;

SF Explicit, Bushwackers, BLAST and SAC XSV: Capital Edge Paintball Park was host to an amazing weekend of paintball. Between the WCPPL event and 4 pro paintball teams there was alot of paintball action taking place. On Saturday, SF Explicit, Blast and XSV battled it out playing approximately 12 or so matches each.  On Sunday, the OC Bushwackers joined in on the fun and the teams played balls to the wall paintball. Word has it that SF Explicit played hard but suffered a few injuries; Adam Florendo suffered bruised ribs and Ryan Pruitt hyper extended his knee.

Today, like yesterday, has so far featured some one-sided games accompanied by a few closer, nail-biter matches. It’s obvious that some teams came to play (i.e. Aftershock). Check out the gallery below by Pro Paintball photographer Jack Palombo for photo highlights of the action.

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Pro scores:

• Naughty Dogs fought hard for a 6-5 OT win over the Hurricanes.
• Chicago Aftershock dismantled the Bushwackers, 7-0.
• Russian Legion defeated Infamous, 7-4.
• Ironmen fought through a close, penalty-filled contest against X-Factor to win, 7-5.
• Damage smashed Impact, 7-0.
• Dynasty went 7-0 against the Hurricanes.
• San Diego Aftermath wins 7-2 over Naughty Dogs.
• Philly troused the Bushwackers, 7-0.

Semi-Pro scores:

• XSV had a close one against Mutiny, but pulled it out at 7-5.
• Mystery Machine took the first two points against Aftermath II, who then came back swinging hard to win the match 7-2.
• Vicious 7-0‘d GC Mafia.
• RNT Allstarz came out on top of a close match against the Vipers, winning 7-5.

Note: Our web team is busy implementing a new gallery system on ProPaintball.com to improve your photo viewing experience. Please be patient as we work out the kinks. In the mean time, feel free to follow ProPaintball on twitter as our very own Stephen Wright and Brandon Mason highlight the point by point action.

Welcome to week 3 of the Pro Practice Schedule [PPS]! This is the 3rd and final practice before the big event and several teams will be out at fields across the nation preparing . Notable exceptions this weekend are both Dynasty and the Ironmen who have opted to take the weekend off and let their players rest up for the event. For those of you whom are tuning in for the first time, the PPS is a series of updates in which we showcase the professional teams preparations leading up to the next major event. We do our best to provide the inside scoop on who, and most importantly, where your favorite Pro paintball team is playing in the weekends leading up to major events.

For the weekend of June 20th & 21st, 2009;

• Edmonton Impact, LA Infamous and Chicago Aftershock will be playing at Badlandz both Saturday and Sunday.

• Sacramento XSV, San Francisco Explicit and Orange County Bushwackers are all practicing X-ball at Capital Edge Paintball Park.

• Scottsdale Elevation will be practicing Sunday at 23bps in Avondale, AZ.

• Aftermath is playing Velocity Wrecking Crew at Velocity Paintball Park in Ramona, CA.

• Tampa Bay Damage and the Russian Legion will be out both Saturday and Sunday at Central Florida Paintball Park.

• Cross Eyed Paintball and ECK will be playing at Insane Paintball in Chattanooga, TN.

• Indianapolis Mutiny and the Philly Americans will be having a private practice in LaTrobe, PA.

Note from JM: This weekend was a busy one and the update has taken far longer than we anticipated. Due to the sheer amount of coverage (a record 13 teams featured this week!) we are separating our Post Practice Report [ PPR ] into two parts. Without further adu we are proud to present the..

Tuesday Report for the weekend of June 13th & 14th.

Pro teams around the United States continue to battle it out as they make final preperations for the upcoming event in Chicago. The “Chi-Town” Open as its become known is nearly upon us and teams continue to fine tune their game plans and finalize their rosters for the big event being held  June 24th-28th at Bollingbrook sports center. Read on as we highlight the action from the weekend and share the latest word from the street.

The New England Hurricanes and Philadelphia All Americans battled it out at Fox 4 paintball this weekend. The Hurricanes transition to the X-ball format has been a bit slower than they had anticipated but if this weekends practice was any indication, they are back and with a vengeance. The Hurricanes have added Mark Lancia and Tom Buckley to the team and their presence has definitely rounded out the roster. As to be expected, the All Americans, currently the top ranked team, played great as both teams spent all weekend polishing up their game plans and attempting new moves against one another.

The Bushwackers played against San Francisco Explicit at Capital Edge paintball park. Explicit is said to have picked up Jason Vitalich who will be playing Snake alongside current snake player John “the Animal” Thai.  The team also picked up Jackson Cheung as a mid insert. The Bushwackers were seen mixing in several new players as well but no word yet on who, if anyone, made the cut.

There was a close matchup between Dynasty and X-Factor this weekend. The teams battled back and forth all weekend playing approximately 40 points each day. X-Factor lead the day Saturday and Dynasty took the lead Sunday. Alex Fraige has injured his wrist and was limited during practice, but should play in Chicago. On the X-Factor side it looks like Dusty is going to have his brother back by his side. Devin Odell was at practice and was playing very well. Word is he will be playing with X-Factor in Chicago.

Check out the videos from the practice here.