So
it’s Tuesday and it’s been two days since the 2012 Chicago PSP event ended. I
went to this event excited and ready to win and now that I look back on it I am
more proud then anything of the RC team that went and somewhat confused to say
the least.
Most
of the team (PigPen, Scooter, Nenji and I) arrived Thursday afternoon after
assorted flights. We checked into our hotel which had caught on fire a few days
prior but was still open for business. From there we went to the field to
check-in, walk the field, and watch some games.
If
you’ve never been to CPX Paintball in Joliet, Illinois you need to go! This
place is massive and is a paintball players dream regardless of what type of
ball you play. When we arrived the event was in full swing. We scoped out the
vendors village first and got some swag from RAZA in the form of a new RC pod
bag that matches our new jersey’s they just made us. We also checked in with
Exalt and got to pick up a few of the new straight shots swabs they are making.
We also made stops at Ninja, Dye, Empire, GI, and Planet Eclipse (the new Geo 3
is NICE!). After spending some dough and getting new swag we got checked in and
then watched a few pro games in the grandstands. What the PSP is doing with the
grandstands, SMP (Paintball Access) and so forth is amazing. We watched a lot
of pro games and the only thing missing is the hotdog guy walking up the aisle.
From there we went and walked the Dye field were the pump games were taking
place and then it was back to the hotel for the pool and Giordano’s for dinner
(there pizza is amazing and is in my top 5 ever!).
Saturday
was another day of shopping at the vendor’s area and watching pro games and so
forth. We meet with Sal from Total Grief and even got to meet the man behind
high pressure air Dan Colby himself! Did I mention yet that I got to hold the
new CCM J12 (freakin sweet to say the least, however the RC edition will be
hotter than the TG edition). After that we picked up Rayn from the airport
after our stroll through the Chicago ghetto and then we went back to the field for
a bit and Giordano’s again for dinner! After dinner we got the schedule (and after
some confusion about it) we had a team meeting and then began to prep for the
battle that was to take place Sunday.
After
two days of waiting everyone was ready for Sunday. We woke up early and arrived
at the field at about 7am. After getting checked in, we took to our pits and
prepared for battle! GI provided us with some awesome paint and after we podded
up we took to the field for our first game against Truballers United. To break
down the prelims into full detail would take a lot of time so I’ll spare you
some of it. We went 1 and 3 in the first round, 3 and 1 in the second round
winning a point of Total Grief Gold and losing a point to Total Grief. In round
3 we went 1 and 1, winning against Truballers and losing to Truballers United.
The prelims held some exciting moves for us as Scooter came within inches of
pulling out a 4 on 1 before getting shot by the last player on Truballers
United after reloading in round 1. We had a bit of a hick-up against Total
Grief in the first round when we let a 3 on 1 slip by because everyone forgot
about JT in the diamond snake, props to JT for pulling that masterpiece off.
Beyond that RC had pretty strong break-outs and played aggressively throughout
the event. Nengi with the protection of Rayn murdered people all day on the
d-side and if you were unfortunate enough to play the little cake on the d-side
PigPen made you his bitch most of the day. Scooter seemed to have a knack for
shooting the last player out before I could put it on them but I did pull off
one cross field run down that sealed out point against TG Gold (that I thought
was a masterpiece and is hopefully on video). At the end of the prelims we were
2 and 2 overall, which left us in a 3 way tie for 3rd/4th
with Truballers and Truballers United. Unfortunately all said and done we got 5th
overall and did not make the semis due to the PSP tie breaker rules (this is
where the confusion came in).
The
event overall was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for everyone
that played. This was the first national event for 4 out of the 5 RC players
and everyone played exceptionally well! I will spare you the return flight
issues for now (but let’s just say flights and so forth got
canceled or rescheduled and all shifted around). We would like to thank CPX and the PSP for
having the event. Additionally we would like to thank all our sponsors and
supporters, The Lifestyle Clothing, CCM, Amish’s Pickles, Exalt, Pev’s,
Sandana, Sti!ffi, MCB and RAZA for the badass jerseys. We would also like to
thank GI Sportz for providing us with some great paint! Congrats again to Total
Grief on winning the event! We look forward to seeing everyone at PSP New
Jersey and World Cup!
P.S.
I f your not friends with Rocky Cockerson on Facebook, you may want to be.
Let’s just say he’s a real ladies man!
