LOCATION: Las Vegas Nevada
EVENT: XPSL
DAY: SUNDAY
TIME: High Noon.
WEATHER: Air temp below Zero or at least it seemed that way.
This was the back drop to the highly anticipated Moneyball. A new style of paintball designed to be fan friendly and most of all camera friendly.
As with all new ideas Moneyball looked good on paper but the real question is would it turn out that good in real life? So with that Evan Money owner of Moneypaintball.org brought in a camera crew and with the help of Bart Monroe owner of LTZ and Shawn Walker from the XPSL it was put to the test.
A few big name pros like Dave Baines showed up to play and other industry leaders stuck around to see what would really happen. Don Spering from Karange provided some paint that could handle the cold weather (much to LTZ?s liking) and he enjoyed what he saw. "Hey Money , I think this will really work" Don ending up saying as the day went on.
So what was different- How is Moneyball going to make paintball better?
# 1. ONE FOCUS - In order for paintball to make it to the next level it has to be fun to watch. Both in person and on TV. The way paintball is played now is not camera friendly. Every other sport has one focus , the ball. Other extreme sports also have one focus, the board, the bike etc.
Moneyball puts the focus where it should be on the flag. Just watch the flag and the game makes sense. We put the flag on the 50 snake on a BIG SOLID RED BUNKER. The rest of the bunkers are green and white so immediately your eye is drawn to "What is that big red bunker for?"
Next we force the teams to focus on the flag- ? 5 points for a hang 2 points for the first pull. NO POINTS FOR ELIMINATIONS, buy giving points for eliminations you force slow conservative games.
# 2. OFFENCE and DEFENSE- Every other sport with a ball has an offense and defense. When a team grabs the flag it is on OFFENCE and will be given special rule advantages like:
# 3. THE LINE OF POSSESSION - When a player grabs the flag his team is on offence. The line of possession is established. This line goes from sideline to sideline like the line of scrimmage in American football. When the player with the flag moves, the line of scrimmage moves with him forward or backward. The Defensive team CAN NOT PASS THE LINE OF POSSESSION or they are eliminated.
If an offensive player runs down the tape to the defensive teams10 yard line and he passes any defensive players THEY ARE ELIMINATED. This allows the flag carrier to RUN and not have to stop and shoot, thereby creating that "big play". Also this allows the camera to follow this player and not have to worry about who he is shooting at. Plus it gives everyone a single focus to watch the guy with the flag.
Plus the defensive team is now forced to concentrate there attention on the guy with the flag. If the flag carrier is shot, the flag is dropped and the line of possession is eliminated until someone else grabs the flag from either team.
# 4. HANG ZONE- Similar to and endzone in football, the entire back line is the Hang Zone; all you have to do is cross the line to get the 5 points. This makes a hang much easier and players will now focus on a HANG rather than a KILL.
# 5 BREAKOUT- No longer are players forced to crowd together , once the double whistle blows you have 10 seconds to set your feet anywhere on the hangzone front line. Put your whole team on the far right, or far left, spread em out, endless possibilities for strategy. If a player is not set when the second whistle blows to start the game, they are eliminated.
# 6 ? XBALL or 7 MAN- these rules can be used for any format, that?s the best part. 3 man , 5man any time limit it does not matter.
Stay tuned for the MONEYBALL video to be released free online, showing you how exciting this format can be. Check out http://www.moneypaintball.org for more info. Or contact Evan Money at evan.money@verizon.net
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