Mercs,
Hopefully by now everyone knows the Mercs are not really a team in the strictest sense of the word, we're a paintball club formed to network good, level-headed, decent people who enjoy the same thing:
Fun and fair paintball.
I think so far it has been a smashing success. (good job Dave, thanks for putting all this together) I think we're doing a great job of having a presence at Wannaplay at least once, sometimes twice a month. No matter how much I'd like to see thirty of us at the field on those days, putting on a "membership drive" like other clubs do is counter-productive to the type of play environment we're trying to foster here.
For example, if Dave had to ask me to join and tell me why I should join and then talk me into it then I'm not MERCS material. The kind of people we're interested in playing with will see us, see how we play, see how we treat each other and will be drawn like moths to a flame. To simplify, with a little bit of a public presence at fields and away from fields (banners, window stickers, jerseys, tshirts) the right kind of people will find us.
Just like all of you have.
That's how I found Dave, that's how we got hooked up with Stoltz, Mini, Killer Ion, Sparky, Hiro, etc. If someone asks you about your jersey take a few minutes and tell them what we're about, point them to the website:
http://www.site.wppmercs.com/ and they can see for themselves what we're about.
On the other side of that coin, please use some judgement. If you know this person you're speaking to is a hot-head, is a dirty, dirty scum-sucking hit-wiper, or doesn't treat his fellow players or family with respect, don't extend an invitation. That being said, I don't want anyone to think we're some kind of d-bag exclusive club or anything, and I can think of only one person we chose not to extend an invitation to. Why? He was a hot-head, lacked patience, was disrespectful to the field and it's employees.
All that being said, is anyone interested in playing a bit more structured format once or twice a year? I have no interest in forming a five-man competition team, I have no interest in scheduling practices either. What I have in mind is challenging other local teams to a Saturday or Sunday afternoon series of matches. No trophies, no prizes, just welts, tick bites, and the satisfaction gained from a good day of paintball.
Four of us did really well a couple weeks ago but admittedly most of the games were against new players. Our communication and coordination was better than I've ever seen it, and we all seemed to find our ideal roles. Again, hard to judge how "good" we are playing against first time players...
Team Targets of Unusual Size is a good example of what I have in mind when I say "other teams". They're decent, fair, fun-loving folks like us who also love paintball but don't take themselves too seriously.
If you guys are interested I'll take the responsibility of reaching out to them and see if there's any interest on their end. If they are interested I'll also talk to Sheldon about what it would cost to get our own referee on a Saturday or Sunday, I figure eight games between Stix and Hoochie should do it.
So let's discuss it here, my feelings will absolutely NOT be hurt if there's no interest in doing this, this is all in the pursuit of fun. HOWEVER, keep these two things in mind:
1. To pay for the ref there will likely be additional money involved above and beyond the usual walk-on day
2. We'd be involving another club we don't want to burn bridges with so...
If we do this, and you say you're going to show up but don't, I'll T.K. you in the back as soon as I hear the words GO GO GO!!! the next time we're on a field together.
I promise.
Thanks.
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