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2024 World Cup Recap

zenandtheartofpaintballLeave a comment

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

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

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

VS Brooklyn Bears

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VS Ronholt Dynamite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VS AC Diesel

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

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

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

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

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

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

VS Aftershock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But first…

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

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

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

Be water my friends. 

2024 Windy City Open ReCap

zenandtheartofpaintballLeave a comment

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

2024 Mid Atlantic Major recap

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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!

Be water my friends. And #FightLikeGrayson!

Critical Mass… or is it?

zenandtheartofpaintball3 Comments

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:

  1. Keep an untroubled spirit.
  2. 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.

Be water my friends

2023 World Cup Recap

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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.

Until next season…

Be water my friends.

NXL Sunshine State Major 2023 Recap

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When the draw was first released, I was very pleased. I knew that if we could get through that crucible of a prelims to start the season off, it would not only be a good event, but set the stage for the rest of the season for the squad. Getting tested early is always a good thing.
Here is how I looked at it. Heat was the #2 team in the world headed into this event and I wanted them first. They would be a great test early on for our unorthodox approach to the layout. We had Revo next. I also wanted to catch them early. Revo is one of those teams that usually the deeper you meet them, the better they are. Obviously Mark Johnson’s power moves in the off season with AC Diesel would make for a rather difficult test for our sophomore debut. And finally, my friends Shane Pestana and Mike Paxson coaching and rebuilding the Ironmen was going to be a “hum-dinger” for sure.

There were two ways to play this field successfully in my view. Knowing where your opponent is and where he wants to be is an important aspect of the game (duh). My approach to this particular layout was you either took ground early and aggressively, then permeated and let your opponent fight his way to you, forcing moves, or you sat back, let things develop a little, and then threw a well planned/timed counter punch. This concept of mine was initially met with some consternation from my guys. And that was understandable. We like data and knowing where people are for zone control, counter punching, and offense. But you couldn’t always know where an opponent was on this field. Sure, you had an IDEA…but you didn’t really know for sure until you did and even then, he may have switched positions seconds later. So, we had to make fear of the unknown our ally. And we did. We did this through intelligent assumption (we will say deductive reasoning) and focusing on our communication. With the right discipline and comms, the guys would discern the data.

Vs Houston Heat

We wanted to get a little aggressive the first point. We pushed dorito side. The penalty on Stuart Ridgel was absolute horse manure. I watched him from the pit because he and I discussed getting his gun up and moving from center up into the center aztec to make a read. When he went into the bunker he steps on a ball and it squirts paint up on the back of his left thigh. I know this because I watched it happen. I thought the ref was headed in to wipe him off…
Anytime you are in a 2 body deficit against Heat, it is grim. Time was important on this field (I had determined 70% “slow” and 30% “fast” at the previous weekend’s practice) so when we lost Britt almost 3 minutes after the penalty, I figured I’d give my guys a few seconds to dig a surprise kill out, especially when the two are Drew Bell and Aaron Pate. Heat did press but I decided to get 5 guys back out there and start fresh. 0-1.

Our guns on break and zone control gave us a 2 body advantage on the next point. Then we began our slow meticulous squeeze. My guys didn’t get in a hurry, understood their roles and what needed to happen when we drop the d side. On this field, just because a side was blown did not mean there were not threats. However, we also know that if you are in that position, you will want to spread if possible. We positioned appropriately and made Heat fight too many fronts. 1-1.

The next point ultimately decided the outcome of the match. Both teams traded bodies early from key positions creating a 4 on 4. Heat established a center presence early but Mike Brown’s discipline on his job was outstanding. Unfortunately, MB got caught (hey, it happens) creating a 3 on 3 scenario. And this is where I feel the deciding factor took place in the match. Sam Monville’s patience can only be described as extraordinary. It’s almost as if he was wearing a Canes jersey. He became a part of that bunker. And, as was apt to happen on this field, we lost a body in the scramble and didn’t piece his position together. The guys would tell me later where they thought he was. The clock continued to dwindle. At one point, I got pretty excited because Sam did come off his post and went inside for a moment. When Nic did decide to go, I thought to myself, he knows and is going to stick Sam! He did not.This point I feel would be completely different if Nic traded or we knew where Sam was to begin with. Lesson learned (and discussed at length)

We were now forced to press into the guns with 1 minute left. We actually made our spots but our snake side attack looked into the first ball once there. The coup de gras was another minor, this one legit. A good chess match but penalties killed us. Two penalties and a loss by two. Coincidence? Probably not. But that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Britt Simpson would have pulled off a point stealing run if there would have been 2-3 more seconds on the clock in the final breakout. Heat wins 3-1.

Vs Baltimore Revo

We never played Revo in our rookie season last year. I always thought it would be an interesting match up of styles. We only had a chance to scout their match against AC Diesel, and even then it was while we were playing. Even with the limited data, we were able to extrapolate a rough conceptual idea. Then it was a matter of addressing that concept with our own approach. Like I said earlier, Revo is one of those teams that gets better as the event goes. Revo liked to get those guns up D side with a pocket shooter (I think they used Benny Carrol for this) so we thought on the first point, we should take advantage of that. Revo won some first engagement shots though and went up bodies early. They were quick to their secondaries too, much faster than in their first match (good adjustment). They made some good reads and upped the aggression. My guys quickly adjusted to slow things down and assess that first point but Revo found the hole. 0-1.

Next point we wanted to spread and see. We lost one on the break but we get one back due to an over eager Revo player. Coupled with the data we already had, this was really the point that gave me the insight we needed. They wanted to control the center. Zone control with over-watch gave us another kill. First engagement issues continued to plague us but we closed the point out. 1-1

The next point our play goes a little south as we lost two on the break but we evened it up almost immediately based off the hole Revo showed. Then Stuart Ridgel did some Stuart Ridgel stuff. This man is quickly becoming elite and if his dissection of that close out didn’t show it, I don’t know what else you have to do. 2-1

*Zen note – Just a personal opinion here and I am obviously biased but my thought is he should have got move of the prelims and the $500 cash. It is move of the prelims, not “scenario move” of the prelims. Nothing against Askren but if you don’t know to run your ass down the field with 10 seconds left to try and steal a point, your PB IQ is deficient. But if you can single handedly figure out how to do a 3 pack clean against Revo… that’s DOING something and shows a high in game processing speed.

I decided to get aggressive snake side and see Revo’s reaction. They reacted well but this allowed us to put an asset in position right behind our initial goal and create tension for the center, which is what Revo wants to control. But, best laid plans seldom survive first contact. We peeled one off but lost Nic. Stu played savior once again and traded. Even if he hadn’t, it’s a 2v2 and we were in position where we could burn the clock since we were up 1. However, it was not necessary as Stu did get his trade and we closed it out. 3-1

Still plenty of time on the clock. As the Hurricanes have proven several times this year, the clock is an integral part of the game. Knowing Revo wanted to get that extra gun up, we wanted to try pressing the issue again D side and it paid off. We got a kill on the break and established a heavy D presence off the rip. The beauty of this was, if/when my D side attacker makes it, now they HAD to contend with his presence and they could only do that from one of a few locations (based off their breakouts). If he wasn’t successful, I still felt confident we would kill off time. Couple that with Revo having to push, this would offer us opportunities to intercept them. The asset up front in conjunction with the spread created a win/win scenario. That successful D side run and the short snake presence allowed us to really stymie any aggression from Revo. Then the “Bash Brothers” pull one of their patented “make coach pee himself a little” moves… but it actually ended up working out. Revo doesn’t see Drew join Britt in his bunker. Britt’s gun was inside making Revo think, okay, there he is, and allows Drew to peel two off. 4-1

Revo called a timeout since they only had 3-4 minutes to score 3 points and/or reduce the point spread. There was a small misunderstanding on the box for the Canes. Yes, we had a conversation about it in the pit afterwards but as a coach, you certainly don’t want to let your team dwell on something like that. Especially since I felt I was accountable for not being more clear and concise in my explanation of what I wanted. Move on, next point. Revo did a good job and took advantage to get the point with just over 2 minutes left on the clock. 4-2.

In the final point of the match, we wanted to contest them with a center presence and take the corners in case it didn’t work out. We shot two on the break but they eliminated our center presence. At that point I knew it was in the bag because of positioning. My guys don’t have to engage but can control a zone. A Revo player tried to get creative D side, it didn’t pay off, leaving the two remaining Revo players with a heavy lift of pushing into 3 disciplined Hurricane guns. A trade happened snake side leaving it a 2 on 1, Hurricane’s favor. Pate re-positions to snake corner and Johnny’s your uncle. Canes win 4-2.

One and one for the day. Both our matches were afternoon (2 and 4pm). The next day though we were looking at an 11:20 am match followed by a 4 pm match. That is a LOT of downtime. So we got together for a team meeting, did our homework on Diesel and Ironmen, and then developed our logistics for the next day. We also knew we would have an opportunity to scout the Ironmen one more time. With our plans set, we went to sleep feeling rather confident.

VS AC Diesel

I felt like Mark had respect for us and would not be flippant about our match. We anticipated a slow grind. We wanted to set the pace and drag them into the deep end of the pool with our style of play. We had a good understanding of the field and we wanted to leverage that. But we also felt like they would adjust. It is always a crap shoot day 2 on what your first opponent on day two will present. First point, we got our guns up, got 5 out alive in an effort to assess and counter. As expected, when Diesel saw an opportunity they capitalized. We lost some gun fights but now we were smarter for it. For this particular field, you didn’t necessarily have to engage. We decided to spread and assess again. Small hiccup to begin with but it pays off. Tie ball game. 1-1

We knew there was a statistical probability they were going to spread the next point, it was just a matter of who we were going to pick on off the break. The paint shot straight and true and we found ourselves with a 4 on 2 advantage pretty quick. Knowing we had the higher probability of going up a point while burning clock, Diesel smartly conceded the point to get 5 fresh back out there. And why wouldn’t you? On paper, you had to think to yourself, “AC’s best 5 versus the Canes best 5, AC wins the majority of the time.” But people said that all last year to us. We would just smile and think, keep telling yourself that, it’s eventually going to bite you in the ass, develop lockjaw, and drag you to death. 2-1 Canes

Again, we determine Diesel wanted to stack that snake side. We decided to spread the field with a free wheeler. Their stack would determine where our free wheeler would become a force multiplier. Sure enough, Diesel conceded the d-side, content to hold and stacked the snake side. We contained d side essentially with one gun (a risk but based off 2 days of playing and watching the layout, it seemed worth it). Once the widest D side fell, it forced their home to plug the hole and turn a gun from snake side to contend. Thing is, we weren’t in a hurry. We had the advantage and we were going to make them work for it at this point. And our free wheeler never had to really commit to anything. My guys won some good gun fights too. 3-1

It was obvious now, even with the time left, they would now try to get out D side. Nico was out there so we were confident in the call. We put two guns on it and it paid off. Interesting fact, I am pretty sure we shot that player in the D side can 2-3 different times but the ref could never find the hit. The guys didn’t get rattled though, maintained composure and let that clock roll while nullifying any potential counter push. Spicka tried a desperation move up the center. No go. I was hoping Greg Pauley would let it go a little longer but he is too smart for that. 4-1.

Up by 3, there was still a lot of time on that clock. And with the roster we were facing, you couldn’t count them out. So we had to be smart. We were in X-ball and felt confident in the game plan. But again, that’s where things can get sideways sometimes. And this would be one of those times. We knew they would be aggressive off the break to an extent. We decided to shoot wide and set up to contain. We lost one of our containment shooters on the break though which allowed them to get two bodies to join their center push from the break. We made a valiant counter but not quite enough. 4-2

We had to ask ourselves an important question, would it be best to get 5 bodies out alive and concede ground or fight fire with fire? We chose fire. We make our goal for the point by getting wide and far d side which should slow any progress through center/snake. But we lost Pate on the break from a key spot for the game plan. This made Stu have to come off his assignment and get snake way to help Nic. Either way, once we were set, I felt we were really in position to dictate the point. The break down happened when our D side presence comes off his assignment (he was asked to check something and he trusts his teammate). Once that happened, it allowed two Diesel players to reposition. We actually bounced the one who shifted out to the dorito… it’s a different point I feel if that ball broke (woulda coulda shoulda). We picked up A-rod’s move to get wider on D side. But Britt had to get small at first and was forced to re-engage Mark Johnson in the center. Mark got a ball on him which opened the hole. They got lucky again when Nic bounces Mouse at the snake 50. How lucky? With Mouse’s second life, he peeled off Drew Bell creating a 2 on 1. Mark closed the point out with about 50 seconds left. 4-3

Now they had to come. What would a team’s best access points be down the field? If you aren’t practicing 60 second points, you’re doing it wrong. We knew what we would do in that situation so we prepared to repel it. We made positions 5 alive and once that happened, I knew we were solid with the win. We shot one on the break which helped as well. I preach discipline to the point of nausea. If they were able to get through a line who only had one job, I would be impressed. We hold on with 5 alive and they lost everyone. 4-3

What I didn’t tell my guys was how, inside, I was a little disappointed we had tossed that spread away from a seeding perspective. Would have been nice to have a plus 6 at the end of the day… that’s called “foreshadowing”.

VS Ironmen

My guys were focused during the downtime , staying hydrated, getting some food, keeping out of the sun, and watching some games. We had to beat the Ironmen. We had watched Heat send Diesel home earlier that afternoon. If the Ironmen beat us, they would take the heads up and go on to Sunday. We had data on them but they were kind of everywhere. There were holes in their game but they were random and difficult to pinpoint. We felt that we had better comms and discipline though and decided to leverage that. We tried a goal oriented play D side first point. Interestingly enough, they ran an almost identical play. The only difference being we took advantage first. They did appear to have had two of their players doing the same job though. What didn’t help was my friend on the Ironmen, Mike McGowan, slips a shot in on Britt and in an effort to fill the spot before the men can react Drew Bell quite literally pulls a Goldberg from WWE and speared Britt on his way into Britt’s former bunker! This caused Drew to get shot. So now our D side presence was blown. Ridgel pulled the “get the hell out of dodge” card but gets it declined at check out while Nic decided, hey, we got nothing to lose – full send! Point one to Ironmen. 0-1.

After a short discussion about a PB show from a few years ago called “The Short Bus”, I got my guys refocused on the task at hand. We understood where the domino fell and went back to basics. We would spread and make the appropriate reads/counter based off the Ironmen. Low and behold, we have the same idea again as both teams spread but the Ironmen struck first shooting our wide D side. However, Ironmen dropped a zone and we got back out wide to contest as well as get an asset in place to support. At the same time, we took just enough ground snake side to keep their D side wary. It seemed as if the Men forgot the shadows get long at this time of day (as a team we had discussed using this). Aaron Pate did use that to make a counter digging out a kill from the center. Then it appeared the Ironman in the snake side brick panicked a little and tried a desperation run through to dig out Pate. But over-watch by Drew Bell snuffed that idea out. Head on a swivel, Pate took up zone control and caught another Ironman over extending. We were now in a 4 on 3 body advantage and were in position to counter push which we did. A mistake by the last Ironmen player got them a major. This not only tied us up but put us on the power play next point with a two body advantage. 1-1.

I knew the moment they lost the first body Shane and Pax would concede the point giving us the 2-1 lead with 4-5 minutes left. So I told my guys to go out, make the primaries we have identified and make the point last. We actually shot their D side runner on the break (damn it!) but the concession didn’t come. Or so I thought as it did about 10 seconds later. I got that they were hoping we would get into a feeding frenzy and run down to our deaths or draw a penalty. When it became apparent we weren’t going anywhere, they conceded. 2-1.

With just over 5 minutes on the clock and Shane/Pax at the wheel, I found myself honestly a little stumped. I decided to take a little ground snake side and put my other guys in position to contain and counter easily. Sure enough, the Men took snake brick, the center wedge, and the d side wedge. I watched the Ironmen player wrap inside the snake brick and launch to our center/snake wedge. As he did this, I saw a hit come off his shoulder. I don’t know if it was one my guys or one of his own. But what I saw did, in fact happen, since a ref ran in and a flag went up. This left the Ironmen with one body up the center and two across the back line. My guys now understood we are up 5 bodies to 3 with a 1 point advantage. We don’t have to force the issue but allowed the Men to kill themselves as the clock dwindled down. The Center brick got crafty but his shadow gave him away. He made the mistake of popping the top and got eliminated. The remaining two Ironmen were still in the back. With the body advantage and the lead, Shane/Pax conceded the point leaving about 2 and half minutes in the match. 3-1.

With just over 2 minutes left, we knew if we could get wide, we should be able to seal the deal. We got out 5 alive and I looked at everyone in the pit and said, “Game”. We had a single snake side gun controlling the snake side entrance and an Ironmen ran into it. Their home decided to spread wide going behind the first D side can to the d side corner. He and his teammate in the inset D side can both get eliminated. This left snake side wedge and the snake side “block”. Wedge (Gomez maybe?) moved to snake side brick. So, not only are they down bodies but essentially linear. Turns out that snake side block was Al Fernandez and he moved to snake side wedge. No longer linear but still not optimum (what can you do though?). We shot Gomez and then Al. With the heads up play, Nic Ripple rushed in for the point to help with margin.

Vs Los Angeles Infamous

We went home and did our homework. We had set the goal to make Sunday for this event. Now that we were there, the next goal was to win our first match. We had made Sunday twice last season but lost our first match each time. We were determined not to let that happen again. The more I looked at Infamous’ tape, it was obvious they were highly aggressive on this layout, taking ground early and with speed. And why not when you have that type of speed. But after further study, it became apparent their approach essentially consisted of wanting to use the two center bricks to cross up defensively and let their other three “play around” in the back. Remember at the beginning of this, I said their were two ways to play the field? Yeah, they were most definitely the first approach. So we decided to take Lao Tzu’s approach to this match. “An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.” We decided to concede that positioning since it appeared the way they played was to simply take away the head of the snake and the dorito 2-3 gap. Okay… we won’t go there. We will set traps since you are basically taking two of your guns out of the fight leaving us 5 guns to pick on the 3 behind them.

I know what you are thinking. Boring! Yes, you are absolutely right. But our goal was to win. If I see something we can exploit, a win is a win. Say what you want about that match but it was a controlled chess match. The guys executed perfectly. And we had the pieces on the board standing at the end of it.

We knew our basic set up was a good way to control the Infamous approach. And we knew EXACTLY what Infamous would do (scouting and statistical analysis for the win). So that’s what we did. Sure enough, Infamous came out hard straight to the snake 50 brick. They also positioned the center/d side wedge player who would want to go inside to the center 50 brick. The easiest to isolate was the wedge and he was the first to die. We then spread because, with that wedge eliminated, the snake side brick can’t stop the counter very well. The risk was worth it. We let them spread D side too though. Because we knew that snake side brick wanted to control the 2-3 dorito gap, we snuck into the dorito side to keep their dorito player honest and ensure that Snake side brick STAYED that way allowing us access to him. Stuart made the read, saw the opportunity and got the elimination. If that hadn’t worked, the goal was set to get another gun out behind our first dorito and bully the crossed snake side gun (there was a bounce shot). Their dorito presence somewhat stifled that though. Stu then carefully set another trap with a tactical retreat (we had worked this a few times at practice to good success). Regrettably, Stu misses the opportunity as Infamous got crafty D side and dug one of our dorito side attackers out. Opportunity missed, Stu tries to get clever by resetting to our secondary plan…but just a little too much as Brusselback wrapped on his blocked out creeping (he showed just a smidge and Tim got the shot). But in order to get that shot on Stu, Tim exposed himself and gets eliminated as well.

What took place next is textbook. We didn’t have to worry about margin. A win was a win at this point. So we took our time piecing things together with our snake corner staying in reserve if necessary. Infamous had both corners. We owned the snake, the snake corner, and Dorito 4. Pate became aggressive because he was out of paint. I’m pretty sure all 5 remaining players were anemic on paint as the shooting was quite sporadic. Comment of the event though was the question posed by Nic to Pate. “Pate, do you want me to get in the snake now?” In typical Pate fashion, he responded with, “Hell yes I do”. This is because Nic was no longer needed for reserve and we could now press the advantage. Mike Brown’s presence was a thorn so Infamous smartly tries to progress down the D side but Nic had begun crawling forward and had the infamous player’s side. Nic scalped him. This happened at almost 10 minutes in! This created a 3 on 1 Canes advantage and Travis was quick to towel. 1-0

We knew this is when Infamous would send Sam and Zack to the two center bricks. Were the rolls reversed, this would have been the play. It was time to implement and execute our pre-planned response. I gave the audible from the pit to the box when I saw Sam and Zack line up (we had a call ready for this). They went right where we called it. Their two center players shot a lot of paint at gaps that no one was going to go through. And because we knew to control the wides behind them, they couldn’t really generate an attack. It also allowed our back center to play tall, pick shots and see the field. He shot their snake side tower followed by the dorito corner. Three Infamous players now had to push into 5 zoned guns and they got chopped up. We actually had the time to hit the buzzer but it wasn’t necessary. We wanted to be respectful.

Milestone and goal #2 reached.

Vs New York Xtreme

Similar to Infamous, Xtreme really played the layout aggressively and fast. Yyou had to respect it because it appeared they were doing it with significant success. They really worked in the off season and it showed. It was like a whole new team out there. But we had scouted them and felt we had the right game plan to beat them.

And our game plan looked solid the first point in. 1-0

That second point was a friggin bloodbath of a knife fight but Nic Ripple said not today satan. 2-0

Nothing is ever in the bag, especially with this layout, with that much time left, against a Sunday quarters pro team.

The third point we know they will go center brick with the route through the center. I put Drew bell off the right hand side of the home to shoot that lane. Xtreme shot our dorito corner runner but we definitely shot their center brick runner. Our entire pit saw it happen. Ref runs in and calls it rub… jeez. Okay. Fine. We tied the body count up by shooting Cantor. About 3 mnutes went by and we ended up losing our dorito side can when Corey Hall and Drew trade. But Xtreme has Cantor in our 40. He could have closed it out sooner as our center line was exposed (I was chewing gum vigorously hoping he wouldn’t think of or see the line). Around 4 minutes left, Cantor and Caro figured it out. Both Pate and Camp got peeled quickly followed by Nic. They hit the buzzer with 3:45 left. 2-1

NYX’s guns were solid on the next point as we lost two on the break. We took Pat Kraft out of the center too. But Xtreme capitalized on the kills by quickly and efficiently taking ground. My boys held tough and Drew Bell took 2 of them with him. We both decided to wait the clock out and let the overtime point decide it. 2-2.

I felt confident we were going to take this match. The play call was good, we were set up for success. Lot to dissect on what happened that overtime point… but not today. This is long enough as it is.

Congratulations to NYX making top 4! A tremendous amount of growth. Mad respect to that crew. And of course, congrats to Dynasty.

I have this theory that I was told sometime ago. It is called the ratio of thirds. It’s for when you are chasing a goal or doing anything difficult or hard:

A third of the time you’re going to feel absolutely great… on top of the world, all is going well, you are seeing what you want and need to see.
A third of the time you’re going to feel “okay”… not great, not bad, its not a bad spot or a good spot, you’re just kinda there.
And then, a third of the time you’re going to feel like crap. Nothing is going right, you’re frustrated, you aren’t seeing or feeling or hearing what you need.

It’s a cycle and it repeats… sometimes. But I would argue that, if you maintain this ratio, you’re actually doing pretty well.

You might think the Canes are feeling “okay” about this event or maybe even “crappy”. But you would be wrong. We feel great. We finished last season in 11th place and a 3rd tier team after working our way up from 5th tier. We made Sunday this first event and met another milestone by winning our wild card match on Sunday morning. Lots to be happy with. We know there is more work to do but we look forward to it. We are up for the challenge and can’t wait for the next test. See you in Texas.

Be water my friends.

2022 NXL Windy City Major Recap

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Remember when you were much younger and you were asked to do something by a parent or an authority figure and did it well? Or maybe you showed responsibility/initiative, and did your job/chores without being asked? Most of us were “rewarded”, right?  Or maybe you just wouldn’t get your butt handed to you. Either way, you were basically being taught that, if you did your job and did it well, you would see some sort of return.

Chicago was a little like that.

We know we need to perform well each and every event. I’m a firm believer in that success in this sport is not all predicated on talent as much as it is about team trust, cohesion, culture, reliability, and consistency, topped with necessary improvement. If a team has no ego and understands what it needs to do to improve, they will improve. And improvement will lead to reaching goals. And with each goal reached, you will eventually get to the point where you are winning.

We were not happy with our performance in Philly. We knew Chicago was going to be a make-or-break event for us.

As usual, we would face some difficulties, but then, who doesn’t?  We would head to this event without Mike Brown, who had life events to address. Justin Bailey would also have a life event that would keep him from being with the team the first layout weekend. Aaron Pate would injure himself during the second practice.  We would face bad weather the second layout weekend and I couldn’t nab a pro team to scrimmage either weekend.  Luckily, our good friends on Austin Notorious (ranked 3rd in Semi-Pro) came through and not only gave us some excellent looks but really opened our eyes to some aspects of our game!  (They took 2nd in Chicago!  Proud and happy for them. Ryan Gray is leading those boys incredibly well).

New Orleans Hurricanes and Austin Notorious at LA Xtreme Paintball in Slidell, LA

Coming into this event, I felt confident our approach to the layout would not only work but was, for all intents and purposes, the right way to play the field (at least for the Canes).  However, my resolve would be tested early Friday morning.  We drew the dreaded afternoon bracket (I prefer morning games) but the one advantage is, you get to see how teams are playing the field.  It seemed in those first few sets everyone was pushing the snake… hard. We pushed the snake too but not nearly like everyone else. I was genuinely surprised since, during our practices, our kill ratio for that runner was a high percentage. I thought surely everyone else was having a similar experience and would weigh it. That being said, we decided to stick with the game plan.

Our approach to the field is what military personnel would call a “flying wedge”. If you aren’t familiar with the term, it was a formation used in early warfare, usually with cavalry against infantry.  Imagine cavalry in the formation of a giant triangle charging at your squared formation of infantry (phalanx).  The concept was to penetrate the ranks and split the opposing force.  Now imagine the flying wedge cavalry with mortar fire…  In the case of the Canes, I trust my guys’ guns.  We drill our on the break shots religiously. So, that was the idea. We wanted to establish up the center, turn the opponents’ guns inside, make them contend with us there, then expand outside, bully a single gun, and then take more ground.  But it would require discipline, communication, and solid guns with a good eye for the read.  Simple, right?

ZEN NOTE – to those of you (and there were several) who sent me questions asking why we didn’t attack the snake more often… we did.  And we didn’t.  Calls were made based off statistical analysis and probability of what the opponent was showing as well as our assets.  We had contingencies for when our opponent made the snake as “safety valves”.  They worked.

Out of all the layouts this year, I felt this was one was ours.  A “hybrid” traditional that would allow us to really leverage all our weapons. And for the most part, I was right.  But this would be no walk in the park.  We would be tested right out of the gate.  People keep telling me we won’t be taken seriously until we start beating the elite teams.  Myself and the Canes agree. Well… here was our chance.


VS Heat

I have been accused of not being the brightest guy at times but I’m no dummy.  I knew if we let Chad George take a breath anywhere near that snake, no matter our contingencies, we would have problems.  But I looked over at my man Aaron Smith and I think to myself…  when we shoot George and get Aaron in there… Johnny’s your uncle.  We keyed up on ole George early. But they keyed up on Aaron Smith too. Aaron is a warrior and understood he had one of the toughest spots to play this event. I am really pleased with his growth as a player. Keep an eye on this one.

Obviously running anywhere past the snake can on this field was a risk versus reward scenario.  So, we pushed it on point one to test guns.  Aaron doesn’t make it, George does.  But Stuart Ridgel does the patented “Stu Shuffle” and takes ole George off the board.  However, we lost some gunfights. Point to Heat.  Next point more of the same.  We went snake corner, their guns were good there too. It was at this point I realized they are playing the field similar to us.  And we always train how to beat our own game plans.  They were up 2-0.  They were going to dig in on this field, roll their guns, and let us try and kill ourselves.  We had other plans.  Small bumps with tiny edges. Bully a gun.  Push. And use a guy named Jacob Searight.

We finally shot George.  But we allowed our tandem line to get too long on D side.  Dizon did us a favor though and drew the major.  The game was tied and we were on the power play as Heat would be playing down.  We figured they would take one of the towers early (probably snake side) and shoot for it.  It payed off (happened to be George). 3-2 us when they conceded the point.

The next break was a blood bath.  We shot two and they shot two. Then Tyler Harmon had a Tyler Harmon moment. Tied again at 3-3.  Next point of what would be the end of regulation, both teams did the exact same breakout.  However, Heat established the center first.  This concerned me because they were in position to push in the last 60.  We traded punches, guys held and time expired.

Headed into overtime, we were feeling pretty good.  If it bleeds, we can kill it, and that was our thought headed into that last point.  The pressure was on them so we knew they would go pocket thinking if they can get 5 out alive, they win “on paper” as Matty would say.  But we haven’t read that book yet (heck, we can’t even read).  We decided to push Britt Simpson D side with heavy guns and it paid off.  We got out wide snake side as the point developed after establishing a strong center.  Aaron Pate made a wicked snap on Tyler Harmon, then smoked Ryan Smith and then Ronnie Dizon gets eaten.   Good win for what we had dubbed prior to the event, the revenge tour.

*ZEN NOTE – In the last point, I recall Federov making a gesture after shooting Stu (a kiss goodbye or something) and then I made the same gesture when we hit the buzzer.  I know… juvenile. Just because someone is disrespectful doesn’t mean I will be. I have to be a better example for my guys. 

VS Thunder

We had watched Thunder (when we could) play Uprising and noticed some tendencies. But I did not depend on the scouting as I knew they would adjust their game plan.  The key was going to be identifying the adjustment early… which we did.  It was a back and forth match.  I was particularly proud of my man Britt Simpson in this match as he earned himself a one on one coin in the 2nd point of the match to put us on the board. Three Hurricanes carry those coins now.

A good example of game planning from both teams was the 4th point of the match.  We missed our snake shot (it was going to happen) but we got our inside support kill and took big ground D side.  With snake hot, we went to our contingency plan, and it worked.  But Thunder was a scrappy team and there was still a lot of time on the clock.  For the 5th point, we shot their snake side runner again, but they made a good read, took ground, and established early in center and on D side (something we had been doing).  It paid off for them as they dropped Drew Bell early and picked up our counter through center.  But I felt they had just shown us their best effort.  Next point, we wanted to key up on the wides and the boys did a great job sweet spotting BOTH.  This is a good example of “permeating” the point, something we had discussed as a team.  With the amount of time left in the match, we didn’t have to be in a hurry, especially since we shot 2 and lost 1.  We were also in good field position compared to Thunder.  My guy’s maintained zone control, had a conversation on who has the ball and where we needed to punch.  We burned off just under 3 minutes here.  But then we got a little sloppy, let Thunder spread, and lost two gunfights we shouldn’t have.  Luckily, Thunder did us a favor and drew the red towards the end.  (Aaron Pate shot their center player who continued to shoot).

The next point was another bloodbath break for both teams.  Unfortunately, Thunder got the best of it with that late fill to the snake from home.  We had lost Stu who would have protected against that move.  Britt recognized that, with Stu gone, plan B was to flip the field and got on his horse D side.  But it wasn’t enough as Thunder’s player,I think it was Pat Gleason, got himself two and a buzzer.

It was now 4-3 in our favor with 4 minutes left.

*ZEN NOTE -I heard there was a comment made that we went defensive. That is inaccurate. The intent was not defense but to set up a push. The setup, much like snake on the break, has its risks and has to develop. This sometimes creates an issue getting offensive when you lose key components of the set up. Running into a zoned gun on purpose isn’t offense. It’s stupid.

Thunder made the snake corner on the next break. This was a good call but that also meant his support must come from one of 2 places.  We shot one of them.  The snake fill by Thunder was what slowed this point down.  We had the body advantage, but we had to leverage two of our own to contain snake.  Both Stu and Daniel knew the deal and adjusted accordingly.  Searight understood his role in this as well and pushed D side.  Pate saw the opportunity to reposition to support Searight.  Gleason got clever and took my Rook (Searight).  He got clever again and took Stu who had just positioned on 50 snake.  However, Aaron Pate dashed his dreams decisively.  Daniel Camp smoked the press from center leaving it a 2 on 1,  Pate and Daniel vs Thunder’s snake player.  At this point, I turned and began congratulating my guys in the pit for the good first day. Nothing against the Thunder player, I just knew the statistical outcome of that one with those two gunfighters in.

I would have liked that last point though…

VS Uprising

There was no doubt the other boys from Seattle had an axe to grind after our first meeting (and our first pro match ever) in Kissimmee.  They were showing a highly aggressive approach to the field, but we also noticed some tendencies that we could exploit.  The question was, again, what if any adjustment did they make?  We soon found out that, they didn’t really. 

The first point was gruesome.  There were so many yellow birds in the air… but Daniel Camp finally gave the Canes our first point win (something we struggled with this weekend was coming out strong and winning the first point each match) and gained his THIRD one on one coin.

More solid guns on the break next point. We shot 3.  The following point, we shot the snake again but lost Pate early.  Uprising beat us to the center but this was where their tendencies showed (no I will not share what they are…my secret).  My guys recognized it and acted accordingly making it 3-0.

The 4th point Uprising got the advantage early again.  We tried to take ground early D side but they caught us and we miss our shots.  We recognized the tendencies again but aren’t able to capitalize.  Justin Bailey did an excellent job of killing the clock in a 3 on 1, a minute twenty .  3-1 with just over 7 minutes left.

We decided to give Uprising a different look the next point.  I almost didn’t do it because of an injury Pate was nursing. But the guys are all warriors, and he told me he was fine and could do it.  I went with the gut and it paid off.  We knew Uprising would push center but with our new snake side presence, I knew it would cause them to swivel.  And they did.  Searight took advantage and got onto their side of the field… again.  But, again we let that tandem line get too long.  We had to settle for a trade.  But, Uprising’s tendency reared, we took advantage and Stu finished with a 3 pack.

The next point was a bit sloppy on our part.  Stu looked into a ball and Aaron Smith made the mistake of asking for a paint-check.  Minor on us.

We lost Stu early on the next point but take 3 of Uprising on the break with the help of a minor (it was on their dorito player).  Uprising conceded the point leaving approximately 3 minutes on the board down by 3.

We shot one on the break but lost Pate early again.  Though, once Searight got wide and Stu established in the center, it was simply a matter of time… literally. We knew if we won the point they would let time expire in an effort to maintain point margin.  Funny note and I don’t know if they show this on the webcast but as the guys are standing around watching the clock go down, Searight decided to shoot Stu in the foot… on purpose… But the joke was on Searight as I think the ref called Stu clean LOL

VS Red Legion

Goodness gracious.  The revenge tour almost came to a screeching halt with this one.  But the guys showed composure, discipline, belief, and a whole lot of grit. If there was ever a match to define the New Orleans Hurricanes, this would be it. We never quit.

I can sum this one up rather quickly.  The first point we just lost gun fights.  The next three points of this match, the Russians essentially took our game planning and just did it better than us.  That and we got penalties and they didn’t.  We were also trying one or two things differently since we had already made Sunday.  That whole plan went out the window quick though as things were getting out of hand.  This was the most penalized I think we have been in a match.  I told my guys, back to basics. The game plan was solid, the Legion was simply beating us to the punch.  If we quit getting penalties, we will win this match! That, and our guns on break had taken a dip for some reason.  Down 4 to 0 now but there was a BUNCH of time left in the match.  They went up 4-0 on us in Kissimmee and we brought it back to tie only to eventually lose.  But we are a completely different team from that first event. And this was the revenge tour…

The Heat/Thunder match put us in X-ball rather early which I felt was an advantage to us.  We already knew what we wanted to do and how to do it. 

That 5th point was the game changer.  They put in their 2nd line as if they felt the game was in the books.  But we didn’t get that memo (and remember, we can’t read anyway).  There was just under 10 minutes left after all.  We put one up on the board.  And that’s all we would need to steal the momentum.

It doesn’t go unnoticed that Sergei was playing tall over home on the previous breaks and then filtering to the center.  We decided to turn a gun on him and get the elimination.  Now, I am only guessing but perhaps they looked down on paper and figured their 5 best alive on the break beats us a larger percentage of the time.  We decided to start focusing on taking that snake side tower sooner which would “trap” the Russians and hopefully force them into the kill box.  We had seen them do what we called “double double” before, so we took center early and got a second point on the board.  Letting Berdnikov get out to the snake side was disappointing but we flipped the script D side.  Justin Bailey got to drop the hammer on Berdnikov as a bonus for our 2nd point.…

I did not anticipate them to continue with the double/double… but this is why I make the assumption in the paragraph above that they figured they would just need to get their best 5 out alive and kill clock.  I called a timeout to give my guys a bit of a breather and make sure we all knew the game plan and situation.  We knew that if they didn’t take that snake side tower early, they would most likely concede the gap between the doritos and that first small brick D side.  And if they didn’t take the first dorito looking inside,  that would allow us to take a line through the center undetected.

Strangely, the Legion came out with double/double again (meaning everything stated above could come to fruition).  So Stu took the center-line and got the kill but got caught.  We spread to snake corner drawing guns which allows Drew Bell to do Drew Bell stuff down the D side and trade.  That drew a gun and now Daniel fed the snake.  Daniel shot the last Russian but Aaron Pate decided to run through with the goon hand just to make sure and hit the buzzer with 1 second left. 

Goon hand Pate. Thanks to Trevorwillpb for the shot! Check him out on IG and FB

And this is why I am religious.

Even though we had just had an amazing point, emotions got a little high.  The Canes have several rules about pit control and we all started to break them… but just for a bit.  The disruption was over the 1 second point.  We needed that additional time to get my guys squared away but it almost put us over the edge… not really.  But it could have. That’s on me.  We finally get our decorum back with a little laughter and knew that, with the overtime point, we needed to get back to base play, didn’t get in too much of a hurry, and let the play develop the way we knew how. Once again, the pressure lay squarely on the Legion.

This was a crap shoot point.  Part of my job is to determine what I think the opponent may do.  I was torn here statistically.  Again, in my mind, they were looking at the “paper”… their 5 beats our 5… So we figured they would go safe with a Dorito 1, the two cans and home.  That or their double/double.  When they broke with double double, and we made it out 5 alive, I smiled ear to ear.  We shot one on the break and quickly dropped another…  slow steady grind until they were none and we were three.  Five unanswered points against the Russians in 9 minutes.  Incredible performance from my guys.

VS Heat (again)

This was a chess match.  Best way to describe it.  We made a couple of mental errors here and they ultimately cost us the match. But I think we gained a little respect…

Both teams lost a can on the first point.  Stu made a great center push but we died behind him leaving Pate in a 1 on 2 situation.  Heat struck first.  Heat followed that point up by shooting two of us on the break and we couldn’t generate anything.  2-0 Heat.  Obviously Heat was taking our approach and just executing it better.  Our guns came back into play on the 3rd point and we were back in it with 5 bodies alive.  2-1.

We both broke the exact same way on the 4th point and we struck first shooting Federov.  We also established a strong center with Stu and Pate early.  Monville attempted to wrap and paid for it allowing Stu to trade with Harmon in the Tower. Searight got the last kill and we were now tied.  The execution of the goals on that point were pretty darn near perfect.

Of course, this is where we end up shooting ourselves in the foot a bit metaphorically and literally. The guys decided to let the clock run down a bit (40 seconds if you only count standing at the box).  I was at the net with my arms open wondering what they were doing.  Then Searight decided to shoot himself in the foot…yes, on purpose and for a laugh. I did chuckle. The time loss would be one of a few mental errors that would haunt us later. 

The next point haunts me still too.  We shot two on the break but gave those bodies back with a penalty (top of the pod hit on a dive – it happens – these were our penalties all weekend. Pod or hopper hit penalties). We shot another but we then gave two more almost immediately in exchange.  Devolved into a 2 on 1 in about 30 seconds.  3-2 Heat.

We know we can win the match.  And it looked as if we were going to tie it up on the next point.  We lost a 4 on 3 instead.  But still lots of time on the clock. 4-2 Heat.

We struck first and got Monville then get a shot in on Federov.  However, we spent a little longer than normal filtering but I was okay with it since we were still well above 3 minutes.  Searight caught one but Daniel made it out snake way and we repositioned to close. Stu shot Tyler and the rest fall.  We are one point down with about 2:50 left in the match.

I felt all we needed to do was be a bit quicker with our secondaries.  Thing was, Heat knew that too.  As I watched the next break, it was if Todd and I both had the same conversation with our teams.  We lost two quickly but I am in the pit begging (not too loud of course) for a penalty on Sam.  We got it and it was now 3v3.

What unfolded over the next 2 minutes was… crazy.  Aaron Pate made a WICKED wrap and snap shot on Chad George in the snake at about 30 seconds.  Daniel Camp got on his horse and fed the snake and went to Heat’s side of the field.  He saw Federov who had re-positioned and applied pressure.  Pate cleared and wrapped putting a shot on the back of Ryan Smith’s head before Federov shot him… just as Daniel shot Fedorov.  If Searight had 2 more seconds, we would have hit that buzzer and taken it into overtime… again. Or maybe Ryan gets a major… the world will never know.

5th place for the event.  As I understand it, we are the first rookie pro team to ever go undefeated in prelims and have the first-place seed headed into Sunday.  Not a bad consolation prize, however, we felt that had we got past Heat, the revenge tour obviously would have continued and very well may have culminated in another first in PB history…

We have to take these mistakes (Coming out flat, tandem line getting too long, penalties, clock management, coach not arguing for a call, etc.) and learn from them.  Trust me, they are fresh on our brains.  But I have to say, I am incredibly pleased with how my guys carried themselves. Not just with the way they played, they played great… but they really kept their composure and a “can do” attitude all weekend. I know the goal of a coach/team is to put wins on the board. But the more I watch these men overcome obstacles, haters/doubters, life events, and still maintain a positive and good attitude while bringing their A-game, the more I feel like we are chalking up wins in the right column. We will be better for it.  See you at Cup.  Until then…

Be water my friends.