Mid Atlantic Open 2026 Atlanta Jungle Cats – Moving the Needle

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Nun dumandari chiddu chi nun po’ pigghiari…

That’s an old Sicilian proverb. It means, “Don’t ask for what you can’t take.” And that was the theme we adopted heading into this event. As a rookie team competing in their second pro event, the draw the Cats had was nothing short of a meat grinder. And let me tell you, we are here for it. (at the time of this writing, it appears we will have another in Cincinnati).

To prepare for this event, we decided not to practice another pro team. Rather, we wanted to focus completely on ourselves and spend as much time on the field dialing up our understanding of the layout and the best ways to play it with our attributes. On top of that, I took a different approach regarding how we would structure the practice, focusing on key elements and creating essentially a “fight camp”. Whereas, it meant longer days with more classroom work, the guys recognize we have to work harder to see more successes. They were down for it (mostly) and I think it showed at this last event. Some may look at the 1 and 3 record and 14th place finish as “bad” or par or similar to the first event and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong per say… But then, they would be missing the forest through the trees.

This event recap, I will take you through some keep moments in each of our preliminary matches.

VS San Diego Dynasty

No one can argue that Dynasty’s roster isn’t powerful. When they get Ryan back, everyone will be on notice. You have the “titans” of Blake Yarber and Yosh Rau which, that combo alone gives them an advantage over half the league. The way Joe Barret has been playing, that man is well on his way to elite status, especially when he can play close to Harrison. Harry’s a wild card but when that man is on, it’s pretty sick. I said it last year, but I feel Arturo is close to elite status as well. Now with ABJ on the roster and Urena back on the squad, that will just push him harder. He’s driven for sure. Omara, Weaver… it’s a who’s who of talent.

We spent some time talking through who we anticipated would play where and how that data could create opportunity for us. Dynasty ended up playing the field similar to us which makes sense as we felt we had a good grasp on the best approach (not everyone can be the Red Legion and have 3 guys in key bunkers within 20 seconds every point). Here are the key points during the match:

Point 3 (currently tied 1-1) – We take a similar breakout save for three small differences between us. A) Dynasty delays Omara in the pocket before taking snake insert (we go straight in), B) They send Arturo straight to the snake (we take the snake corner deep route) and C) They take dorito 2 on the break (we take dorito “corner”).

We shoot Arturo on the break but give them one back with Davis dying out of snake insert. Situationally, we have the advantage as not long after these two things happen, we match their dorito side with Evan into Dorito 2 and get Ronny in the snake. Joey is shooting a zone protect shot to slow advancement dorito way. From his Home position, he can keep paint in the gap between Dorito 2 and Dorito 3. Bailey is in the Dorito side Can shooting to keep Omara from matching Ronny in the snake. Ronny posts up at snake 2 instead of going further (looking for that fill in the middle that didn’t come) and Omara gets out on Bailey into the snake. Tactically, things are back to even again.

Ronny wins the snake war on Omara. Now, we not only have the body advantage (4 on 3) but we have the snake to ourselves. In my mind, we should win this scenario 9 out of 10 times even against Dynasty. Barret makes a necessary fill out to the snake corner. This is smart, not just because its a terrific “Alamo” bunker, but now we have to respect his presence there since we don’t have anyone who can see if he decides to take the snake. Control via paranoia. But Ronny makes the right call and progresses anyway.

And this is where our mistake happens. We already knew they had a center presence and we had cautioned the Center brick. If I am a center player and I know a snake is coming down, the first place I’m going to look for him is at that “V” at the 50 snake. Ronny does a slow sloth like check thinking Weaver will be at the Center brick, doesn’t see him and slowly rotates on the Center tower… Weaver makes him pay for it. If he does a fast or swift head check, confirms, now Weaver has to play whack-a-mole and the advantage falls to Ronny. Instead, we lose the advantage with Ronny getting cyclops’ed.

Joey got out to the snake corner (good) but probably should have taken some snake ground earlier. Bailey can’t do too much to help either side. I would have liked to have seen him go forward into the center at some point (prior to Barret’s fill).

Joey makes a good move into the snake and catches Harrison. If he takes a knee right then after the kill, and posts up for Barrett as opposed to continuing like he did, maybe a different outcome. Woulda coulda shoulda. Evan does the right thing and tries to capitalize, misses his shot on Weaver to make it a 1 v 1. Point to Dynasty making it 2-1 with 8:04 on the clock.

Point 4 – This one is easy. Dynasty obtains a great set up here. They shoot our snake on the break, but get both Arturo and Urena into the snake quickly. The push Yosh to the center to lock down the snake side feed that has to come. Davis gets clipped doing what he is supposed to try and do (get to the corner or get into the snake). Once they clip Davis, it was a matter of time.

Point 6 – This is the one we want back. With just over 3 minutes on the clock, 5 on 5 breakout. But we shoot Arturo in the pack and he gets a minor. This clears the snake side for us. Joe Barret sees the flag, knows what is at stake, and throws everything he has into making the corner. And he makes it. We make the call on the three bunkers. And we are correct on the call. With Joe getting out to snake side, it causes that small “paralysis”… where in the snake is he… Shouldn’t have mattered. The moment that flag goes up on Dynasty, someone should be on containment and we should be hauling down the snake. Then it happens… we lose one body on the D side as we are developing the snake side… and then another. We went from a 5 on 3 advantage to a 3 on 3 because we were too slow to develop snake way and couldn’t stay alive in the Doritos.

Ronny eventually gets clipped at about a minute left. We have lost all opportunity and the point has completely shifted to Dynasty since the clock and the bodies were now on their side. Can’t blame the two remaining for sending it but I can blame them all for not closing as a team.

VS PAINTBALL FIT

This match gave me hope. We reduced mistakes but still made them. Our guns were getting hot. I know FIT was missing Mason but all those guys are dangerous. We took them deep for the most part.

A few things this match we could have done better. But I will focus on just this one as it was a good lesson regarding the gun fight theory/percentage Ryan Gray and I often discuss on the Coach’s Show and in our clinics.

Point 6 – We lose one on the break out of back center and FIT does an excellent job of creating pressure. Here’s the thing, even with the 4 on 5 advantage to FIT, we are still in good spots to either counter, or kill clock. We have options. But we make a critical error here. Rios decides to engage in a gunfight with Stewart at about the :50 second mark. He didn’t need to. Once Stewart pushes him, he should have rolled off and called the position. Instead, he snaps out in the exact same spot and loses the gun fight. Not only did this mistake give FIT another body advantage, it hamstrung the remaining Cats by dying with information. If he stays alive there, FIT’s push is a little more difficult with dwindling time.

VS NEW YORK XTREME

After scouting NYX, it felt like they were still trying to figure the field out. They were mercied by Collision but put 2 on the board against Dynasty… interestingly enough, there didn’t appear to be any real adaptation between their first and second loss. We studied them a little more and came up with some box and line calls to address them. At first, we thought they might be chaotic and hard to understand the method behind the madness each point. But we ultimately determined they were telling each other to just “play better”. So we stuck with what we thought would win the day. Get that two man operation working faster for us in the snake which we were lacking the first day..

Point 3 – This was simply a sloppy close. Wanted to get that off my chest.

Point 5 – Ronny’s retreat sets up the two pack trade (not necessarily his fault, just bad timing). What really bothered me was we lose a 3 on 2… another up body scenario we fail to close.

VS LOS ANGELES COLLISION

The Cats have a history with Collision. We respect them tremendously and, of course, Mike Hinman and I are friends. Our two teams were back and forth last year in Semi pro. The two teams met four times last year… Tampa Bay Open (Cats win 5-0), Midwest Open (Cats win 4-3), Lonestar Open FINALS (Collision wins 3-2), World Cup prelim seeding (Collision wins 3-2). Plus we shared a pit with them at Cup on Sunday. They have showed a tremendous trajectory since our first meeting that season.

Headed into this match, it was obvious both teams had done their homework. Both needed the win to have a chance to move on. We both had mercy rule wins and a win here could put one of us in the wild card running. Now, Collision plays a LOT of paintball and has a solid roster with a significant amount of experience. Antetomaso, Boyum, Challenger, Park, and Trujillo… all experienced pro’s from different rosters. Throw in young talent like Castro and Middleton with leadership from Mike, Dan Le, and Ramirez… you can’t look past this “rookie” team. They have great sparring partners and a rolodex of experience to draw from. So we were going to have to be disciplined on our execution.

We had a really good understanding of how they wanted to play the field but I felt we had one small advantage over them… And for the most past, that small advantage played out a bit.

Point 2 – (1-0 in Collision’s favor) Good execution and knowing the situation by my guys. Both Ronny and Evan strike well and the rest of the line clean it up flawlessly. However, I was on the sideline pressing an imaginary buzzer. We let almost 20 seconds go before the concession…This was a mistake. I understand making sure we are clean, etc. But get the point. We are down and with the new rules, more paintball equals better. Those 20 secs would come back and bite us.

Point 4 – (we are up 2-1) I want this one back too. They shoot our 1 snake way (Ronny) and we shoot their 2 snake way. Its a 4 on 4. Ben Challenger gets to the snake 50 which we knew he wanted to do. We end up getting another kill Dorito way. We now have the body advantage in a 4 on 3. Evan is in the Dorito 3 just shy of the 50, Davis is in our clover leaf trying to slow Ben and Boyum with his presence. Davis is told where Ben is and goes to get him and succeeds with a trade. We still have the body advantage but now Boyum has the snake completely to himself. Bailey dies and this really hurts us but Evan sees it and capitalizes by dunking the last remaining body on the dorito side for Collision. Heck yes! It is now a 2 on 1 and we have an almost 90 degree angle on Boyum. It’s as good as over and we will go up by 2.

Or was it?

All of us in the pits see Evan shoot Boyum in the hopper. Joey sees it too… but the refs didn’t. Joey walks out into Boyums gun and as Evan goes to get the buzzer, he is surprised as well by Boyum shooting him. Should have been a minor at the very least but shooting two of my guys is a major. Ref looks at it and lets it go after being contacted on the radio which is astounding… we should have been on the power play the next point with a 2 point advantage and 4:48 on the clock.

But it’s like I always say, can’t leave it up to the refs. They’re human and will miss things. Until you see that ref call that player eliminated, you have to be locked in. Confirm the kill… or at least continue to shoot and keep pressure, protect yourself, until that ref signals them eliminated.

Point 6 – (We are up 3-2) – This one is on me 100%. I told the guys I felt they would push the middle heavy since that is what I would do if I were them. But then differed to standard. Dumb. That cost us. Great play call by Collision here. Bad call on my part. I knew better.

Point 7 – (tied 3-3 with 1:23 left on the clock) – We had a goal at practice the week before to meet a certain average time, a certain pace. We didn’t always see success with meeting it but knew it was possible. Ronny makes a great read here and we get two bodies early. It is a 5 on 3, we own the snake, and just over a minute on the clock. However, my guys on the back line aren’t recognizing the advantage we have. Davis gets in behind Ronny but then we lose both of them at the same time! Its now a 3 on 3 and Collision has the snake completely to themselves! Joey dies out of the back center… if he stays alive for 5-10 more seconds… Evan shoots the last remaining body on the D side at about 25 seconds. Its a 2 on 2 with both Collision players in the snake. Bailey recognizes the situation, turns his body toward the snake side placing the can between him and the remaining two Collision players to protect the buzzer, and tells Evan he has to go for it. Bailey does defend and gets the first attacker and Evan does shoot the last body but the small delay in recognizing that makes him miss the buzzer by about 1 second exactly. I lost composure here thinking we had just stole it and jumped off the coaching stand only to realize we didn’t…. bummer.

Now you know why I want those 20 seconds back from point 2. Had we had just one of those seconds left… different outcome. It goes into overtime and we lose the 3v3.

So here is my overall summation for those who may not see the forest through the trees, right, wrong, or indifferent.

First, we showed improved focus against the top teams this event. Playing teams like San Diego Dynasty and Paintball FIT should sharpen focus. We didn’t overthink. We reacted well mostly, committed to the game plan, and were composed against two great teams. Yes, we still made mistakes but they were not as catastrophic as the first event.

Second, I felt we were matching the tempo well. Could it have been better? Absolutely! But elite teams like Dynasty and FIT control points through pacing—when to slow it down, when to explode. We aren’t there yet but it is coming.

Here’s where we are:

When closing points, we need to be more efficient at recognizing and acting when we get a small advantage. Once we move THAT needle (processing speed), we are not only a better team but we will start winning those close ones regularly. We lost several up body situations. 5 on 3’s 3 on 2’s, and 2 on 1s. This is really a big one for us. We turned a few points that should have been ours and gave them to our opponents.

Taking Paintball FIT to overtime is actually a strong indicator, at least to me, we are closing the gap. If we can keep building on that confidence while tightening late-point execution and communication, again those close games start turning into wins.

In my opinion, what separates us from being a potentially dangerous underdog team from a consistent winner are the small mistakes we made at this event. We were losing on specific mistakes rather than getting blown off the break or outplayed structurally, that’s actually a really strong indicator in my mind. It means we’re starting to operate on the right level. We just aren’t as “clean” at it yet as other teams. One mistake can swing a whole point at this level. A single over-aggressive move, a missed fill, a late bunker call, or one miscomm can cost everything. The best teams don’t just capitalize on these mistakes, they look for them and are ready the moment they happen. Like a cat pouncing… sorry. Had to get that in there.

Small gaps in our comms are hurting us too but this is easily fixable. I said that a lot in preparing for this event. Data helps us win. Against so-so or an average team, you may be able to get away with a miscomm here or there but against top teams you’re usually punished almost immediately… If we get the comms on point, that will improve our synchronization on the field which will lead to better attacks.

But here’s the good news. All these things I just mentioned above are all fixable. And they are all fixable faster than a player’s skill gaps. We don’t need new talent, we need more high pressure reps, tighter and cleaner comms, and drill closings until they are automatic. I think my guys are starting to feel more confident. And they should. They belong. They earned their spot to be among the professional teams. Once that belief and confidence is paired with cleaner execution, man… we stop “hanging” with top teams and start beating them. Heck, if we clean up half our problems, matches like the one we had with FIT and Collision don’t go to overtime, we close them out.

Be water my friends.

Tampa Bay Open 2026 Atlanta Jungle Cats – Baptism by Fire

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The MLPB’s Tampa Bay Open 26 has concluded, marking a historic milestone as, for the first time, professional paintball was held inside an NFL stadium. In this case, Raymond James Stadium. The MLPB/NXL delivered an exceptional level of production throughout the event.

What I think is particularly noteworthy is that this was all accomplished in significantly less time than the MLPB has typically allotted for venue preparation. Under normal circumstances, they will have a full week dedicated to setting up the event. However, on this occasion, the team had only 2–3 days to complete all preparations, both inside and outside the stadium! And boy did they deliver. What an outstanding achievement and effort by all those involved. involved.

When I took on the role of coach for the Jungle Cats, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. The jump from semi pro to pro is often misrepresented and misunderstood. It isn’t a step but rather a large leap off a cliff. At this event, the Atlanta Jungle Cats got their first real taste of that drop. Our record—one win and three losses—certainly didn’t turn any heads on paper… but if you’re looking at this team through my lens, a coaching lens, the story is a lot more interesting than the standings suggest. And that’s what I want to do with this post… the hype is gone and reality has set in. I want to talk about how we should view this first event performance and the mentality behind it.



First, a little background. The Cats had a few things going for them headed into this season. They are a good example of a modern “pipeline team” in paintball. They started together in 2024 in Division 2 (Under the moniker BR Factory) with the following finishes and winning the series title:

Las Vegas Major – 2nd place

  • Lone Star Major – 3rd place
  • Mid Atlantic Major – 2nd place
  • Windy City Major – 3rd place
  • World Cup – 1st place

So, they learned what it takes to win at that level. No other team had that kind of consistency in the division that season.

They would enter the semi pro division in 2025 and almost mimic their D2 run winning the series title once again:

  • Tampa Bay Open – 2nd place
  • Atlantic City Open – 2nd place
  • Midwest Open – 1st place
  • Lonestar Open – 2nd place
  • World Cup – 5th

They would also go on to win the Summit award for Divisional Team of the Year as well as the Pro spot for the 2026 season.

Like I was saying, they are a good example of what I call a “pipeline” team. What I mean by “pipeline” team is they started in the lower divisions, developed and drew upon local talent, built up their chemistry and sponsorships, stayed in their respective division winning events, and ultimately earned their way into the pro league.

Now, we are nowhere near a legacy powerhouse team like San Diego Dynasty or Edmonton Impact. And whereas we have some things in common with PBFit, we are far from that organization’s level of success and capabilities. This season is going to be a struggle/fight as this first event showed. So many opportunities were missed during our preliminary matches that could have significantly changed the outcome of a point or even a match. In the lower divisions, you can get away with a mistake here and a mistake there. In the pro division, it is often one mistake that costs you. And we had several.

But I believe these guys understand that. They thought they understood this prior to the event. They certainly understand it now. What they did before to be successful in the lower divisions will simply not cut it now. They recognize they must work even HARDER. Much harder than what it took to climb the ranks. The devil is in the details as they say and the details are what win you points.

We met our 5 goals for this event, albeit one just barely.

  • Win a point
  • Win two points back to back
  • Win a match
  • Don’t get last
  • Get out of the 5th tier

VS The Royal City Seadogs

This first win matters more than it looks. What I need my guys to understand is that a 3–2 win over the Royal City Seadogs is more than just a check in the win column, it’s proof of concept.

In a first pro event, teams typically struggle with:

  • tempo
  • communication under pressure
  • closing points

We struggled with all of these. BUT… we didn’t just compete, we closed a tight match.

This showed me a few things..

  • they trust the system
  • they didn’t panic late in points
  • our core group has the chemistry necessary to win
  • they aren’t scared

And look, for a rookie squad, that’s a strong foundation we can build from. Personally, I feel this should have been a 4-1 game but again, small mistakes cost us.

ZEN NOTE: During the 5th point of this match, Baldwin clearly gets hit in the pack when he is in the snake 50. Camera shows it plain as day.

VS Edmonton Impact

We knew this was going to be a tough match. It was the David versus Goliath lived out in real time except that Goliath won the day decisively. It isn’t that the 5-1 loss was surprising but it was exactly what we needed. Impact is one of the most disciplined and talented teams in the league. They put on a clinic regarding survivability, communication, and teamwork. They’re a team that doesn’t beat you with brute force, or chaos, or even fancy tricks. They beat you with structure, game planning, in game adaptation, lane control, and then punish you when you make a mistake.

We received a reality check here. They didn’t outplay us, they outclassed us. You never really truly understand how many mistakes you are making out there until a team like Impact punishes you for all of them. And this match exposed us on several fronts. From zone control, timing, hesitation/slow processing, and job transitions. But we don’t need to look at it as an overall failure. Rather, we need to look at it as data. This is film we can build from. Lots of lessons in this one.

Again, I feel there was a point or two that should have played out differently had we understood the situation or just not lost a first engagement. For example, the second point of the match, I feel we should have created more pressure early snake side with Impact’s set up. But then losing two bodies behind our snake, makes him the island, so he should have stayed alive, instead of running down for a trade in a down body situation.

VS CK Hurricanes and TonTons

I think these two matches were the most telling. Not to take anything away from these two teams, but they aren’t unbeatable. These were the two matches where we had an opportunity to show and prove we belong in this division right now, not eventually. These were both winnable games. Instead, we let certain points slip away early, we didn’t recover well from playing down or from a deficit, and of course, slip ups with mid game processing, comms, and decision making.

That was the real difference here. When you add those things up, it shows the difference between competing and controlling. We weren’t controlling certain factors during each of the matches and ended up chasing.

Key elements during the Hurricane match cost us. In the first point, we bounce my friend Daniel Camp on break. My boy Ronnie beats Nic to snake by a mile. If he gets on the wire sooner, he may have caught Nic on his wide crawl. If Joey was on wire when Ronnie runs Nic down, we probably get Daniel too. Snake side is now blown open and we turn the field. The fourth point was another one that comes to mind from this match. My friend Nic Ripple pulls off a good one. It’s a 2 on 1, Joey yells “Home!” so Davis looks inside for him but Nic had already run from home to snake and shoots Davis. Had we contained him in home, we win this point. Joey can’t get a straight ball and Nic takes the point away from us.

During the TonTons game, a point that comes to mind is the 5th point of the match. It’s tied 2-2. We shoot the snake corner on the break making it a 54… then we give them one back. 44 but they have two at home. Our game plan when in this scenario is to pinch those two hard and we usually get one. If you slow this one down on youtube, we shoot the snake side home in the elbow plain as day… but I guess it didn’t leave paint and ref calls him clean. Then we let them spread wide. We lose Joey but bounce 95 in the dorito shortly after… we also had an opportunity to shoot a solid A+ bounce shot on dorito but we don’t do it because, well, we forgot about it.

Summation/Key Takeaways

We don’t necessarily have a talent issue. We have a pro experience issue and it showed. Duh. Clarity and situational awareness must improve.

After the last prelim match against TonTons, I had a few things I wanted the guys to understand. Managing expectations moving forward was priority #1. I didn’t talk to them about wins and losses. Instead, we talked about what we had just experienced and why. We talked about pace and tempo. The guys now understand that pro paintball is way faster but more importantly, it is way more decisive! The “hesitation window” from semi pro is gone. Every indecision or delay cost us field position, bodies, and points.

Good pro teams don’t just win points. They manage them. Each and every one. We have to recognize when to brake and when to step on the gas, when to lock and when to take ground and increase pressure. When to close and how.

I feel this was a good first event. We won a match, we got exposed by an elite team, and we recognize now how big the gap is. We never truly got blown out… we weren’t “lost” during the matches… we are right on the edge of “belonging”. This is a good place to be.

We need cleaner breakouts, faster secondaries. We need to turn those 5-2 matches into coin flips, the 6-2 into real fights. We came into Tampa thinking we were ready. Now we know what “ready” actually looks like. If we do this right, this event won’t be remembered as a rough debut… it will be remembered as the moment we stopped being a good semi pro team and started figuring out how to become a real pro one. We’ve seen the standard. Now we need to spend the rest of the season setting it.

Be water my friends…

Practice What You Preach…

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In my experience, several factors distinguish strong teams from weaker ones. One of the most critical of these is effective leadership.

Strong teams are usually led by ethical leaders. OK, before I go too far. What are “ethics” exactly, some of you may ask? Put plainly, ethics are set principles distinguishing between what is right and what is wrong. A code of conduct if you will. A system of principles you would say. Everyone trackin’?

Moving on.

An ethical leader or coach will set a clear vision and manage expectations for his players. Their goal should be to illuminate the path forward, teaching their players how to navigate both success and failure, and demonstrating the behaviors expected in each scenario. They lead by example. And coaches who lead by example should aim to inspire their players to emulate specific attitudes and actions. Their goal is to align the team’s habits and behaviors with their core values. As Epictetus famously said, “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”

They should be able to articulate their goals clearly, explain why they are attainable, and outline the steps needed to achieve them. Leadership, when driven by strong values, fosters a culture centered around character, identity, and inspiration. This values-driven approach is, in my opinion, the key to guiding a team through both challenges and triumphs while creating a strong and functional foundation that will serve them well both on and off the field.

This is the look of someone contemplating…or is it?

If you can emphasize the connection between values, habits, and behaviors you have essentially created the perfect transformative environment. By embedding these principles into a team’s processes and structure, they set the very foundations for growth. The more the team buys into these values, the more transformative the experience becomes. This is particularly true when leaders encourage players to think creatively and challenge norms while maintaining an ethical alignment.

Taking this type of approach should carry through all levels of coaching, from the fundamental training to the high level adaptations to the conversations at dinner after practice. All these things—such as zone and lane control, box reads, execution of setups, and communication patterns—are crucial for any team’s development. However, these technical skills should be taught within a framework that emphasizes ethical behavior and transformation. The integration of values with the mechanics of the game can foster not only improved performance but also greater team cohesion.

This leadership model is particularly effective at lower levels of competition, where the focus on respect, integrity, discipline, and hard work can have a lasting impact. Simple actions—showing up on time, being honest, respecting each players capabilities and understanding how to leverage while improving, putting in the necessary effort—are all powerful ways for leaders to set the right example.

That said, no leader or coach is perfect. Mistakes are inevitable, but the key is owning them. In fact, taking accountability for one’s actions is a fundamental aspect of leading by example. By being genuine and authentic, a leader can model accountability and encourage players to do the same. While not everyone is capable of self-reflection or taking responsibility, the ability to do so fosters trust, respect, and a positive team culture.

The look of someone who may have made a mistake… or is it?

Ultimately, effective leadership builds a productive environment where the team feels united in a common purpose. However, this process takes time. Leadership development, like any other skill, is a gradual journey. Some individuals process information and adapt more quickly than others, but by consistently focusing on the right behaviors, coaches can create a culture of accountability and growth.

Where am I going with all this? I don’t impose my beliefs on others; I simply try to be an example in hopes others will come around and do the same. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t always succeed—after all, I am human. My guiding principles are rooted in both Stoic philosophy and Christian values. However, I believe the pursuit of virtue is an ongoing journey, one that starts anew each day. Not everyone responds to this type of leadership, and some might even argue that it fosters an environment where mistakes are overly tolerated or excused with mere encouragement. If that’s the interpretation you’re taking from what I’m saying, we’re not quite on the same page—and you may not have observed how I or certain colleagues approach coaching.

Being constructive and positive while addressing mistakes or offering criticism is neither weak nor ineffective. In fact, I would argue it takes more willpower and discipline than letting a player have it. It is far more difficult to consistently apply this approach, especially when dealing with different personalities and situations. More importantly, how can I expect a player to handle my criticism well if I can’t handle my own? My goal is to diffuse negativity and focus on the positive. This doesn’t mean I shy away from pointing out mistakes, but I strive not to dwell on them. Instead, I seek to understand why the mistake was made and what could have been done better.

Sometimes, the issue might be that I didn’t communicate clearly. If that’s the case, why would I reprimand a player for a misunderstanding? It’s counterproductive to create more tension when I’m trying to foster improvement. However, I’m not saying there isn’t a time for tougher criticism. Just as steel is forged in fire and diamonds are created under pressure, some players thrive on a more direct, high-pressure approach. For those players who consistently make the same mistakes, I may eventually need to take a stronger stance. But my belief is that, I need to express my expectations clearly from the start, because the process of improvement begins with understanding and collaboration—not with harsh reprimands.

The look of someone being passionate… or is it?

I prefer to have clear, constructive conversations about mistakes—discussing what happened, why it happened, the consequences of the error, and how we can do better moving forward. I believe this approach leads to more sustainable growth than simply reacting with frustration or insults like, “You idiot.” After all, my ultimate goal is for the player to bounce back and give their best effort the next time, not to make them afraid of making mistakes.

As a player, I was always looking for ways to improve myself and my team—not just by learning from coaches within my own sport, but also from leaders in other fields. I drew inspiration from bosses, managers, military leaders, historical figures, and even literary characters. The Stoics believed that life is about what we value and the choices we make, and this mindset has greatly influenced my approach. To quote Bruce Lee, “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.”

With that in mind, here are the core principles I strive to apply each day:

  1. Integrity – “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.” I live by a moral and ethical framework grounded in honor, honesty, courtesy, and respect for others. I aim to be direct and fair and I call it like I see it. I reserve judgment until the situation or individual forces my hand. I always lead with respect—until it is no longer reciprocated.
  2. Humility – “Freedom from pride and arrogance; a modest estimate of one’s own worth.” While I try to avoid negative pride, I am deeply proud of my players and their achievements. And I make sure they know it. When we recognize that success is shared—that my success is your success and yours is mine—we move forward as a unified team. We be gucci.
  3. Visualization – “The use of mental images to influence bodily processes, control pain, or prepare for athletic or other kinds of performance.” I believe mental imagery shapes behavior, mindset, and decision-making. Positive visualization increases the likelihood of successful outcomes. Negative visualization can create fear, but as long as we don’t allow fear to dominate the narrative, we can continue to progress. As Seneca noted, “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
  4. Positivity – This one is self-explanatory—you attract more cooperation and progress with encouragement than with hostility. I will not default to yelling or hostility; instead, I look for something constructive in every situation. While positivity doesn’t fix everything, it often helps move us forward. “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
  5. Habituation – “The process by which actions that are repeated frequently become established as patterns, allowing them to be performed with less effort in the future.” This comes from me trying to embrace the stoic philosophies. Good habits lead to good outcomes. The more difficult the hurdle, the stronger and better you become on the other side. As Aristotle observed, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”
  6. Amity – “The cooperative and supportive relationship between people. Peaceful.” For me, this means maintaining calm and seeking clarity. Conversations don’t need to become loud or chaotic. While there are moments when firm or rather, emphatic communication is necessary, this should be used sparingly so that it has a greater impact. “Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.”
  7. Trust – “The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one.” Everyone wants to win, and improvement is a shared goal—but progress begins with trust. If trust is lacking in a teammate, coach, or plan, two things must be examined: the source of that distrust, and yourself. As Epictetus advised, “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
  8. Accountability – “The obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable.” Owning one’s decisions is essential. Mistakes are inevitable and acceptable—unless we refuse to learn from them. I hold myself fully accountable for my words and actions. I control what I contribute, and the outcomes will follow. “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Rich Telford, Dan Le, and the author exchanging views… or is it?

There you have it. What I try to embody when entrusted to lead. No, I don’t always manage to enact all of these principles but there isn’t a time I am coaching that I am not actively striving for them. Leadership is a continual process of growth, reflection, and intentional action. The principles I strive to live by—integrity, humility, visualization, positivity, habituation, amity, trust, and accountability—are not endpoints but daily commitments. They shape how I coach, how I interact with others, and how I respond to both success and adversity. When you can embody the values you hope to instill, teams become more resilient, more connected, and more capable of reaching their potential. Ultimately, if we commit to leading with clarity, character, and consistency, we create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to improve—and where shared purpose becomes the foundation of lasting success.

Be water my friends…

San Diego Dynasty’s Midwest Open Event Recap

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“Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it isn’t the end.” – John Lennon

That quote came up in the daily quote I am subscribed to. It was the first thing I checked this morning when I got up early to start this blog. I find it fascinating since I experienced a new phenomenon this past week after the event. And I have Alex Fraige and Ryan Greenspan to thank for it.

Stoicism teaches that everything you do can be partitioned into two components: One component is completely up to you, the things you can control. The other are those components which you cannot control – or rather, outcomes that are derived from external factors beyond your control. And the Stoics believed you should focus all of your energy on the first component… things you can control. One should also develop an attitude of equanimity toward the things you can’t control… sometimes things go in your favor, and sometimes they don’t. I read recently that it isn’t a reflection of who you are but a reflection that the universe works in strange and mysterious ways. Of course, I also have my faith so, which teaches that there is purpose for everything.

The reason I bring this up is because several teams I have coached over the years would get frustrated when the wins wouldn’t come. I developed a way to address that by implementing a “we didn’t lose if we learned from it” approach. If we learned something or it made us better in some way, we were good and we would leverage that to be better prepared next time. Some may not agree with that thought process… some may think “if you ain’t first, your last!” I get it. I think any person with a competitive bone in their body “gets it”. But you can’t look at every event where you didn’t win (especially in paintball) as a failure or a black mark… That would leave 11 pro teams over the last 10 years and COUNTLESS divisional teams depressed and/or wanting (and in a lot of cases, dissolved).

But I digress… I’ll start with Alex. He has done a great job of reminding me to “have fun”. Enjoy the process, enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey we are on together. Cherish the moments we get to spend to together playing the game we love. And I am truly thankful to him for that. I do take this too serious sometimes. This passion and love of the sport should never become or feel like work, and sometimes, I let it. But as I explained to him, there’s a deep rooted story as to why. Still, his message was heard and I need to appreciate where I have been, where I am now, and where I am going with this team. So far, it has been a truly educational process and I am quite appreciative of that.

And then there is Ryan (and Alex for that matter too). They don’t see this event as a failure or a bad event for the team. Rather, there were positive take-aways. For example, and I don’t want to put words in his mouth bu Ryan simply sees it as (I’m paraphrasing here), “Okay, we dropped the ball here and here… let’s not do that next time. Let’s refocus and just win the next one.” It sounds so simple but it is quite profound in a myriad of ways. Especially when you look back, consider, and really understand why that attitude exists in him and the other members of Dynasty. I certainly get it. And I’m here for it.

I wanted to share that real quick because it has had a good effect on me. My family has even noticed.

Alright, let’s talk about the event. Again, I won’t do the whole play by play. Honestly, I think this gave people too much insight when I have done this previously (I’m kidding… but not really). I will certainly give you an overview of each match against each team.

Before I forget though, I do want to send a shout out to Major League Paintball for an outstanding venue. Best playing surface for an event in a long, long time. Nothing you can do about the temperatures. That was an anomaly (you can look it up… the average temperature in mid to southern OH in June is a high of 83, low of 62).

VS SEADOGS

I won’t tell you I wasn’t a little anxious about this match prior to Friday. The reason being a combination of the layout and the Seadogs penchant to press. They are solid gunfighters and have some weapons for sure. They are a smart and quick team. However, we had a chance to scout them prior to playing them (insert argument about better to have a warm up match or scout your opponent here). They would match up against Damage and only play 4 points. The Seadogs seemed to like what we were calling “redundancies”… two guys doing the same job purposefully. The one point they won against Damage seemed to show they weren’t confident with snake attack set up nor any willingness to risk any dorito attack.

I would run two lines this match. I was getting production from almost everyone at practice and I thought this would be a great opportunity to give guys spins and the opportunity to expound beyond their practice performance. I must admit, I love the problem of having a tough time deciding who will play. Not to mention, the two lines can help keep legs fresh when its time to run the horses for the event.

The first point that argument for a warm up match came into play. The Seadogs guns were hot. They won the break but we tied it back up pretty quickly making it a 3v3. Arturo and Blake knew the drill and press snake way. Ryan intelligently and craftily spreads the field dorito way. Coordinated effort, constant pressure, and crossfield comms won us that point.

And that would be the match for the most part. The Seadogs redundancies would pause their rotation while we would press ours, be first into position, and keep pressure. We would shoot one of theirs on the break 60% of the time which certainly helped. Our snake side developed faster and we usually snuck out wide D side to create additional uncertainty of threat. Again, great cross field comms from my guys. The one point we lost, it was a bloodbath break for both teams with quick first engagement deaths by both teams bringing it to a 3v3… and then we got a minor.

Kyle Barry laying it down.

VS ARSENAL

Baltimore Arsenal (Formerly Baltimore Revo) has solid depth on their 8 person roster. An intelligent and creative team, they put it on us in Atlantic City. We weren’t about to let that happen again. Similar to Seadogs, we didn’t get to see much from scouting their first match against Aftermath… 3 points. They did seem to have some tells we would exploit. Ultimately, we would focus on what we would do, not what they were doing. This field was about creating opportunities and I have some of the best in the game for that sort of thing.

Similar to the Seadogs match, we would score the first 3 points in a row. First point, they would help us by getting a minor, we would spread and Yosh would clean up. Second, they used O’mara cleverly to win the break but on the next phase of their dastardly and nefarious plan, they were cut short when Dany got into snake 3 quickly and caught O’mara (Dany was a class act. He could have tattooed his name on O’mara and did not). Harrison was wide on the break too. Point conceded when they lost their snake 3. Third point, our guns on break were stellar taking two off the board from the rip. 12 seconds after the start of the point it is conceded.

We would lose the next two points, the second point loss being quite bogus. The first point, we lost Arturo off break and then shortly after Ryan. However, the remaining 3 peel 3:30 off the clock holding. The second point, there was a gross major called on Blake. Ref contended that, while Blake was loading, he got shot in the pod, and then he chunked it. That pulled all our bodies and automatically swung a point to Arsenal. Upon review by Jason Trosen, he confirmed it should NOT have been a gross major,and that Blake did not get shot and throw it. Regardless, there isn’t anything that can be done at that point…. Unfortunate now that it was a 1 point game with 3:37 on the clock.

Where we lost those two points, one being just unlucky, we would now turn around and rattle off two wins to take the match. The first involved a little luck our way and some incredible composure by Yosh. My man! And winning some gunfights. The second point, Yosh again had a force field but this time takes O’mara and stayed alive, then got another, and then Arturo snuck onto their side to take the final point with 4 seconds left.

Harrison Frye had an event playing lights out for the Dragon.

VS AFTERMATH

After scouting Aftermath, not to mention the fact they have been a solid scrimmage partner, we felt confident in our game plans for them, too. Though, they would give us a rather difficult match. We would win the first point by shooting two on the break followed by two more quick first engagement kills. 24 second later, they would towel. However, the very next point, Blake would put his hiney to high in the air, we would lose Kyle shortly after, and then a rather odd minor call on Alex. Aftermath would not squander that high body situation tying the game up at 1 a piece.

Interestingly enough, we would go on another 3 point run. It started after we got a penalty the very next point but this time, the Avocado Twins (Joe Barret and Harrison Frye) would pull off a 2 on 4! Very impressive. Pretty sure Joe got a 4 pack on that one. We won the break on the next, developed quickly and just started chopping them up. The third point, Aftermath returned the favor on the break shooting Blake, but Harrison got wide dorito way, Joe anchored it down, and Arturo with Ryan behind him were set up to either kill clock or turn the field. Ultimately, we won the war of attrition.

It was 4-1 with 1:36 on the clock. Aftermath had to send it, and we know this. I thought it would be clever to show Alex and then run him to the corner. Alex got clipped so that’s on me. Though we ended up losing Dany in an engagement shortly after. Aftermath put another on the board with a well coordinated press. They did it with 31 seconds left. The next point both teams break out, we kill one on the break… match.

Alex Fraige still making people pay after 25 years

VS DAMAGE

This would mark the 1st time we would face Damage in prelims this season but the 3rd time out of 3 events we would play them. We knocked them out in the Quarters at the 1st event (Tampa Bay). We would knock them out again in the Quarters in Atlantic City. This time, we were aiming to send them home in the prelims. They were 2-1 headed into this match but not with a strong margin. We were 3-0. This match would decide if we won the bracket and sent them home, or we would both move on to Sunday.

After scouting their 3 matches and using a new scouting method developed by Brad and Junior, we felt prepared for what Damage was bringing. We had good box calls, a good game plan, and fresh legs. Guys were ready. Chad Busiere was playing well for them up the middle so we would have to address him for sure. It would be back and forth the first 4 points. They won the first point with good guns on break (miscue on gun placement by me). We won the second with a productive center presence, Harrison getting wide, and Arturo’s pressure. They won the 3rd point when we got a penalty dropping our snake side and Chad took full advantage of that. And we won the 4th after we traded blows on the break with Yosh winning the center war, which allowed us to get wide on both sides and squeeze.

The match was tied at 2 each with 8:37 left in the game. It was that 5th point where we showed a play that we thought, once scene, everyone would start using it. Much to our surprise, no one did. Anyway, this set up worked absolutely flawlessly and the guys executed it almost to perfection, especially Yosh. I wish I could take credit for its creation but I can’t. This was the brain child of Mr. Greenspan from the evening before. I’ll take credit for calling it at that moment but man, what a design. And with the way Yosh started the point and the way Blake closed it… awesome.

The next point I felt was the nail in the coffin really. Probably premature but sometimes you just know. We win the break by killing the 2 behind Keith Brown (Jacob?)who took the snake on the break and sent Chad back up the center. We matched them with Yosh up the gut and Harrison wide D side again which means they HAVE to be weary of him. Damage does a good job of matching and adjusting as the point grinds. Keith Brown made that 50 wedge past the snake 3… Yosh recognized that he is either waiting to die or trade. He took fate into his own hands and imposed his will by going forward, shooting Chad, then turning and dicing up Keith! Marcello tries to save the point but ran into Harrison’s gun leaving just former teammate Chris Schehr alive who was quickly tapped out.

Damage came out aggressively and similar to their last point. Keith to snake, Chad up the gut, with intent to press the snake side rotation. They set up well and got position. However, it was now our turn to use some redundancy. Ryan and Blake stalled out the snake side press of Damage, Joe Barret just kept a steady stream of paint on the outside of Schehr, while Harry kept paint in the center gap which doubled as paint on the inside of Schehr. At under 3 minutes, Blake makes the decision to go offensive and I have to say, I kinda dug it. Granted, it allows some new secondaries from Damage but now they know he is in that S3 and have to do something about it. All off this happened with just over 2 minutes left in the match. Regrettably, Chris Scherh breaks the point open by getting Harrison and Blake. 1:23 on the clock, 4-3, Dyansty in the lead by 1.

We lost Yosh on the break of the next and last point but he trades with his cross field counter. 4 v 4 but our zone control picks up their snake dive. 4 vs 3 at 1 minute. Chad crawled to our snake wedge, but Ryan saw it. Though Ryan lost the initial exchange, Harrison saw this go down and put a ball on Chad. 3 on 2 favor Dynasty with just over 30 seconds left. Blake’s voice continues to cut through as I hear him all the way in the pits. He knows the situation, which means his teammates Harrison and Arturo know the situation too. They picked up Chris leaving just Marcello who they clipped at 17 seconds allowing us to get the final point.

3 for 3 against Damage on the season. I have a feeling there will be a 4th and probably a 5th as well. Kevin, Joey, and the boys will most certainly be fired up for our next one.

Arturo giving everything he’s got. This man doesn’t know how not to give 100%

QUARTER FINALS VS HOUSTON HEAT

I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I am a Heat fan. I love this new line up and it is no secret I am a pretty big fan of Ryan Moorehead and Sam Monville (Shout out to Sam’s mother, Dorothy!). Dude, you can’t ignore Ronnie Dizon’s youtube channel (I wish I had his social media talent). Chad George is arguably one of the best in the game and I personally believe that their three pick ups in the off season was pretty smart.

That being said, I felt we were playing the field better. We had good scouting on them, had a good understanding of their game plan, good box calls… everything said, at least to me, this would be a fight but we would be victorious. But that was not to be the case.

It happens to the best. I know because I watched it happen to my guys. Sometimes you just get “dinked”. I am not taking ANYTHING away from Heat. We had not played against that disciplined of a team yet this event and they executed their game plan well. I just felt our plan was better… but then, just goes to show, you still have to land the shots and not get shot. Congratulations to Heat for a match well played. I don’t mind losing to a good team like that.

Dont’ get me wrong, I legitimately felt it was going to be us and the Russians in the finals. At least.. that would have been optimum I think. Meh… it is neither here nor there. We control what we can control.

And what I can control is how my team will be ready for Texas. See you there.

Be water my Friends!

Atlantic City Open 2025 – San Diego Dynasty

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The 2025 Atlantic City Open was one for the books with some pretty incredible things happening. PB Fit won their 3rd event in a row after slipping into Sunday on a wildcard bid. They were in the “Texas Bracket” as I was akin to call it. They finished prelim competition with a 2-2 record handily beating Infamous by mercy rule and putting up a tough win against NRG Elite 6-4 (another story I will get to). They lost to the two other teams based out of Texas, AC Diesel (6-3) and X-Factor (5-3). X-Factor won the bracket going undefeated and garnering the direct shot into Quarter finals. Diesel would drop one to X-Factor in preliminary match up play and take the 7th seed entering the Ochos to face off against… you guessed it, PBFit. But it would be a different story this time. PB Fit would mercy rule Diesel 6-0 giving them the opportunity to face off against… yep, you guessed it again, X-Factor. And in an incredible turn of events, Fit would go on to mercy rule X-Factor 7-1, as well. In the semi finals, they would slow down the Red Legion who was averaging 8 points played per match, beating them 4-2. And finally, or perhaps I should say, “Finalement” (that’s French see…), they would beat Ton Tons in a double overtime match that went to 1v1’s that ended with Scott Stewart shooting Axil Guadin. If Axil didn’t slip on his way to the buzzer at the end of regulation, we may have had our first European team win in America….

I think it is worth mentioning that NRG Elite, after losing all 4 preliminary matches in overtime at the Tampa Bay event, continued that streak in Atlantic City losing their first 2 preliminary matches on Friday by one, all in overtime, too. On Saturday, they would lose to Infamous by 1 (but not in overtime) and be dealt their final blow against Fit losing 6-4. Besides setting some sort of record (most consecutive losses in OT), they are actually showing some real promise. They are in all their games, they just can’t seem to get over the finish line. It’s coming though.

Leverage, who won their pro spot out of Semi Pro, continues to struggle taking their second last place finish in a row. This event was particularly harsh as they only managed to score 1 point the entire event (Saturday in their Ton Ton match where they lost 3-1). I understand they are missing 2 or 3 starters. Hopefully they will have them back in Cincinnati and we will get to see what they are truly capable of. The team took 2nd in Semi Pro behind Leverage, and who bought their spot in the pro division, the Royal City Sea Dogs, finished this event 16th. They had a 15th place event finish in Tampa. In Tampa, they went 1-3 beating ASG Aftermath, and at this latest event in AC, they went 1-3, beating Seattle Uprising.

Baltimore Arsenal showed up and out winning their bracket ahead of Dynasty and Heat, but then losing in quarters final to finish in 5th place. A vast improvement over their 15th place finish in Tampa. Chicago Aftershock bonus balled their way to missing Sunday again going 1-3 and taking 14th, a drop from just missing the cut in Tampa where they placed 11th. Impact was mercied by the Red Legion in quarter final play taking 8th, a surprising drop from their 3rd in Tampa.

Okay, let’s get into it about Dynasty. We will do things a bit different for this one. Whereas, I normally go point by point, I want to do more of a high level recap of our performance during the match ups. We will see how this goes. This field played to a center presence with a heavy dorito push touched off with an opportunistic snake attack. Most teams played that hand. You needed to have a good gun fighter with high survivability in that snake side can. You could use “paranoia” to slow or cause hesitation on this field. Most teams would launch offensive or counter punches from the pocket. Dynasty wouldn’t be much different since it was the appropriate way to play the field in my opinion. Sure, there were plays in the play book that didn’t look this way. And they would be there if needed… but they weren’t often needed.

VS Baltimore Arsenal

When asked if I would rather have the opportunity to scout a team or have a warm up match, I would prefer the warm up match. There are advantages to both. We had a chance to scout Arsenal as they played (and beat) Houston Heat. They played a pocket game and we felt confident in how to beat that.

Penalties didn’t help though. That being said, even when we were down bodies, we knew to push. For example, that first point, we got a penalty but the remaining three knew how to address. It just didn’t work out.

This match we played down bodies and we over gun fought…a lot. In the few up body situations we had, we would throw a body away by either gun battling unnecessarily, not waiting or calling for help, forcing an issue or trying to create pressure alone. Lots of individual play during this match. Our tempo was off and the guys needed a few reminders of how we were going to play the field. For the record, the two points we won weren’t necessarily because we executed well. And the play call for the final point was busted when Arturo got a bad start. Good solid heads up and disciplined play from the Arsenal camp.

PS – Shout out to JC Whittington! We saw you!

VS CHICAGO AFTERSHOCK

We scouted Aftershock and felt confident heading into that match. We knew there would be some tom foolery but that was to be expected. No surprises there. They appeared to struggle with NYX meaning there were certainly chinks in their armor. We would attempt to exploit them.

I was happy to see that our guns on the break started showing up this match but we would still give bodies back. If you want to understand what happened that first point, we shot two off the break and killed a 3rd very quickly but lost two pretty quick as well. It’s a 3 on 2 and my guys hadn’t tracked that 3rd body that was gone. In other words, they thought it was a 3 v 3 still. They eventually figure it out though. Great close by Alex, Ryan, and Harrison. Great execution of the game plan on point 2 even with the early walk from my man Joe Barret. Joe had a tough go of it this match. 3 points in a row he got clapped forcing a move by not checking off. We had a quick chat, it wasn’t some rocket science talk, no… it was quite simple. Anyway, he got his stuff back together and showed it the last 3 points.

That penalty point was frustrating though. We had to start the 5th point down one because of a major on Arty during the 4th point. We argued that Ryan shot Hoskinson across field prior to his launch on Arturo. But the review showed Arturo was shot prior to Hoskinson’s launch. Dadnabbit. It was now tied 2 to 2 with a little under 7 minutes left… plenty of time.

I made a mistake here with my play call on the down body point. I even wrote it on my scout sheet – “mistake, bad play call”. I was trying to decide where we should be dynamic up the center. In doing so, I wasn’t clear about roles. We got the ground and created pressure early but lost eyes on snake. Of course, Aftershock does their bonus balling shtick. That was okay because the next point they get two minors allowing us to tie it up. And it would be all us the last two points anyway. That stuff may work on less experienced teams, it was just motivation for us. I think we made a joke about it the rest of the weekend.

Harry showed out on the second to last point. Great zone control followed by an excellent read from Harry to, for lack of a better term, decimate Shock that point. We take the lead 4-3 with abut 2:20 left on the clock. Lots of time left but now we’re feeling it. Shock presses the pace next point but we absorb their pressure and turn it on them. When Arturo smoked Hosky and the clock hit 1 minute, I knew it was in the bag. Joe had kept Thomas Kim contained since his arrival at the tower. This forces A-Rod to try and make something happen through the center but Harry dices him up. It’s a 3 on 1, we execute Kim at about 30 seconds and then grab the point after the clock went under 10 seconds.

VS NEW YORK XTREME

With our 1 and 1 record, I would be remiss if I didn’t admit I was hoping to run the score up on Xtreme. This would be our opportunity to pad margin. I was really pleased with our guns on the break again. We shot a body on the break almost every point (NYX survived the break out twice according to my notes). I got a little nervous at first as we tried really hard to throw the first point away. Inadvertent horn caused some confusion on that one as well. Shout out to my boy Timmy Roberts for making the NYX team and getting some spins. Smart call NYX.

We executed the game plan decently well this match. The plan was to get a body into dorito 3, follow him up with a second body to bully the single body from the opponent, shift a third that way to pass off the containment, and start peeling bodes cross field. All of this while our snake side stayed alive, keeping eyes on, and eventually taking an opportunity to feed the snake and close. If an opponent beats us to the snake, our goal shifts a little and we want to be in there with them. It was the paranoia of an opponent being in there with you that did more to slow you down than having a forward Can shooting down on all the knuckles (this wasn’t too bad a practice either). We do all this well on the second point. Not so much the third. We shifted tempos on that one a little. I wasn’t too upset with it but sometimes we over correct.

NYX put a point up on the board on the 5th point. We weren’t over gun fighting in this match but when we did gun fight, we were getting the better of it. There is just over 4 minutes on the clock. Plenty of time to pad the point spread. Shoot a guy on the break, successfully bully our way down the doritos, stay alive on the snake side. But then, we started throwing bodies away again. Frustrating. We almost gave Xtreme another point in the 7th. Thank goodness for my man, Blake Yarber. He literally held the line in a 2 on 1 from the back center and got us our 6th point. 57 seconds left. We stuck with the game plan and it paid off when we shot their snake runner on the break as well as their 1 dorito side. It was a 5 on 3 our favor with plenty of time to get our mercy rule win and pad the margin. By the way, Dany got to show off his gymnastic balancing skills for that final buzzer beater.

VS HOUSTON HEAT

We needed to beat Heat. Sure, some of us had done some math so that, from a contingency plan perspective, if things got out of hand, we would know the situation and could play the margin. But a win by any score puts us in. And it isn’t necessary to have those conversations with the players anyway…

Our game plan matched up well against Heat. It would be a grinder but if we could control tempo and execute the game plan more consistently, we would be the victor and that’s essentially how this one played out. Our guns on the break were good again this match. I keep mentioning this because I gave the guys a hard time about our guns on the break in Tampa.

We won the first point decisively with good guns off the break, solid bumps, and pressure. Heat conceded the point after 32 seconds. Second point was a grinder going 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Came down to a 3 v 3. Arturo shoots Chad George, but at the EXACT same time, Blake tries to retreat and gets caught by Mishka. Then Mishka and Harry traded, leaving just Arturo in the snake can and Lapapa in the home. Lapapa filled Chad’s spot in the snake can just as Arturo went, making him second guess himself and ultimately getting caught.

Third point went long. 5 on 5 breakout and two minutes go by before we shot the first body from Heat. We were already wider than them on the D side but when Joe made it to the dorito corner, I knew we were Gucci. Great execution by Dany to take the ground and Yosh to get Soap off the field. A little more time went by and we took Moorhead off the field followed by a quick concession by Coach Ryan Smith.

This was a Sunday match up and was playing out that way. Not just because of the pace and the teams involved but, on Sunday, you win or go home and both of us were in that situation to an extent. I know Heat was. The 4th point was the key. We get up 4 on 3 after more than 3 minutes pass. As the clock dwindles, Heat found themselves in a tough position. We had them contained. Soap recognizes this and decided to trade out with Ryan and hopefully create an opportunity. They trade but nothing came of it other than it now being a 3 on 2. Arturo was matched up one on one with Chad George while Harrison and Joe were matched up against Moorhead. But then it happened, Arturo got hit by Chad. Joe fills to the dorito corner giving Chad the snake to himself. Harry retreated which I didn’t understand since he was well protected from snake in the dorito he was in. While I’m thinking this, Harrison got a minor clearing our field and allowing Heat to tie it up. As they stood there, I knew Heat would take it to overtime. So we conceded the point at 20 seconds or so in order to get extra game plan time. For the record, at this point, had we lost to Heat, we would have still made Sunday.

We had played pretty conservative the whole match and we decided to go a little far with Harrison. He didn’t make it but neither did Chad George. 4 on 4. Blake was having equipment issues, otherwise, I felt like this point would have been over sooner. When he finally got back into the fight, he went hunting. Because I think Lapapa was having gun issues too, and wasn’t fighting much, Arturo decided to take the snake. Soap repositioned to the brick, Ryan made the call, and Blake took Soap off the board. We end up in an island drill … and it looked grim when they picked up Arturo… but then we got Moorhead. 2 on 2 with 18 seconds left. And then… Ryan Greenspan. What can I say… the dude can play.

We were 3 and 1 headed into Sunday as the 5th seed. Good enough to shoot us straight into the quarters where we would draw the 4th seed and winners of their bracket (also 3 and 1), Tampa Bay Damage. This event had almost a deja vu feeling as in Tampa, we played three of the same 4 teams in prelims and drew Damage as our first match Sunday in the quarters as well.

We went back to the hotel, had sandwiches and burgers, put together a game plan for the former coach and my friend SK as well as former teammate Chris Schehr, and went to sleep recognizing our mistakes and feeling good about the match up.

VS TAMPA BAY DAMAGE

Obviously, we were going to key up on Keith and Chris. And, for the most part, we were successful. We would press hard on the doritos, let our center hunt on specific plays and control on others while taking snake opportunities when appropriately available. The first and second points showed this approach quite well actually. Slow steady pressure. A couple of mistakes in the first but solid execution on the second, even without Ryan.

The next three points however… we let Damage go on a bit of a tear. Third point is different if Harry just checks off. Had he checked off, Holiday is busted and we have an opportunity to counter. Fourth point, we both traded bodies on the break but Damage beat us to the middle as well as got a shot in on Joe. That collapsed things pretty quick. Tied at 2 with 6:40 on the clock. But we had learned something about the field now and it had to do with our first attacker on the D side, so we kept that in mind. We shot Chris on the break and took the snake with a center presence. Solid. Then we get a minor penalty. Dang it. Our 5 on 4 is now a 3 on 4 Damage advantage. In the scramble, Damage pulls it off. Down by 1 with 5 and a half minutes left.

We showed excellent composure and control in the next point. We go up two bodies shooting both Edward brothers but gave them one back in Dany off of a bounce shot. Chaos ensued but this time we won the scramble. Tied up with 3:30 or so on the clock. The rain kicks in but we felt good about our shots. And one pays off as we shot Schehr on the break. They got Holiday into that Hertz tower on the cross. 5 on 4 advantage with plenty of time and lessons learned. Yosh is in the center. Too tasty looking for Holiday who launched into an over watch gun. 5 on 3. Yosh then begins the hunt through the center and got another! 5 on 2 but then he was picked up but not before a concession from SK. Now 4-3 with just over 2 minutes left.

We felt confident they would send Keith on the break and they did. We were prepped and Ryan made an excellent shot and got a ball on Keith. Arturo made the snake before the ref calls Keith eliminated. We hadn’t shown that Hertz tower play all match so it was time to bring it out. Yosh got in but gave it up opting to hunt instead of contain. Ryan got out snake way behind Arturo. Dany and Joe were still alive… we were at just over a minute. I felt very confident with this set up that it was our game. Dany picks up Holiday as he tries to fill the snake… 5 on 3 our advantage. But somehow Jason Edwards makes it into the snake and Jake makes a bold move through the snake side center to pick off Arturo. They now have the snake to themselves as they see Ryan’s gun shooting on the cross. They pinch Dany and Jason launches getting both Ryan and Joe. Chris Schehr hits the buzzer with 1 second left.

We ended up in another Island drill in the overtime point. Joe Barret made a great move outside to stop the bleeding quickly followed by Ryan. Arturo was in the snake. Joe repositioned to check Chris allowing Ryan to pressure Holiday leading to Holiday’s elimination. This leaves Schehr in a dorito and Keith Brown in snake can. Keith launched to bunker Arturo. Keith misses. Arturo doesn’t. Ryan runs Chris down. On to the Semis.

*ZEN NOTE: There appears to have been controversy regarding the overtime point. I will say this, Keith called his shot on Arturo. You clearly hear Keith say, “On his hopper” pointing. There was no hit on his hopper. The paint on Arturo’s butt came from him sitting on a ball. There is no one who was ever in position to shoot him in the ass. Case closed. Technically, you could argue Keith was a dead player signaling…

VS TON TONS

The Ton Tons just got better as the event went on. They started Friday off going 0-2 versus Damage and Impact. However, they would win both their matches Saturday beating Leverage 3-1 (they were the only team that Leverage scored a point on during the entire event) and threw cold water on the Hurricanes’ bid for Sunday beating them 6-1. That was enough to garner them one of the two wildcard spots. They would wake up Sunday morning with a real attitude and give it to Uprising first in the ochos 6-1, followed by a win over Baltimore Arsenal in the Quarters (4-1). So it would be the Ton Tons we faced in the semis.

The first point was a much slower pace for both teams even though we both took the snake early. We were the first to punch the center as well as get wide d-side with two bodies. We shot their snake side can but then lose Joe almost at the same time. The first body to drop for both teams was over 5 minutes in. It was 4 on 4 for the next 2 minutes when out of the blue (with very few guns shooting) we lose Dany. Yosh gets caught a minute later. I start walking towards the concede button when Ryan got caught and Arturo shoots one of the remaining 4 Ton Tons… I concede. An 8 and a half minute point.

We answered the next point in just over 2 minutes. Tied 1 to 1 with just under 4:50 left on the clock. The third point saw our guns hot off the break again. We shot two and blow their snake side. We lose Joe early again but we were in the drivers seat… for about 10-12 seconds. Federov shot Blake making it a 3 on 3. Fabrice got a shot in on Arturo and I am making my way to the concede button again. Except Alex Fraige was already there. 2:50 on the clock down by 1.

We shot one off the break then caught a minor… a 5 on 4 advantage for us to a 4 on 3 advantage to our opponents… again. I try not to slip on the stairs I’m standing on and get to the concede. 2:10 left, down by 2.

We shot another off the break but give them two back! Bodies are running around everywhere, people are colliding, mass hysteria. It comes down to a one on one between Arturo and Federov. Arturo makes the heads up play for the buzzer and hit it with 1:13 on the clock.

It was the final point where we could argue we were robbed. A referee signals a player eliminated, turns and throws a yellow flag high in the air, and pulls a player… except he never pulled or asked another ref to pull the player he signaled eliminated. This is not in dispute. This was confirmed by Jason Trosen. The eliminated player was left on the field. My guys saw the flag go up in the air, signifying two eliminations. That eliminated player shoots Yosh Rau and stalls our push. When he shot Yosh, that should have been a major which is an automatic swing point under 60 seconds. I believe the clock was around 1 minute left. Meaning, we get the point and the Ton Tons have to play a man down so we would have been on the power play. After 30 minutes of discussion, it is decided, “Sorry… nothing I can do.” Our argument was they wouldn’t have been overturning a call, but rather, that they would have been enforcing it. But, alas, to no avail. Ton Tons, a wild card team, would go on to play the other wild card team…

But it shouldn’t have come down to that one call. We should have executed better the points prior. Simple. Lots of mistakes this event. But I guarantee you we are better for it. We implemented some new things in the pits that worked well this time. We have already discussed better preparation methods. So much more to do. Trust the process. Goals are being met but we are not complacent. I, for one, cannot wait to see my boys in blue again and get to work for Cincinnati. Lots to do…

Shout out to the Dynasty Champions Club and all the support the guys and gals provided this event and every event. You know who you are! You are the real MVPs! Couldn’t do it without you.

Be water, my friends.

Take a Stab At It

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I have always been fascinated by the sword. Whether it was through my first introductions to characters such as Robert E. Howards’ original Conan books, Michael Moorcock’s Elric, Fritz Leiber’s Faffhrd & the Gray Mouser, Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, several Arthurian legends, Saturday morning cartoons such as Thundarr, or my later rabid fascination with the Eastern martial arts, the sword was the preferred weapon of many a hero in my youth. It’s design over the years, clumsy, brutish, elegant, or efficient and the different methods used to create this tool is a fascinating study in culture. Think the Roman Gladius versus the Indian Tulwar, the Japanese Katana versus the Spanish Espada Ropera, the Scottish Claymore versus the German Flamberge… design, technique, material… bronze, iron, steel…

Yes, I’m a nerd. I can’t help it. Very cool stuff in my opinion. But then… I am easily amused/entertained.

Because it is a weapon, there are different techniques and styles, all dependent on the characteristics of the blade and its intended design.

*ZEN NOTE – I started to go off on the history of an item meant to be sharp, pointy and used to pierce or cut a human and then later a human in armor, so forth and so on… I digress).

The purpose of me writing this blog is funny. As per usual, I was having a discussion with a friend regarding an Instagram video of a Kendo Tournament. This friend happens to be a paintball player as well. And a certain historical figure came up which led to comments such as, “It’s a beautiful and frustrating part of high level combat sports when you realize the essence of fighting is counter-fighting””” and “Who wrote the best on taking the initiative versus let the enemy reveal his tactics and counter”. Which led, you guessed it, to a PB analogy.

The historical figure was a renowned samurai and, in my opinion, one who hovers layers above any other swordsmen throughout history. His story is one of legend and, no matter how many fantasy sword and sorcery books you read, none of them really compare to the real life exploits of this man’s battles and accomplishments. He wrote an incredible book around 1645 titled the “The Book of the Five Rings” and his name was Miyamoto Musashi. The man had 61 duels, and 61 wins. Understand that, had he lost, he would have been dead.

Back to my my conversations with the friend. He wondered what Musashi would have thought of the stroke delivered by the winning Kendo practitioner. To which I responded that Musashi would have appreciated the mastery of the stroke… and that Bruce Lee more than likely borrowed heavily from Musashi because neither believed in limiting their skill-set. True strategy, I said, was not about excelling with a single tool but about mastering the art of adaptability and continuous learning. Therefore… both initiative and countering should be learned so that one knows when to apply which.

My friend compared reading the 5 Rings as, “Like your best friend is the greatest sword fighter ever and you’re just on the porch talking about it.”

Brilliant.

Anyway, this is what inspired this spontaneous blog session.

The Five Rings is NOT about sword fighting. To put it as succinctly as I can, it is a book on strategy within the martial arts and life itself. There are 5 chapters that essentially correlate to eastern philosophy around the elements (Godai) – Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and the Void. The author uses these elements to illustrate strategic concepts, and then goes on to explain how those same concepts can be applied to your everyday life. At its core, it is a guide on how you can turn a “pursuit” into a way of life. If we understand certain techniques and become competent at them, then we should be able to apply these lessons and processes to other parts of our worldly experiences. Musashi was adamant that becoming a master of anything required not only physical training but mental tenacity and spiritual development, as well. If you can master yourself, well then, you have now unlocked the key to mastering others.

This man wrote the book on the mental game when you really think about it.

So he wrote about strategy and how to apply it anywhere. I’m sure you have figured out where this is going.

What I love about the book , and what has helped shape my view on many things, including coaching (I guess I should say especially my view on coaching) is he preaches on the dangers of depending on a single weapon or technique. He elevates the importance of being a strategist versus being a tactician. For those of you who do not know the difference, both utilize adaptability but a tactician focuses more on specific actions and short term goals, while the strategist looks to develop long term plans in an effort to overreach the goals and ultimately provide direction to and past the goals. Both are critical to any planning but one looks past the immediate need and into the future. It’s the classic tiger/dragon philosophy.

One is purely instinctual while the other is wise

He didn’t believe in tunnel vision. For example, he didn’t think you should study one weapon. By doing so, you reduced your capabilities and would most certainly not be prepared for all combat scenarios. According to the book, when a warrior becomes reliant on a single weapon, they may then avoid situations where that weapon is less effective. This translates to being unable to adapt and limited in their strategic and tactical effectiveness. By relying on one weapon or technique, you have created an illusion… a false sense of capability. You have limited yourself. Similar to Bruce’s teachings, once you say this is my style, then you are limited to said style. True mastery, according to Musashi was holistic, involved multiple weapons and techniques, which lent to being prepared for ANY scenario. It meant adaptation and preparedness.

If you recognize your limitations, you can then work to improve them. This is the key. Honesty with one self must happen first as it is literally the first step in self mastery.

And the same goes for paintball players and coaches. You can’t be single minded. You can’t let ego get in the way. I don’t care how good you think you are, you can always improve, you can always grow. The moment you believe where you are is adequate, the moment you will begin to fall, regress, and be surpassed.

So, we should embrace a mindset of adaptability and one of continuous improvement. We should work our physical and mental muscles. We should be open to new thoughts and ideas, be able to shift course to find new capabilities and techniques, we should want to constantly learn.

But most importantly, we should learn all techniques… both offensively and defensively. Attack and counter attack. If we have one technique, we become predictable. Predictability leads to limitations. Limitations lead to eventual and unplanned defeats.

Ask yourself, if you truly wish to be a good paintball player. Perhaps you have aspirations to be in the professional league someday as a player or a coach. If so, then you better be ready to pursue and push your capabilities to their maximum limit. And once you realize there is no maximum, you will become limitless, formless, shapeless… like water.

I’m still learning.

Be water my friends.

Tampa Bay NXL 2025 Event Recap

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“They say dragons never truly die. No matter how many times you kill them.”
― S.G. Rogers, Jon Hansen, and the Dragon Clan of Yden

A comment before we begin… The Dragon is obviously dead and PB Fit’s World Cup win was obviously a fluke. GTHOH.

Okay. Moving on.

This was one of the more entertaining fields to breakdown/play. No matter your play call, there was going to be a small weakness in it, a slight hole. Whether it was zone control or risk, lots could happen and quickly. Quite literally teams were playing roshambo each point. Which way the Hertz tower was shooting determined a lot, how you used the blind zones, and how you leveraged the center overall was certainly important. Getting outside was good as it shifted guns and created opportunities but it wasn’t necessarily a death sentence for the other team once in the 50s. So much about this field made it in effect, a true chess match… a read offense field. Creativity and instinct were vital aspects to the success of teams. All while players dealt with a plethora of bounce shots.

Overall, I am pleased with the maiden voyage at the helm of the Dragon. The successes we saw and the adversity we overcame was nothing short of astonishing and a complete team effort. Junior Brown is worth his weight in gold, the staff and members of the Dynasty Champions Club (become a member today at http://www.dynastypaintball.com and enjoy all the amazing perks) are absolutely best in class, and the team is full of unbelievable minds and personalities that continue to enlighten me. I am truly blessed to be a part of such an extraordinary organization.

Alright, lets get into it. I am writing this at 1 am so bear with me.

VS Arsenal

After the almost 9 minute first point between Aftershock and Uprising, I had questions. But no time to truly ponder/answer them since we had a reloaded Arsenal in front of us. Lots of depth and intelligence on that team. It was going to be a knife fight for sure and it was.

Pt 1 – We were confident they would test our guns with Archie so we put two guns in the blind utilizing a delay for Arturo into the snake. Both teams made the snake and shot a body on the break but Harry got out wide dorito way. Joe falls in behind him which was awesome since it was damn near impossible to get the 2 out after losing the one. We lost Yosh out of the center but Arturo caught ABJ. We were in a 3 on 2 and the boys closed out cleanly and quickly. 1-0 Dynasty

P2 – We pressed it with Dany dorito way and he got caught (Hertz tower on the cross). Kyle didn’t hesitate and got out to have a presence. We used the blind again but kept threats moving forward. Blake Yarber took the center and Alex Fraige stayed in Hertz. Blake recognizing our weak side pivoted to d-side tower to contain Arsenals d-side progress. Arsenal did a good job with the set up here. Alex saw a line and hoped Hertz was looking elsewhere. Hertz wasn’t. Alex tried to shoot Omara in the snake and got caught. Major penalty which pulled Blake and Arturo but Arty got a ball on another Arsenal player before they pulled him. This left Kyle in a 3 on 1. Kyle launched and got two clean THEN gets shot cross field by Cody McKowski. They threw a major on Kyle but it was overturned and we were back to 5. 1-1 Tied.

P3 – The Avocado Brothers pressed the pace d-side when we shot Arsenal’s d-side aztec. Ryan and Dany contained the snake side aztec while Yosh caught Omara in the center. Dany fed the snake. We had the wides, pinched out their backs leaving ABJ in snake. Dany found him and does him clean. Good execution, good containment, and good pressure. Good close. 2-1 Dynasty.

*We were in x-ball now and we will go on to lose the next 4 points.

P4 – ABJ caught us after we are set up and had won the break (he shot three of us. Ryan and Arturo show valiant effort). 2-2 Tied


P5 – We shot ABJ and win the break again. But we lost Blake early and Dany got clipped entering the snake. They now had the wides and we were stuck in center/back. 3-2 Arsenal


P6 – We traded bodies early on the break but Arsenal picked up another two quickly making it a 4 on 2. I let this go for 15 seconds or so, didn’t see Yosh or Ry in posture, so toweled. 4-2 Arsenal


P7 – Arsenal won the break as we lost 2 bodies fast followed by another at around the 2:50 mark. Here I’m calculating average time to win a point, my guys posture, and current time. When we lost Ryan, I was pressing the buzzer but it wasn’t working. We started yelling “towel!” Lost 5-6 seconds. 5-2 Arsenal.


P8 – This was the turn around point. The guys composure in the pits was solid. We sent Arty to snake and had two guns up to shoot d-side and sent Harry. We got the d-side kill, shot another who drew a minor. Harry, Joe, and Blake got it done with a 1:46 left. 5-3 Arsenal.


P9 – Arsenal’s paint had been high d-side the last two points so Harry was feeling it. He sent it again with Joe right behind him. Ryan shot ABJ on the break but got caught. The guys pressed. Harry and Joe put on a clinic drawing guns allowing Blake to probe center and close. We sucked the wind out of their sails and now it was all ours. 5-4 Arsenal (38 seconds left)

P10 – We knew they would focus on the wides, particularly the snake head. Harry went big, made it with Joe just behind him again. Arty to the corner, not the snake, drawing the gun up, Ryan underneath into the snake, Blake pressed the center. Bonus to us shooting ABJ on the break. Incredible shots and play from my guys. 5-5 tied


OT – The team had now developed a read option for Arsenal’s stack (if A than B). We made the assumption they were afraid of getting stung by Harry again so we figure the Hertz tower will be d-side. Arty took the snake but we lost Harry anyway. Blake saw this and transitioned to dorito tower to slow d-side progress. Ryan won a gun fight against ABJ and Arty went to work in the snake shooting Arsenal’s center body. With that body gone, Joe could spread d-side now, Ryan could force multiply and relay the situation. Great communication and close.

VS NYX

I’m going to hit the highlights on this one. This was an 10 point game in the prelims. Every time I thought we would put them away, they would claw back. I will say, it felt like NYX’s only real attack was a center push and so, we would take advantage of that.

P1 – We owned the center and snake, Harrison ran through and got a major. Arturo closed them out. 1-0 Dynasty


P2 – Dany and Kyle shot the d-side aztec giving us the body advantage. Blake won the center war while Dany and Arturo owned both sides of the field. 2-0 Dynasty


P3 – Dany made the snake and went straight to snake 50. Shoots everyone. 3-0 Dynasty


P4 – Harry got wide and chopped up their center while Blake added a little extra love. Slow patient strangulation from there with Arturo in snake, Alex backing him up, and Kyle Barry on Harry’s heals. 4-0 Dynasty


P5 – NYX made a smart call here and got a player undetected into that D side big wedge. He caught Arty, which shifted Yosh’s gun once he was busted allowing the snake push. Ryan went for damage control to snake corner and Joe won a gun fight on D1 attacker who had crossed onto our side. Ryan eventually got caught, and Joe lost the 3 on 1. 4-1 Dynasty


P6 – We went wide BOTH sides and made both. Blake decimated their center, allowing Dany to wrap snake 50 and johnny’s your uncle. 5-1 Dynasty.


P7 – Bad play call by me on this one. We lost Dany on the break, Alex got caught on retreat, we had committed Blake’s gun dorito way allowing Harrison to attack snake side center. 5-2 Dynasty


P8 – We knew they didn’t want to go wide and that their only success had been center. We put two guns on protect and have a snake side big wedge on the break hunting for them. Yosh got two before heading off! This allowed Arturo and Ryan to spread snake way. NYX smartly got there too though. However, the advantage was to us as the clock just kept dwindling. We finally closed them out. 6-2 Dyansty.


P9 -We were in good position, but it fell apart when Ryan called his shot on the NYX snake player, saw the ref go in, and thinking he got his kill, launched into the snake gun who then wrapped the 50 and blew it open for NYX. 6-3 Dynasty.


P10 – The team was a little perturbed from the last point and the fact NYX wouldn’t die… Alex wanted to have a say about it. Great heads up play by my man, Mr. Fraige.

VS Ironmen

This rivalry has been around for what? 20 years? This one would be a test.

P1 – We struck first taking Pat Kraft off the field. But then dominoes… Harry, Arturo, Ryan, and Joe all get caught. Yosh went forward. Legend. 0-1 Ironmen


P2 – This was a tick for tack point. We went hyper aggressive up the gut. The Men put paint up the gut looking for us and connected on one. Alex made it and picked one up but we lost Blake. Sentz traded his body for Alex’s. We took Nicolau off the field but then Dany got picked up. Kyle Barry then got picked up. Arty went defensive in 2 on 1 and we are down 1 so, let’s keep the time. Towell. 0-2 Ironmen.
P3 – We went big with a staggered middle and rope-a-dope to d-side tower. Yosh connected his shot as Baldwin fed the snake. Next to drop was Caro which opened an opportunity to feed the snake. But somehow they got a ball on Arty… I can only guess it was Sentz dropping one over the beam. Harry got wide though and diced up Sentz. Ryan made snake corner. Good pressure and we were on the board. 1-2 Ironmen


P4 – We felt play two was strong so we went back to it. After a push like that we knew they would try to counter our middle so it made sense. Alex smoked Sentz but eventually got picked up. But Blake cleverly set a trap by backfilling Alex’s spot. Dany aggressively took the dorito 50, Arty got out wide snake way in the corner. Nicolau fell for the Blake bait. Guest got Blake on a running shot (impressive) but Arty took Guest. Baldwin looked for the send and ate one to the mouth from Arty in a trade. KB figured out it was home only (Kraft). He spread the field with Dany. Good close. 2-2 Tied


P5 – Yosh shot cross and Joe was on protect to get their kill dorito way while Ryan and Arty get TWO kills snake way (yellow flag on Men). The remaining two died so fast I didn’t see it. 17 second point. Good guns boys! We should just do that every time. 3-2 Dynasty


P6 – Another bad call on me. Ironmen take a page from our book. Joe even warned me that his route would be compromised and it was as they picked Joe up. Sentz clipped Yosh on a short wrap. It was the mid game scramble here that was fun to watch. It ends up a 2v2 with Arty and Ry. Pat Kraft gets the drop on Arty. Guest catches Ryan wrapping. 3-3 Tied


P7 – It was time to be among them… and Blake Yarber got the call. Love the play but the Ironmen never took the bait! Bonus – Harry made it out wide dorito way and Kyle got out behind him. Blake must have been straddling that beam for almost 2 whole minutes . Alex gets clever since the Men are trapped in the pocket and crawls to the big d-side wedge and just misses Sentz in the Hertz tower. He was now busted but no worries…we were in position. Unfortunately, Blake got busted too. He missed his shot as Baldwin feeds the snake. Blake was eliminated for stepping between bunkers (he was never shot). But not before Alex scored his kill on Sentz in the Hertz tower and Dany fed the snake that no one saw. Harry makes dorito 3 and caught Kraft trying to leave the center can. Kyle Barry followed him up and added his gun creating great pressure. They shot the second home and Antimaso out of the Ds… they toweled with 1:20 or so on the clock. 4-3 Dynasty


P8 – We know they will push the center or the D’s or both. Like I said at the beginning, its a guessing game. They took Yosh off the board. Losing Harry next and early really hurt us. Caro came through. And they close on Ryan and Joe. 23 seconds left on the clock. 4-4 Tied


P9 – 22 seconds is plenty of time. We took the risk to send it and if it didn’t work out, we figured we would have another chance in OT… hopefully. Besides, I felt confident that the Men would play for OT meaning they would go pocket. It was simply a matter of which way the Hertz bunker would be looking. If he looks snake way we are golden. He looked snake way. The Avocado Brothers struck again. I spoke to my friend Shane later and he advised me he actually wanted to go but was talked down.

VS Heat

This would be another great test for the Dragon. The battle of the two undefeated teams from the bracket. I was really proud of our team’s execution in this match save for maybe one point…

Pt1 – We shot Ronnie Dizon off the break but lost Ryan. Yosh took the center and Heat got to the snake corner. Harry dropped a ball in on Frey who was in back center. Yosh took one evening the body count but then Arturo played this masterfully. Harry continued progress down field but eventually got caught pressing the issue. Arturo’s gun and Joe’s comms really won that point. 1-0 Dynasty


Pt2 – Great guns on the break by the boys in blue blowing the snake side of Heat out allowing Alex to wrap and trap. However, Heat sent it to trade with him. Blake made a move into the snake and went straight to the 50 to keep the pressure. Lapapa made it interesting because both Blake and Dany ran into his gun on the close. This was discussed. 2-0 Dynasty


P3 – Heat shot Yosh on the break but NO one saw Dany make the snake. He went straight to the inside 50 but a ref decides to check him giving his position away and Mishka stepped off his bunker to put a ball on Dany the moment he popped up. Dadnabbit. What was cool though was the composure and disciple Harry, Ryan, and Joe showed burning off over 4 minutes. 2-1 Dynasty


P4 – We attacked the center with Joe and Yosh. Heat got Soap up their dorito way too. But we were still able to get Harry into Dorito one and Ryan managed to get out behind him. We were in great position. Then Dizon miraculously made the snake! Yosh smartly decided to reposition center but stay on task. When they sent Soap to take Yosh off the field, he got diced by Joe (maybe Ryan too on the run and gun his way back to center). Ronnie made a good move and cleared the center out but Arty took him down. As we got under 2 minutes in a 3v3, it seemed as if Heat didn’t want to press even though they were down by 1 with plenty of time to put it together. Sure enough, their posturing was all defense save for Moorehead. When Ryan Moorehead got picked up by Arty (I saw the shot from the pits… it was gorgeous) at about the 30 second mark, I turned away and began congratulating the pits for a job well done.

Quarter Finals VS Damage

Dynasty had lost their coach Kevin “SK” Bredthauer and their D side one player Chris Schehr to Damage during the off season. No hard feelings there, nothing but mad respect for both of them. SK is a good friend of mine and I want nothing but success for him. Though I could be wrong, I feel the guys played with a little chip on their shoulder which was a great added edge on a double sided blade.

P1 – We showed good guns on the break taking two huge threats off the field early in Chad Busiere and Keith Brown. Yosh got to the snake side big wedge trapping Damage from spreading. He felt it and went for a line but got caught. Arty was in the snake… and then a strange thing happened. 4 on 3 advantage us but then a towel. Surprised but not disappointed. 1-0 Dynasty

P2 – Damage returned the favor shooting two of ours snake way while we peel Chris Schehr off the field. They were wide with Jacob Edwards D side, Chad in the center sheating d side, Keith Brown in the snake, and Agent Smith in the Hertz tower. We were stuck in back line. 1-1 Tied

P3 – They shot Ryan on the break but Yosh pushed center early. We dropped their back center quickly evening up the body count. Arturo got into the snake and went to work! He took 2 off the field bang bang then ran down Keith Brown. Yosh cleaned it up by shooting Chris. 2-1 Dynasty

P4 – Both teams survived the break but Yosh got caught on a transition…Ryan played off chaos and slipped into the snake catching Jacob Edwards in the back center. Keith Brown had made it into our snake 50 but our d-side caught him. We had a 4 on 3 body advantage now and it was just a matter of a clean close. Chris Schehr was pressing but Harry got out wide and Arturo joined Ryan in the snake. I relaxed as Arturo caught Chad and Ryan clipped the rest. 3-1 Dynasty

P5 – both teams pushed the center. Joe got caught by Chris I think (bounce) and Yosh saw a line but got picked up too. Harry and Arty both went forward on the tapes (love it) and Ryan spread out behind Arty. We lost Harry though shortly after though and it looked grim that we would let Damage take the point. But then we got a gift from Keith. He launched into Ryan’s gun and then decided to shoot at Arturo as well. Red flag flew. This put Ryan in a 2 on 1 who then streaks down snake way and steals the point. 4-1 Dynasty

*We go on to lose the next 3 so I will sum up. Damage starts winning the break AND the scramble.

P6 – CHAOS! Joe somehow got caught by a ball in back center, Yosh and Chad traded in the center, Harry shoot some dudes, Keith Brown closed out. 4-2 Dynasty

P7 – We lost Ryan on the break, but Blake got one back in the center and then dunks Keith Brown clean! Body advantage but then a minor penalty on Dany pulled us back. Harry battled valiantly but Damage took the point. 4-3 Dynasty

P8 – They clipped Arturo on break, Blake gets on back with a center push but got caught almost immediately after along with Harry. 4 on 2 with Ryan and Joe. Once Joe dropped, I wanted the time so we toweled. 4-4 Dynasty

P9 – 5 on 5 break, we held Blake’s gun back on a delay up into the center, Harry got wide with Joe, Ryan and Arty doubled the snake insert. Chad was in the d-side center wedge but we picked him up and Blake sent him on a walk. Then Blake re-positioned and picked up the d-side aztec! Their home decided to fill in behind that death right into the meat-grinder that was Blake Yarber. 5 on 2 and Damage smartly conceded. 5-4 Dynasty

p10 – Prior to the point, Damage took a timeout. We know 5 guns alive is paramount so we get 5 guns up and played the pocket. Brian “Agent” Smith took a good line into the large snake side wedge and Blake missed it (roshambo). We bounced Chad and discovered Smith. Either Harry wrapped and got a ball in on Smith or ripped the bounce and scored or more than likely it was Blake. No matter, he was the most immediate threat and he is now off the board which allowed Blake to become the new threat in the center. And he lived up to it. He shot Keith Brown on his attempted fill into the snake and then caught Chad as he tried to back fill snake way. He then put it on back center! Towel from Damage after that with 1:16 left. 6-4 Dynasty

The final point both teams traded two bodies off the break making it a 3v3 but we took the advantage just a second or two later. Keith Brown got the drop on Arty dotting his eye but once again, the Avocado brothers, Harry and Joe, hold the line!

Semi Finals Vs Red Legion

This would be another grinder similar to our Arsenal match. 11 points played and scored. It looked as if Heat had beat the Legion as they had time and were at the buzzer but my guess was Soap shot Monville? Doesn’t matter, we had the Red Legion in front of us and it would be blow for blow. And once again, we would put ourselves in a deficit situation and have to claw our way back.

P1 – First point Blake and Arturo get caught early and Kirill was up in the center fast. He caught Ryan on his fill out. Harry went offensive but lost Joe behind him. I toweled it 48 seconds into the first point. 0-1 Legion

P2 – Loss – 0-2 Legion

P3 – We got Malloy off the field but lost Arturo. Blake and Ryan are up in the center and Harry gets wide dorito way. We lost Blake but Joe gets behind Harry and started helping him bully. Ryan worked his way around to the d-side of the center quickly joined by Harry at the 50 dorito. But then we lost Harry… I gave it another 15 seconds and conceded. 0-3 Legion

P4 – We got 5 out alive! And Yosh Rau made a great read on a line, launched through the center snake way, and gets two! Harry became the tip of the spear building off the chaos Yosh created with Dany, Ryan, and Joe closing it out. 1-3 Legion

P5 – We shot Sergey on the break. I felt like we hit Malloy too but no joy. Both teams in the snake but then Harry and Dany came off quickly. Yosh got popped out of the center. Ryan made a desperation dive into snake corner and makes it. I let 10 seconds or so and am next to towel but Joe advanced buying another 15 seconds. As soon as Ryan died, I hit the towel. 1-4 Legion

P6 – Cool, calm and collected in the pits, we know we just need to get out alive. We delayed release with snake and center. And we make it. Then Yosh Rau AGAIN takes a line and got 3! Arturo cleaned it up. 2-4 Legion

P7 – Both teams made snake but we got a two (Ryan) behind ours (Arturo) sooner making Kirill in Hertz tower have to contend. They snagged Yosh on his run though. Harry gets to D1 and Joe vacated back center immediately to fill in behind Harry. But then Arty got picked up on the inside and Ryan got picked up by Malloy who had taken the snake 50. We lost Harry and I have to concede again to save time. 2-5 Legion

P8 – We got guns up and scored two kills but lost Harry. 4 on 3 advantage to us. Blake pressed center and Joe Barret pressed into the dorito 50 quick! We dug out Kirill and Joe traded with Karsliev. Blake and Arturo located Malloy and Blake popped him. 3-5 Legion

P9 – Blake Yarber into the snake side Big wedge with a “Look at me!”, Ryan Greenspan on the delay into the snake, quickly followed by Arturo into the snake as well. Blake on the low wrap to take Sergey out of back center, Karsliev dropped shortly after, 5 on 3 advantage to us. Blake “the face melter” Yarber pressed that advantage through the center since they have to respect Arturo and Harry on the wides. Got himself a 3 pack! 4-5 Legion

P10 – We were now within one with over 3 minutes left. We burnt one legion on the break but Harry gave them his body back. 4 on 4 when Blake went hunting through the center d side taking Khiril off the board but got caught by Rabackoff. 3 on 3 but Arturo snuck a great shot in on Rab! Then he caught Malloy over the top! 3 on 1 and the boys sent Sergey to the pit to tie the game. 5-5 Tied

P11 – The line was hot. The guys knew the probabilities of what Legion would do based off the stack. We got our guns up and break out safe. Blake sneuck into the snake side wedge looking inside dorito way and became a meat-grinder again. Blake picked up Karsliev in dorito insert and then Rabackoff too. With only Malloy’s gun dorito way from the snake insert, Harry and Joe could take ground creating major pressure. Ryan joined Blake in the center but on the dorito side creating immense pressure and allowing Blake to take a great line at Khiril in the Hertz tower at 20 seconds, peeling his face off. He took another smart route increasing angle on Sergey, getting him and finally dotting the i on Malloy. 5 pack Yarber! Ryan comes in and hits the buzzer at 7 seconds.

Finals VS Paintball Fit

The finals format was changed a week out from the event. The finals would be split into two 10 minutes halves with an 8 minute “halftime”. I was looking forward to this as it hearkened back to the original x balls days just with out the roid rage. Fit had looked pretty dominant the entire event never really deviating from their tried and true game plan. Even with Colt hurt, they didn’t seem to miss a beat. They were getting production from everyone. But we were feeling confident headed into this match.

P1 – Fit went with their standard pocket break out and we essentially mirrored them save for Arturo making the snake. Unfortunately, Ryan looked into a bounced ball off of the snake beam. We picked up Chavez. This is always a good thing when you get him off the field. Harry got into dorito 1 and then dorito 2. Meaning we had the wides and if we played this right, we should be able to slowly cinch the noose. Arturo caught Fit’s snake side tower (Cyrus) which was a green light for him to go forward. Fit’s Mason launched and traded with Harry. But not before we caught another and then cinched up the noose. 1-0 Dynasty

P2 – We match up again with both teams getting 5 bodies out alive. We doubled the tower with Alex and Blake, Dany into snake insert, Kyle Barry home, and Harry dorito insert. Harry looked into a ball (seemed to be going around) but Alex Fraige took the snake side large wedge and posted up. Fit, in the meantime, has gone with their standard break but we let Chavez get out wide. Alex gets his man and another but Chavez pressed the issue d-side and caught Blake. Luckily we picked up the two behind him (Mason). 3 on 2. Kyle Barry clocked in and caught Chavez’s counter and we closed out on Sebaugh. 2-0 Dynasty

P3 – Ryan took the Snake side big wedge on the break, got caught on a wrap and we lost Harry too. But we got Arturo into the snake. However, Fit gets into that d-side Tower, putting pressure on our home to allow Chavez to get wide d-side and Mason got into into the snake. Mason shot Yosh and then dunked on Arty. 2-1 Dynasty

P4 – Both teams break out similarly with the only difference being Harry getting to D1. Chavez mirrored him up pretty quickly though and then Mason got out behind him almost immediately. We should have done the same honestly. But Harry was on offense and gets into dorito 3. Kyle finally got out of that back center into the d side insert. I thought once that happened the clock would be our friend. But then disaster. Dany gets clipped, Blake saw this and made a big move into the snake, and Kyle gets clipped. This all happened probably within the span of 3 seconds. Harry won his gun fight with Chavez, making it a 4 on 3 advantage to Fit. Sebaugh makes a big fill to snake corner, Yosh just missed the shot, and Blake got caught all at the same time. Alex tried damage control by sailing for the snake and got picked up. Harry tried a tactical retreat but got snagged as well. 2-2 Tied

P5 – 55 seconds on the clock before half time. We wanted to press it, but once again, Fit’s guns on the break shoot our one snake side (Arturo) and our two d-side (Joe). Yosh made the center snake side wedge. I thought he put a ball on Fit’s Hertz tower, but no call. Ryan got clipped just as he got into the snake corner with about 30 seconds left in the point. 5 on 2. Fit was off to the races D side to close out. 3-2 PB FIT

We headed into half time knowing Fit wasn’t doing anything we haven’t seen all event long. We are having survivability issues, getting shot out of our spots and losing gun fights.

P6 – The first point after the half the Fit guns were still hot, shooting our ones on both sides. Yosh gets us not one but TWO back when Fit tried for the snake push. Joe won his gun fight coast to coast against his mirror giving us the body advantage. I still don’t know what caught Yosh. I think Chavez from the D side as Yosh wrapped on him. Ryan gets to snake corner as does Garringer, Chavez in D2 with Joe in dorito insert. Joe worked his way to D2 as well but Cyrus was creeping in snake now. Joe made D3. Then he and Ryan made Cyrus’ position. Joe takes 50 dorito and Cyrus takes 50 snake (again). Joe got creative, keeping the center structures between him and Cyrus and almost clipped Chavez. He had to fall back to dorito 50 when his missed the shot. While this is going on, Ryan with his years of experience and instinct, hauled down the snake to catch Cyrus worrying about Joe, and gets him clean. Joe saw this and with impeccable timing runs down Chavez. Wow. 3-3 TIED

And that would be the last point we would win…

Fit would simply continue to show how hard they worked on their gun skills winning the break and winning gun fights. Its obvious they trained to be explosive off the box on the buzzer. We would struggle to stay alive and after winning 3 matches from a deficit, it was not to be this time. The minor in 9th point when we were in good field position did not help either.

Lots to take away and learn from this event… lots of room for improvement but one thing I can share is this: I have a team full of players who not only possess tremendous PB IQ but they are full of grit with no quit in them. Back to work.

Again, congratulations to Paintball Fit. Well earned and they are a testament to hard work and discipline.

See you all in AC.

Be water my friends.

Two Dragons – a New Era

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It is Christmas Eve morning as I write this. I often use this time to reflect on the past year, count my blessings, and recognize where I have been, where I am, and where I am going. This is the season of giving… and I have been given much.

A phrase said and heard over and over again… “Change is the only constant in life.” I think this very simple yet powerful statement is true because it encapsulates the fact that, every moment is transient.

Change can be a scary thing. That’s because it can be an either/or… either positive or negative. We never know if a change will be good for us or not, and usually not until enough time has passed and we fully realize the consequences of it.

I do believe that, more often than not, change makes us better. It helps us grow. If we aren’t actively seeking it out, we should at the bare minimum be prepared for it. Though I think we can all agree that most of us are programmed to resist it… even when we know it may be best. Why is that?

More than likely because we are comfortable. We are warm and protected in our bubble/routine of the known. We have become dormant, being content with what is, never considering what could be… Why would we upend any of that for the possibility of losing it or replacing it with something difficult? Why actively pursue potential adversity?

Because comfort is where dreams go to die…

Change is often the catalyst that drives many of us forward. And we need to recognize it for the true power it wields.

** Zen Note – Before I go any further, I want to take a moment to once again thank the New Orleans Hurricanes for their love and support. I am tremendously grateful to them and always will be. They helped propel me to where I am. I am forever indebted to them. Love you guys. This change will make you better and stronger, of this I have no doubt. I know I am leaving you in better condition than before!

The recent decision of mine to leave the New Orleans Hurricanes to take on the role of San Diego Dynasty’s coach has brought a tremendous amount of change to my life. Some of the ramifications of the decision were felt/seen almost instantaneously, others have yet to be revealed. So far, all have been positive and I cannot think of a scenario where the consequences of this action will have any negative connotation. And if I could think of one, I doubt I would accept it or recognize it as “negative”.

Am I worried or concerned about the future? Not really. Let me explain. Stoicism teaches us that we suffer more from the imagination than we do from the reality.

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” – Marcus Aurelius

I love that Dynasty’s logo and mascot is that of a Dragon. The dragon, in eastern cultures, is a symbol of strength, wisdom, good fortune, and magnanimity. The latter is my favorite of the descriptors. The virtue of a strong heart and mind… it is something I have always aspired to. It is why the Zen logo is a dragon. We should want to encompass these things, pursue them, obtain them, and maintain them. And, over the years, I think it has been obvious that these virtues were and are integral to Dynasty, as well.

I have so much to learn. It has already been a surreal start. The Dynasty guys have been nothing but welcoming and professional. I think we all know how much their legacy in this sport means to so many of us. It is not lost upon me what they represent to the paintball community. Even though I am older than every member of this team, I certainly understand and respect what they represent to paintball as a whole. I am duty bound to give everything I can… and uphold that legacy.

My biggest excitement is with the implementation of my system with Dynasty. I have always believed that a good coach can walk their team through the what, the how, and the why of any change. The latter is probably the most difficult. The WHY must be meaningful… frankly, I wholeheartedly expect them to apply Bruce Lee’s method to what I bring. They will “absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely their own.” Meaning, they will just make it better. Heck yeah…

So where do we start? We start with a vision of the future. That vision will encompass some questions which will lead to efficiency and streamlining… what is necessary, and what isn’t. We will trim the fat. We will manage expectations and understand what that structure will be like. We will set goals and develop plans to reach them. We will not limit anything. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and we must not stay there, we must go beyond them. (More Bruce btw)

San Diego Dynasty are champions. They know how to win. They are the heroes of this unfolding story. This is about them. They are the ones who will make history. They are the ones who will be on the field implementing a shared vision, meeting the goals, rising to the challenges that face us. My role in all of this is to chart a course and steer us towards fruition. If the winds shift, my role is to adjust the sails. If the sea gets choppy, I need to make sure the crew is prepared. If we get off track, that’s on me.

“Rough seas make good sailors”. And they are already good sailors. They know how to sail the rough waters. The perils that await us are not anything we haven’t seen before. We will meet them with the same weapons of reason which today arm us against the present…

To Alex, Ryan, Yosh, Blake, Danny, Harrison, Arturo, Kyle, Joe, and Junior… I cannot wait for this journey to begin. In many ways, it already has.

Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year!

2024 World Cup Recap

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Failure is a harsh mistress.  One that, if you aren’t careful, will continue to show up at inopportune times. Especially in the world of professional paintball.  You’re only as good as your last performance and after our 2nd place Las Vegas event, where the team gave the PB world a glimpse of what we can do when we execute, the New Orleans Hurricanes have consistently fallen short of our capabilities. Especially on the goals front set by the team at the beginning of the season.  We didn’t meet a single set for this season after the first event.  But sometimes, we can get so focused on winning, that we fail to recognize the lessons learned from the losses.  It is said that failure can improve resilience, incite innovation, and even generate creativity that may not have occurred otherwise. And I thought that’s what we accomplished in preparation for this event. That being said, you better have resilience if you continue to under perform and play like we have.  The lessons may start to get old and finding that tenacity, tapping into that “dog” in you, can start to become difficult.  Well, not really… not if you are a true “dog” … a real warrior. And my guys are the real deal. But something is wrong. And we have to fix it.

Disappointed doesn’t seem to have the full connotation or essence of what I am trying to convey regarding my guy’s performance (and mine) at this year’s World Cup.  This is now the third year in a row that we have gone 1-3 at the final event of the year, losing matches we should have won.  We knew how to play this field.  We knew the keys to the kingdom so to speak.  We knew the set ups, we knew best where to close from and how, we knew where to push, where to create pressure, had good adjustments planned and prepped.  We had good understandings of read offense and our opponent’s stack.  We just simply failed to execute after the buzzer.  We weren’t ourselves and frankly we haven’t been since Atlantic City.

And that has to rest on my shoulders. That’s where I failed.  With most of your top teams in professional paintball, paintball is the priority. This is not the case with my Canes.  Paintball is a passion.  The priority is our families and jobs.  Since going pro 3 years ago, we knew it would be tough and that we were in for tremendous difficulty if we wanted to be competitive and relevant in this league.  So, my job was to figure out how to be competitive and relevant with limited time and assets.  My job was not just to help them prepare, but to draw that great performance out of them… Each member of this team had a point at World Cup this year.  Unfortunately, it isn’t individual performance that makes the dream work in this sport.  It has to be a team effort, which I have always felt was our strength. And we were just discombobulated.  As the leader, I take accountability for not having the words and/or wisdom to draw better performance out of my guys.  This season is going to haunt us, I’m sure.

VS Brooklyn Bears

Point 1 – We knew the bears would play a similar match to us.  I felt between the two squads there would be aggression on all three fronts of the field but that we would win the day with guns on the break and better comms.  And it looked like I was right in point one.  Even though Drew Bell was team killed off the rip by getting shot in the foot by a teammate, we shot the Bears’ snake runner on the break with our pocket shooters.  Britt Simpson took ground d-side and Nic Ripple was in the snake 50 by himself all within 15 seconds.  Daniel held the Bears out of the snake, Stuart spread behind Britt.  We are in excellent field position.  I am smiling in the pit because this is the set up we want (granted I wanted that 5th body as force multiplier but…still).  I knew we were going to win the point.  But then things start to deteriorate. Nic picks another body off but we lost Britt.  We are now 33 and this field has turned into an island drill.  Nic got dinked making it a 2 on 3 but Stuart Ridgel steps up dorito side and peels another off. 2 on 2 now after we had blown the advantage.  Daniel Camp zones up and sure enough catches the Bear’s dorito side making it a 2 on 1 with the snake corner the only body left.

It was the first point so I wasn’t concerned.  First point jitters kind of stuff maybe.  Nothing prepared me for the continuous drop off in performance the rest of the match. 1-0 Hurricanes

Points 2- Should have been a 4 on 2 favor to us mid-point.  We bounced three of them this point. However, the Bear’s paint did not bounce when they had their shots. 1-1 Tied

Point 3 – We won the break shooting the Bears snake runner but we let them fill out.  We were once again in position to close out the point and win.  We had the snake side stacked, and I’m ready for Nic to go do the guy in front of him.  Instead, he retreated and got dinked out.  Stu and Sakaguchi trade in the snake, so now both teams had 2 bodies dorito way, and one body each in the snake.  Aaron Pate won the snake war decisively! Again, I’m thinking to myself, great job, we’re gucci. But then he got picked up by either one of the greatest or luckiest shots from the dorito 2 retreating back to home… it ends up in a one on one with Drew Bell.  I felt good about the odds but… no. 1-2 Bears

Point 4 – Bears win the breakout, we are down bodies and time is low.  I concede. 1-3 Bears

Point 5-7  Bears play paintball and we forget how.  The end. 1-6 Bears

*Point 8 – We got a major in the point before.  Bears are on the power play 5 on 3 off the break.  We hold. 

Big wake up call. We had now put ourselves in a precarious situation and it was just the first match. No worries. Stay positive, understand the mistakes, get it together. Absolutely no reason we shouldn’t and couldn’t win out.

VS Ronholt Dynamite

Ronholt are a Norwegian team and I really like those guys.  But we needed to hang it on them, so we set out to do that.  They were predictable, not the best laners, and I knew we were better gun fighters .  They normally have 4 weeks on a layout so I felt confident they weren’t as prepared as they would be for an event in Europe. We knew what they were doing, we didn’t need to adjust anything to beat them.

Point 1 – we went aggressive and win in 45 seconds.  1-0 Hurricanes

Point 2 – same thing but it slowed down a bit. Pate shot the first body, someone shot Dynamite’s snake, then Pate shot the rest.  Pate gets a 4 pack and should be in the running for Prelim move of the event. 2-0 Hurricanes

Point 3 – Dynamite found there guns on the break but we still should have won the point. 2-1 Hurricanes

Point 4 – we won the breakout, made our closing spots, clean close. We are on our way to do what we needed to do to erase the first match. Or so I thought. 3-1 Hurricanes

Point 5 –  I got a little concerned on this point.  It took us way too long to close this point out, especially since we knew the situation and where they were.  I feel our dorito side should have been in the fight sooner.   Searight should have felt comfortable coming to Dynamite’s side as none of the three were in position to slow his progress.  Dynamites mini wall can’t go anywhere.  Drew Bell has to be a little more careful than Searight as he had to push the S2 in before he can go but once through, it should have been over.  I feel like we should have won that point with at least 7 minutes or just under still on the clock.  4-1 Hurricanes

Point 6 – One player had to rush to the box and is pulled for leaving early… he wasn’t shot. That’s on me. I had no idea there was a gun issue and frankly, there shouldn’t have been. Next body looks into a ball… d side was blown. Its 5 on 3, Dynamite’s advantage but Nic got to the 50 snake, and peels not one, not two, but three bodies off before he dies.  He did everything he could to save the point. This left us in a 2 on 2. Unfortunately, my two last bodies didn’t know where the two bodies were and it costs us.  Blind shot on Drew Bell costs him his body. Trade at the end with Daniel Camp in the snake and Dynamite is on the board again. 4-2 Hurricanes.

Point 7 – We win the break and they got a penalty I think.  They concede with 2 and a half minutes left.  We needed to win by 5 just to get back to 0.  So we need to get on the board in about 1 minute 15 seconds or so average to make me happy.  That would not be the case. 5-2 Hurricanes

Point 8 – We just couldn’t stay alive.  I don’t know what was going on…  5-3 Hurricanes

Point 9 – We stay alive but Searight drew a minor.  The “hit” on his pack was obviously rub from one of the bunkers but it is what it is….  We burn the clock.  Game.  We did not accomplish our goal to win by at least 5. This would haunt us. Match should have been 6-1.

VS AC Diesel

We scouted Diesel and were ready for them (or so we thought).  We knew they liked to use the pocket, and press the snake action.

Point 1 – They break as we anticipated but they still win it.  4 on 5 advantage them but we beat them to the snake.  We bait Godlman into a gun in the snake making it a 4-4.  However, we lost Dorito containment and got sloppy in our bunkers. Cortez makes Britt pay for it.  While that was happening, Nic kills the god and was on their side of the snake.  Cortex shoots Pate, Nic has no idea what was going on, they hit the buzzer. We shouldn’t have lost that point.  1-0 Diesel.

Point 2 – I wanedt to use the center on them because I had a sense they would go snake corner and weak d side.  They did.  Unfortunately, they made their first shot on Pate count.  While that was happening, Britt had made it to Diesel’s side of the field.  But he decided to over gunfight.  We were just giving them bodies.  We had fed the snake so I decide to give it some time to see if we can eek one out.  Sure enough Drew Bell makes a moving cross field shot from the D side on Mouse in the snake!  He then shoots the D side one!  We have now evened the body count up 3 on 3.  Daniel Camp shoots the D side 2 cross field!  There we go!… But Clint Johnson sneaks one in on Drew.  It’s a 2 on 2 and my guys later reported they didn’t know where Clint was… we dropped the ball again.  2-0 Diesel.

Pt 3 – The next point was a cluster. Get this, they shoot Camp on the break but the ref next to the one calling Daniel out, thinks the other ref is talking about Nic!  That’s right, Nic was clean but the ref kept yelling at him to get out so he did. So Diesel gets a free one thanks to a ref not just taking a beat to understand. We got one back and Britt is on their side of the field in their Doritos.  He missed his first shot and now they know he’s there.  But Pate picks up Clint Johnson.  It’s now a 3 on 3 again.  A minute goes by, Pate feeds the snake but then… both Drew Bell and Britt Simpson come walking off.  I don’t know how.  It’s a 3 on 1 so I concede the point.  3-0 Diesel

Pt 4-  We were pretty confident they would spread and they do save for the 1 dorito side who went a little further than we thought.  Drew Bell asks for a paint check on his back.  The ref called him clean.  As he progressed up the field another ref found the hit the first one missed.  Penalty… I had to concede. 4-0 Diesel

Pt 5 – we finally play hurricane paintball 4-1 Diesel. Too little too late. Game.

VS Aftershock

We scouted shock and had a great understanding of their game plan.  They literally had one play they ran 80% of the time with two guns up and 3 heads down running.  We would try and take advantage of that.

Point 1 – Well, those two guns up were good.  1-0 Afteshock.

Point 2-  Same.  Except this time, we shot two of theirs shortly after.  2 on 3 but my two are Drew Bell and Searight, so I let this go a bit.  Drew gets in the snake, shoots Hosky, Searight shoots Cory Hall!  Drew put a ball on Thomas Kim’s neck, we all saw it from the pit.  The ref calls him clean.  Searight should have shot him as the ref was checking him.  Anyway, one on one, Thomas Kim wins it.  2-0 Aftershock’

Point 3 – 4 on 4 break which quickly became a 4 on 2, Aftershock advantage… I concede. 3-0 Aftershock

Point 4 – I have officially left stoic demeanor and am now in putting my foot up everyone’s butt demeanor.  We know what they will do and want to do.  If we can live past the break, quit giving our bodies away, we will beat them!  We shoot two on the break (finally),  Arod threw his body away, 3 on 1 advantage us. We were on the board finally playing the way we knew how to. 3-1 Aftershock.

Pt 5 – We lost the break but get the advantage snake side when Danimal took Hosky off the board.  Searight pressed the issue dorito way as well and he eventually worked his way to their side.  He shot their god, they send a body to get him, that dude got diced, we close out. Another point where we are looking like ourselves!  3-2 Aftershock

Pt 6 – We know they will go back line and we decide to go short snake way (snake way shooter was hot).  The read was right and we shot their 1 dorito way and their 2 snake way who drew a minor. Corey shot Britt but Nic caught Corey, 4 on 1 advantage us.  I don’t think we knew about the minor and were looking for a second body. At the very least, this issue was better than the issues we had been having. Good close considering. And a third point in a row where we played to our potential.  3-3 Tied

Pt 7 – We know they will do their standard break out. Two at home, one body short dorito way, god and snake corner.  They did.  We missed our shots though.  Both teams for the first time this match are 5 on 5.  Arod missed his shot on Daniel who is on their side of the snake but we didn’t.  Arod takes the walk.  We shoot Parrish D side, and I remember thinking, it is 5 on 3 with just over two minutes.  We got this.  I’m thinking Daniel will launch and stab out Hosky.  Instead Hosky went highway.  Then a strange thing happened… a ref throws a minor on my player who asked “whats on his head?”  Hosky had a BUNCH of paint on his head and there did seem an instance where it looked like he took a lick in the snake. We were going to win this point and potentially the game… but a ref had inserted himself into the match, on a talking penalty no less. Oh well. Control what you can control. I have to concede the point with a minute forty left.  4-3 Aftershock

Pt 8 –  Arod gets away with one this point. We watched him get shot from the pit.  He was hit, he realized it, and launched before a ref could get there.  Stu points at Arod asking for the penalty and they throw a penalty on us for pointing… pointing everyone. Nic trades in the snake making it a 2 on 2.  But Drew Bell and Danimal pinch the home.  Drew trades with Parrish. Daniel waits to hit the buzzer until about 6 seconds.  4-4 Tie.

Overtime – Aftershock takes the win after we lose the break and team kill one of our guys.

So what did we learn here?  We have learned that you have to be at your best every moment of every point of every match.  You better hit your off the break shots like you were at practice.  And you better close cleaner by checking in and realizing your down count because there was probably a guy doing a job… and if he isn’t there anymore doing said job, that is bad… more so when you don’t know it. The Canes are known for two things – guns on the break, and disciplined team work. We had neither at this event.

The New Orleans Hurricanes started this season off well with a 2nd place finish in Vegas.  We had two goals this season, neither of which we met after Vegas.  Make every Sunday and win an event. I have a lot more to say on this and maybe I will write another blog later this month to cover all of it.

But first…

Seneca taught that “Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.” And he is absolutely right. But I’m not a perfect stoic yet.

…But I am always trying. With that in mind, I will avoid commenting on a “distraction” that reared its ugly head the day prior to the event. Now to work on that Christian value of mine regarding forgiveness, too. That one will be tough. To the “source” that fed the lie? Pray I don’t find you.

The rumor of our demise is greatly exaggerated. We have work to do.

Be water my friends. 

2024 Windy City Open ReCap

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After starting the season off with a 2nd place finish in Vegas, I find myself sitting down to write about yet another disappointing and subpar performance by the Hurricanes.  This marks our third event where we went 2-2 and missed Sunday.  We are now 11 and 8 on the season (61-68 for/against).  If you had asked me if we would be in this position after Vegas, I would have confidently and perhaps with a little defiance, stated no.  One of the goals we set for this season was to win an event.  We have missed that goal so far.  Since Vegas, we haven’t hit one of our goals set for the season, one of which was continuous Sunday appearances.

I think we have proven we are adaptable and can play any game, whether it is fast and bloody, slow and disciplined, or a mix of both.  We are a team that beats you with team paintball.  Our process and successes have been from our ability to process data as a team and play selflessly.  When we have the information, when we can connect on the layout, we are very dangerous.  However, the layouts as of late have proven that you must be comfortable going forward without all the data and in some cases, none. It’s about risk taking and our processes have been about risk mitigation.  Breaking that mentality we have ingrained in ourselves to punch and counter punch based off data has been difficult to say the least.  Our processing speed and read offense has always been data based… if A then B… If B then C…. that has not been the case as of late.  And that’s on me.  Our system was good enough to get us to the pro division.  It was good enough the first two years to keep us competitive and a threat.  It was good enough for Vegas.  But good enough isn’t good enough anymore.  It is time to adjust the system.  To sum this event up, we knew how to play this field. We were ready and the game plans were solid. The issue was simply a lack of consistent execution. My ones applied pressure but were just getting “dinked” out and my twos were inconsistent on when to apply additional pressure and follow up.  Don’t get me wrong, my guys played some good paintball… some of the time.  The inconsistency bug has struck us again.  That falls on me.  Time to rework and readjust the system.

Vs Ironmen

The first point we wanted to attack and attack hard, to make a statement.  And we did.  We went aggressive D side with a relentless push from Britt Simpson with a plan for Stuart Ridgel to follow up quickly and apply pressure.  We would get Nic Riippel in the snake as well to show we were coming from both sides.  We lose Stu on the break but Drew Bell knows the drill and quickly plugs the hole d-side.  Britt trades and on the Chaos, Drew takes the Ironmen’s side of the field.  I feel Britt could have got two but I will take his aggression just as well. Drew peels one but misses his second opportunity on a kill.  Drew catches a penalty as he gets a skimmer pack hit.  This leaves Nic in the ironmen’s side of the snake in a 3 on 1…  0-1 Ironmen.

We showed we would attack and be a threat on both sides the first point so I wanted to show we could do that AND be a threat in the center as well.  Stu just missed his shot on Ironmen’s snake player who ends up shooting Mike Brown cross field in our dorito side.  Drew Bell quickly filled the gap though and with Justin Bailey containing, was able to mount a second offensive on that side.  Drew crosses onto the Ironmen’s side and shoots snake corner, snake 2, and their home.  He them went to trade (unnecessary but I dug it).  At this point, Daniel Camp is on the Ironmen’s side of the field snake side and we still have Stu and Bailey to close out, which they did. 1-1 Tied

Point three,  I felt we were in the driver seat off the rip.  We were the aggressor again and had the snake 3, snake corner for support, and the dorito 50.  We were in better position and I felt confident we were going to take the point.  Daniel Camp gets out of snake corner to support Britt Simspon in the snake 3 so if there is a trade, we don’t lose the ground.  I felt we should have been out of that can dorito side to support Nic who was in the dorito 50 way sooner.  Especially since Ironmen’s snake was applying no pressure.  We got out to the first dorito though and I once again, felt confident.  Britt got into the Ironmen’s side of the snake which made me doubly happy… I thought he is going to go trade eventually and then Daniel will be in position unseen.  Instead, Britt got picked off by a bounce shot…and the Ironmen got out of the snake corner and join their own two man team in there.  Then Stuart Ridgel got caught.  We are now in a 5 on 3. Nic got peeled next. 5 on 2.  Daniel makes a move, got 1 but…4 on 1 and I want the time.  Conceed. 1-2 Ironmen

This next point was difficult for me to watch.  We knew what has to happen on this field.  We had to be first, create pressure, and get our twos in the game to clean up.  I called the play knowing we had made a small mistake with point one.  Both teams went aggressive.  We were in the snake and first to the corner.  They were first out in dorito 2 and 3 but we were first into the dorito 50.  Nic got to the snake 50 and eliminates dorito 3 for Ironmen.  Daniel Camp fed the snake again behind Nic to be gain ground and be a force multiplier.  Drew Bell (Home) and Stuart Ridgle (dorito can) now had some freedom to force multiply and increase pressure.  We were now in complete control of the field.  But we lost Britt out of the dorito 50… Although, at the same time Nic had improved his position to Ironmen’s snake side and I am positive he landed his shot… ref didn’t see anything though…Omara moved to snake 3 and shoots Nic… I feel like Nic needed to stay posted that way with Drew Bell now in the snake side center wedge on overwatch.  Stu was at dorito 50 but repositioned back… not sure that was the play.  Camp gets into Nic’s former spot and missed the shot on Omara. Had this landed, Stu could have taken ground, eliminated home, and we could have closed tieing the game.  Time had dwindled to a point where we were committed as there was just about a minute left.  The personnel I had out there I trust to make it happen.  When Drew went to center, I thought, okay… wait… major penalty.  The rest is history.  Two opportunities squandered.  3-1 Ironmen.

Vs Xtreme

We had scouted Xtreme well and felt confident in our game plan.  We would emphasize dorito guns, pressure their box to not allow them free reign back there, and concede/contain snake.  This paid dividends on the first point as we shot two and they got a penalty.  Jeri is left alone in a 5 on 1.  He gets one but we closde him out.  He would get his later though.  1-0 Canes

We went with a designed play similar to the first but with one adjustment.   Stu would shoot his shot, then reposition out to dorito side to support Britt’s dorito push and filter Drew Bell up to where Stu was showing (Dorito brick).  Nic and Daniel would contain and when given the opportunity feed to have snake presence.  We landed our shot dorito way and landed a second which causes Xtreme to draw a penalty.  D side is blown for Xtreme and we had position.  Interestingly enough, we scored a shot on Jeri too.   5 on 2.  Britt crawled to their dorito side, got the cross field elimination, and Xtreme concedes.  2-0 Canes

We didn’t come off the gas.  We got Britt into dorito 3 to wrap for any center presence. We got Nic into the snake 2.  We also got our two snake way out quickly.  Zone control snake side is on point as we shot snake corner and the fill.  5 on 3 advantage us.  We were in control, I anticipated Xtreme to concede when one more body droped.  Then it happens.  I actually saw it coming… ask anyone in the pits.  I say out loud, “We have no snake containment!  Holy crap…somebody notice.”  A simple statement from my 3 or 2 snake way changes this (“I got this, you get that”). Jeri Caro takes the risk at the right time with the right seam and makes us pay.  I hope Jeri got the $500.  2-1 Canes

After a conversation about the last point, we were back on task for the next.  We were winning the breakout and I didn’t see a need to make any radical adjustments.  They shot Daniel on the break but we took Jeri off the board as well.  Drew Bell filtered snake way since Nic is alone and Xtreme has a body in there with Nic.  Xtreme was actually in better field position here but our spread was set so that we could absorb a push and counter.  Once Drew got out to the corner, he could push Nic forward.  Stuart began to press the issue dorito side since Xtreme seemed hesitant over there.  Mike Brown was in reserve behind Stu.  My guys are communicating well so I felt good about them not repeating mistakes.  The point began to drag on, again we are in position to absorb knowing Xtreme has to come being down 1.  Mike Brown let Nic know about Canter in the 50 snake and Nic lands his shot.  Kraft makes a good move but Nic canceled him out with a trade.  Stu got caught but Drew drops the hammer snake way knowing he had the side to himself.  Absorption… counter.  3-1 Canes

We felt confident Xtreme would shift their emphasis to the center in some manner.  Unfortunately, we missed our shot and lost the first body but get one back when Drew Bell shoots Jeri again.  Stuart makes a great fill outside dorito way and got the kill on the dorito side brick.  Drew took the opportunity to fill underneath Stu.  Josh Taylor for Xtreme went offensive and took the 50 dorito but Drew knew he has to go and sacrifices himself to get him Taylor off the board.  Kraft came through the center next and Daniel was in the snake 2 but on the wire.  Nic was telling him but I don’t think Daniel heard him.  Fortunately, Nic squeezes a ball in on him giving us a 3 on 1 advantage.  We didn’t know the count but luckily Daniel picks up on the last body (Canter) who had left the snake and went into the center.  Stu drops leaving us in a 2 on 1…Nic spread luckily, Daniel traded and we get the last point.   4-1 Canes.

I’m thinking about spread now… so we had to study our opponents well heading into the next day of competition.  Our opportunity would come with Revo who seemed to struggle with their first two matches.  And based off scouting of the Legion, they were predictable.  But there is a difference between knowing what a team will do and executing the game plan to stop it.

Vs Revo

We were unable to watch tape the night before to reassess our own matches much less watch our next day opponents as the webcast had issues with uploads.  So we studied our paper scouting sheets and developed what I thought would be the best approach to Revo.

The first point Revo shot 4 of my 5 players on the break.  Ever the optimist, I let Justin Bailey know that he hit his shot on the snake corner runner.  0-1 Revo.

I didn’t think we needed to do anything different, just get out alive.  We did but we don’t completely when Bailey gets clipped repositioning to snake corner.  We were first to the dorito 50 with Britt who clipped out Revo’s snake corner, but they took Daniel Camp out of snake 2 just before.  4 on 3 advantage Revo but Drew Bell got into the snake undetected.  And with Britt and Stu applying pressure D side, he got the drop on both Revo players in the snake before the dorito side for Revo gets a ball on him.  We were now in a 2 on 2 with both teams dorito side.  Stu slipped out of the doritos into the center.  Unfortunately, he does the jump- jump- jump maneuver and it cost him.  We get a gift from the PB gods though as a Revo player decides to leave the safety of his bunker and into Britt’s gun and Brit wins the next gun fight.  Individual play and mistakes by Revo saved the point for us. 1-1 Tied

Revo wasn’t showing me anything spectacular and after two points I’m not seeing any adjustments from previous data we had.  We spread the field and pushed Britt into the Dorito side snake on the rip.  Our guns paid off and we have the ground in a 5 on 2.  Revo conceded which made me happy because I want to play points for margin. About 10 and a half minutes left on the clock. 2-1 Canes

I decided to push the snake side now as well as doritos.  Both my ones made it in and once again Britt was first to the 50 dorito wedge.  Revo was in front of our pits and I watch as the first snake player goes in and Stuart dropped a ball in on him from home.  They feed the snake again from snake corner and I again watch Stu put a ball in the same zone which caught the player’s foot.  So did the ref.  Running ref finds the hit and it’s a minor.  4 on 2 our advantage and we closed out clean.  3-1 Canes

Revo hasn’t shown much aggression once they made it out wide dorito side.  We felt that would change as this is when they would probably push it or try to slow ours down with a dorito center brick. We spread and decide to try and use the god to check off inside.  We get a body on the break and we knew that they were already down 20% with the dorito brick waiting on a shot.  We knew they made the snake though so Drew tries to use a shot to contain.  Daniel had direction that if the shot didn’t pay off, get in the snake and go to work.  He did just as Drew lands his shot on Revo’s snake player.  We just had to wrap and trap now which should allow Daniel to go all the way.  Revo tried to fill and we picked him off.  Stu launched and dropped the hammer on Revo’s center.  Drrw traded with last body.  4-1 Canes

Revo attempted to flip the script and take a page from our book going straight to dorito snake and snake on the break.  They also shot Dnaiel on the break.  Stu got caught trying to fill out.  5 on 3 but Nic took Revo’s player out who had crawled to our side of the snake.  I’m thinking okay, we Gucci… then Nic got clipped and I saw a flag go up on our side of the field dorito side… 4-2 Canes

Revo saw success with their last play and knew they have to press the pace.  So, I wanted to take the dorito out of the equation and get in the snake.  Stu lands his shot on Revo’s dorito attacker and Britt takes the Dorito snake.  Daniel shot his mirror in snake side Aztec on the break.  At the same time, Nic made the snake, wraps on the Revo home player who was playing too tall.  Stu launched forward looking cross field for the snake that Daniel called, finds him, then turns just in time to catch Revos 2nd attacker Dorito side to trade.  5-2 Canes

I wanted to get guns up so we spread the back.  It worked out well as we shoot the snake corner and the dorito 3.  This also helped us with visual acuity so we knew where the bodies were.  Stu launched through the center as we peeled off their bodies from snake Aztec and home allowing Stu to snag Benny Carrol’s back. 6-2 Canes.

To say I was happy with how the match had gone up until this point would be an understatement.  I was pleased with how we had come back into form the last couple of points.  We were imposing our will and I was confident we had seen all that Revo had.  Just over 5 minutes left with a 4 point lead.  My hopes for a high margin were being met.

But it can never be that easy… not in this division and certainly not this year…  We were now in X-ball and without going into all the detail, let me sum up the next 4 points.  The first point comes down to a 3v3 but we fail to know the situation and got dinked out.  The next point, we won the break but end up in another 3v3 and don’t know the situation and get dinked out but bring it back to a 2v2 thanks to Daniel Camp.  However, he missed a cross field shot and then got caught retreating leaving Nic in a 2v1.  Nic did a great job getting out to the dorito side which bought him some time from the snake player.  But it isn’t enough.  Revo won the break on the next point and then its just a charlie foxtrot… I told the guys “Its time to be among them” and we send Stu up the gut and we win the point.  It’s 7-5 now with just under a minute left.  We shot two quickly making it a 5 on 3 and I’m thinking, “yes, get me that last point”.  But no… dink, dink, dink… 7-6 Canes. 

Vs Red Legion

We have played the Legion 6 times now in our professional career.  The first time we met was in our pro debut event in 2022 at the Sunshine State Major. After going down 6-1 and on the verge of being mercied, we clawed back making it a 6-4 match with 3:35 left on the clock.  Plenty of time to come back to tie.  We go up 4 on 3, had them trapped, but didn’t press the d side attack quick enough on the last point. 

We would pull them again our first year at the Windy City Open.  We would go down again early on 4-0 with just under 9 minutes left if I recall.  We came back and scored 4 points unanswered points with Aaron Pate hitting the buzzer with a few seconds left to take us into overtime.  We would win in overtime 5 to 4.  We were the ONLY undefeated pro team out of the prelims that event and it would be our first top 5 finish.

We would meet them the following year at the 2023 Lone Star Open. They would be our only loss in the Prelims with a grinder of a match 3-1.  The score does not denote how close that knife fight was.

We would pull them at our disastrous 2023 World Cup.  Ironically, they would be our ONLY win that event as we would edge them out 5 to 3.  Though, if we are being honest, penalties killed them, otherwise they would have most certainly won.

We would pull them at the Atlantic City Major of this year where they just seemed indomitable. And yes, the put us away 8-2.  We could have made Sunday if we had kept it close but we didn’t.  We died on our swords trying to play their game.

And here we were about to face them again.  We had done the math and we knew if we kept it close with Legion, we would be on to Sunday.  We needed to stay within three…  We had also done our home work on Legion and felt confident in the game-plan.  We knew where they wanted to be on the field and we knew where we needed to be to intercept them.  But you have to hit your shots.  The first 6 minutes in, I felt good about where we were.  That would not end up being the case.  We would be mercied again by this team who has essentially evolved the game of old into a new statistical fast attack.  You want to beat the legion?  You have to hit your shots.  We had opportunities and we let them slip through our grasp.  Legion 8-2… again.

As we head into cup, we have our worked cut out for us.  We are currently ranked 8th (My goal was to be higher than that at this point) and we have a hell of a draw.  Heck, no draw is easy anymore.  We have one final goal for the season that MUST be met and that is to actually do well at World Cup for once in the pro division (our last two were disasters).  It will take a lot of work, a lot of commitment, a lot of understanding, and a whole hell of a lot of heart.

But if I know my guys, we are up for it.  Roll Canes.

Be water my friends.

P.S. Good to see our friend Grayson up and about, inspiring all of us to never give up! #fightlikegrayson