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Pro Paintball Rumor Report – World Cup Edition

Justin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:37:28 +0000

Bryan Bortol from paintball team Omaha VICIOUS, Photo Credit: SkipsPics.com

The PSP World Cup is set to begin in less than 7 days. Are you and your paintball team ready to compete? Read on for the latest paintball news and gossip regarding several top teams as they prepare for the 2011 PSP World Cup Championship.

According to ProPaintball insiders, Billy Wing of the LA Ironmen is rumored to be retiring from competitive paintball after the 2011 PSP World Cup. He has played professional paintball for the last 14 years. The LA Ironmen were his one and only pro team. Wing is a very dedicated Ironmen player and long time employee at DYE Precision and we can only imagine his departure will have a major impact. Want to know more? Check out ProPaintball’s interview with Billy Wing.

Chad “Ya-Ya” Bouchez (former Aftershock) was rumored to be playing with Omaha Vicious. ProPaintball insiders suggest that there was a conflict in the deal and it wasn’t completed in time for the event. Bummer.

Marcello Margott tore his meniscus and had torn cartilage. Marcello underwent a micro fracture surgery which requires him to stay off the injury for about 6 weeks (no weight bearing). Unfortunately he will be sitting out PSP World Cup. Marcello has to go through physical therapy and should return prior to the start of the 2012 season.

Thomas Taylor from Sacramento XSV is playing with LIFT.

Division 1 team Assault surprised everyone by pulling out of PSP World Cup. Team owner TeddyG has been responding to questions in the ProPaintball Smackbox over the last 24 hours. In short, the team was just not ready to compete and Teddy did not feel comfortable fielding an unprepared squad.

Darryl Trent is preparing to unveil the DLX Luxe 2.0 paintball gun at PSP World Cup. Here is a sneak peak of the new paintball gun from DLX.

DSSP8NTBALL.com is bringing back their divisional feeder team for 2012. Stay tuned for tryout information.

Guerrilla Air is giving away free paintballs. The odds that you win are 1 in 200.

Portland Uprising is rumored to have picked up 2 local players for their 2011 PSP World Cup debut. ProPaintball insiders suggest the team is trying to get their feet wet, learn the format and figure out what they need to fix in anticipation of the 2012 paintball season. Good luck Uprising!

Pro Paintball fans have been inquiring as to what Cole Scott is doing for PSP World Cup. In case your wondering, Cole Scott plays with Portland Uprising in NPPL 7-man and Impact in the PSP. ProPaintball caught up with Cole who mentioned that prior to the 2011 season begining, he signed up to play with Edmonton Impact in PSP and Portland Uprising in NPPL 7-man. Cole will be playing with Edmonton Impact at Cup but mentioned he and a few of the guys are going to try and help coach the new Uprising team through the first event. Talk about camaraderie!

What else have you heard? Share your paintball news and rumors in the comments below.

Pro Interview with Justin “LJ” Schwarz

Justin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:26:37 +0000

After last weeks debacle at NPPL DC, ProPaintball caught up with LJ to cut through the rumors and catch up with one of the top players in professional paintball. Read on for some breaking news, pro tips, and LJ’s thoughts on his favorite paintball format.

PPB: ProPaintball insiders tell us you have a big announcement to share. Do tell, whats the word?

LJ: I am playing with the LA Ironmen!

PPB: Congratulations! That is excellent news. After losing Ollie to Dynasty, pro paintball fans expected a rough year for the Ironmen. The Ironmen have beat that misconception and are currently ranked 4th overall. How do you expect the Ironmen to finish up the season at PSP World Cup?

LJ: After playing against the Ironmen for as long as I have I feel that they will always have a team contending for the top 4. I haven’t had the opportunity to practice with them very much but from what I can see they are a very positive team and have a lot of experience and energy. I feel that with some hard practices we will do very well at the World Cup this year.

PPB: Lots of craziness went down in DC. Your old pro paintball team, Infamous, blew Arsenal apart, dropped the next match, and then ended up DQ’d? What can you tell us about DC?

LJ: Haha DC was a nightmare! I had a previous suspension from chicago nppl which I thought I had served and apparently I had one more game to serve in DC. I was not warned or told by any of the NPPL officials that the suspension still stood and I had one more game to sit out. If I would have been aware I definitely would have sat and not tried to “sneak” on a game like most of the paintball community thinks I did. I feel very bad for not double checking and the DC loss is definitely my fault for Infamous. I am very sorry to all of the fans and sponsors that I let down.

PPB: That has to be rough; flying across the country and getting ready to blast your way to the podium only for a bunch of miscommunication to ruin you and your team’s run. Bummer.

The Ironmen have been doing well this season, and with you on board, the roster looks very strong for Cup. Has the deal with Ironmen been brewing for awhile? Or was this a sudden move?

LJ: I go back with SK from when he was coaching me on Dynasty. I have always loved his style of coaching and I have played with short and skemp on Legacy. They approached me earlier in the season and I told them that I wanted to finish off the year with Infamous and if in the off season I felt it was time for a change then I would contact them. But after being let go from Infamous I was welcomed with open arms from the Ironmen.

PPB: With the demanding practicing, traveling and conditioning schedule of a professional paintball player, what advice would you have for an up and coming player to manage that competing in paintball with a busy work and school schedule?

LJ: Honestly it is so hard to keep up with work and paintball, especially if your work is not involved within the paintball Industry. I would suggest that if you want something bad enough you will make the effort to get it.

PPB: You have had an opportunity to play a ton of different pro formats. With all the discussion of a league merger, if it were your sole responsibility to come up with the ideal format for the combined league, what would it be? Race-To, All-Star, Millennium, NPPL, UAPL, or something else entirely?

LJ: I would bring it back to NXL with hour long matches and 15 balls per second fully auto. That was the most fun. I love going up to Canada and playing cxbl because they still run off those NXL rules.

PPB: What tips or strategies would you recommend to new players trying to get involved in tournament paintball?

LJ: I would say do a ton of snap shooting drills, 1-1′s, closing drills, and most importantly running and shooting drills. I am not the fastest person but whenever I am moving to another bunker I keep my gun up. Because if you’re shooting back at someone accurately that’s shooting at you, it’s way more difficult to hit them.

PPB: Special thanks to Justin Schwarz for taking the time to sit down with ProPaintball. Best of luck to you LJ!

Russian Legion wins PSP Chicago – Paintball Event Results

Justin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:55:04 +0000

The Russian Legion battled against world paintball series leaders San Diego Dynasty for the PSP Chicago Open title. The Russians emerged the victors in an over time match that some say was the best paintball they have witnessed in the history of the sport. If you missed the free paintball webcast hosted by Matty Marshall you should be kicking yourself. The PSP webcast was an amazing production with excellent game footage and commentary that kept paintball fans on the edges of their couches all weekend long. The PSP has promised to release some of the episodes online via Youtube and other online video sharing sites in the coming weeks.

Below are a few words from the PSP’s Camille Lemanski regarding the event as well as final results for all the divisions.

After severe weather did its best to take out this event, Burt Wright, Matt Fraundorf, Nick Casner, Rich Hernandez, Aaron Arroyo, Matty Morse and Brian Berg of the PSP Crew along with volunteers from team LSD and the CPX Sports Park staff led by Darrell Parrish, worked around the clock to revive the venue and save the event. This came as complete relief to the thousands of PSP players and fans including those who traveled in from as far as Sweden, Russia, Ecuador and Brazil!

Beautifully calm weather swept in after the reconstruction just in time for games to begin, allowing raw talent and strategic game plans to take center stage. With 9 different divisions to choose from, 155 teams from several nations competed against each other to better themselves and prove who really is the best in the world.

Something that was extra special for this event was the return of the live webcast! Thousands of fans from all over the world – literally – were watching pro games at www.pspevents.com all day Saturday along with Pro and some divisional final action live and for free all day Sunday!

Global enthusiasm seemed to build up Sunday as it became clear that the Professional final match would once again come down to San Diego Dynasty and Boston Red Legion of Russia. These two teams faced off against each other in the March PSP Galveston event with Dynasty winning… and the rivalry has been building up tension ever since. Boston Red Legion started out strong taking the first two points, but several close points later and San Diego Dynasty came out time and again with the lead. In what seemed like would be the final point before Dynasty were re-crowned champs, Justin Rabacoff made the move of the event by taking the flag and racing it into Dynasty’s flag station with just 2 seconds left in the game… while Dynasty still had live bodies on the field!! This took the game into Sudden Death Overtime which came down to a one-on-one where Boston Red Legion’s final player, who was seemingly out of paint, eliminated the final Dynasty player to win the event!

Final Score: San Diego Dynasty 5, Boston Red Legion 6

Let the Dynasty/Legion rivalry continue as we take the PSP to our next stop: PSP New Jersey, August 12 – 14, 2011 at TopGun Paintball! But first, please join us in congratulating all of the 2011 PSP Chicago Open Champions!

Final Results for the PSP Chicago Open:

Professional

Boston Red Legion

San Diego Dynasty

Edmonton Impact

Los Angeles Ironmen

Division 1

Hurricanes

New Jersey Jesters

ASSAULT

upTon 187 cRew

Division 2

Grad Moscow

Wolfpack

DOW Warberg

Distortion

Division 3 RaceTo-4

Detroit Action

Boom II

Annihilators EDGE

Rapinas

Division 4 RaceTo-4

Imperial

Central Florida Paintball

North Texas Shockwave

Momentum

Division 3 RaceTo-2

CRU LT

Seek and Destroy

Team Betrayal

L A S T C A L L

Division 4 RaceTo-2

Revo II

Syndicate

Atlanta Breakout Gold

Mac Daddy All-Stars

Pump Open RaceTo-2

Total Grief

Dallas Notorious

Pro Paintball Stats & Poll for PSP Chicago Open

Justin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:14:32 +0000

The Chicago pickem and the Pro Paintball poll (right hand side of the page) have opened up for you to place your bets on the winners and losers of the PSP 2011 Chicago Open. Cade Coleman, the PSP score keeper and ProPaintball are proud to share several data points for your consideration and general paintball knowledge. Hopefully these data points will help you increase your odds of winning the PB Pickem grand prize. Study up and place your picks!

Data is based on PSP Pro Paintball matches between 2007 to 2011

PSP 2011 Chicago Open Stats:

2007 – Largest Margin of Victory: Legion (23) vs. Ultimate (1)
2007 – Finals: X-Factor (7) vs. Ironmen (6)
2008 – Finals: Damage (5) vs. Aftermath (3)
2009 – Finals: Legion (7) vs. Aftermath (1)
2010 – Finals: Infamous (7) vs. Damage (5)

PSP Pro Paintball Team Facts and Win / Loss Records:

Chicago Aftershock:

31 Wins (36%) / 56 Losses (64%)
Looking for their first Pro win of the 2011 season, shut out 0-4 at the 2011 Texas Open.

Chattanooga CEP (PSP Pro since 2011):

0 Wins (0%) / 4 Losses (100%)
Looking for their first Pro win ever, also shut out 0-4 at the 2011 Texas Open.

Tampa Bay Damage (PSP Pro since 2008):

51 Wins (61%) / 32 Losses (39%)
Wins and 1 OT Loss during the Texas Open, they were knocked out by Legion (2-4) in the Semis.

San Diego Dynasty:

59 Wins (58%) / 43 Losses (42%)
3 Wins (7-0, 7-1, 7-1) and 1 Loss (Legion) during the Texas Prelims, beat Infamous in the Semis, and Legion (7-2) in the Finals.

Edmonton Impact (PSP Pro since 2008):

38 Wins (52%) / 35 Losses (48%)
2 Wins (both 5-4) and 2 Losses (both 1-7), looking to advance out of the Prelims in 2011.

LA Infamous:

49 Wins (51%) / 47 Losses (49%)
3 Wins (2OT) and 1 Loss during the Texas Prelims, they were knocked out by Dynasty (2-5) in the Semis.

Los Angeles Ironmen:

70 Wins (65%) / 38 Losses (35%)
2 Wins (1OT) and 2 Losses in Texas, looking to advance out of the Prelims in 2011.

Boston Red Legion:

82 Wins (75%) / 28 Losses (25%)
3 Wins and 1 Loss (OT Loss, Ironmen), beat Damage in the Semis and Lost to Dynasty (2-7) in the Finals.

Omaha Vicious (PSP Pro since 2010):

7 Wins (37%) / 12 Losses (63%)
2 Wins (1OT, both 6-5) and 2 Losses (1OT) in Texas, looking to advance out of the Prelims in 2011.

San Antonio X-Factor:

44 Wins (49%) / 46 Losses (51%)
2 Wins (7-3, 7-2) and 2 Losses in Texas, looking to advance out of the Prelims in 2011.

Does the Win and Loss record effect your loyalty to your favorite pro paintball team? Or, is there more to a pro team than winning? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Interview with ProPaintball player Brandon Short

Justin — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:51:16 +0000

Pro Paintball player Brandon Short of the Los Angeles Ironmen recently sat down to answer the paintball communities questions submitted to him via facebook. Brandon talks about his favorite paintball player, tips on playing the game, adjusting to the new PSP rules and much more. Don’t miss the cameo of fellow Ironmen weight lifters Scott Kemp and Kyle Spika around minute 7. PROTEIN POWWDAAAA!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interview: Billy Wing of LA Ironmen & DYE Precision

Justin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:09:53 +0000

Name: Billy Wing
Age: 34
Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA
Occupation: Sales rep, DYE
Paintball Team: Los Angeles Ironmen
How many championships do you have under your belt? I have played Pro paintball for 14 years. For that entire time I have played solely for the Ironmen. I’ve won 3 world championships and about 14 tournament titles.
General interests other than paintball: Not much, work, moto GP, Caribbean, and Venezuelan Rum.

1) ProPaintball: The 2010-2011 offseason saw the departure of Ollie Lang to San Diego Dynasty. With the departure of Oliver, do you believe the Ironmen will become a stronger orweaker team? Why?

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – In the short term, losing Oliver may have hurt the team. He is a talented player. However, losing Oliver and his sometimes over bearing personality will absolutely make the team stronger, and bring the players closer together. It will allow players like Scott Kemp and Brandon Short to take a sense of ownership in the team and move into well deserved leadership roles. The organization will be focused more on developing a program built around players that have a sense of pride and loyalty to the shield, not just a place to stop by and get a paycheck. Over the last few years the Ironmen were recruiting top-level players to quickly build winning teams, not necessarily a winning, long-term program. Every year you would see several big names come and go from the roster. Many of these players joined the Ironmen because of large contracts. We as an organization want to move away from the “quick fix” team build, and work towards long term, sustained success.

2) ProPaintball: With Mikko’s absence in Galveston (assisting with the launch of DYE SNOW) and Ollie’s departure for Dynasty, many anticipated the Ironmen would have a slow start this season–but the Ironmen surprised everyone with a 6th place finish. What was done differently?

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – Although we did not place top 4 in TX, the first event was a very good indicator that we are on the right path to accomplish our goals for 2011. At the beginning of the year we made a decision to focus on long-term goals. As opposed to last year where we viewed every event as a do or die situation. Last year we ran our best 6 players almost every point in every match. We played in a panic, with poor strategies and possibly even poorer game plans; we were relying almost entirely on our individual talents to win points. Prior to Texas we dedicated a lot of training to changing our mindset and committing to playing as a real team. I feel this new strategy for the team will be successful, and was well displayed in TX, the talent and ability to win is clearly present. But, so was the lack of consistency that is needed to win, and that can only comes with time, training, and commitment.

3) ProPaintball: What can we expect from the Ironmen for the rest of the season. Will this be a rebuilding year or will you be going after the podium?

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – The Ironmen will absolutely be going after the podium, that’s why we compete at this level, to win. For 2011 the focus is developing and refining a program and system that is built around a team not individuals, Coach Kevin is a big part of this. Last year we failed our rookie players by not giving them consistent playing time at events. This year helping players like Chris Catt, Eric Humphreys, and Kyle Spicka develop and gain tournament experience will be one of our focuses. I think the Ironmen will continue to surprise people this year, and I only hope teams continue to under value our abilities when they play us.

4) ProPaintball: A lot of our readers are looking for the extra edge on the field. Tell us about the Billy Wing signature series of guns.

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – They are the best guns ever! Everyone should buy one, haha. One of the reasons I fell in love with paintball is because I got to tinker with the guns, and still to this day I like building custom guns and trying new things. Whenever you take any product to market some small sacrifices have to be made to make volume manufacturing economically viable. And because I have helped develop all of DYE’s guns I generally know what those sacrifices are. When I get a chance to hand build a gun from the ground up I like to do the extra little things that I feel make the gun that much better.

5) ProPaintball: Will we see a Billy Wing NT11? What changes can we look forward to?

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – Yes there will be a select few Bwing NT 11’s I build this year. As far as what to look forward to, I’m not sure yet. One of the other things I get to do when building my guns is test new ideas for next years guns. So generally there is a little bit of next years gun inside my custom guns.

6) ProPaintball: Please walk us through a typical day for you at DYE Precision. What is it like to work for a top tier paintball company?

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – Because of my tenure in the paintball industry, and with DYE, I work in almost every department within the company. My main focus right now is Sales in Central and South America, so the majority of my day is centered around being a sales person. I was one of the lead engineers and a production manager at DYE for the past 10 years I still work in R&D on product development, and on new gun designs. My technical knowledge of our products also finds me in tech support regularly. I also help with promotions and marketing, to protect and maintain DYE’s brand image. My labor of love is team Manager, handling all logistical aspects of the team. So I stay pretty busy during the week.

7) ProPaintball: So we’ve noticed the I4 does not come with a visor. Discuss your personal feelings on the matter. Please share with us your custom visor making secrets.

Billy Wing @ LA Ironmen/DYE Precision – Haha, nice question. Most players don’t use visors, and they just get thrown away, so it’s good place for DYE to save cost and keep the goggle at an affordable price. For me, an i3 visor, and zip-ties work great, but you also have to cut about an inch off the front of the visor or it hangs too low and you can’t see anything.

ProPaintball would like to thank Billy Wing, the Los Angeles Ironmen, and DYE Precision for their help in making this interview happen.

5 questions with Kyle Spicka from the Ironmen

Justin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:07:16 +0000

Dye released a video this morning featuring a recent interview with Kyle Spicka from the LA Ironmen, a pro paintball team. He is responding to questions recently sent to him via Twitter and Facebook social network services.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Los Angeles Ironmen to shoot GI Sports Paintballs

Justin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:45:49 +0000

The Los Angeles Ironmen and GI Sports have teamed up for the 2011 pro paintball season. The Los Angeles Ironmen will be shooting the new paintballs from GI Sports, including the 3 star, 4 star and Imperial paintballs.

PRO Paintball News & Rumors, Part 1

Justin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:18:33 +0000

Less than 48 hours ago the 2010 season came to a close. Paintball players and fans alike hoped on planes and headed home, many looking forward to a relaxing off season. As today’s rumor report documents, many paintball teams have big plans in mind for the 2011 season. Read on for the latest paintball gossip.

Newport Entourage

Rumor has it that Rodney has been trying to merge Entourage with another Xball team for 2011. PRO Paintball insiders suggest that Rodney first attempted to work a deal with Dynasty but moved on when he learned that the team has well over 10 players. Sources report that an Entourage and Ironmen merger is on the table. A potential merger would combine the strength and experience of veteran Ironmen players with the speed and agility of Entourage players. It is worth noting that Kevin “SK” Bredthauer, Rodney’s friend and former teammate on Dynasty, is coaching the Ironmen and this could increase the potential odds for a merger. That is of course if Dave Youngblood signs off on it.

Los Angeles Ironmen

Sources around the Ironmen camp suggest that 2011 will be a new year for the men. PRO Paintball insiders suggest that the Ironmen will be refocusing on local players in an effort to reduce cost and build the program. The first player released from contract was Ryan Cohen and we expect a few more cuts are in the works. As of writing their is no word as to what Oliver Lang will be doing.

Russian Legion

The Russians dominated Chicago Aftershock in the PSP World Cup 2010 Finals for a strong 1st place finish. PRO Paintball insiders let on that the Russians may be considering testing their luck in the 7-man arena. As far as the roster is concerned we do not see much if any movement. Word has it the management is very happy with the teams performance this season and plan to continue full speed ahead. As rumored during the PSP World Cup, the Russian Legion has dropped Draxxus/Procaps and will be a GI Sports flagship paintball team in 2011.

Stay tuned for part 2 and part 3 as we share the latest rumors and news surrounding Sacrament XSV, Chicago Aftershock, San Diego Dynasty, Tampa Bay Damage, San Antonio X-Factor and many more.

Dye Paintball at World Cup with Damage and The Ironmen

Brad Johnson — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:03:39 +0000

Dye and Eclipse both held a large presence at World Cup. Dye has been debuting new guns from Proto and Dye all weekend long. Both companies have brought along cameras and crew with them to help document their respective teams progress through the event. While we await the final results to come in from World Cup, sit back and enjoy some game footage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dye 2011 Pro Jerseys

Brad Johnson — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 04:07:45 +0000

New gear from Dye keeps rolling out. Yesterday we saw the DM11 and 2011 NT and now the Ton Tons, Nexus, Naughty Dogs, Ironmen, and Damage have new Jerseys. We are still on clear if any of the teams will be wearing the new gear tomorrow.