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.
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.
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
The key to surviving and remaining relevant in Major League Paintball’s professional division (in any division really) is not a team’s depth of roster, funding or any myriad of things… sure, these aspects certainly lend to successes. But the real key, in my opinion, is a team’s ability to adapt. Adaptability is the difference between success and failure. One could go as far as to take the stance of British writer, Max McKeown that “All failure is the failure to adapt; all success is successful adaptation.”
The New Orleans Hurricanes, whom I truly believe are one of the most adaptable teams in paintball, did not adapt well at this event. Which is strange since I also believe that one of our strengths as a team is our collective ability to recognize and see aspects of layouts rather well. That, and we had actually worked on a form of adaptation the weekend before in preparation for the blind layout. We knew how to play this layout. We knew what the optimum set ups were. We were in good position several times in all four matches and yet failed to follow through on execution or, in some instances, recognize the opportunities we had just created. This marked our second missed Sunday out of three so far this season… not where we saw ourselves at this point in our third year as pros.
“Our identities are always changing and growing, they’re not meant to be pinned down. Our histories are never all good or all bad, and running from the past is the surest way to be defined by it. That’s when it owns us. The key is bringing light to the darkness – developing awareness and understanding.”
Vs Blastcamp
We respect Blastcamp and their approach to the game. We wanted to really set a tone with this match, leverage our creativity as well as our roster. That was the plan with the first play call. Go big, be first outside, signal a balanced approach on the box when we had no plan to do so, use some misdirection… you know, the usual. Our guns on the break were stellar and positioned well just in case they decided to go big too (which they did), and the misdirection was unnecessary as we win the point in approximately 20 seconds. Great read by Jacob Searight to dunk the missile Blastcamp sent to fifty Dorito. 1-0 Canes
Blastcamp answered well with solid guns of their own shooting two of us off the snake side. We took one of theirs off the D side and immediately took ground in an effort to turn the field. On this layout, a body advantage early was a big deal, so in turn, you had to take advantage and create opportunity quickly. Daniel Camp understood he had to shut down that 50 snake wrap while Searight and Drew pressed the action D side. Valiant effort from my players but Blastcamp took ground, probed the middle, found the opening, and closed out. A 3 minute 40 second point. 1-1 Tied
We felt comfortable attacking the wides again getting guns up in the center. We got the kill but Drew Bell got caught out in the open. Had he committed earlier to going forward, he more than likely would have been fine. Even count, four on four. We had good position in snake and wide dorito way with Blastcamp essentially pocketed. But we allowed Blastcamp to take snake and filter into a three man operation that way. Not optimum as my two man operation dorito way with Mike Brown and Justin Bailey now had to contend with two cross field shots. The key would be eliminating Dorito side can. Blastcamp repositioned further into snake side which boded ill but we did picked up the D side can kill. This meant that Blastcamp’s remaining assets had to respect that the side was blown. They decided to run though, Danimal diced him up on over-watch before he got to Pate but no penalty. Danimal went tall, caught another and then commited forward getting the last Blastcamp player. Our push close should have come from D side but it still worked out. Quick concession from Blastcamp. A two and half minute point. 2-1 Canes
Data from my guys showed a comfort staying wide and maybe pushing the issue a little further D side. We made our spots, five on five paintball. My guys all made secondaries and were looking good. Searight pressed the action D side. Point drug on as both teams were zoned up and Blastcamp developed that three body set up snake way. I felt that, with Searight inside and Daniel inside, Pate could have been a bit more proactive here, especially since we had Bailey in the snake side aztec controlling the outside of the 50 snake brick. We eliminated their D side can just before Blastcamp began probing the center in order to take Daniel off the field. They traded. Four on three advantage us. We were in good position, had the lead, and the clock was burning. We had this one and should have extended the lead. That was when things got weird. We got a minor because someone somehow sensed or complained that Daniel’s gun was hot. So they checked his gun… not with the chronograph he chrono’ed onto the field with… no, with the other pit’s chrono. He shot hot so we got a penalty and they pulled Pate out of the snake. This changed the strength of our positioning and improved Blastcamps. They closed the point but not before Justin Bailey almost turned the point around getting 2 of the 3 remaining. 2-2 Tied
We pressed the wides again since it hadn’t been looking like it could be stopped but they did end up shooting our D side one and took the 50 snake quick. It boded ill as Daniel improved his position to snake wedge but lost his first engagement. Pate did damage control by slipping out to snake corner. Clock was under 3 minutes and we were in a 3 on 5 disadvantage scenario. I stood close to the concession button waiting to see my guys try something… I decided I would give them 1 minute. Drew Bell made it out to dorito corner and I breathed a little better but was still not happy. When Stuart filled to the can though, I got real nervous. I thought for sure he would have filled towards Pate. As soon as Pate died, I conceded. 3-2 BlastCamp
I kicked myself just a little for not conceding the point a little earlier but I always trust my guys. So now we had to develop a super fast play. There was no doubt they would want to just make their bunkers, lock up access, and try to hold on for 71 seconds. With that in mind, we knew we needed to take an opportunity early, especially since they hadn’t shown good guns D side. Knowing they wanted to protect the wides and would look for a snake side push, I opted for a different approach with my guy’s buy in. We were going to press the D side action. We would risk one body D side to draw the guns and plan to filter another underneath. We would get heavy guns up, try to get key eliminations on the break, then read into our secondaries. We took a timeout to make sure we were all on the same page and understood what needed to happen on the reads. The point started and we got one elimination, made the doritos, filtered a second body underneath dorito way as the guns went wide, and secondary into snake corner. Even after losing our rabbit D side, we succeeded in positioning Dorito way with Drew Bell and Stuart Ridgel executing well. Drew got the drop on two of them, one of which decided to play on drawing a penalty. Drew hit the buzzer early which I was fine with because I would like to use the time for two reasons… one, to let my guys work their lanes, and two, have a little more time to work on my play call with the team for the next point. 3-3 tied
For the overtime point, we knew what Blastcamp wanted. So we prepared a little rope a dope. I set Searight up D-side with the look to go big but his real goal was snake 50. We placed two guns dorito way and they paid off shooting Blastcamp’s one on that side. Searight got to his spot, trusted his over-watch from Pate, and we settled in to push the snake with a 3.5 man operation. Blastcamp committed on Searight, Pate on over-watch caught him, and the Blastcamp player tried to play on. Luckily he didn’t shoot his gun or it would have been a major instead of a minor. About the time the penalty was thrown, Danimal picked up another kill cross field on D side. We were in a 4 on 1 with just over two and a half minutes to close the point out. Canes win.
Vs Uprising
We were able to scout Uprising during their match against the Bears. We felt we should be winning the break and making it wide again. We had also determined we needed to secondary a little quicker. With that in mind, we headed into the first point shooting Uprising’s dorito one on the break and took quick secondaries out snake way. We also put a ball on their center aztec near snake wedge who drew the penalty. We were in a 5 on 2 situation but Uprising had the snake 50 who quickly wrapped and shot Mike Brown at the home. My guys had the kill count wrong, too. However, they didn’t rush, they figured it out but not before it became a 2 on 1. Hey, blind layout which we had played a whole 7 points on. I’m not going to be too critical… yet. 1-0 Canes
We kept going wide because, why not? They finally picked Pate up on the run and gun to snake corner but he took the home with him. Four on four but Uprising began pressing D side pretty aggressively. They essentially had one gun to beat who came off their zone by the way, so really no guns to beat. Snake 50 dropped Drew Bell in the D side can and then Britt Simpson in Dorito one. Its a matter of time for Daniel and Mike Brown. 1-1 Tied.
Uprising went pocket and we spread D side. They got crafty and used that D side “alley” to get into the D side wedge but not before shooting our D side one (Searight). Drew Bell knew we need that asset outside to keep them checked but got picked up on the fill. Mike Brown did make it out there, however. We picked up a kill making it even again but that lasted all of about 1 second as Pate and Daniel got shot. But Mike “Clutch” Brown shoots another. This means he was in a 2 on 1 advantage Uprising but Mike has faced greater odds before. Unfortunately, you can’t win all them and Uprising took the point. 2-1 Uprising.
Alright, back to basics. Get Nic Rippel in the snake, draw the gun out wide with a dorito runner and filter underneath D-side with Drew Bell. Leave Pate in reserve as overwatch with Nic. And that’s how it went. We shot their D-side can but Uprising seemed to panic a little with Nic in the snake. This allowed Searight to go offensive with Drew right behind him. Bailey swung out behind them as force multiplier knowing this was the window. Welcome to the meat grinder. 2-2 Tied.
It isn’t broke. Let’s go. But it was broke… kinda. Nic’s hopper decided to give him a problem. We were in great position. We had shot one of them on the break and had Dorito one, the forward D side aztec, the snake 50, snake side aztec on over-watch and home. But we allowed Uprising to take the snake and get a drop in on Drew. We got a body back giving us the 4 on 3 advantage. Uprising was in Dorito 2, snake side aztec and snake 2. We had Dorito 2, dorito can, snake side aztec, and 50 snake. We had Uprising’s snake 2 contained and their dorito contained. Not a lot we could do with their 3rd though. I was thinking Bailey would be able to get out of the can but he hunkered in and got small preserving his body. Uprising committed on Nic for a trade but a sloppy secondary follow up cost Uprising their second to last body. It’s a 3 on 1 and the clock was ticking (I believe it was 2:30 left at that point?) so, barring a catastrophe, I knew we were going to take the point. Whether my guys knew the count or not (I could tell they didn’t since they were still covering some zones that had NO ONE), I was just waiting for Uprising to concede. 20 seconds later, they did. 3-2 Canes.
Still plenty of time on the clock. We decided to pocket up and get guns up. We got one but they made snake 50 pretty quick. We knew they were going to go snake 50 and wanted the quick wrap . Nic actually shot the wrap, I know this because the Uprising player even asked for a check, and the ref called it “rub”. Stu heard the snake call and tried to get to that wedge to catch him napping. Unfortunately, the snake looked inside just at the right time, otherwise, great play. I remember thinking to myself, just get to the dorito one and this point will be fine. Mike Brown made it out there as if he heard me through telepathy. But then got shot almost immediately after… dang. Had he lived I feel this point would have gone longer or finished differently. Uprising closes well. 3-3 Tied.
We played the 10 second point and we decided, heck, let’s go for it. We got to the 50’s and that was about it. Time. Okay, into overtime.
I waited to call a time out after Uprising’s time out for two reasons. One to ensure we were good and comfortable with the play call (I sent Stu out to the box to ensure the five were good). The second reason was to play a small psychological game against Uprising’s 5 on the box. Unfortunately, neither really did much. We should have lost that point. But Aaron Pate and Daniel Camp put the team on their back and won a 5 on 2 with help from our opponent who kept throwing body after body at them with no coordinated effort or close. Nic got shot on the break, Pate and Daniel made their secondaries and Searight went a little offensive but past that, we just sort of stagnated…Uprising pressed with the body advantage and had moved the skirmish line to the 40 and 50… I started a decade of my Rosary I keep in my pocket at that point with about 2:30 left… This is when it all happened. Uprising shot Drew out of the can and their D side immediately launched to bunker Searight. The first one got picked up and the second got picked up as well! So, now it was a 3 on 2! Uprising’s snake player 50 launched and got roasted. 2 on 2! Daniel Camp caught one and Aaron Pate caught the other… holy smokes… my prayers were quite literally answered. Canes win.
Vs Bears
Britt Simpson wanted to go and sometimes you have to let him. And that’s what we did on this first point. He made his primary, read the paint and made dorito 3. We mixed it up a little getting Nic Ripple out to snake corner with Aaron Pate at home, Daniel Camp snake side forward aztec, and Drew Bell rounded it all out in the Dorito can. Pate struck first by scoring his shot on the snake side wedge route. Five on four advantage to us as we settled in for what would be the longest point of our event. Nic fed the snake easy enough as Bears weren’t in the best position to stop him. I was a little disappointed that we allowed the Bears to fill the snake as we had discussed using Drew on the cross to potential see/stop that. Daniel Camp fed up into the snake 50. At this point, I would have really liked Drew to get out behind Britt on the Dorito side. He had the opportunity early on whether to go lateral or to go forward and up into dorito wedge. However, once the Bears made the snake, that was going to be difficult… Daniel got picked up from the dorito one who had slipped out on us too (probably wouldn’t have happened if Drew had shifted earlier). I would have also liked to have seen Pate take snake 1. This would have given him a better perspective D side as well as given us an asset further forward if we lost ground there. Britt appeared to be the only one who got the memo and increased pressure by taking the 50 dorito. But that tandem line was now too long between him and Drew and that was frustrating. As we headed into the 7th minute of the point, I knew my guys are low on paint and something had to happen soon. Drew finally decided to take action but only because he was almost out of paint. He got pretty creative and I thought he was going to catch the Bear’s dorito 2 hopper. It didn’t happen and he got into their Dorito Wedge. I was happy for what, once again, seemed like, one second… as I watched Britt stand up after getting eliminated by the Bears snake. I don’t know who shot Drew… we went from having a 5 on 4 body advantage and position, to losing the point. I wanted that one back bad. Lots of squandered opportunities in a 10 minute point. I saw Nic trying to be proactive but Pate wasn’t. Had to keep time so I conceded the point. 1-0 Bears
I put the same line back out on the next point. There was nothing wrong with play call. It was execution so I wanted them to understand the mistakes and that I believed in them. Britt made his run and Drew got out behind him quickly this time. Nic hopped into the snake one quickly again as well. He ended up getting picked up cross field though. Pate didn’t hesitate and took the ground back. Britt did what he was supposed to do and attacked that dorito side harder. This allowed Drew to move as well as it created more pressure. I can’t blame Britt for getting shot here. He was trying. I said out loud in the pits, “they got 20 seconds to put something together”. They didn’t so I concede the point. 2-0 Bears
We had a come to Jesus talk after that point where I explained that the aggression looked great for the first bit of the point and then we just vegged out. Closing had never been a glaring issue with us but it was damn near blinding to watch at that point. So I lit a fire and explained we had to go. Now, we had no choice but to go. And go we did…finally. We got our guns up, got crafty D side, pressed the issue with our access points, lived behind our guns and won the point in 25 seconds, 5 seconds better than I anticipated as I felt we would need at least 45-60 seconds for the next point. Well done. 2-1 Bears
Luckily, the Revo/Aftermath point gave us plenty of time to develop our next play. We came together and developed our plot. We knew we wanted to flood two narrow access points, one dorito way and one snake way. I got frustrated at first because we bounced that D side can on the break. Nic ended up trading with him though. By this point, we were now at both 50s with approximately 50 seconds. Plenty of time. Stuart Ridgel and Jacob Searight were gun dominant, threaded the seams and went for it. The guys pushed with Drew Bell blocking for Daniel Camp who showed great field awareness and timing. He hit the buzzer with 10 seconds left. Yes, you know we were going to play it. 2-2 Tied
That overtime point marked the 2nd point I want back in this match. Searight made a great read, got to dorito 3 but decided to stand tall even though his teammates were yelling the snake is hot. Bears made the 50 snake and shot him. His reaction caused him to injure the same foot he injured just prior to our practice the weekend before. The good news was we got our set up for the snake side. The bad news is it would have been better with a Dorito 3 presence. With the body disadvantage, we are not in a good spot, especially when they finally shot Drew out of D side can. It was now a five on three with just under two minutes. It did not look good for us. Stuart kept over-watch effectively stalling the Bears’ snake side attack and we picked up a cross field kill as Nic put a ball on the Bears’ dorito one player. 4 on 3 but the advantage was still with the Bears. But then we dug out the Bears forward D side player… but they were quick to take ground and replaced that loss. 3 on 3 with about a minute twenty left. We hold. On to one on ones.
As a former teammate and coach of Evan Manners, I knew the Bears would send him out. That young man is a terrific gun fighter and has not been given his due in the pro division. But I feel he has finally found a team where he can be seen and shine. Headed into this event, we worked one on ones with big gun Drew Bell proving his mettle so he got the call. He pressed the action early and it looked like he had Evan trapped in a can. Drew was dynamic and created pressure early on. But, as he has proved time and time again in the past, Evan can put a ball on just about anyone. Drew ended up on Evan’s side of the field and crossed paths with a ball. Bears win.
Vs Red legion
This last match against the Legion doesn’t require too much in depth analysis. I will critique the first six points and sum up the rest as it will be that easy.
We had scouted the Legion and knew exactly what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. Knowing that and actually stopping it are two different things, however, especially when they were simply playing on another level than anyone else at this event. We also had an idea that, should we win, great, we were on to Sunday. But if we could keep it close, as in, by 1, we may still be on to Sunday as well.
First point is pretty simple to dissect. They shot 4 of us on the break. 1-0 Legion
Second point we focused our guns on specific access points up the gut and they paid off. We shot three of them on the break, made the read to close out. Drew Bell launched to take the last Legion player in the Dorito, who ended up spinning on Drew. Major assessed on Legion and we would be on the power play next point. 1-1 Tied
We were not even a full two minutes into this match and we were on the power play. We had seen Legion play a 5 on 3 point the day before and knew where they would want to be. So we set up on that very break. I believe they changed one body but it didn’t matter as we shot one on the break. Unfortunately, Nic took a skimmer of a pack hit and drew the minor taking out 5 on 2 down to a 3 on 2. When they got to the corners, I thought it would settle in for a bit of a longer point. But Britt Simpson clocked in and pressed the doritos aggressively while Daniel Camp pushed snake way. Britt got a shot in on the Legions’ dorito player and Drew Bell finally joined the fray. 3 on 1 with Legion in the snake 2. Surprisingly, Legion conceded. 2-1 Canes
We pushed the dorito side but Legion decided to do the same just with a lot more aggression. They made snake 50 too and shot our stalled dorito push by getting a pack hit in on Stu. And then we just started losing gunfights. We end up in a 5 on 2 and were not in position. They were. I decided to save my guys and conceded the point. 2-2 Tied
Both teams lost a body on the break this point but Legion took that Dorito wedge early and caused pressure from the go. Pate decideed to press snake way in an effort to counter but got caught. Drew Bell launched to dig out Dorito inhibitor with a quick follow up from Britt Simpson. Would have been a great counter if Drew didn’t get caught before he got his man. Stuart Ridgel also lookd to exploit but got caught as well. 3-2 Legion
We showed our guns on the break the next point shooting 2 Legion players. On this Stuart Ridgle went hyper aggressive (good) onto the Legions side of the field but just got picked up. 3 on 3. Aaron Pate lost a gun fight in the snake to Malloy and we had to press into the Legions guns. 4-2 Legion
Both teams continued to shoot bodies on the break… this next point it was 3 on 3 off the rip. Stuart Ridgel once again made an aggressive play down dorito side while Daniel Camp pressed into the snake. Stu got picked up again and we ended up in another down body situation. 5-2 Legion
The rest of the story is the Legion continued to shoot bodies on the break and we did not. Legion wins.
So, what does this mean for the New Orleans Hurricanes? It simply means we have to do better. We have under performed two events in a row now. Our processes have served us well up until this point but don’t seem to be enough anymore. The league has caught up and we are seeing there are no easy games anymore. Last year, our draw would have been a gift. As evident, any draw this year will be a bloody battle. We have to look at our scars and learn. Grow smarter…and adapt. And we will. These last two set backs will just make the comeback that much sweeter. Roll Canes.
Before I close, I want to tell you about a young man that is very near and dear to me and the New Orleans Hurricanes’ hearts. His name is Grayson Manning. Grayson is a regular at our home field of LaXtreme paintball in Slidell, LA. He is an up and coming talent in paintball as well as an amazing young man. He was struck by a vehicle on Father’s Day and has been fighting every day since. Please, if you have some to spare, consider sharing to his GoFundMe page found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-graysons-fight-and-recovery?qid=36d2a4f54cf22bc7c4bcd3449408fc1b
Grayson, his family, and the New Orleans Hurricanes, thank you!
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .” –Epictetus
I would imagine there are some people out there who, if they were in my shoes, would be upset about following up a 2nd place finish at the Las Vegas Open with a 13th place finish at the Lonestar. Whereas, I am certainly not happy with our performance, my personal attitude is not one of anger or distress. I am quite aware of the opportunities we missed and the mistakes we made. The key is how we will respond to what was controllable and what was not. If we let single events define us, we wouldn’t be in the professional league today. The success the New Orleans Hurricanes has seen in this sport is due to our ability to assess and adapt to obstacles and adversities placed in our path. Yes, some of those are self inflicted but those are usually the greatest lessons. No one should allow negative emotions or reactions to bad performances become a weight around their shoulders…
Additionally, no one wants to remind themselves of mistakes. As I stated above, the key is to understand why that performance happened. Identify the issues and take a proactive step in addressing them. A prime example would be our performance at Cup, our work to correct issues from there, and our performance in Las Vegas. I think most would agree it was night and day. Consistency is key, especially in the pro division. That consistency, whether it is with the team or an individual player, is paramount to success. But when it falls short on both levels, you will not have a good event.
It’s been said by great men that success is “neither magical nor mysterious.” It is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals. We were not anywhere close to consistent in our execution of play at this event. That falls on me. I failed to lead my men out of an off malaise… I will work on that.
With that said, this event recap may be a little different from others. I will address the matches we lost in detail and briefly comment on the matches we won.
That cucumber is bitter, so toss it out! There are thorns on the path, then keep away! Enough said. Why ponder the existence of nuisance? Such thinking would make you a laughing-stock to the true student of Nature, just as a carpenter or cobbler would laugh if you pointed out the sawdust and chips on the floors of their shops. Yet while those shopkeepers have dustbins for disposal, Nature has no need of them.” –Marcus Aurelius
PREPARATION
I think we prepared well for this event. We had a great practice partner, we worked the right aspects of the field, and we had a good game plan headed into the event. I know this because, when we did execute the game plans well, we won. That’s all the proof I need. We knew this field came down to four things:
Win the break. As with all layouts, a numerical advantage off the break usually pays dividends and for this field, I felt it was multiplied. I also felt our guns were dialed in and ready.
Be first to create opportunities from your secondaries to shift guns and/or get crafty and set traps.
Get lost/crafty to create hesitation and uncertainty with opponent during mid game scramble.
Close clean with a good stranglehold and good clock management.
We had shown a good understanding of how to do this and practiced it significantly. However, when we got to the event, we struggled with recreating that success…
VS Aftershock
I felt confident heading into this match. There was no doubt in my mind it would be a match similar to many knife fights we had endured before. But I knew if we could put Aftershock away, no matter the score, it was going to be a good event for us. We also knew that, with their roster, no matter the performance at the last event, they would be prepared. So we were definitely looking at them as a great test.
Pt1 – We went pocket and Aftershock beat us to the Center punch. We got the first body though with good zone control shooting their snake player. But we gave them one right back from our home. A-rod may have been first in the center, but a slow patient probe in the center by Stuart Ridgel paid dividends when he took A-rod off the board and staid alive. We gave them one back again though in our attempt to take the snake. Came down to a 3 v 3. Another attempt at craftiness cost Stu his body (it’s first point, I like the idea just not how it was attempted). Drew Bell got sneaky but got caught and Searight made me proud pushing forward. We squandered that point. 0-1 Shock
Pt2 – Strong guns on the break, which was prevalent during our prep, show up on the second point and we made smart fills to our secondaries in support of the goal. We were in control from the break and start our stranglehold. A good point. This point was, in my opinion, indicative of how the field would play and how the Canes would play it. 1-1 Tied
Pt3 – We set up with the “Big 5” in order to get eyes on snake, increase guns, and position ourselves to take center when necessary. Shock went pocket save for a d-side wide asset. Shock was first to the center, not with one, but two assets. Again, our secondary is just behind Shock’s but we determined at practice that being first isn’t always best in that center. The two bodies though was an effective counter to the theory. What made me happy was our composure during the scramble. A disciplined understanding of the situation. 2-1 Canes
Pt4 – Aftershock had shown a tendency to crash the center and then expand (a smart approach as most teams would leverage this tactic including us). It was time to use that against them though and beat them to the punch. The goal of our play here was to take the path of least resistance to the center d-side (Aftershock was leaving that hole available), try to snag the center kill, and take anything additional they give us. Hopefully, the chaos would draw attention (at worst trade), and we would build off that crash to take snake and dorito wides. We were rewarded with the play developing better than I had hoped as Stu got two kills immediately, AND we made both wides. We were now set up to kill clock with the lead. Shock helps us by sending a body to trade with Stu. It was now a four on two situation, we owned the spots… Shock smartly concedes the point with just under 4 minutes left. 3-1 Canes
Pt5 – Internally, I was feeling confident in our game plan and was pleased (save for that first point) with the execution up to that point. Shock had shown mostly center push then expansion, where we had shown mostly pocket. The play call was to risk the snake on this one to counter their center push and/or meet their anticipated snake run. Disaster strikes. Our high risk runner made it and my lower risk home died followed quickly by two more from our pocket. This was the point that was the deciding factor for the match in my opinion. Had we survived this break for just 30-40 seconds, we would have won in regulation. Woulda coulda shoulda… 3-2 Canes
Pt6 – Naturally, we felt that Shock would want a combo of center with snake presence. We felt this would be an opportunity to take dorito wide on the break. Again, my high risk player made it but we gave them a home player… followed quickly by our snake side tower. Stu survived the snake attack while in the dorito tower and made a play to take the snake off the board. He succeeded. It was now a 4-2 advantage to Shock. I always give my guys time to win a gunfight or pull something out. They won a gunfight. It was now a 3-2 advantage for Shock. We had worked on the alamo scenario at practice. Daniel Camp knew he needed to make snake corner and did with about a minute and a half left. Again, we played this scenario out several times in preparation so my confidence is high. My confidence SOARED when we picked off another shock player making it a 2-2 with about a minute left and we owned dorito 2 and snake corner. Put it in the bag… or so I thought. A bad decision to gun fight over the top of the snake corner cost us this game in regulation with, you guessed it, 30-40 seconds left. 3-3 tied
Pt7 – We wanted to go for the win. We had a few different fast point plays in the ol’ playbook. The question was which one to use based off Shock’s (and Todd’s) tendencies. There was a little less than 30 seconds on the clock but there were a few instances at practice where we pulled off 20-25 second wins. In this particular case, it isn’t a full send. The plan was to attack hard center and d-side leaving Daniel Camp and Nic Rippel as contingency in case it didn’t work out. We would crash the center with Stu but used Drew Bell on a delay just off center d-side and let Jacob Searight wheel and deal wide. Stu crashed, took one with him, and then Drew cleared through getting two. Shock got a minor but with only 4 seconds left, Searight can’t make the buzzer. Close but as we all know, that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
OT – We get a minor. On the break. Playing 3 on 5 with 5 minutes on the clock, against Shock, who owned the snake and center… not a high probability positive outcome. Barring a miracle, we just lost a match we shouldn’t have lost. No miracle arrived. The positive take away was, when we executed the game plan well and played as a team, we looked phenomenal. Consistency… we would have to increase that aspect and would be just fine…
VS Bears
We won this match and were in control for the majority of it. Our guns on the break showed up along with our zone control on every point we win. However, I do want to address the two points we lost in this match.
Pt2 – We had good guns on break to start the match shooting the Bears snake runner AND we made the snake. Gun fight losses will happen… but when it came down to a 3 on 3, we made a small mental error. Drew Bell attempted to spread to the d-side from the snake side since we had no presence there and the Bears did. We owned the center and snake which can contest the Bears snake and snake tower. One could argue, we could have used our Center to contest d-side aggression but I digress. I am not upset with Drew’s repositioning per say. More that he tried to push the envelope when it wasn’t necessary. We weren’t at a point where we needed to press anything or make something happen. Had he been content with making the dorito one, we more than likely would have been good. Instead, we forced the issue, gave the body away, and let the Bears back into the game with a short clock.
Pt6 – If just one of the two Canes players who played dorito can or snake side tower, either one, stayed alive, we would have won 4-1 in a 50 second point. Either one of them. But it didn’t happen, allowing the Bears to find the hole and put another point on the board with a 46 second point.
VS MLKings
On this layout and in this division, you can’t play 3 on 5 and expect to win the points much less the match. We were not hitting our shots in this match and if we were, well, we needed better paint management. We knew they were slow into some key bunkers and even when they did this in our match, we weren’t catching the body. We scouted them and expected them to play a little pocket, and we were right. Even knowing what they were going to do, we weren’t able to generate any momentum.
Pt1 – The kings shot two of us off the break and we gave them a third all within the first 20 seconds. Nope. Concede, reset.
Pt2 – Kings pocketed up and we took the center first with a delay out to dorito 2. We were in great position for this point. We shot Kyle Barry followed by the Kings countering through the center only to have missed their shot. We should have now been in control of the point as Stu repositioned in the center to counter their counter. But, once again, we gave them a body out of our backfield allowing the Kings to take snake. So, an advantage lost. Stu played sloppy and got caught. But Daniel Camp and Jacob Searight almost turned it around with Danimal getting into the snake to contest and Searight taking ground into dorito 4 generating a kill. 3 v 3 now. In a rare moment, Daniel missed a shot on the snake tower for the Kings which would have blown the point open since that player was stalling the d-side attack. When Drew Bell got out behind Searight, I thought okay… force multiplier. Then Drew called his shot on the snake player for the Kings. I, too, thought I saw it but, ref calls him clean. The big domino to fall was Searight getting clipped in the loader… I love Drew and Danimal trying to break things open but it doesn’t pay off.
Pt 3 – The Kings spread (that’s the best two bunkers to own to kill clock – Dorito 1 and snake corner). Again, no kills on break for us even though we set up for it. We lost a body again from the snake tower. Searight understood the situation and got out wide on d-side. We evened the count with a kill from snake side tower and then shot another from their dorito corner. We had a four on three body advantage but we gave the Kings the snake again and allowed Kyle Barry to play fast and loose in the center. The snake took Drew off the board. Our only hope was to win a gunfight or to have Searight clock in. Stu ended up getting a bullstuff penalty… it was bang bang. Kyle, like many of the pros, gets to talk after being eliminated and plead a case. I am not allowed to review.
Pt 4 – We were down by three with 5:40 left on the clock. Enough time to come back and win. But we had to execute better. For example, not hitting our shots and then hanging over the top for too long at the center bunker to get shot. Not how we do it. I said I would let the point go until 4:30 unless I saw life from my guys. Searight was in position d-side again (as he was apt to do most of the event) and Pate took the center. The boys bought themselves another 30 seconds. But then, we lost Searight…so no, you don’t get another 30.
Pt5 – At this point, I’m looking at the clock thinking, we need at least two points. Plenty of time to do it. But I wasn’t getting production out of any one of my starters really, save for Searight. A good coach knows what to say, how to say it, and when. This is where I fell short. I thought, let’s take a breath, get our guns up, don’t force the point, get a point on the board with a base play. We lost our d-side tower, Kings took dorito 3 and we don’t see it because of the elimination on the break (best eyes to see that move). Daniel Camp almost pulled off a heroic response attacking down the snake side but with his teammates dying behind him, it was a valiant effort between him and Searight, but not enough.
Pt6 – I’m looking at the clock, I’m looking at the score, and I am looking at my guys. None of those things looked good. Time to see what my guys who haven’t seen the field much can do. We have dug a serious hole in order to make Sunday now. Time to take the opportunity to see how bad my guys want to show me what they can do. I look to the bench and they wanted it. So they got the call. They go out and look better than the starters did the entire match. Searight, Mike Brown, and Ryan Williamson go out and play well. Searight and Mike Brown pressed the issue dorito way as they know the situation and gave me 200%. Ryan Williamson goes full send but we ran out of time.
VS Impact
Based off our scouting report of Impact, we had a good understanding of what they wanted to do. But you can’t ignore the fact that we were playing subpar… I had done the math and knew we weren’t making Sunday. I had a theory though on Impact which was confirmed and would make the difference in my opinion. That theory was confirmed when we went down 2-0, and then Impact conceded the 3rd point when they still had a player on the board. I knew they were playing for the margin. We were playing for pride and pride only. There is a difference. And it was the small edge we needed. My adjustment (besides personnel) was to adapt the game plan to the corners. If we could get wide either on the break or through secondaries, Impact would put us on the board with their aggression into our zone control. Granted, our zone control had been spotty all weekend but my guys are warriors. They knew what needed to happen. It would not go as planned but… it went. And I will take it. This was a great growth moment for the squad as a whole.
Pt1 – We shot their pocket shooter, expanded well and set the trap for Urena in the snake. Urena popped the top though and made a great shot on Pate. Not much you can do save for what I said in the pit, “Well… damn.” Mike Brown clocked in and got wide dorito. We now owned dorito 1 and the snake, so we aren’t in a bad position. Ryan Williamson, who stepped up for me, got clipped once Impact finally got through the zone dorito side. But Mike Brown got it back for us making a great shot on Cornell. It was 3v3 as we crossed the 5 minute threshold. A great shot by an Impact player caught Drew Bell, was returned by ANOTHER great shot by Mike Brown but in the chaos, Impact took the first point.
Pt2 – Both teams have the same breakout with Impact winning the break as we lost Searight dorito way. They then had some really crisp secondary expansions trapping us in the pocket. Daniel Camp, knowing we had to have that snake made it and actually got our first elimination. Stu tried to make something happen through the center but got caught. Drew Bell knew we had to be wide d-side and got out there picking up a crucial elimination on Impact. 3 v 3 again. But the wheeling and dealing went on too long and Drew got picked off. Pate understood where the hole was, tried to fill it but he and Daniel both died almost simultaneously.
Pt3 – We were down 2-0. I explained again the importance of having these corners and why Impact has to come. We risked throwing Nic at the snake corner to draw the gun deep with the intent to feed underneath from snake tower. It worked partially as we made the snake but Nic got picked off. It paid off though because impact must not have seen the feed as we caught their snake coming to our side. We have evened it up and Britt Simpson created an opportunity making dorito corner. We are now set up to let Impact die coming forward. We got some key eliminations, to make it a 3 on 1 and Impact conceded the point. Confirmation of theory and now we were on the board. The guys are all in now. We’re going to win.
Pt4 – It was time to take the fight to them while the guys are spirited up. “Crafty time.” We knew Impacts’ tendency now and decided to take advantage. Britt Simpson got the call and we shot him to dorito 3 on the dorito can route. This would shift at least two guns and allowed a center punch dorito side as well as got a second asset out dorito way. It worked. The penalty on Drew was bogus but hey, it didn’t matter as Britt Simpson and Mike Brown closed out the point with a great shot by MB dotting Urena’s eye in the corner.
Pt5 – One name. Mike Brown… We sent Stu to the snake side 40 wall to wrap and trap, to take a body, and draw a gun to allow snake to feed. We had d-side tower to position for center and be a force multiplier when necessary. Stu did not take a body and got picked up… but we made the snake. Britt forced the outside dorito move since he knew what I wanted and Bell got picked up. We were in dire straights now… it was 4 on 2 advantage to Impact. But Mike Brown and Daniel Camp said “not today” making it a 2 on 2! Mike Brown with his super power of survivability won his gun fight! Daniel heard this and in the chaos launched on Impacts snake player and trades! Mike Brown was still alive and Impact conceded. Mike Brown… way to be. He really has earned the nickname, “Clutch”
Pt6 – I wanted the corners on the break. Let’s just get there. And we made it. Very pleased. But then we lost the dorito corner shortly after. Drew Bell made a play to dig out Impacts center presence but got picked up. Even then, we were still in good spots to hold (snake, snake corner, and dorito can). We lost our dorito can and Impact has the bodies to trade. They hit the buzzer with 5 seconds left. We wanted to play the point so we could work on game plan.
OT – Ride or die… it was time to get back to basics. We had had plenty of practice now… no excuse not to execute the game plan that we had prepared headed into this event. Time to make it work for us instead of against us. Full Circle… let’s see if we had learned. And we had. We shot interior while protecting wides. Paint broke on Impact’s dorito tower. 5-4 advantage Canes. Zone control picked up Mike Urena as he tried to force the snake move. 5-3 advantage Canes. Bell took the center, Daniel made snake corner, Nic took the snake, Searight took the dorito corner, Mike Brown contained. We would win this point barring anything ridiculous. Nic Rippel showed why he is a Hurricane by going down the snake to Impact’s side of the field. He got a three pack to close out the game leaving us with 4 bodies alive.
Not a bad consolation prize finally beating Impact and knocking a top team like them out of the tournament… but I would really like to have that Aftershock match back.
This event was strange. It’s been a few days now, and I still haven’t put my finger on what our issues were other than, we were missing/bouncing some shots on opponents, and I wasn’t getting production out of my starters. Several big moment mistakes by guys who don’t normally make them appeared to be the main issue. My initial reaction is that we were our toughest opponent this event. Not the teams in front of us… us. The goal now is to focus on our next practices and event prep with renewed optimism and understanding. We will assess our performance in order to improve our consistency and not dwell too much on the mistakes and missed opportunities from this last event. Back to the opening message about consistency… Consistency requires you to “be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.” To move forward, the Canes need to review our process, ensure we are emphasizing the proper things, and develop solutions.
How many of you take stock at the end of the season with your own introspection? What do I mean by this… put plainly, do you or did you take the time to truly examine your own mental and emotional processes. Did they serve you well during the season? Did you falter at some point? If so, why, and how did you address it? This should be done after each practice, each event, each performance, and not just at the end of the season in my opinion.
Did you go back and watch tape? Did you go back and read notes? Did you even take notes? Did you track what you were doing, how you were doing it, and why? What was working and wasn’t working throughout the season?
If you aren’t doing this or something similar to it, you are probably failing yourself as a player… and most certainly as a coach. That is the first point I wanted to make.
But I want to get into something way more introspective, maybe even a little controversial, and heavy. But, hey, this is my blog and if you don’t agree or don’t like it, kick rocks and pound sand. I’m feeling called to talk about this so here we go.
If you have followed me for any amount of time, you have heard me quote the stoics at least once… Outside of my Catholic faith (but not necessarily mutually exclusive), I try to live by the stoic principles of life. If I were to sum up the stoic mindset, it would be that we are how we react to experiences.
Socrates said, “Let him that would move the world first move himself.”
“I am not Socrates… and that’s okay.” – photo courtesy of Fava Photography
But what is the opposite of this? What is the counter to a person who tries to be the best version of themselves and where can that counter come from? And why does it rear its ugly head? If you don’t or haven’t experienced this, outstanding! If you do, perhaps what I am going to share will help in some small manner.
I am very critical of myself. More so than with my players. I hold myself to a standard that, when I feel I have not met it, I become supercharged, almost rabid about trying to “fix” or improve it. In some cases, carelessly so. After all, I am only human.
I have met people who are similar but don’t have my response. In fact, they have quite the opposite response and you are seeing it become quite prevalent in many of the younger generation. And that is what I want to talk about. It is easy to fall for that inner voice that sows doubt, confusion, and distress. But what is that? What is that really?
I was recently exposed to several people like this over the past few months and didn’t realize it until I had a conversation with my wife. So I started reading about it. In Psychology, there is a phrase called the “critical inner voice”. It is defined as “… a well-integrated pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others.” It’s that voice in your head that leads you to detrimental behaviors or keeps us from avoiding the effort it would take to improve.
I am going to try and apply this to Paintball. Recognizing that you are being too critical of yourself, or your team is difficult but important. There has to be a balance with criticism, a point that isn’t necessarily crossed. No, I am not saying you need to be nice or to act or speak about how “everything will be okay.” I am simply saying we should try to recognize that there may be factors outside of what is really happening that are adversely affecting you or the player or the team’s performance that you may not immediately recognize or see. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE. I hate excuses. This is recognizing a problem, albeit a convoluted and mysterious one, and trying to solve it.
Criticism is important as long as it is constructive.It doesn’t have to be harsh…
How many of you have said to yourself, “I suck at this.”? Why? Did someone tell you were bad at a thing? Was that person a subject matter expert on this thing or perhaps someone with authority or position? Did they somehow set a bar that you didn’t immediately meet? Did they express disappointment and gave up on you?
I will share a personal story with you. Several years ago, I was told that I wasn’t very good at paintball. As a matter of fact, I was told, “We can’t win with you on the field, but we can’t win without you at the event.” I didn’t agree… at all. And I knew better. All that did was motivate me, drive me, and believe it or not, that was the catalyst that led to the creation of http://www.Zenandtheartofpaintball.com.
That is an example of an external voice but what about the internal ones…the ones we create. The external voices from our past can certainly create the internal voices of today. That devil on your shoulder telling you all the negative things about yourself is a manifestation of some earlier experience. I’ll share another personal story. When the New Orleans Hurricanes won the pro spot at the end of ’21, I had an inner voice telling me, “This is a WHOLE different level. You can’t coach at this level. You are going to make mistakes and they will be on the webcast for all to see… and they’re all going to laugh at you. Zen and the art of paintball… ha! No one thinks the Canes’ can compete at the pro level! And everyone thinks your processes and your blog are stupid.”
That voice was LOUD. But that’s all it was… noise. I would do my best and continue to learn and grow with the team. And that’s what I did. I doubled down on my thoughts, procedures and processes. And my team doubled down with me and supported me with their incredible minds and work ethic as well. I/we shut that voice up.
When Matty Marshall first asked me up into the booth to commentate (and each time since actually), here came that voice… “You are going to sound or say something stupid. And then you will become an internet meme. You will no longer be taken seriously!”
I believe this was my 3rd time in the booth. Learned a lot from these two gentlemen, and continue to do so
Yet Matty keeps asking me up. And that voice has been awfully quiet. Sure, I hear it way in the distance but I enjoy commentating with Matty and all the cool cats I get to commentate with. I learn so much when I am up there. I look forward to it now because it is an opportunity to learn and, let’s face it, it can be a lot of fun.
When my friend Ryan Gray asked me to do a podcast with him, there came a chorus of voices! “You are not on the same level as this man or any of the other professional coaches for that matter. You will be exposed when they hear how you do things, and you will be laughed at by everyone. Not only that, but this is not your radio days, you have a FACE for radio and now you will be on camera. So not only will you sound stupid, you will look stupid too.”
That voice was with me at the first show having just come off a 1-3 performance at Cup. But the more I listened to my friends, constituents, and the other coaches, I realized they weren’t much different from me. I haven’t heard it since. I look forward to each and every show now. The thing we fear is rarely the monster we make it out to be.
We all have our heroes. Whether they are a family member, a musician, an actor, a friend, a literary character, what have you… they are our heroes because they were able to DO something, OVERCOME something, SUCCEED at or ACCOMPLISH something. Now they may have been able to do it without adversity or criticism or made it look easy… but I promise you, at one point, they had a doubt or hurdle that they had to overcome. Heck, my heroes had to overcome HORRORS!
Coach Ryan Gray and author Mike Bianca (Zen) – check us out on our Podcast “The Coaches Show”
Here’s my point. What is the difference between the hero and the coward? It’s simple really, the hero acts. That’s it, that’s the difference. They both experience fear but one simply doesn’t let it control him. Read that again.
I believe that leadership and accountability start at the top. The coach is responsible for how the team prepares and ultimately performs. The buck stops here. So, that inner voice has told me plenty of times that I couldn’t hack it. True story, I have been told that A LOT through out my life. But like I have always done, I fought back. But before I could, I had to recognize a few things.
Where was this doubt, this critical thought process of my capabilities, coming from? Oh, I knew. It was like clockwork. When I set out to do something and didn’t succeed at first, I was usually told by someone, (whether that was a family member, a friend, or heck, myself!) “You can’t hack it… move on, do something else. You aren’t built for this or that.” But if you truly want something, you will find a way. Otherwise you will find an excuse. And what do we think of excuses?
According to Marcus Aurelius, the rules of a stoic mind are as follows:
Keep an untroubled spirit.
Look things in the face and know them for what they are.
Marcus had an epic beard and Aaron Pate hair…
The ancient stoics didn’t let hardships throw them off balance. Instead, they looked at situations objectively. They were able to understand them and recognize them for what they really were… not what their emotions made them out to be. That’s why we must develop the strength to not immediately jump to conclusions. We should not LEAD with emotions. We must be disciplined in our approach. If we can do that, we can keep that critical inner voice in check and our spirit untroubled, but more importantly, keep our judgement sharp.
But what if you are struggling on this front? What if that critical inner voice is starting to grow loud and, God forbid, win out? The first thing you need to understand and recognize is that voice is NOT a moral compass. It is not a conscience or anything of the sort. If it were, it certainly wouldn’t be so negative. No, that voice is the enemy. And just like an enemy, it must be beaten, conquered, and diminished to never be a threat again! Once you become cognitive of this, you can challenge it and you can defeat it. Know thy enemy. You are in control and you can now act against that voice and what it is advocating. Take back what is yours and actively pursue your own improvement and happiness. No one needs to be a victim unless you actively choose to be. Look at Epictetus, a famous stoic… he was born into slavery but they could not chain his mind… imagine that kind of power.
You can do this. If I can, anyone can. Now… go get some.
Disaster? Calamity? Disappointment? Bust? The fact of the matter is, none of these words meet the threshold of emotion all of us felt during and after this event. The catastrophic failure this team experienced at the World Cup was heartbreaking to say the least. So much so, I was half tempted to simply post our game footage on this blog and let it speak for itself. But I love this team too much not to address what happened. This blog will not be the event recap I normally do, taking you through each match, each point, and the thought process behind it all. Rather, this will be an examination of what I believe went wrong and led to such a abhorrent and frustrating event.
I have lost count of texts, phone calls, DMs, etc. from others asking me what happened… what went wrong. For some, I gave the straight forward, logical answer – failure to execute the game plan in a professional and disciplined manner conflated with a total and utter lack of communication and understanding of the situation. For others, I gave a more simplistic response because I didn’t want to continually vomit the team’s list of blunders – the guys just weren’t playing well or together.
When you and your team have worked hard to develop a system of structure and processes that have led to achieving several successes and goals, it can be difficult to swallow when something like this event transpires. However, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We have overcome countless adversities since beginning my tenure as coach of the New Orleans Hurricanes. It didn’t matter the obstacle or dilemma, we always met any and all issues with the same efficacy, the same energy, and way more often than not, we overcame the issue(s). And we almost always did so as a unit, it was never an individual achievement. A tip of the spear warrior like indomitable approach to problem solving. We trust each other indefinitely, and this has created an internal confidence that isn’t outwardly exuded nor commonly noticed. Don’t be fooled into thinking our humility isn’t a strength. It’s our trust and honesty with one another that has propelled us to where we are. And here is some now…
As field owner Drew Bankston said at the event, “You guys are built for this.” He is right. We are built to reach our goals. We are built to continually improve. We are built to play a practical, tactical, and strategic game of paintball at a high level. And we are built to overcome adversity.
But sometimes, WE are that adversity. We can’t help but get in our own way. We create a lot of our own problems. And once the team figures out how to remove that one gnawing flaw, we are going to move from being a pretty damn good paintball team to a great one. Not that we aren’t now, but we can ALWAYS be better. Like my friend Ryan Gray says, don’t be better… just be good.
So, what is the answer to what happened? Whereas it can certainly be summed up as poor discipline and bad execution of the game plan… WHY did that happen? What were the elements and variables that were present at this event that weren’t at the last 4 events? As a coach, it is my job to, not only recognize and address the latitude and trajectories that led to our poor performance, but to ensure they don’t happen again.
We have to go back to the beginning on our quest for understanding. Headed into this event, coming off a 5th place finish in Chicago, we were finally whole again. We were healed up and everyone was in a good place. Sure, the pressures of life is constant but none of us were in a place any different than any of the other events. For all intents and purposes, being back to 100% with the entire roster good to go, this was primed to be an excellent event for us. No, personnel was good. Not the issue.
How was our layout practice preparation? Was that an issue? It wasn’t that we didn’t know how to play the field. We did. The game plans and understanding of the field were there. Do I feel it had the pressure testing we have been used to this past season? If I am being honest, no. And that is on me. It is one thing to know that the field is going to play a certain way, it is another to know it will be played a certain way by our specific opponents. But understanding that is completely different from playing, seeing, and being tested against it in real time. Real data and seeing those tactical approaches live, creating that scenario paintball, having those approaches executed on you regularly and consistently is vital. Could this have been part of our problem? I will say yes, it certainly played a role into it but it was, by no means, all or even a majority of it. Notice how I say “part of OUR problem”. That is intentional because it isn’t an excuse…it is recognizing that we created some adversity for ourselves.
*Zen Note – congratulations to Columbus LVL, our practice partner for this event, on their Sunday appearance! Well done gentlemen!
I do want to address some comments I received about part of our problem being that we didn’t participate in the 7-3 format exhibition on Wednesday. Whereas, I certainly agree that the teams who participated had an advantage with additional looks and were warmed up for the next days play, we didn’t see it as necessity. You have to weigh matters when considering these things. We were way more banged up in Chicago than we let on and we had just gotten healthy. I needed everyone to remain healthy through World Cup and taking the risk of injury prior to the actual event itself didn’t make sense at the time. Couple this with the fact we are a self funded team, that additional expense of entry and paint just wasn’t in the cards. Those two major factors were enough for us to decide not to participate. We also saw it as an advantage to scout and see if our theories on how the field would play were accurate, as well as obtain data on our opponents. Hindsight being 20/20, sure it would have been advantageous, but you play the cards you are dealt.
*Zen Note – We did opt for a quick practice with the Lucky 15’s. Great sparring partner for the day before to warm up our guns and give each other feedback. By the way, congratulations to them as well for their Sunday appearance!
Okay, so perhaps our practice/preparation played a small role in our performance but I still think that was not the major factor that led to this dismal performance. My guys are highly intelligent paintball players and recognized what needed to happen. And it didn’t.
It wasn’t the paint. I personally tested the paint (which I do every event and anyone who knows me or has seen my process knows I am a paint snob for lack of a better term). The paint shot great all weekend. BUT… we were not hitting our shots on the break like we were at practice. We had solid guns on the break against LVL the weekend before and that continued on the Wednesday practice against the 15’s… so no, it wasn’t the paint but our lanes, which we are known for, weren’t there consistently. And that is the whole purpose for the team to have the 1 hour practice the day before, get those dialed in the day before. Have to chalk this up as an element.
We can’t blame the penalties. Sure, maybe one or two of them were thrown a little sooner than normal but for the most part, I didn’t see any that under the rules, shouldn’t have been a penalty. You get hit in the hopper and don’t know it? Yeah, that’s a minor. You get hit in the pack and didn’t know it? Yeah, that’s a minor. No, you can’t blame penalties. And any team that does is missing the bigger picture. Though, I must admit, the amount we got this event was greater than our combined total for the last two years. It was as if we were “forcing it”. And that can lead to mistakes. Usually, penalties like that and as often as that usually lends to a lack of focus by the players, at least in my experience. Okay, maybe we are onto something here…
What can we look at next? The psychology or mind set? Psychologically, as I stated earlier, we all seemed squared away. It wasn’t overconfidence or looking past anyone. We treat every match as if we are playing Dynasty. Our mindset has always been nothing is given, it must be earned. What was happening mentally that may have taken a toll? Was it the pressure of the moment? Possibly. If so, I’m not in my guys heads as much as I thought apparently because I don’t believe the moment has ever gotten to us. I have had countless conversations on the topic over the years that are to the contrary, and have seen no signs that elude to the pressure of the moment ever being an issue at this event or any other event for that matter. Unless something is being hidden and I don’t think that is the case as we have always been incredibly open with each other about happenings in each others’ lives.
Drew Bankston – Field Owner of LA Xtreme in Slidell, LA
What other variables or elements may have occurred or were present that was out of the norm? Could it have been that we had several wives, girlfriends, children, and parents staying under the same roof with us? Quite possibly. I know on every team I had coached prior, we had a standing rule, no significant others until after prelims. The team stays together and does everything together. No exceptions. And after discussing with several other coaches, it would appear this is the standard by which most teams abide. But here’s where I doubt this one. We have had wives, girlfriends, children and parents at other events this year and we did fine. No, we were not all under the same roof, and no, it wasn’t all of them (just a few), but they were present at the event or even in the pit. So there is a flaw in that theory. But it may still be valid. And who am I to tell a grown man paying his own way that he can’t bring family? Was that the issue? Were we in “vacation” mode? Distracted from the event at hand thinking about our loved ones and their safety/fun? Perhaps the answer is, the team all stay together and everyone else stays together somewhere else or arrives later? Maybe I implement that next year… I don’t know. Certainly a topic of discussion heading into next season that must be had. Because I can’t think of anything else that may have added to lost focus.
When I come to these events, my focus is the performance of the team. I need to put my players in the best possible position to succeed. We work hard prior to and during the event. I don’t come to events with any other intent than to win and put our best foot forward. We are spending a lot of money and time to participate in this sport and play at this level. This is not a vacation for me and I have never looked at it that way. If anything, it is additional stress but it is with people I love and that’s why i do it. The passion of the game and the comradery. I love being around my guys and I honestly hate that we all don’t live closer together. There is no one else I would rather win with. You know, because winning is fun. And we need to remember that. I love each and everyone of them and their families. And I love what we have created together. And that we include the families because they sacrifice a lot too. Balance will be the key.
Where does this leave us? Deductive reasoning, unless told otherwise by my guys (which at the time of this writing has not happened obviously), we need to shore up our event prep, pressure test ourselves more against top level teams, and limit distractions at the event. But ultimately it was our lack off communication, lack of discipline, and lack of execution that cost us. No one and no one thing is to blame other than ourselves. That’s it. Done. Move on and fix it.
Ultimately, the answer to this is simple… It comes down to a failure of leadership. It falls on me. It starts at the top and no one understands this better than me. “Victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan.” I have to do better. Whatever the causes, I either missed them, didn’t recognize them in time, or if I did, I chose the wrong solution. The journey of a leader/coach/captain is never ending. There must be growth, there must be the constant quest for improvement, and there must be a determination to overcome adversity. If I can continue to do what is right… if I can continue to grow in this role as my team grows, if we can live in the moment and truly recognize what that means… then we should be fine. I would much rather chase continuous improvement than perfection. A harsh lesson that was heard loud and clear. It is time to OODA loop! (my military friends will know…). Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. I will save this for a future blog.
If you haven’t had a chance to see this great vid produced by Planet Eclipse about the New Orleans Hurricanes, here is the link. Go check it out, give it a like and share. Also, be sure to like and subscribe to the https://www.facebook.com/thecoachesshow where Ryan and I will bring you the latest and greatest news, stories, and analysis in paintball.
Perseverance isn’t always about winning and losing. I believe it’s about showing up, saying “I am”, rising to the occasion, and doing well. As my friend and coach of Austin Notorious Ryan Gray said, “Don’t worry about being better, just be good.” But this is professional paintball… and to stay on the map you’ve got to keep showing up and being consistent. Our draw for this event would be what I deemed, “Crucible, The Sequel”. When you are facing a determined Tampa Bay who has pulled two seconds the last two events against Dynasty, the super star line up of AC Diesel, an intelligent and chip on their shoulder Baltimore Revo and your tier 5 team is the Russian Legion, it’s going to be a tough event.
But I think this team strives on “tough”, we live for that pressure. That’s why we are here, to see where we stand. And there is nothing more exciting than standing in front of those odds and saying “We’re right here. Come and get it.” We are showing up at every practice, putting in the work, pushing each other, enjoying the process and the journey. I know this because of the HUGE problem I had headed into this event. And quite frankly, I hope to have it EVERY event… Every one of my guys were playing well at practice. So well in fact, I had no idea who I was starting. I was getting production out of everyone and as a coach, this makes it difficult to call line positioning. In other words, it is a good problem to have.
We scrimmaged Blast Camp and the Latin Saints the weekend before so we felt we had seen a good amount of looks. We were about to find out in our first match.
VS Baltimore Revo
It’s rare to have an opportunity to scout your first opponent. But that’s what happened leading up to our first match. We were able to scout the Revo vs Russians match. Matty Marshall had asked me to commentate that set actually and, at first, I thought no, I need to scout with my guys and stay on the same page. But then a conversation between some of us helped me decide, what better vantage point to scout from! Of course, we had the team scouting the game as well. When I got in the booth, I saw that I would be commentating with the legend himself, Colt Roberts. I decided right then and there, just let these two legends talk and I’ll throw some color in here and there. Colt is a solid guy and I have enjoyed getting to know him more. Oh, and for the record, you can’t see the 50 from up in that booth.
*Zen Note – one of my personal goals this season was that if I ever got invited into the booth to commentate, I would not embarrass myself or sound stupid. Not sure if I can mark that goal off just yet.
Even though we were allowed to scout Revo, they lost. This meant they would have to adjust in some way unless they told themselves it wasn’t the game plan, it was the individual play. But we felt very good about our game plan based off what we saw.
We wanted to apply pressure the first point. We knew Revo used some of the bunkers similar to us so we thought, let’s be first. Our scouting appeared to show a hole with Revo’s approach. They seemed to know what bunkers to leverage but not necessarily how to use them, what job was what and when. So I knew there would be opportunity. We made our spots, quickly pressed our secondaries, kept up the pressure and played what I would consider the best point of our event. Not a bad way to start. We struck first with 5 alive.
Next point, our guns off break were solid. We shot the snake side “can” who in turn got a minor. Revo’s snake player either left early or wasn’t touched up. Either way, kill 3 on the break. However, Revo’s two remaining players made a good read. One made it wide dorito side and the other took the snake side “brick”. In doing so, they peeled off 2 of my guys making it a 3 on 2 (advantage still Canes). Jacob Searight clocked in and countered dorito way. The snake “brick” player had to fight too many fronts, eats one, leaving it a 3 on 1. We know where the last player is, it’s a matter of time, and Revo quickly conceded.
We felt they would want to spread the field a bit but the question was which route. We shot their first D side attacker on the break (we chose wisely) but allowed Revo to get in the snake and get to dorito corner. We gave them a body of our own dorito side when we didn’t check off and then we lost a gun fight snake side. But as the scramble starts, Justin Bailey saw an opportunity and took full advantage. He shot the snake insert bunker which was acting as over watch on snake and then traded in spectacular fashion with Revo’s D side “two” leaving just Revo’s snake player. My guys stayed disciplined knowing the situation. We were up points and up bodies. No need to go get this guy. They kept him contained and let the clock be our friend. We shot their last player as he tried a tactical retreat out of the snake and Revo conceded the point.
Revo had great guns off the break shooting two of us on the snake side at the beginning of the 4th point. We tapped their first snake player but Revo did a good job of containment and winning guns fights. It was a 4 on 2 and we were going to make them hit the buzzer. Revo did hit it to put a point on the board.
We returned the favor the next point with our own guns on the break and flooded the snake the moment the yellow flag went up on Revo. Nic traded with Revo’s snake making it a 4 on 2 advantage Canes. Justin Bailey once again makes a great read in knowing the situation and took over snake duties in front of Daniel Camp. However, Mr. Camp said, “Can’t have you taking all the kills this point Bailey” and scalped his friend and teammate. We let Revo get through the monster truck gap D side. However, Mike Brown said, “Not today – please exit the field” and got the kill leaving only Revo’s snake player yet again. Revo’s coach obviously wanted to give his player some time to make something happen. When he retreated, I remember thinking, “Good. Play defense and let the time go.” Their ears must have been burning because they conceded the point.
We were in X-ball now with a little over 4 minutes on the clock. We each traded bodies on the break but Revo got into that D side “brick” on the break. We had a communication mix up here with a code being called that was not accurate. This caused one of us to be peeled off looking into what he thought was a safe zone and we were lucky that same call didn’t get Nic popped as he took the snake insert. Nic loses a gunfight, followed shortly by another mistake by us. Not to take anything away from Revo but they didn’t really win that point as much as we just simply shot ourselves in the foot. Sloppy.
We shot one off the break in what would be the last point of the match. We knew where we wanted to be and each player knew their role. We successfully set up when we got Drew Bell into the snake side wedge and Mike Brown into Dorito one. I loved how my guys maintained zone control, let Revo kill themselves, then recognized the opportunity to go get the additional point for spread. We won the match but there were some obvious small issues that we would need to improve if we wanted to do well this event.
We had a team discussion after the match and felt prepared for Diesel. But it was not to be. A severe lightning and hail storm came in. The NXL made the right call to shut it down and make an adjustment to the schedule for the next day. The Canes would have to play 3 matches Saturday with one set between each. First Legions, then Damage, and finally AC. We would have to be on top of our scouting/adjustment game.
VS Red Legion
I felt Legion was going to try and slow it down a bit and suck us into gunfights. We also knew they gunned heavy for the snake side. You have to respect the Legion’s guns off the break. But I’m still going to test them. Low and behold, they shot our snake runner on the break. However, we were in this situation a lot at practice and we stuck to the game plan with my guys making the appropriate adjustment. Mike Brown got wide D side, Drew Bell filtered up to snake side “wedge”, Daniel Camp filtered into the snake insert allowing Stu the freedom to play a little. From there, it became a game of communication and zone control. We took the body advantage somewhere around 5 minutes in (4 on 3). Stu got caught probing but Legions D side launched to trade with Mike Brown. I watched as my snake side starts eating that player up before he got to MB. Sure enough, flag in the air which pulls the remaining Legion players. We go up one after an almost 7 minute point. Unfortunately, that would be our last point scored for the match.
We went short and planned on working our way into the snake after our initial set up. The Legion made it into the snake on the break though. Normally, not an issue as that player can be somewhat contained with our set up. However, the wind kicked up and created an opening (bunker blows to the side) that allowed a ball through on one of my snake side guys followed by another death from our “god” a few moments later. 5 on 3 advantage to the Legion who also had the snake presence. Now we have a problem as this is not… how should we say?… optimum. Drew actually bounced the Legion player in the snake if I recall correctly which would have relieved tremendous pressure (woulda coulda shoulda). Shortly after, Stu got a shot on Khiril. He got shot as well though. Then disaster struck with Jacob Searight catching a ball too after having taken ground D side. Now its a 4 on 1 advantage Legion. Drew made a valiant effort but got caught. Even match now with just under 5 minutes left.
I thought we would get crafty and have Nic line up as normal but send him to snake wedge instead. The plan was to establish that gun early, work Daniel out snake way and let Bailey’s gun filter behind Daniel. Unfortunately, Legion went heavy pocket, getting all guns up and shot Nic on the break. Like I said, you have to respect their guns. Just didn’t see that one coming (statistics aren’t perfect). We were able to get out of the pocket… just not all of us. Daniel mirrored up the snake and Bailey got behind him. Stu had an untimely death. As soon as we lost Mike Brown, I felt it best to preserve the time. There was 3:30 or so left and I felt that was plenty of time for us to get that point back.
We had the game plan. We know the line to take. We know Legion will go for our normal set up. But if I am Legion, I would risk the body to the Dside corner to control inside while having my snake insert on the cross keep the mac truck gap full of paint. Because we know this, we know the hole and we exploited it. We got wide on both sides and Stu made the center to start the line. He shot the D side corner. The next step was crucial. He had to trade with the snake insert. He went to make the shot, and just missed it. Now… he should have stayed posted and let his teammates take the advantage created by his presence there. That snake insert had to call for help or fight him. Either way, this should mean that Mike Brown will only have one gun to beat in order to turn the field on the D side. Instead, Stu pulled back to the snake brick and tried to get creative inside. He ended up getting eliminated. I’m telling you, had he landed that shot on the snake insert who was cross, the probability of the Canes tying the match would have gone up exponentially. But I don’t and can’t blame Stu. It was a solid effort. There are four other players out there who are just as capable, too. We lost Mike Brown shortly after but got one back. We were now tied on bodies with both teams having 3. Once we hit the 1:30 mark, it was ride or die. The margin was imperative. Drew Bell made a huge play but made one small mistake. He cruises down the D side and shoots two of the three Legion players in the back but continues to get Malloy. If Drew shot the first two then stopped in his bunker before engaging Malloy, Nic would have shot Malloy in the back with enough time to get the buzzer. However, Drew got caught and Malloy had the wherewithal to put the home “aztec” between him and the snake side attack he knows is coming to get a ball on Nic. Then he hit the afterburners to increase their spread. So close. Not upset with my guys at all. We definitely learned some important lessons in that match.
VS Tampa Bay Damage
Before I get into this next one, I want to say that Joey Blute was one of the first big names in paintball to give the Canes some respect. I personally will always be grateful for that. Someone forwarded me a podcast he was on and he had some kind things to say about our program. And we appreciated it. With that, I have been looking forward to this match up for some time. I knew it would be a great test for us to see where we were on our journey. How can you not respect what Damage has accomplished? They are a talented program that plays great paintball. Not to be presumptive but both teams have a similar style and it was never more apparent than at this event. We were approaching the layout in a very similar fashion. But once we settle into an approach, we always ask ourselves, how do you beat it? We had scouted them and felt we had a good grasp on their tendencies. We had also discussed what went wrong in the Legion match… we weren’t moving and closing together as one. What I like to call the “scramble” was off timing wise. That was going to change and we were about to find out if our counter worked.
Damage came out with the double home/pocket break getting those solid guns of theirs up the first point. They ended up shooting our snake “one” off the rip… but we learned something there. We would change that route now since we had shown only two so far. During this point, Damage’s snake side “can” took one to the pack… no ref was in position but the one by the start box eventually saw it. The yellow flag went up on Damage. We stopped the bleeding with a reposition snake side and settled in now that we had the advantage… or so we thought. Two sloppy deaths by the Canes caused Drew and Daniel to have to force the issue. Daniel got picked off leaving Drew in a 1 vs 3 situation. I always give my guys a chance to pull something off but I didn’t like the set up. I conceded the point and Damage struck first.
After a polite request of my guys to play a little tighter, we returned to the box. This time we shot their dorito one attacker. He drew a minor penalty but we followed up with another kill giving us a 5 on 2 advantage. I heard the code for Chill Out Find the Last Two Bodies…good, very good. Once my guys identified that the last two Damage players are in the snake “tower” and the snake insert, they knew just how to turn the field. This is what situational drills gets you boys and girls. My guys perform it flawlessly. Stu pulled back with the data and began the quarterbacking. The guys provided a quick clinic on working together with repositioning to close the point out. We re-positioned to pressure the tower while the two others bully the snake insert to get a body through the gap. Then bully again, all while our snake presence kept them honest. Stu launched and johnny is your uncle. Tie match.
The next point was an interesting one. Stu looked into a ball and Damage took that 50 D side “brick”. But Damage doesn’t have a gun protecting the D side gap which was surprising (missed assignment is my only guess). This allowed Jacob Searight to land undetected just shy of the dorito 50 and he began peeling bodies. He got four of the 5 with the 4th being the last Damage player trying to run him down. Searight stood his ground and took the Damage player with him. The remaining Canes on the field made the decision to let time click and force the concession.
We decided to switch Stu off his role and gave him a little freedom to play. We placed Drew Bell on containment. We shot Damage’s D side once again on the break. Then we immediately took a center presence, quickly followed up with a shift to the snake side brick. With our presence there, we could shut down D side with one gun (you concede the 100 but that’s about it) at least long enough to get some action going snake way. We were somewhat foiled when our D side corner took a ball (he was contingency). No matter, we fed the snake and went for another set up with two in the snake (the “two” spot can hold the cross now while the snake “brick” is over-watch allowing snake one to go to work). We matched them D side to keep them honest. We were now in position and I was feeling confident. Damage would have to press the issue eventually. That or they would try to suck us into gun fights (a lesson learned in the previous match). Survey said they press but over-watch worked (Hope Agent Smith’s Testicles are okay). The slow steady squeeze paid off and Damage conceded the point. Up by 2
We went with a base play to get guns up off the break. They shot one of ours off snake side but we shot two of theirs off the snake side as well. We shoot a third and then spread. We knew the situation and closed together. I told the guys prior to the point, when we win the point, make them concede. As the clock ticked away, I thought to myself, they are doing the math and thinking margin, this is why they are letting the clock roll. They finally conceded with about 1:30 left.
Because of the score, we decided we wanted to go aggressive and try something. Like I said earlier, we train scenarios. We knew Damage wanted to get wide. So we snuck Stu into the snake side “brick” to look D side (back up is Searight in the Snake insert on the cross). It paid off with Damage’s two D side attackers going into the meat grinder. Stu heard the gun on the other side of his bunker as he had company and decided on the trade. The rest broke down with Damage throwing their last two bodies down the snake side. Searight traded with Lackey to leave Justin Bailey and Aaron Pate on the field with one of the Edward brothers. Bailey saw the opportunity since Edwards had to contend with Pate right in front of him. While Bailey drew the gun, Pate snuck a ball in and turned on his own afterburners to get us a slightly bigger margin. I felt like the reverse Ryan Brand as I was holding my hand up to say “wait until 5 seconds” lol. Pate waits until under 5 seconds to hit the buzzer. Great match against a great team.
So now our fate is in our own hands. The goal we set for ourselves was to make Sunday. The top 20 teams in paintball would not make this easy. We were about to face off against AC Diesel who had just beat Red Legion. But we had a chance to scout them 3 times. Interesting fact: I was asked what I thought their adjustment would be and I said, “If I’m coaching, I’m not necessarily changing the game plan as much as I am moving Mouse back to the snake and putting Rabackoff behind him.” It appeared that they did this… I think. Anyway, based off the three previous matches, that would be the only real offensive push they would have or so it felt. That, and they didn’t seem to be connecting cross field either. Sometimes you have to listen to that gut. So we decided to play a patient game, get the key spots, get the key eliminations, and press…slowly. Margin didn’t matter to us at this point. We really just needed the win.
The first point we matched up with identical break outs but each with a different emphasis. We wanted to fill the Snake wedge again but first stopped off in the tower to try a bounce shot. Their D side “can” was playing inside and the bounce was meant to kill that. It didn’t pay dividends though so we got back into main purpose mode. With Mouse on the field and in the snake, we had several contingencies if he made the snake 50. We weren’t going to give him a shot and, while difficult, you can make life miserable for the snake on this layout while continuing zone control. When Mouse came to our side of the field during that first long point, we went with one of the contingencies. Stu launches on the inside from the snake “wedge”. He actually hit mouse with his first ball through the gap as he launched (drills people… this is why we do drills). This also put Stu in an improved position in order to address Rabackoff who had fed the snake. Stu then scalped JRab. Now that we were up bodies and we had burned plenty of time off the clock, Stu tactically retreated back to snake “wedge” to communicate the situation and close the point out with his teammates all next to him. I think after that, we landed a shot on the god bunker and Diesel was forced to concede after an almost 6 minute point.
The next point we risked Nic on the deep route to snake insert and he made it. Diesel got in the snake fast to slow our roll D side but it began playing out like I suspected. Their only real attack was snake. They didn’t appear confident in a center or D side risk. So we kept assets on it. But then something incredible happened. JRab pulls a Daniel and shot his own snake player… right when he got on our side of the field. This made it a 5 on 3 advantage for the Canes with about 4 minutes on the clock. Some one on the Canes is living right or maybe all that praying I do for the guys is paying off. At this point, I was not upset with our positioning (I was concerned about it and wanted us to take at least one, maybe two secondaries sooner). About a minute later, Diesel had seen enough and conceded the point leaving them just under 3 minutes to score one for the tie or two for the win.
The last point was chaos. Nic took a relatively early walk when Mouse got in the snake fast and early. Mouse then snagged himself another Cane from snake “tower” and someone shot our back center “home” (if I had to guess it was Jrab who secondaried behind Mouse into the snake). But no one on Diesel accounted for Daniel “Danimal” Camp who stomped out that fire with a fury by clapping Mouse. But Danimal wasn’t done nor content. It was a 5 on 2 advantage Diesel but Daniel shot not one, not two, but THREE MORE Diesel players after he clapped Mouse. Mike Brown got taken out and it came down to a 1 on 1. I thought FOR SURE Daniel was going to get his fourth 1v1 coin and maybe even win play of the prelims. He knows to protect the buzzer. I am pretty sure he put a ball on Mark Johnson but I guess it didn’t break or maybe it did. Either way, he isn’t eliminated. Mark ends up slipping a ball onto Daniels foot and Diesel was on the board with under 10 seconds.
Diesel wants to play it so we play. They get one of us, we get all five of them. The sequel to the “Crucible” was over… and we were top of our bracket.
So there we were… Our second Sunday in a row at the second event of the year of our second season as a professional team. It has been said that, discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. I feel my guys showed that this event. The discipline and composure (our culture) continues to be our strength.
We understood that we would be playing the winner of the wild card match between Dynasty and ML Kings. We went home and did our homework on both teams. Then we showed up early to the field to see what adjustments, if any, the two teams had made. The match started out rather fast paced. But that second point would be the determining factor. Kings were in position but when they lost their snake attacker and the remaining Kings failed to produce or show urgency, they concede the point with a little under 2 minutes. On this layout, on Sunday, against Dynasty, two points in two minutes would prove to be a herculean task. And that would, in fact, be the case. We would be playing Dynasty.
This would be our first time playing Dynasty. But we were all genuinely looking forward to it. If you want to be a contender, you have to beat the best and they have certainly proven to be one of, if not the greatest team to play the game. We felt it would be a good match up. And for the most part, it was.
The first point was a great give and take. We ended up with the body advantage (4 on 3). We made one small tactical blunder I feel. We were in the snake, the snake “wedge” and the snake side can (dorito one as well). My snake side “can” saw that our “tower” was eliminated. We had been using this to slow D side progression. Dynasty had gotten a body wide d side, so he felt it may be more important to fill that role instead of backing up our snake one and getting in there with him. Understandable, but I feel we should have pressed the body advantage here. Dynasty did get two in the snake which made things difficult for our snake “wedge” who, eventually caught a ball. At the same time, I think Dynasty got through our defense on dorito side which now created additional pressure in this 3 on 3 situation. Our snake finally lost a gun fight and just like that Dynasty turned the table to a one body advantage (3 on 2). I let it go a little longer than I should have. My D side player was showing body language that he was going to do something. But when I realized he wasn’t going to try and make something happen, I concede the point.
Next point, we executed the set up well. We positioned well on our secondaries and we knew the line. Stu does NOT miss his first shot this time and took that super important snake insert out of the game. Unfortunately, he looked into a ball from the snake can as he wrapped the inside to try and get the drop on the D side. Our snake got shot shortly after giving the body advantage to Dynasty again. But Jacob Searight and Drew Bell pieced together an offensive push to even it up again on the D side. Excellent execution there. With the chaos that Searight created by advancing onto Dynasty’s side, Aaron Pate made the RIGHT DECISION to run down Ryan Greenspan in the snake. Greenspan’s over watch was looking D side. Pate recognized this and launched. But Greenspan somehow understands the distraction and that he doesn’t have his over watch. He popped the top and put one ball on Pate’s hopper. Pate obviously doesn’t feel it and finished his run to shoot Greenspan. Major penalty drawn on Pate. This pulled our remaining players and we had to concede the point. And THAT is the chess game. Chess with guns. Greenspan’s processing speed. And that is the small difference that makes a big difference. If Pate got him clean or perhaps sits another second, it may have been a different point. Either way, we are now down by 2 with 3 minutes left. Not much different than the Kings save for an additional minute…
We had to go aggressive and we always have a few tricks up our sleeve. We CAN play fast. We got to where we are today partially by doing that. We took the 50s and Ridgel knew he had to get that snake insert off the field. He traded his body to do it. Bodies everywhere. We missed their D side but Daniel Camp once again knew the score and got to the buzzer beating Dynasty’s D side runner trying to do the same. We were on the board.
We went aggressive again because, well, we are down 1 with a little over a minute and a half. We had to take ground EARLY because of the way the field plays and where we knew Dynasty wanted to be. We lost Nic at snake 1 but we snuck Mike Brown up the D side to dorito 4 as well as established the center presence with Stu. Stu lost a gun fight which was essentially the first domino to fall on this come back. We had to press with under a minute. Daniel, Mike Brown, and Drew Bell all made valiant efforts at the 50s to make something happen.
There appeared to be a little tomfoolery that point with two dynasty players. I say this based off what several VIP watchers told me but hey… it is what it is. 6 seconds left down 3-1.
We decided to play the point. At first we told ourselves, no penalties, go have fun but then it became… you know what? I don’t care if you get a penalty. You make sure you put paint on as many of them as you can. Our way of a last hurrah, charge of the light brigade kind of thing to say, “we are not afraid”. We of course draw the penalties and they get another point but… it sure was cool. My guys still showed sportsmanship after the point because we are well raised southern boys.
After we lost to Dynasty, Daniel Camp put it all into perspective and I can’t thank him enough for laying it on the guys. He said, “We are climbing Mt. Everest. What we are trying to do as a team in the pro division is supposed to be hard. We are going to have some “cold dark nights on the side of Everest” as we try to get to the top and we should expect that and not be disappointed or deterred by it. We are on the right track and have to just take the wins and losses in stride. It’s what we signed up for and success only is going to come after failure.” Love that dude…. so very true. Couldn’t have said it better.
He’s right. Mindset is key. We are always working to improve, and we’re always going to be critiqued on our next performance. In this sport, it isn’t necessarily about what you’ve done but what you do next. There is always room to grow. Here’s the thing, we will always have a goal every event and we will always have a plan (or three) to meet that goal. We have to be willing to take risks and make mistakes but also do what we can to mitigate them. And we have to do it as a team. That’s where we have seen our greatest successes, when we have done it together.
We are stronger together… and that includes all the Hurricane family, not just the guys in the jerseys. Our pit crew, our scouting crew, our family, our friends, our fans and our sponsors. We couldn’t and wouldn’t be where we are now without them. And we can’t thank you all enough. It’s coming… we just have to keep up the perseverance.
I believe it was Thomas Sowell (the economist) who said, “The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it difficult to do without mistakes. Therefore, people who criticize can feel both intellectually and morally superior.”
Ain’t it the truth?
Marcus Aurelius said, “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.”
Facts
Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do”.
Amen.
Thomas Sowell
Marcus Aurelius
Aristotle
In order to achieve excellence, we have to create good habits. Good habits alleviate chaos in our lives. The goal is consistency… doing things every day to recognize potential. Now hang in there, I am getting to a point.
I see so many bad habits out there among players, but none are more debilitating and crushing than those with the wrong mental attitude. Unfortunately, it is more prevalent than we probably realize. Changing a player’s mentality and behavior is not very easy once they reach a certain point.
Listen carefully, becoming good at paintball doesn’t happen “naturally” or overnight.
If I have said it once, I have said it 1 million times. The mind is the weapon…
And the body is the ammunition.
Jacob Searight is an excellent example of brains and physicality
If you are constantly feeding your brain with good data and taking care of yourself physically, you are more prone to succeed in something that requires you to think while being physical… say something like paintball.
I have talked about motivation a lot here at Zen but I have come to believe that this is only part of the equation… and it is the weakest part. The strongest part of the equation is discipline. When you can develop the right habits that lead to improvement, no matter how repetitive or routine it may seem, but you stick with it, that is discipline, and it will lead you to where you want to be. I get it, discipline can be tough for some. There are, often, internal and external factors that make things difficult. Sure. We all struggle with SOMETHING. But I wouldn’t look at it as a personal failure. At least, not always. We will all have setbacks. But if you do encounter a set back or worse, several, then I would suggest changing your approach to becoming more disciplined. I would try to create discipline in myself through “smaller wins”. Build to it, with smaller more manageable goals. Then build upon those. See, it isn’t you who are necessarily failing to be disciplined… it is your tactics, your strategy to said goal. Make sense?
I have found that the key to creating a lasting habit is to ensure I “like” it. I have to enjoy something about it. What benefit and enjoyment do I, or rather, will I get from this new habit? That should be my focus. And I need to make sure that the benefit encompasses the whole process, otherwise I have all but ensured failure. Wanting to do something and actually doing it are not the same. Wanting to succeed at something and continuing to do the things required for success are not the same thing. Wanting alone will not create the habit much less allow for it to endure.
Bruce Lee taught, “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own”
The brain learns best through small, repeated measures set in the right environment.
How many of you are familiar with the S.A.I.D. or “SAID” Principle? It is an Acronym for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands”. I stumbled across it recently during some research in sports psychology. The concept is very simple. It essentially teaches that to improve in a specific sport, you should practice the specific skills and “moves” used in that sport. But in its more complex version, it is all about adaptation! Adaptation does not and will not happen in a vacuum. Adaptation occurs in a response to a specific stimulus or demand imposed by the environment. I know, this is getting deep. But this is what I tried to explain to Matty Marshall about teams becoming more academic… why they are becoming more competitive. Why the Canes were so successful our Pro Rookie season. I just didn’t articulate it well.
As a coach, I need to leverage my assets (players) to the best of their abilities. But I also need to create continuous improvement in them and ensure that it is obtained regularly. How do I do this? When I have said in the past that my role as a coach is to put my players in positions to succeed, that means playing them in a role that meets their skill set to a specific layout. And from there, I begin the individualization of their training!
If one wants to replicate success in PAINTBALL, then coaches must train their players beyond the fundamentals and physicality of the sport. They must be taught the game. That includes the tactical and the strategic for each and every layout within the parameters of TEAM while emphasizing their individual strengths and abilities… We have to train the brain!
Most coaches are caught up in execution and not the WHY we do the execution. They want to teach “when you see this, you do this.” If A then B paintball (a good concept). This is a speed factor, an efficiency creator… but it is only half of the potential for making great players. However, the more we teach, explain, understand the concept behind the why, that process of learning will get faster each time, with each layout. Their own cognition will take over and their individual understanding will assert itself leading to even greater efficiency and use of time.
Asking and understanding why.
Too many coaches simply teach the fundamental aspects of our sports without emphasizing why. Sure, a lot of it is self-explanatory. And don’t get me wrong, the foundation of our sport is certainly important. But too many take this as the only concept required. Anyone can pick up a clipboard, call a line with your 5 most talented guys, and ask them to win. That is not coaching. That is managing. Great job PB manager. But what are you doing to continue their growth, to make them elite? Think about it, if that were the way, there would be a lot more elite players in each division. But there isn’t… so, in my opinion, it is about the individualized attention and growth plan that must be discovered and then implemented.
Do I know how to do this every time with every player? Absolutely not. This is something that will require a lot of trial and error. And something I started personally about 6 years ago and I am still navigating.
I am a firm believer in training as a TEAM but affirming and supporting that effort with individualized concepts. None of this is a science. But we can all be scientists by experimenting and studying results.
I guess my whole point is, as a coach, we need to look at our players in a much more holistic manner. Their diet, their workouts, their READING, their home life, ALL OF IT… instead of just the one size fits all approach to practice in our sport. They will be better for it, you will be better for it, and the team will be better for it. Who knows, you might be surprised and start winning at a lot more than paintball.
Recently I posted a photo of the New Orleans Hurricanes on social media where I quoted Andrew Carnegie. He said, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
Unfortunately, we don’t see this type of thought embraced very often, especially in paintball.
Everyone was smiling inside this huddle because we had just overcome a tough scenario. Because “team”
This past weekend I was asked by a player for advice on how to eventually go pro. I have been asked this question quite frequently as of late, in one form or another. A simple enough question really, but one that has numerous answers depending on who you are speaking with all while also weighing heavily on your circumstances and a myriad of other variables… and my answer is no different. Heck, I just got here.
Here are two more quotes for you from tried and true champions:
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan.
“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
Sensing a theme here?
Big thank you to Cory Andrews of APP Photography
Teamwork is what usually leads to success in most endeavors. Yes, there are exceptions but let’s talk paintball specifically. Again, yes exceptions, but one would be considered irrational if you thought any successful paintball team achieved success and maintained said success through the simple efforts of individual players.
Teamwork has to have a strong foundation. That foundation has to be trust. Personal ambition can be, in some cases, admirable but it can and routinely does poison teams. The team that removes ego, the team that puts the organization as a whole above the individual will usually survive longer and do better. Most successful teams have figured out that if everyone “buys in”, has the same goals and are moving toward those goals together in a unified front, then it becomes a matter of when, not if, success will arrive.
The strength of any team is made up of the individual members. The “weakest link” and all that… but you can overcome that “weakest link” bit if everyone recognizes that the strength of each member IS the team. There is strength in unity which should lead to no weak links if everyone contributes in their own unique way.
I did an interview recently with Matty Marshall and he inquired about what we attributed the success of the New Orleans Hurricanes to so far. The question intrigued me at first only because I realized he understood our goals. To the outsider looking in, we are not successful. In our first three events as a professional team, we have only made Sunday once. We are currently sitting in 10th place for the series (and will probably drop to 12th based off what I see happening in Sacramento). We have played 13 professional matches and only won 6 of them. We were outscored at the Sunshine State 15 to 19, did better in Dallas 23 to 21, and fell again in Philly 13/17 for a total of 51 scored and 57 scored against. Hardly a success, right? So why did Matty assume we were seeing success?
There are a couple of reasons really. One, because he is familiar with the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season as well as at each event. We are meeting those goals as a first year rookie pro team. And two, by most accounts, we aren’t doing too bad regarding the annals of history. But that still remains to be seen as there are still 2 events left (Chicago and Cup).
But I would be totally remiss if I didn’t state that the success is garnered from the guys being a close knit group, who understand the importance of “team”. It is ingrained in our culture. And that’s a very important aspect.
To me, teamwork is absolutely essential and quite honestly, the beauty of our sport. When you have five guys out there, working as one, communicating, selfless, and in a flow state, man… it is something to behold. Even better if you are one of the 5. But if you missed or flew past the word “selfless” in that sentence, then you missed the most important piece of it.
Team, Squad, Crew, Tribe, Clan… Family
Whether most realize it or not, teamwork is the true definition of efficiency. After all, 9 or 10 brains are better than 1. I can’t remember who said it, but it struck me as so very true. What does efficiency really boil down to other than doing something better than what was already being done? And that is where we are seeing our success: in the process of creating efficiencies. The process of learning, the process of repetition, the process of trusting one another, the process of pushing one another, the process of trying to be just a little better than we were the day before. And yes, the process of losing and winning.
When you make that individual commitment to the team goal, you flip a switch that turns on accountability and selflessness. When everyone has that light on, man that stuff will shine bright. It will drown out all the noise and hyper focus everyone on what needs to be done, what has to be done.
Yes, it takes time and make no mistake, we have been at this for a while. But I believe we have kept the focus on the right things. We always start with fundamentals. We don’t lapse on those drills. We don’t phone it in. We don’t go through the motions. We make sure it is productive. There are no attitudes on this team. If we see something that needs to be mentioned, it gets said. And no one gets offended (no betas here).
What is my role in all of that? Easy. Keep them focused on the important things that paint the big picture. I recognize the things that may take us off course, that distract from what we really need to be doing, and kill them. I identify opportunities for my guys, push them to be their best, remove them from their comfort zones only to make that uncomfortable place comfortable and then develop strategic based concepts which allow my tacticians (the guys) to implement, make better, and execute.
Old and busted
So how did we get here and where is this all going? Well, we started with a question from a player this past weekend… how do I become better/pro.
Besides getting out there every weekend and practicing the fundamentals and playing as much as you can? Be something a team can’t do without. Find a job or role that no one wants to do and get so good at it, you are the only name they think of when it has to get done. That.. and one other thing…
Zen and the Art of Paintball 