Almost Famous Paintball

Dear Diary,

Getting to do the AFPL 10-man event at CP was a blast. It was a really relaxed tournament for me, seeing as I was really only there to shoot Zombie Unicorn Attack. There was a lot of waiting around in the morning for me. I usually get up for tournaments around 7am so I can make it to the park at 7:15. This tourney was a little different. I got to sleep in, and doze a little in the truck on the way there.

Diary, one bit of advice… don’t try to stick six people and their paintball gear, and one person and his photography gear in one truck. It’s heavy, and there’s a significant roll hazard.

When we got to the park, we set up shop next to the AF tents and I settled in to wait for the 10-man portion of this 3-tiered tournament series. Early in the morning, there was a 3-man, the middle of the day featured a 5-man tournament, and the day was closed off with the premier 10-man show-off.

I spotted our friends from Blitz. They’re always cool guys both on and off the field. The little brats from GoGo were playing 5-man. They had this 9 year-old little kid with them that could fill pods with the best of them. We gave him a ZUA shirt when he helped us out with our pods.

When it was all said and done, ZUA walked home with a second place trophy, coming in behind GNAR/Offmen who placed first.

Dear Diary, I’d like to give a HUGE shout out to Casey from AF and Zach from Mass Media. They braved the sidelines with video cameras in hand (actually on tripods) all day. More importantly, they did it during the 10-man. Ten people on each side of the field, each firing 15-bps… that’s 300 paintballs going into the air each second. It takes some bravery to be on the sidelines during that.

Well, I’d better go. I love you, Diary.
xoxo,
Josh

April 22, 2012

Dear Diary, this was our factory team GOGO13 2nd tourney tester. It was only a high school tournament but it was a good learning experience for the boys. A little background on the kids we took a group of 14-15yr olds and trained them with GNAR KILL a d3 team for the past 5 months. These kids have learned a lot but still need work.

The tournament actually started relatively on time and of course we were put in the toughest bracket. The first match was against SD Reign (AF Sponsored) kid’s team. That was a hard draw but we went with it. GOGO came out gunning taking the first point, losing the 2nd but pushed hard and took the 3rd winning the match. A lot dropped jaws on that match. GOGO made it to semi finals loosing to SD Pirates comprised of D4, D3 and D2 players coached by non other then Kendal Hanel. SD Pirates ended winning the tournament hats off to you guys a bunch of great player. As far as GOGO they took 3rd, but again like the AFPL the weekend before they really opened a lot of eye and squashed all the “they sux “ talk. Look out for our kids they’ll be coming in HOT for 2013 so go like their Facebook page.

XOXOX
John

Dear Diary,

All I have to say is AFPL FUCK YEAH. I know it’s our event but damn it was fun. Well the day started early as usual 4am and the boys (Casey, Cory and Darwin) showed up promptly for the 45min ride up to Camp P. We got there in plenty of time and to everyone’s surprise the field was already set up. After the HI-Five’s were done a call from John the field manager looking for help setting up the other field.

3man division started a little late but hey it’s a tournament what do you expect. The action was fast and furious and the hum of 15 bps and PUNK RAWK music was everywhere. The competition was great I would like to mention that Batteries Not Included fought hard all day with PUMPs and ended the day in 4^th place great job guys. The top finishers were Team San Diego taking 3^rd, The Muffin Stuffers AKA ATR took 2^nd and 1^st place went to HOPES & DREAMS. If there was a 1^st place for jerseys they would have took that too.

5man division had some stiff competition was out there. Paco’s Pirates were back for another go at the title with players from SD Heat and SD Mob. Then there was BLITZ the pump maniacs from Los Angeles with semi’s in hand. The Amazing Larry’s another amazing team comprised of Gnar Kill and other killers for the area. SD Vandals were representing with there d4 squad and for the first time ever GOGO13 the 14-15yr olds from Southside they were the standouts of the day fighting tooth and nail for every point and ended up playing for 3^rd. The day ended with The Amazing Larry’s in 3^rd, Blitz taking 2^nd and Paco’s Pirates taking home the gold.

Last but thankfully before the sun went down was the 10man small format. Which was played on a regulation sized NPPL field with no boundaries and unlimited semi. The teams doing battle were Gnar/Offmen from San Diego, Zombie Unicorn Attack from Chino and Blitz from Los Angeles. All I can say is that there were so many paintballs in the air it sort of blocked the sun. It was amazing to see this from the stands. The play was very fast and aggressive at times with some slow parts which made it great for the spectator. As the last paintball was spent it was Zombie Unicorn Attack in 2^nd and GNAR/Offmen taking the HUGE trophy.

I would like to thank Al Gavi and Kendal Hanel for killing it on the mic all day. our cameramen Casey Cimins, Josh Bussard and Zach Kern for braving the sidelines, my ultra supportive wife and score keeper Mabelle, and Last but not least our refs Shawn Ruiz, TC Allen, Ryan Nieto, PeterReguindin, Cory Russell and Darwin Livingston. What a great crew.

XOXOX

John