Rip NRG PSP team.

A lot of people wonder what happened to Montreal NRG. I guess it was a long time coming but Will finally decided he couldn't support us financially anymore. With so many players all over the US and Canada, the team became a logistic and financial nightmare. Things only got worst when Will left the management position he had at the Xtreme Paintball Park in Khanawake. Without this backing, the team lost it's home field and support group. Will decided to call it quits and to dedicate his time and energy to his wife and newborn daughter. Not a lot of people appreciate what Will has done for the paintball community at large, but I for one thank him for all the time and energy he spent promoting and managing our team.

<--Psp MAO

Nick and I flew down to Jacksonville to meet up with the southern counterpart of our team. After 2 of our flights got canceled and 8 hours later we finally made it to Randy's house. Randy is the owner of First Strike Paintball and father of Lucas one of our teammates. Randy and his wife were extremely accommodating and hospitable throughout our stay and at the event. The team got to practice at both First Strike and Central Florida Paintball over the course of the weekend before heading out to the event on Wednesday. Although we played some very good teams in D2, I do not believe the team played to its full potential. Since the Chicago event in 06, NRG has been in constant roster changes and such the team has not yet been able to gel together. This was reflected throughout the event as we would be unable to close games because we were playing like individuals and not as a unit . If we are unable to bond together, NRG will never be a successful D2 team.

Vids of Miller rocking out to Guitar Hero and "DonkeyKong" in the bed of the pickup truck.

<--Practice with Shockwave

Shockwave was having their weekly practice on Monday and Nick and I dropped by to grind it out with them. I really had a great time doing their drills and games. A lot of people thought I was there to join the Shockwave clan but honestly I was just there to get a good practice and have some fun. You know Shoot the shit out of people and get the shit shot out of me! In L.A Julien and Jp helped coach us and I returned the favor when they played. I don't see why teams can't help each other in their home state, even if they do have different sponsors. I have lots of friends on Shockwave and I'm not going to change being myself just because NRG changed sponsors.

<--L.A Open

I've been dreading to write about L.A. The team dynamics were totally off and the entire weekend (playing part of it) was total crap. At our last practice in NY we picked up a bunch of new guys with lots of talent and drive, yet when the time came to actually playing the tournament they unfortunately fell short of our expectations. To compensate we had to play our powerline more than it should ever have and our scores reflect this. We went into overtime in 2 out of our 4 prelim matches. We also had bad equipment problems, our paint and markers were completely out of sync and many times what should have been an easy kill turned into a hectic situation. Our pit was pure chaos! So much that I feel the need to apologize to anyone who saw us in our pit during the tournament, it was insane! Maybe because we were stressed as the matches unfolded our maybe because of the equipment problems but for some reason we were always screaming and yelling at each other to get anything done. It got to the point that after our last prelim game I had to take a timeout from the team just to cool down and relax. Later that night we had meeting about the team’s attitude and we promised each other not to repeat the same behavior. The next morning we played CFP/Justice and Gridlock Black, and as we got ready to play I could tell that the negative atmosphere in our pits had completely drained the team. We were sent home early and disappointed. After the event we took a trip to Hollywood and Beverly Hills to see the sights but I definitely wished we could of played on Sunday .

<--New York Practice

<--WT*

Something happened between me and Gridlock, so for now I'll bite my tongue. I'll be playing with Montreal NRG for the L.A Open

<--Gridlock Practice D1vsD2 On the 4th I headed back down to Charlotte for another practice. This time it was Mrs. Valle who picked me up from the airport. I was shocked at her knowledge of paint ball and how much she loves the sport. She told me both her son's are on Gridlock and since they care about it so much, so should she! She let me stay at her house and in the morning Nick from (D1), Anthony (D1), Mr. Valle and I left for Greensville. We would practice on the L.A field layout that had been prepared for us. We were separated into our divisional classifications. The D1 team didn't go easy on us. From 10 to 4 we scrimmaged and out of the whole, my squad only won a quarter of our points. It wasn't a let down since we got to play a clearly stronger team in technical skill and speed, but let just say that it was rough day for all of D2.

<--Southern Hospitality I flew down to Charlotte on the 20th for practice. When I got to the airport I called Justin from the Charlotte team to see if he could give me a ride to a location closer to the I-85 where Marc's dad from the D2 team would pick me up in his RV. Since I had a little bit of time in between my first lift, I took the shuttle bus from the airport to downtown Charlotte. Charlotte is quite beautiful! I spent a good portion of the day in the Bank of America building reading "The five people you meet in heaven"(definitely worth reading btw). Justin picked me up a little later and brought me back to his place which was closer to highway. When I told him that the airline had lost my bags, he lent me some pants, a t-shirt and some socks. I thought that was really awesome of him since I had just met him! Justin had to go to a wedding and the RV gang hadn't arrived yet so he dropped me at the Concord Mills Mall where I spent the afternoon. This mall is incomparable in size to anything I have seen in Canada, just to give you an idea, they don't call their sections….well sections they call them neighborhoods! I went to Nike town to buy a new pair of cleats and I was lucky to find a sick pair of football cleats for only 10$ After of few hours, most of them spent in Bass Pro Shop (love that store) The RV gang picked me up. I must of looked a little crazy when I got in the RV because I was definitely shocked at how much space and how cool one of those trailers are! Marc’s dad had the RV fully equipped with an expanding living room, bedroom, satellite internet and tv. This thing was rock star material. I got to meet some of my teammates from the D2 squad Marc, Jaimie, Steven and Brian. Most of them are from team Triad except for Jaimie who played with Authority. As I’ve reported previously Triad was a great team with great players and I’m happy they all jumped aboard onto Gridlock as it just makes us stronger. We spent the night at friends of Marc’s dad. Because the practice had been changed to not mandatory due to the threat of really cold weather and believing no one would show up, we went out looking for a closed Gold mine that we were told was nearby the cottage. We never did find it but we did see lots of dead deer. In the morning we were treated to a full course breakfast by Mr.Marc's friends. They even prepared a side plate of potatoes thinking I wouldn't eat Grits. Thinking we would make the best out of the weather we headed out to practice and to our surprise most of Gridlock had shown up. I borrowed equipment from various people and did the practice. After practice Rob Staudinger of Baltimore Trauma, gave a speech about the formation of the Gridlock program and what it means to be in it. It was definitely quite compelling and it encouraged me to focus on my goals and keep pushing harder and further. Slasher from D2 gave me a ride back to the airport and we talked about the coming season and each of our own plans for the future. After having met all these great players and people I am really glad I took the decision to join Gridlock. I can’t wait for the L.A Open as I know Gridlock will tear it up!

<--Oh Canada!

I had practice this weekend in Greensboro and Air Canada lost my bags and it's a pretty long story and since I had to write to a customer representative to get my compensation I thought I should post my experience and what I learned. Here's the letter,

To whom it may concern,

Case number CLTAC 12640, Mathieu Chow, 2 bags

I am very upset with the state of your baggage claims department. You lost my baggage and keep giving me the run around. Here’s the break down of my adventure with Air Canada.

Check in at Montreal to go to Charlotte through Toronto Saturday at 5:15 (flight leaves at 6:30)

Get to Toronto by approx. 7:45 my bags do not arrive and I am told to continue my flight to Charlotte where arrangements will be made to have my bags delivered to me

10:45 I speak with representative of Air Canada in Charlotte who files a report with me and advises me that it would be best if I had the bags shipped to Greensboro airport as this location is much closer to my final destination. (please note that there are no other flights leaving for Charlotte on Saturday but many are leaving for Greensboro ) Mr. C.Ellis the air Canada representative in Charlotte makes a note of this on my file, which I have a copy of.

Later on that day I call to verify that my bags have been sent to the Greensboro, the agent tells me the bags are still in Toronto and are being sent out to Charlotte. I inform the agent that it would be best to ship it out to Greesnboro. Since I did not trust that your agent fully understood the urgency in having my bags brought to me in Greensboro I call back an hour later. To my surprise the bags are still going to Charlotte. No modifications have been made to the file. Once again I tell the new agent that I want my bags to go to Greensboro. This little phone call dance happens 5 times with 5 different people!!!! Once it got late in the night I gave up since all the Toronto Greensboro flights had been exhausted.

Sunday I call again and I get the same answer my bags are being shipped to Charlotte today, now what good is that for me when I leave at 6:50 p.m. I tell them to return my bags to my house in Montreal. Which the agent said she would do. Once I get back to Toronto I ask the customer representative at the desk where are my bags. He tells me they were sent out today to Charlotte!!!!!!!

Now to make things worse, the reason for my trip was for a sports practice in Greensboro so not only did I not have my equipment this weekend I still do not have it today.
On the advise of your Air Canada representative in Toronto, I wish to get compensation for the things I had to buy to replace what I had in my missing bags.
Here’s what I want I have the receipt for all of these things.

Cleats 10.66
Vitamins 44.80
Book 12.00

Total 67.46$ U.S

What I learned:

A. Never check all your bags keep a well stocked carry on.
B. Never check all your paintball equipment, keep clothe and mask and buttpack in your carry on. (Note, that markers, tanks and barrels are not allowed in carry on luggage)
C. If your bags get lost according to Air Canada "Procedures" they will send it to your airports final destination substitutions are extremely hard to make.
D. Speak with people in person, Air Canada's 1-888-689-2247 (Which is India) cannot fully comprehend the urgency and time differences between one place and another in North America.

<--Knife Attack and Dirt Run

Last weekend I flew out to my first Gridlock practice. Since I didn't know anyone and hadn't managed to get a ride from the airport I rented a car and drove up from Charlotte to the PBC Greensboro park. There I got to see Baltimore Trauma and Gridlock's D1 team practice. These guys have so much discipline and focus and it shows in there practice as it ran smoothly without any objections or hiccups. After there practice Roy from Trauma introduced me and we all went to supper. After supper at Wholly Guacamole, all hell broke loose as the D1 team fêted their practice. Since I had to practice the next day, I only had a few beers and Webber from the D1 team was nice enough to let me crash at his house. He let me rest in his computer room while the D1 team got ready to go out. Suddenly, I got woken up by the sound of someone crashing threw the front door. From what I could hear, a stranger had just broken in and was asking for where Webber was and was menacing Anthony with two huge knives. I heard him saying that Webber had been ******* his ex-girlfriend and as I got up to see what was going on, I heard laughter and realized Webber had instigated the whole thing! The next day I woke up to find a note beside my shoes, someone had put the directions to the field on a post it. I don’t know who put it there but thank you! I got to field just in time and was happy not to be late as that would mean doing more means. Means are cardio activities you do for a period of time without resting. Cole led us on a hike throughout the PBC park. Man can this kid run, as soon as we took off I almost lost track of him as he was so ahead of the pack! We proceed to do 30 minutes of means, which I didn’t find were too excruciating considering we had been building our strength with NRG and the MR.U program. I did however pull my groin doing relay races, the fine gravel combined with my turf cleats proved to be too much and I paid for it the rest of the day. After practice I headed back to the airport and got on my plane back to Montreal. I thought back to what Thomas from the D1 team had said when I asked him if he was in a fraternity, he answered back that Gridlock was his fraternity and from the camaderie I witnessed this weekend between the D1 team and Trauma I now understand why.

<--Gridlock Tryout

JP, Gerry and I drove 16 hours to the Gridlock Tryouts in Rock hill South Carolina. The ride wasn't all that bad considering everything. We got to Rock hill late Friday night and rented a room in a close by Howard Johnson hotel. Saturday morning members of Gridlock’s D1 team and members of Trauma worked the crowd of about 60 people into shape with a series of cardio exercises. We were then submitted to running and gunning drills were we were assessed. Judges wrote notes about our performances and would later make their decision as to whether you made or didn’t make the team. After Lunch we were split in squads to play games. This was the best part of the weekend as we played game after game rushing to show we were ready and willing to give 200%. The competition was ferocious as everyone wanted to be on the team. Jp, Gerry and I originally thought we could go out to for a wild night in Charlotte but we were so exhausted we just ended up sleeping in our hotel. On Sunday, we proceeded to do even more cardio exercises. The rain didn’t stop the Trauma instructors from whooping our asses into shape. Afterwards, we skipped doing drills and went directly to playing games. I played aggressively and chose different bunkers to play from every game. I figured this would impress the judges as it shows variety, ability and skill. We drove home that night confident that we all had done well and anxiously awaited the results of the tryout. Jp and I were asked to come back the next weekend. Unfortunately for Gerry he didn’t get the same response which is too bad since Gerry is great player with lots of heart, commitment, talent and skill.

Click to see Video<--World Cup Video 06

<--Mix Match

I just finished playing Beast Nation's Mix Match tournament. It was a great way to get rid of some rust and steam at the same time. Jp from Skorpion and I played together and since we both play in the Cxbl we were forced to face the hordes of of newbs. For those who don't know, the Mix Match rules state team size depends on the classification of the players. And as such, teams can only be consisted of the following: 2 CXBL (canada's NXL) players, 3 MXL Or Novice RBL Or LPI (smaller 5man leagues), 4 Rookie players, or 5 starter or 5 RecBall players (In this category only 2 electro markers are allowed and no tourny experience). I'm really happy with the way I played and I think my training has a lot to do with it. I've cut my body fat by going to the gym and doing cardio regularly and it really helped me. In two cases in particular, I was faced against 3 and 4 adversaries and yet I was still able to overcome. The only thing I really regret is getting eliminated in our two final games, but I'll blame that on the winter season. In the end, although we didn't win the tournament our team still took first amongst the 4 2 man teams. If I get pictures Ill post them. If you got some send them to my email at: mathieuchow@sympatico.ca

<--WC Report

So the World Cup came and gone, NRG playing under NY Extortion in D3 took 17th out of 60. Not our best performance, but nonetheless pretty acceptable. We dismantled teams throughout the prelims winning all 4 matches and only letting 5 points overall being scored against us. Unfortunately, during the Ochofinals, we got sidetracked by losing to Fate 5-0. This would mean that the point differential in our game against the Chi-Town Raiders would have to be very high for us to pass into the quarters. We decided to change our classical breakout against the Raiders so we stacked 3 in the back centre which led us to easily lane their front players. The final score for the match was 4-2 in our favour. Unfortunately this would not be enough to pass. Although we lost, I have to admit that this has been my best performance in a major tournament up to date. I am feeling more comfortable in my role as back player. During the training week before the tournament, I came to the realisation that the back players are the anchors of the team and thus, have to have the best abilities at snap shooting and 1 on1's. As I prepare for future tournaments, I will definitely focus more attention to these two aspects of the game.

Now for the juicy trip details, first off I got to talk about the acquaintance of our dear friend Tex. Tex is a tall and skinny Norwegian who came down to tryout for an open spot on our team(see annexed Erni's face in lower post). Although very friendly, he does have the tendency to say very awkward comments. One of which was "I can hear, see and smell like wolf's do...I can even smell a women in heat." If this seems normal to you, please proceed immediately to Norway. Another fabulous famous quote is "Anthony, I'm going to ass rape you tonight!" I wonder if that means something different in Norway, cuz in Canada saying that just isn't kosher....Oh and the dude wore goggles and suspenders!!!!! WTF... I just can't get over it. Honest to god though, in all he was kind of nice.

After day 2 of training, we went to eat at a local southern BBQ restaurant that DOC's had recommended. As half of the group was sitting outside waiting for the others to come, the waitress stepped out and asked us if we were paintball players. We told her we were and half expected to be told to leave as we were dirty and pretty rowdy. She told us no problem and invited us to sit down. As we stepped inside, we were amazed to see 2 large Raiders jersey's framed in the middle of the main wall. I think the entire team felt really good about our sport finally getting some recognition.

Every time I go to the states, I always feel like being American is the cool thing to do. When we went down to Orlando, I bought a Support the Troops fridge magnet to bring back some Americana back to my apartment in Montreal. I loved the county were we stayed in everyone was so generous and polite, it definitely made me want to be a redneck from the south. If I get the chance to get one of those southern flag barrel condoms I would rock it hard! The county in which we stayed in during training was dry on Sunday's so we weren't able to buy any beer but in another way it was kind of neat to see everyone so traditional and united.

The hunt to find alligators was finally completed when we went mini putting in Orlando. The team had been desperately searching for them throughout the weekend without any luck. As we approached the mini-putt we saw people with fishing rods, so we obviously immediately assumed it was a fishing pond. As we got closer we realized it was an alligator feeding nest. The car bursted in laughter and hysterical cheering, in all the chaos, Julien's dad Luke went over the curb in the parking lot entrance probably because he was high fiving the front seat passenger. No news yet, if the car rental agency has noticed the damages...

PY and me got 400$ off our next flight. Delta oversold our transfer from Atlanta to Burlington and such they needed volunteers to take later flights. We asked them for a direct flight to Montreal and they agreed. They even gave us food vouchers to pass the time. Got to love the airline business.
Here's the full list of pictures:
http://www.mkcashop.com/WC06_plage/
http://www.mkcashop.com/Jullwc06/
http://www.mkcashop.com/Jacksonvillewc06/

I want to give a big shout out to Draxxus, Vforce and Richmond for there supports this event. The new 06 line of pants are absolutely fantastic! And the new Grill goggle system is the best mask I have ever worn. If you are thinking of buying them do not hesitate anymore!

I also wanted to thank Lucas and his family. Lucas came and trained with us and took the role of our snake player. He is a great baller and I wish him the best of luck in his paintball career. Check out their field at www.firststrikepaintball.com

So, the official season is over and I simply can't wait for it to start over again. I'm already starting my training program for the Huntington Beach Nppl. By the time March comes around I should be well at the top of my game. Peace for now, I'm out.

<--Coming Soon, Raiders Camp, scary goggled Norwegian and Daytona beach. More pics and Stories to come!! Can't write much right now, the team house's computer must be shared. To those I promised to call, I will be on it ASAP.

<-- Overall Plan and Timing Phase

#1 Training Nov 1st - Leave for Jacksonville Nov 3rd - Drills Nov 4th & 5th - Practice games Phase #2 Competition Nov 6th - Drive to Orlando Nov 7th - Xball registration Nov 8th to 11th - Xball prelims Nov 12th - Xball finals & drive back to Jacksonville Phase #3 The return Nov 13th - Fly home

Picture of: Xaloa Almeida of the Miami Raiders

<-- Orlando
Got to hand it to Will he sure knows how to roll. Check out our crib for the World Cup in Orlando. Here's the Stats; Large 51" widescreen TV in downstairs living area, TVs in all bedrooms and upstairs Snug room, PC with High Speed Internet Access Stereo system, Video/DVD player Playstation2 with selection of games Lounge & 2 Dining areas Fully equipped modern Kitchen 4 Luxury Bathrooms Games Room including Pool table, Air Hockey and Foosball Large screened 30ft x 15ft swimming pool Jacuzzi / Spa Large patio area Luxury deep cushioned pool furniture Telephones (All calls FREE, including International) Laundry area, Safe and Air-conditioned throughout .









Here's my Flight Information for those trying to reach me from the 1st to the 13th. DELTA CONFIRMATION #: CI8734 TICKET #: 00623259638632 Bkng Meals/ Seat/ Day Date Flight Status Class City Time Other Cabin --- ----- --------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ------ ------- Wed 01NOV DELTA 4567* OK T LV BURLINGTON VT 615A 12A AR ATLANTA 915A COACH Wed 01NOV DELTA 960 OK T LV ATLANTA 1000A 34C AR JACKSONVILLE 1118A COACH FL Mon 13NOV DELTA 1689 OK T LV JACKSONVILLE 740A 14C FL COACH AR ATLANTA 855A Mon 13NOV DELTA 4554* OK T LV ATLANTA 1054A 9B AR BURLINGTON VT 134P COACH

As promised, the videos are slowly coming out of the trip to Acapulco. Here is the backyard overlooking the golf course and a view of the pool.

Acapulco Villa
Uploaded by alex_roche

<--Time Off
I'm getting ready for Jacksonville and Orlando, I got University exams coming up and I got to prepare my papers for when I return. Lots of people have been asking me how I manage to get so much done with school, work and paintball. Good time management, organization and some help from my team and coach. Here's a little anecdote, about a month before I left for Mexico, I talked to my professor about postponing my Nov.7th exam and later that week he sent me this email: "Mathieu, yes, you may write the exam on the 2nd (another exam that he had abruptly moved). As for the NRG extreme sport, however, I can find little on the subject apart from a mailing list... which really doesn't cut it in terms of a valid reason for missing a scheduled exam. My regrets, but I cannot excuse you from the Nov. 7 exam date on that basis as it stands." At this point I was a little distraught and asked the NRG forum for help which came in the form of Will. "Dear Sir, Matt informs me that you are having difficulty finding information on our organization. I have attached links to online information about the team.

TV Interview in French http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrrZhWw1mBw
Online MacLean’s Magazine article with hard copy available. http://www.macleans.ca/culture/television/article.jsp?content=20060123_120072_120072
Site link for TV series http://www.uapl.tv/
Site link for series http://www.pspevents.com/
there is also a segment in production by http://www.careerstv.com/index.php and is set to air later next month. I have also provided you with my home number as Matt tells me that you have attempted to contact me on my cell.

He concludes thanks Will. So here's my point, if you want to attend events in crucial school crunch time dates, 1st you got to warn your prof. in advance (a month or more is appreciated), 2nd be polite, attend class and get somewhat good grades, 3rd have good credential and people to back you up like your coach. So thank you will for getting me out of a tough jam, my prof. accepted and I will be doing my exam the week of my return.

Photo of: Will in his younger day as Mr. Olympia 1927

<--World Cup Workout

Today, I proposed that NRG should have a workout thread in the private section of the forum. We would post what our physical training goals are and what we are doing to reach them. Every player should post every time he have actively engaged in reaching our target. Everyone knows the benefits of working out, I just don't know if everyone on our team actually does it. This is not only a good way to monitor everyone's workout regime; it also encourages trust, team bonding and self-confidence while positively creating competition. When we go to Jacksonville, I want us to look like pumped up aggressive athletes not your typical run of the mill out of shape paintball player.

So, the part of the plan is that you state your goal. This can be losing X amount of body fat or gaining X amount of muscle. It can also be that you want to run faster or have more endurance.
Then you state what you did to get to your goal. It can be really easy like today I ate only green salad, and I hate salad.

Then the next person would write and so on. So, the point is not to lie, because if you are then you’re not only cheating yourself, your cheating the team. Oh and the coaches should be involved as well, not only do you decrease stress by working out, you think clearer and such are able to make better decisions on the fly. + People who workout are generally more successful in life and business, I think it has to do with the image you project. Since I started the thread, I thought it would be appropriate to be the first to write my objective and what I am doing to get there. Here's what I wrote:

"I want to lose 5 pounds getting my overall body weight to 160. I also want more endurance and I want to run faster, today I ran for 30 minutes on a treadmill and I workout my legs by doing leg presses and leg lifts. I also worked on my back and my arms but a lot less than my legs. I also made a commitment to myself to use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator everywhere I go until the end of World Cup."

<--The monastery.
Tuesday Alexandria and I went to an ancient monk monastery at the Desierto De Los Leones. It was located 500m over Cuajimalpa and was surrounded by a beautiful national park. After touring the monastery, we had supper at a wondeful restaurant overlooking the forest. The menu was extensive, it included deer, rabbit, austriche, snails, grasshoppers and even larvae. Even tho I usually am one to try new things, I was a little reluctant to try the insects. I had the arracherra which is a thin well spiced steak and Alexandria had a plate of chicken wrapped ham with a monchego cheese center. Service was excellent and the price was very reasonable, we had a little language misunderstanding with our waiter as he didn't want to accept our tip. I got the chance to call PGP AdventurePark and they told me Friday or Saturday morning is the best time to practice against Mexico's finest. here's the pics from the monastery

<--Weekend in Acapulco

Alexandria, her friends and I drove down to Acapulco last weekend. The highway to Acapulco was brutal and filled with tolls but the Mexican countryside made up for it, as it was beautiful. Our house, or villa as some might call it :), was in the Mayan Resort and it was exceptional. It was more than equipped, with 3 bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, a fully functional kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a pool. After seeing the resort and house, I wished the team could get to experience the happiness I felt, but I know we will be having an awesome trip together at the World Cup in Orlando. Not sooner arrived at the villa that we were in the pool and drinking. The next morning, we had breakfast at the country club, I love the exchange rate as food even in one of the most prestigious resorts in Mexico was under 7 dollars tip and tax included. We spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun, ordering Daiquiri’s from the snack bar and food from the local restaurants. At nightfall, we went to see the famous cliff divers, it made me rethink of my sport as paintball is nowhere near as dangerous and I can't even start to imagine the commitment they must have to throw themselves off a 35 meter drop. After the show, we had supper at Senor Frogs, a Mexican theme chain restaurant; we were seated on the balcony overlooking the Bay and the city and were lucky enough to catch a short fireworks display. Sunday morning, we woke up to our maid (yes, we even had a maid cause we are just that pimp) cooking us a traditional Mexican breakfast. The rest of the day was spent lounging in the sun, reading magazines and philosophizing about how we could permanently live in this paradise forever. It definitely beats the winter blues!

<--Temple Major Today Alex and I went downtown to the Zocalo. The Zocalo is a huge square where merchants come to gather and sell their goods. Today the squares was filled with government protestors. Surrounding the Zocalo is the Palacio Nacional (Presidential palce), Catedral Metropolitano and the Temple Major. The Temple Major is an archeological site containing the ruins of an Aztec temple built in the 1400's. What is interesting about the temple was that during a ceremony lasting four days sacrifical victims taken during campaigns were formed in four columns, each stretching three miles. At least twenty thousand human hearts were torn out to please the god. After visiting the temple and musuem, we had a quick supper at El Ray De Pavo (The Turkey King) our equivalent of Schwartz but for Turkey.

<-- Mexico City

I landed in Mexico City yesterday. I met up with Alexandria (my girlfriend) and her friends and we went out to a nice Italian restaurant for supper. Yes, I know, silly of me to go to an Italian place but it was Danika's (alexandria's neighbor and friend) birthday. The food was really good and really cheap! I had duck raviolli and Alex had pizza and we had some awesome spanish wine mix that looked and tasted a lot like sangria but wasn't. I got to remember to try to make the garlic bread they served us. What made it special is that they roasted a full garlic clove which we used to butter the bread. I never knew garlic could get that creamy! The house we live in is really strange, as soon as Alex gets back I will make a video of the house, you have to see it to believe it. It seems the builders never heard of the expression think before you do, as many parts of the house seem rushed and mismatched. For the paintball portion of this blog entry I have chosen a few fields I want to go play at. Diversion En Gotcha and Pgp adventure park both look pretty great. Now I just have to call and ask for the members night.

<--Michel's Birthday Saturday the World Cup team had a small practice at Skorpion, I've got to admit it was one of our best practices. We ran fitness, drills and many 4 vs. 2 games. Michel had a surprise party organised by his girlfriend. P-Y, Erni and I had forgotten to reserve so we called Michel's girlfriend thinking we would reach her cell phone. Turns out we had reached their house phone, way to ruin a surprise. I told him I forgot my sandanna and that I thought he had it. I don't think he bought it but nonetheless, we had reserved a place at the restaurant. The El zazium is a Tex-Mex inspired restaurant that boasts huge delicious plates. What makes this restaurant special is their Californian Monster sandwich, it is GIGANTIC (wait for the pics, then you'll feel the fear!). Rich from VMA and me both attempted this feat. When you complete the Monster you get a T-shirt proclaiming that you ate the monster. Rich from VMA, felt short of finishing the mountain of fries. When the plates came I totally screamed WHOOOOA! which made Erni and P-Y screamed as well, the moment was priceless! I went with the philosophy that I had about 20min. to finish the plate. This is, according to P-Y who says that after 20min. your stomach doesn't accept anymore and you are mentally full. Julien wouldn't let me have a big glass of water because he thought I would get full and not be able to finish. I powered through the sandwich a combination of 3 big chicken breast topped with cheese, bacon and a mountain of lettuce and dressing. The fries were the hard part as it felt like I was eating a full bag of potatoes that turned into cement as I chewed. The guys didn't help out much Erni kept tossing handfuls of Julien's fries onto my plate when I wasn't looking. He did hat 6 times! Rich and Alex put Tabasco into the tiny amount of water that I had to drink. So not only I was my mouth full of cold French fries it was on fire! At the last handful of fries, I scooped them up ad tossed them in my mouth. Erni had started a spectacle shouting Chow Chow Chow which got the rest of the restaurant into it! At the last bite, I started to feel sick and as I swallowed Erni made me laugh and such a large blob of vomit and fries came out. In any case, I got the T-shirt and never felt so proud and sick at the same time!

<--RBL Rigaud

NRG refereed the final event of the RBL. The last event was held at Tactique Paintball in St-René de Beauce. Check out their website tactiquepaintball ! What is nice about the RBL Series is that it is also a fundraiser. Even, the son of Karl the Tactique Paintball owner, suffers from Muscular Dystonia. This disease caused damaged to his nerves as well as his motor skills. PBL Action Sports came down to support the cause and even submitted a team in the novice division. The prizes were given away at a Spaghetti Supper in Even's honour. The turnout was huge! It seemed the entire village had come to support the cause! The money raised will help Even get the expensive Hyperbare treatments he needs to recover. My sincere best wishes to Karl's family as I can't possibly even start to imagine what you must be living through to nurse your son back to health! In addition, NRG also received a trophy thanking us for our dedication to refereeing and supporting the RBL. Thank your Karl as well as all the organizers of the RBL it was the least we could do!

<--Cxbl Event 5

On the Weekend of the 16th Nrg and Vma played respectively the Cxbl and the Mxl. Vma faced off against the Lasalle Shields. Early in the match, the Shields devastated VMA by repeatedly taking out VMA's back right corner. The corner was key in helping other teammates getting into the snake. Before half time, Shields led by 4 points. After understanding Shields overall strategy, VMA came back by doubling up their sweetspot lanes on the back corners and pushing aggressively into the snake and 50's. In the final minute of the match, VMA took a 5 minute penalty which would mean that a point would be given to Shields according to the rules. Alex Croteau Pothier had been shot in the pant leg while diving to his dorito bunker, an obvious hit according to the marshal. Unbeknownst to Alex, the ball had hit loose material in his pants. Although the penalty was rightfully assessed, the marshal should have acknowledged that Alex wasn't trying to hide the hit as he wasn’t aware of it. As well, the marshal shouldn't of expressed his glee at finding the hit by proclaiming "Yes!!!, you 5 minutes!" In the end, VMA tied the game at 11 points.

NRG fought Moncton Shock on Sunday Morning. We took an early lead in the first half simply by forcefully pushing our corner and snake players into their respective bunkers. Moncton came back in the second half by pushing the centre X and delaying their corners by means of the pillars. The final score for the match was 10-13. Later on Sunday, NRG battled the Tremblant Cowboys. The Cowboys were playing for second place overall which meant they would be entering the CXBL overall finals. Obvioulsy, teams betting on their demise were present, watching and very helpful. Trembland led the match in the first half by pushing aggresively the centre of the field. In the second half, NRG countered the Cowboys moves by doubling up on the X and the 50 castle bunker. Unfortunetly, we were unable to catch up and such the final score was 13-10 in favor of the Cowboys. I'm sure that if our team had had our full roster we would of definetly have won this event. The lack of Erni due to school was definetly detrimental to the team. Furthermore, Julien injured at the San Diego Nppl Event, caused him much pain while playing the snake.

Photo of: Mont-Royal Nrg's taken by Joey

<--October & November

I'll be heading out to Mexico City to see my girlfriend, I'm leaving October 3rd. The exact schedule is a little lower. She tells me paintball is called "Gotcha" over there. Her friend's boyfriend plays and he is going to invite me to the field somewhere in Toluca. I'll be staying in Cuajimalpa than heading down to Acapulco for a short vacation in a rented beach home. The month of November is pretty crazy too, with a practice in Jacksonville at Docs then we head out to Orlando for Cup. Things are definitely looking up for the next 2 months!

Departure: Montreal - 03 October 6:00am
Arrival : ATL - 03 October 8:53am Flight
Departure : ATL - 03 October 12:05pm
Arrival : MEX - 03 October 2:31pm

RETURNING :
Departure : MEX - 15 October 3:40pm
Arrival : ATL - 15 October 7:56pm
Departure : ATL - 15 October 9:40pm
Arrival : Montreal - 16 October 12:17am

October 3-15 Mexico
Nov 1st - Fly into Jacksonville
Nov 2nd & 3rd - Skills and Drills
Nov 4th & 5th - Practice games with Raiders, RL and others
Nov 6th - Drive to Orlando
Nov 7th to Nov 12th - World Cup

<--Friday mourning.

I got up early to have breakfast with my sister and my mom. So, I parked my car in the lot in front of the restaurant. My parking space was on a small hill and as I stepped out of my car, the car started to roll back! The transmission which was breaking finally let loose. It was at this point that I realized it was time to give up my beater mobile to the scrap. Due to some providence, I had previously taken down some phone numbers of towing companies willing to buy scrap cars. 30 minutes later and 70 dollars richer, I was rid of my car. Those who knew her, knew her under Little Blue, saw her grow to Monster Blue and finally in the summer of 2006 she took a new profession as a Chinese master chef! We will Miss you Plymouth Acclaim 1992.

**Update** The Mid Atlantic Open trip has been canceled due to lack of participation and difficulties in organization. Some of our players were unable to attend due to school and lack of finances. I'm really disappointed that we were unable to get concensus on the trip as I feel skipping an event which is scheduled at the beginning of the year is counter productive to the athletes that have been training all year long. World Cup is around the corner and not being able to attend the MAO will definetly reduce our team's potential for success as the MAO would have been a first PSP event for many on NRG. In any case, I will be taking my anger out on the asphalt tomorrow as I start my extensive workout regiment. Scheduled are some early morning sprints up and down the mountain.

<--Bad week.
Last weekend we scrimmaged against the Cyclones. Unfortunetly we didn't come prepared and such, we got a well deserved beat down. Colin made the remark that we should never scrimmage if we don't have a plan, a pit and a full and ready roster. In the future, I will be taking this advice as a criteria for calling a practice as I feel the last practice was a waster of time, talent and money. The Mid Atlantic Open is less than 2 weeks away and we are having trouble getting organized. After an in depth talk with Will, I have been given the liberty to continue pushing the idea of having an Nrg or Vma team in North Carolina.

Check out this awesome polo one of our supporters made for me! If you would like to buy one send me an email at: Mathieuchow@sympatico.ca Cost is 35$ per polo, cheaper for large quantities and teams. Can print out other logos than the Montreal Nrg one.

<--Millennium Part2

The finals competition on the Cpl field was definitely something worth watching. The field layout resembled an Xball field. The big difference being that the X from an xball field is replaced by a sideways M. The finals had to be some of the best paintball matches I have seen in a long time. The Kelly's vs. Enemy game, in 7 man was definitely awesome as both teams came bloodthirsty. Points were scored in favour of the Kelly's in the first match but Enemy rushed the second match to win a devastating point. Kelly's ultimately came back on top to win the D1 title as well as the millennium series. In Cpl the match up between Ton tons and Joy Division was a seesaw battle. The PillyTons as nicknamed by Steven, had members of the Philly Americans, Eric Dearman and Tim Montressor. I've got to point out that I have a new idol, Montressor also know as the "the Transporter", was a beast throughout the event. Him being a short Asian playing back and mid you can see how I can relate. In any case, the man was awesome his snapshots were dead on and at record speed and he often took the snake to murder the opposing team. In the end though, Joy Division won on a controversial call involving Dearman bunking a Joy player.

Now apart from the paintball tournament, we also had a blast screwing around the Draxxus tent. Here's me trying to drink a Yard of Ale to win a Vforce Profiler. For those who don't know a Yard of Ale is a strange drinking glass containing in this case, 2 litres of water. Supposedly the trick to avoiding the reflux of water hitting you square in the face is to tilt it back repeatedly when you reach the bubble at the bottom. The thing I didn’t realize is how heavy this thing was. And yes, I did make a fool of myself spilling water all over my shirt and throwing up in front of the crowd. But to make myself feel better I got Steven to do it to, you can never doubt the power of free paintball gear on paintballers. Although Steven did not win, Draxxus was nice enough to give him a free lense. And yes, he threw up also. (Check back I'll put up the vids of us throwing up!)

The next day Colin and Joey took us out to a real British breakfast. We had a blast and I got to sample a cloudy cider, at 11 in the morning! Thank you both for helping us throughout the weekend and guiding us to see the London sites! I also want to thank Draxxus and Dye, without their contributions we would never have been able to play. Here's some pictures of our tour of London. PY took all the pics, definetly didn't know he was a master photographer ;)
Here's the website for thefull list of
pictures.http://mkcashop.com/vma_ccup06/

<-- Millennium Series leg at the Crystal Palace.

I just got home from London, the Millennium series at the Crystal Palace was definitely an awesome trip! Arriving at 8:00 Am on Thursday we proceeded to check in our hotel and immediately after we headed for the fields. Our hotel was a 30 min. bus ride to Crystal Palace. As soon as we got there we were shocked as the view of the fields from the grand stands was breath taking. We had a rough first 2 games in the prelims as we still needed time to figure out how 7 man works ;) Overall in the prelims, we won 5 out of our 8 games and it came down the wire on our last game against MIB to decide if we would have to pack it all up and go home. Unfortunate for us, the Jt field (our best field) was shutdown due to damage done to the netting by heavy winds. We took the battle to the Dye field were we prevailed with 4 alive. A vivid moment I remember is seeing MIB in the staging area packing all there gear and eyeing us with contempt. I told myself I was glad not to have felt that kind of pain, in fact, we were all so relieved when we found out we were going to play in the quarters as it felt great to join the Sunday club in our first attempt. Sunday came along and we easily beat Freak Show on the Jt field. The only reason we didn’t make finals is because we messed up a match in the quarters against Impact, South Africa. Errors were committed by the team and unfortunately we were unable to recover the match. We breezed through our third game which gave us 2 wins and 1 lost. Unfortunately Impact went on to beat all three teams in our bracket which meant we would not be going to finals. The team packed up and slightly disappointed went to watch the CPL and D1 finals. (More to come...)

<--RBL Rigaud

Saturday NRG and VMA refereed the RBL at Warzone paintball in Rigaud. The field layout was planted in the middle of a sand pit, so my legs definitely got a real good workout. The event was well equipped and once the games started they ran smoothly. With young organizations like the RBL, small logistical problems slow down the start of the games. Sunday’s practice was rain or shine which was brutal as it poured real hard all day. Our Millennium 7 man team practiced the new shockwave NPPL squad. Overall the guys were pretty satisfied with the outcome as it showed much potential. Fred from France’s Gang team helped us by pointing out all the differences in American and European refereeing.

Photo of: ME checking MIBvsXSP @Warzone

<--Millenium

Steven, Michel, P-Y and me from NRG are leaving for the Millenium next week. We will be registering under division 3 team VMA. Joining us is Jp from Skorpion as well as Colin and Nick Gaudet from VMA. I can't wait to get there as we are confident in our abilities to win this tournament. Here's our Schedule:

Dep: 30 aout *** TS328 / 18h10 pm via Halifax arr: 07h45 am Gatwick ( Londres)

Ret: 05 sept *** TS137 / 11h45 am arr: 14h05 pm Dorval DIRECT FLIGHT

The morning of the 31st will be pretty brutal considering we have to walk the field as soon as we get there and with the time zone it will be twice as hard. We are having an intensive practice this weekend at Mirabel with both our 7man line and our Xball line. As soon as we get back from London our schedule is booked. We got the Mid Atlantic Psp Open as well as the Cxbl in the same month.

In another note (I.A.N), this weekend is RBL reffing, I'll let you know how it goes.
I.A.N, Steven and I have a new roomate and he play paintball as well! Definetly be having him try out to see what he can do!

Pic of:Both old and young Dave and I @ CXBL4 Mirabel Paintball Park

<-- Reball Practice
We had a nice quiet reball practice last weekend, the Nrg gang got together at Skorpion's for a couple of hours of snapshots and games. We also picked up a player from France who plays D3 with team Gang in the millenium. Fred is definetly a great guy and it was a blast having him tag along. Hopefully he will join the ranks of our Mxl team.

<--Weekend of August 5-6 MXL/CXBL

I had a pretty eventful weekend having had the oppurtunity to play 3 full x-ball matches. Playing with NRG's junior team Ville-Marie Alliance we slaughtered Steve's Paintball 11-4. I got to hop on every second point which was great as it allowed me to revisit the field and hone my skills for the next day. Having been told to arrive at the field for 8 a.m I got to say I was pretty tired from the get go. Playing for a junior team is great but it is pretty hard to get the same motivation as from your own team. Sunday NRG faced of versus Quebec Odysee and Lacolle Legacy in a double header match up. I'm loving playing the back centre as I really enjoy cleaning and clearing the field. The team played two clean games finishing 14-1 and 15-1 respectively. Between games we headed to Julien's house for a quick dip in his pool. I got to remind myself to nutsack Erni for pushing me in the pool while I was completly gear up to play.

<--Practice against Skorpion Sunday we scrimmaged against Skorpion and I got to say, we kicked their asses. Don't believe me, watch the videos. With the addition of Little Chris, Gaudet and Diamond filling in some key spots, we were easily able to defeat the Laval Skorpions 10+ points to 1. Since the departure of Justin, NRG has been quite disadvantaged as he was our key back centre. Since I was to fill his large shoes, I was apprehensive. After seeing how our communication has improved I am really enjoying helping in my new position. The key theme of the weekend was that teamwork wins paintball and not superstar individual moves. When the team works as a unit our chances of winning our greatly increased. In addition, it's always more fun to perform a run through with the help of your team, than without.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtg4PDajCAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96nEqLLP7ak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejmJ0VBdes

Photo of: Erni and JCP at Mirabel Paintball Park

<--Ottawa Mercenaries

The Mercenaries were a ruthless gang of paintballers, they were dedicated to winning and supporting the team and it was an honor to lead them. The Mercenaries was a joint effort between Quebec and Ontario to take the title of Canadian Xball Champions. I learned so much about team management organizing and preparing the team and its athletes for every event. The Mercenaries lost to Montreal Shock in the finals yet still taking the overall Ontario title. I got to admit that losing that match was one of my biggest regrets and I often get jealous seeing the CXBL championship rings on Shock fingers. In the end though, the Mercs have and still are my best and favorite accomplishment. Never have I seen so much teamwork in a pit or on a field as with the Mercs. The Mercs started with a couple of kids: Erni, Diamond, Massimo, James, Seb Deroy, Boule, Marco T. and me. We later added players and coaches from Chop Shop and Dogs of War. Like all teams we had player issues, team issues and the dreaded paintball politics. Thankfully, with the help and advice of the older players on the team I was able to overcome this and conclude the season. A lot of people wonder why I didn’t continue the Mercs. When I joined NRG I saw the opportunity to complete my own goals as a player. This had been something I had to set back with Ottawa as we were so disorganized in our first couple of games I had to restructure the pits so that our players were able to fully concentrate on the job ahead. I see a lot of similarities between NRG and the Mercs and I hope my new team will finally unite in a comme goal and effort as I know what a team with dedication and heart can achieve.

Photo of Ottawa Mercenaries Summer 2005

<--Mirabel Practice 23rd

We had a small reserved practice Sunday as we were unable to get the Laval Skorpions to come out and play. I've taken the task of filling the back centre position on our team as I feel the team is lacking in this department. I've got to say it is quite nice to be able to clean up and finish games from this position as you really feel you have the support of your team when doing so. I'm still working on my breakouts as they aren't as precise as I would like them to be. My communication needs more work as well but I believe it will come with time and getting to know my team. Overall the practice was good and I feel NRG got to deal with some of our key issues. As we were watching little Chris play from the control tower on the X-Ball field, Steven decided to beat up a little kid. Here's the pics for your enjoyment.

Photo of: Steven beating our supporters.

<-- Practice at Skorpion

Wednesday night Steven and I headed out to Skorpion for an organized practice. I had invited all of NRG, Ville-Marie Alliance and a few friends from Blainville Cyclone and Laval Skorpions. We were also hoping that member’s night would generate a few more players. Unfortunately only Erni, little Chris, Steven and I showed up. Desperate to play, we headed out to the Rec field to team up with a group of rental players. We split ourselves amongst them and decided we would play a best of five. Little Chris and I along with two Tippman wielding rentals versus Erni and Steven and the Spyder brothers would battle over Skorpions forsaken city. The first point went to team Tippman as Chris moved stealthily through the houses on the east side and I crawled to the fortress were Erni and Steven were camping out. The second point went to Erni and Steven who had successfully locked the field as both Chris and I kamikazed our way into their lanes. Team Tippman took the next two points, Erni being the first to go on both points. On the game winning point Erni, determined to win, took to the dark arts and was mystically revived many times throughout the game. Getting hungry and out of paint, we decided to head to the nearest chicken rotisserie but, not before we thanked our renters for the fun we had playing with them. We even left them with a few NRG pods, a plug (kid didn't have one), and a Draxxus jersey that little Chris wanted to part with. At St-Hubert's as we ate we worked on our PSP lines for the upcoming North East Open and I got to say I'm pretty excited.

Next weekend were hoping to hold an exhibition match against Laval Skorpion’s.

Photo of: little Chris Erni at Mirabel Paintball Park

<-- Reball.

Sunday Me and Steven got invited by Erni to go play with Erni's Brother little Chris, unfortunetly once we got to Mirabel we were declined by Piggy who had decided the Cyclones would have a closed practice. Determined to play we headed out to Skorpion to our reball centre. Due to the weather everyone wants to practice outside so our reball centre has been unfortunetly closed. It did feel good to set up the bunker to the UAPL layout and practice our snap shots. Cleaning up the centre reminded me of the commitment, time and energy we had all put in during the winter. We all agreed that the team was in a bit of a slump, needed more practice and that all members of NRG's CXBL team need to rekindle and double their efforts.

Photo of Kevin K. at NRG's Reball Centre.

<--RBL at Les Patriotes in Contrecoeur

Saturday NRG refed the RBL league. I was one of the two head ref's in charge. I got to say that refereeing the RBL is extremely exhausting. Saturday morning I woke at 6:30 and really had to ask myself if I wanted to do this. For those who don't know, you get shitted on all day being a ref and twice as much being the one in charge. The RBL being a small and new league lacks the organization of the more established tournaments. It is pretty much up to the field owners to decide how and at what quality the tournament will be run. The Les Patriotes recreational center was an excellent venue with a large spectator and staging area, an indoor cafeteria and grassy playing fields.

I always find it funny how newbs always assume refs make the wrong calls. Some even accused us of being biased towards other NRG teams. Honestly, what do I have to gain by losing my credibility? Is it really worth 514 kids winning? I don't think so. Furthermore, why is it that cheaters argue the most, I think that in this league, the beginner players don't even realize they're cheating and when it comes down to pulling them they don't even question the possibility. E.g. guy gets shot on butt pack slides in wiping it, reff from accross the field sees it pulls him, big argument ensues.

In finals we changed the field layout based on the decision of one of the organizers. Later on, we got bitched at by another member of the comity. Goes to show you just can't win being the head ref. I think everyone enjoyed the finals as it attracted a large crowd. The large "L" we had placed at the center of the field, a creation of a stand up and a lay down, generated lots of spectator tension as team after team went for the flag while having to bunker the opposing player. The layout reminded me of old Golden Triangle tournaments. The finals went by smoothly without mistakes as all the refs and head refs were on one field instead of two.

I want to go on the record stating that the food at this event was pure crap. At plus 40 degrees were egg sandwiches really necessary? Hamburgers and hot dogs are the minimum don't lower the standards please. Les Patriotes did supply the refs with a large supply of chocolate, pop and chips for us to snack on, for which we were all very thank full.

I'm going to conclude with the strange behavior I keep seeing at these events. Why do people feel the need to unload their hoppers when they lose (while still being on the playing field)? I saw some kid get upset when I told him he should stop shooting into the adjacent field. He stormed off as if I had cut his liberties or something. Kid you need to realize you’re in a tournament, people are watching and you look like a complete idiot shooting your gun at absolutely nothing. You don't see baseball players swinging their bats furiously when they lose a match. Even more you just shot a loader of paint you could have kept for practice. Why waste paint when what you would have won was a couple of cases anyways. Have some class and lose with dignity.

<--CXBL EVENT 3 On Sunday, July 9th Mont-Royal NRG's CXBL team got defeated by the Laval Skorpions at the Mirabel Paintball Park. The final score was 10-7. It seems like we're still having trouble bonding as a team, I believe we are being weakened by our lack of trust in each other. The pit is a prime example as I see it as being more chaotic than ever. You would think we would of learned from our two previous matches. After the match, the NRG forum lit up with discussions as to what could be fixed. P-Y led the discussion with his various hockey and coaching analogies. Julien followed stating that even the NY Rangers with their stacked roster have been unsuccessful do to their lack of teamwork. I think Mazi's statement really opened my eyes "as it is right now you guys are in no way going to make the finals, i suggest you use whats left of the season to fix all the kinks. If you guys come togheter right now, and WORK as a UNIT you will be unstoppable next season". I just hope that the proverb "when one door closes another opens" holds true as our failure in CXBL makes me want to conquer PSP even more.

In a brighter note, NRG recruited 5 new CXBL athlethes. Chris Clements, David Kaminsky, David Veldof, Sean Makofski and Mike Papa. They are a great bunch of guys from New Jersey and they can definetly play some great ball. Check out their site www.Dallasdrive.tv for their new private label Ion.

<-- From left to right Osvaldo, Justin, VinnieJustin G., Ryan, Spencer, Mat, Evan, Ryan, Will

PSP Chicago.

Chicago definitely had it's high's and lows. We took second place in Division 3 and it was a great experience, it being my first time and all in a national event. Going in we only had 3 NRG players, 2 Ontario Chop Shop players and had picked up 2 CFOA rookie kids (Spencer and Evan). Luckily the DOC's Raiders were there to offer support and found us two Brazilian, Vinnie and Osvaldo. I got to say that the PSP had great organization and was well run.
We breezed through the prelims, just trashing all the teams. Winning our bracket was one of the most exciting moments of my paintball career. In one of our games against Air Assault the Chi town Raiders (who had just lost to us) were counter coaching. They even had the audacity to scream U.S.A against us. Weird since we were an international team...I don't know why Americans don't like Canadians but c'mon if you’re going to vandalize a porta potty learn to spell Canadians, as in Go Home Canadains!

I guess at this point you want to know what was the issue was. Well when the time came to collect our prize money, Will surprised everyone by saying that he wanted a share of the prize money. Now there isn’t anything wrong about this, considering he did arrange our sponsorship deal with Draxxus it's just the fact that it wasn't said and none of us had ever even thought about it. The Chop Guys (Ryan and Justin G.) were the most displeased, after all they had shot their own paint all weekend, Chop Shop being a Zap team and all. Justin being their friend and all was even more displeased when he was asked to pay back a portion of the money he rightfully owes Will for his travels at WPL. In the end, Justin decided to leave the team and Ryan followed.

What made me regret the whole trip was the way people acted in front of the PSP organization and staff. As we collected the check, right in front of the crowd, an argument over whose name it would be signed too broke out. The staff member got so disgusted she sent us to the administration tent where we got further ridiculed. After further discussions the PSP got so sick of us they just gave us cash. On PSP's defense I would have done the same, why not make fun of a team that falls apart when they win, mostly for 40$ per person.

Photo by: Spencer's Dad at Chicago PSP, Bolingbrook

<----Will

I play for Montreal Nrg's tier1 team.

NRG is a D3 PSP and Semi-Pro Nppl team. Nothing to be to proud of. Yet, NRG has so much potential and under the perfect circumstances it could be a major contender in the Pro circuit. After the Fiasco of the last PSP Chicago (which I will cover on a later date), I was asked to rebuild the team. I've got to admit that I am not looking forward to this task. I've always believed that great teams, with long-lasting futures, have always been formed by groups of friends whose dedication, trust and loyalty to each other are beyond excellence. Creating this atmosphere will require the right people and attitudes. After Chicago, Will (NRG's owner) and I decided to focus the rest of our season towards the PSP, while using the CXBL as our practice and breeding pool. We've got a core group of players who's dedication is unwavering and this is what I intend to build upon.

My philosopy on team building relies on the notion that players must take responsability for their actions and subsequently take an active role in the maintaining of the team. I don't believe in the power of a supreme owner who controls and directs every action the team takes. The team must be able to make its own judgment, win or lose. This does not mean that the owner cannot be a member of the team. For this reason the players attending the next PSP will be players who firmly demonstrate teamwork, ability to uphold NRG values and beliefs as well as skill and ability.

Photo by: Dale B. photoshopped by Steven G.

I've been thinking of making a Paintball website for a long time. Ive been active in the paintball community for 7 years, 3 of those at a competitive level and I don't see myself leaving anytime soon.

Turning Pro has always been a dream of mine, a dream I live and charish. I believe keeping this diary will help me focus on what it takes to achieve this level of performance as well as how to maintain it. Being able to write down my ideas, experiences and memories and sharing them will help me remember my mistakes and overcome my shortcomings.


Photo by: D113 at VEP in Ontario.