Micah Mcglocklin von XSV hat einen neuen Artikel für den P8ntballer.com Classroom geschrieben:
YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!
Words by: Micah Mcglocklin
AS BUTCH AND SUNDANCE SHOWED US, GLORY OFTEN LIES IN DEATH. XSV ARE HERE TO TELL YOU WHY GETTING TAKEN OUT IN A BARRAGE OF PsAINTBALLS CAN SET YOUR TEAM UP FOR SUCCESS. NO, REALLY…
I hate kill claimers. Kill claiming is about as bad as using the internet for something other than porn; you simply shouldn’t do it. Even at the Pro level, kill claiming runs rampant like Wolverine strung out on crystal meth.
"I shot those eight guys off the break and that guy you bunkered, I'd already shot him from across the field, so that’s my kill. Yeah, that’s right, I shot nine guys in that 7- Man game. Yeah, and you know when Willem Defoe got shot in Platoon? Well, that was me, too.".
Seriously, if I have to hear any more stories like this I might go blinkin' crazy. Kill claiming isn’t a sickness in itself but rather a symptom of a disease that is affecting teams good and bad up and down the ranks of today's game.
What disease you may ask? Well, it's a bit like the Ebola virus, spreading quickly and infecting all the kids coming through, making them think they're more important than anyone else on their team, that they're so important they could win games without anybody else out there with them. Players with this attitude will destroy their team from within, just like Ebola.
Now I know some of you are going to say; “Micah, I looked it up, and that's nothing like the Ebola virus.” That is the kind of disease I'm talking about – thinking you are better than me because you looked up ‘facts’ in a 'book'. So please, put that encyclopedia away, you big nerd, and pay attention.
Another example of a symptom of this disease is when a back player hides all game, doesn’t engage in any gun fights, doesn’t move out of his safe back bunker, then when everyone dies, he strolls at a leisurely pace down the field, retrieves the flag and thinks to himself, "God damn, I am a bad ass Paintball player, I won that game for us."
last man standing
One common misconception in Paintball is that getting shot equals failure. Well, that's not entirely true. Being a great player doesn't always mean you should aim to be the last man standing when the buzzer sounds. The great, poster boy players are rarely the guys left holding the flag. Likewise, contributing to your team's success doesn't always revolve around how many guys you shoot. Sometimes, real glory lies in death, sacrificing yourself for the good of the team. Playing the role of sacrificial lamb isn't always fun but there are times when getting yourself shot can open up the game for your teammates and ultimately lead to victory. Don't just sit there and wait for things to happen. Make it happen. As Tom Hanks' character in Saving Private Ryan said; "Earn it.".
I can think of countless games where a back player has got kills by simply looking down field and catching guys bumping, or catching bad guys bunkering his teammates. Maybe he shot four guys this way, but did he really earn those kills?
Alternatively, I can think of examples where a player won a gunfight or two, bumped himself into a great spot, got multiple kills and then got shot, but not before setting up victory for his team. When you think about it like that it is easy to see the difference between the two example players, but in the heat of the moment when the adrenaline is still rushing through our veins, the lines can sometimes be blurred.
If, for example, both players got four kills, who is more deserving of the accolades? Exactly, my friend – the hugs and sloppy kisses should be reserved for the guy who ‘earned’ his kills, the guy who was being proactive and moving up field whenever the opportunity presented itself. The guy with balls.
The player in the second example earned those kills – they were not easily taken, or given away by the bad guys. Whether or not the second guy stayed alive all game is not the point; he did more work and, as an individual, is more useful than the first player who relied on his teammates to create the openings for him. Making moves, pushing the envelope, getting tough kills is not easy and sometimes you are going to get shot. But if you've contributed to your team's efforts by taking out some of the opposition, it's not always a bad thing.
all things equal
Part of the problem with Paintball today is that player one feels as accomplished as player two. They both shot four guys, they both contributed to the win and the Paintball culture would tell us they both had an equal and significant part in their team's victory. However, this couldn't be further from the truth.
Paintball today is far too static and boring. Players are too content to sit back. You are not contributing by hiding and not engaging anyone. To contribute you need to make moves, you need to put your body on the line, you have to earn your moves and your kills, and sometimes the most important moves and contributions to your team's success yield very few kills or public notoriety. But that’s OK, because the most important thing to you should be winning, and not always looking like the superstar run-through artist.
Sometimes the biggest contributor to a win might be the player who only gets a single kill. For example, in a game against Dynasty in the finals last year, Thomas “Troll” Taylor worked himself up into the 50 part of the snake in order to take down Oliver Lang. Ollie was in such a good spot he could have easily shot half of us without trying, but Thomas was able to work up to him and bunker him out. Of course Dynasty’s back players shot Thomas to kingdom come, but Oliver was out of the game as well, and that was the most important result of Thomas' move.
Later in the game we were able to suppress Dynasty’s movements, get back to the 50 part of the snake and win the game. Because Dynasty’s main offensive threat was out of the game, moving up field and ultimately winning the game was dramatically easier than it would have been had Oliver still been on the field. Although he only shot a single bad guy and got shot out straight away, Thomas probably contributed something like 60% of the effort needed to secure the game.
stand and deliver
There are also a few examples of players who get absolutely zero kills and still contribute enormously to a team's win. In a game against Infamous two years ago, Nicky “Warthog” Vegas was able to work his way up to a 45-yard line bunker that had a great lane, enabling him to stop the bad guys from getting into the snake. Infamous knew he was there, and they weren’t willing to go running through the lane because they knew the 'hog would chew them up like a patch of undiscovered truffles. So instead, they tried to come and bunker him out, but we shot the guy that came for him before he even got close. Then they tried to move up the other side of the field to get a cross-shot on our large-tusked friend, but that guy didn't live very long before he left the field, with a few bruises too. Finally, in an act of desperation they tried to bunker him from the back center bunker. The Infamous player who attempted it took multiple hits but continued to play on, and earned his team a one-for-one. After that, eliminating the rest of the bad guys was pretty straightforward and the 'hog had done most of the work without shooting any bad guys at all.
A great example of playing the sacrificial lamb for the good of the team involves Jessie “Lilly Pad” Lapid in Miami against Bob last year. The game was stalemating out, both teams had the lanes locked down pretty well and it looked like it was going to time. But Jessie saw an opportunity and relayed his master plan across the field. So as soon as a few guys had figured out the deal, Jessie hopped out of his bunker and ran his thong-wearing self down one side of the field trying to bunker the bad guy in the corner. As he did it, most of the bad guys dropped their lanes, turned to shoot Jessie and turned him a distinct shade of orange.
He must have gotten hit about 50 times – every single bonus balling bastard shot him into the ground. But you know what? As they were trying to bonus ball Jessie into a coma, the rest of us ran down field and tore through them like a pack of velociraptors let lose in a kindergarten. Jessie didn’t shoot anyone – actually just the opposite: he got shot by just about everyone. I think I might have even shot him myself (by accident, obviously). Anyway, the point is, he got the job done and the team won the point. Without him sacrificing his body for the good of the team, we never would have won that game. In death lay glory.
blind ambition
Paintball is a team sport, but many people are often blinded by the desire to shoot the most bad guys, or stay alive until the end, in the misplaced belief that this will mean they'll be lauded as the best player on the team. First off, let’s stop the spread of Paintball Ebola; the kill claiming, the hiding in the back letting others do the work, the willingness to move only when we can be assured of looking like a superstar. Be willing to put your body on the line.
Let us realize that there is a difference between earning your kills and having them handed to you on a plate. Most importantly, remember that performing your role on the team doesn't always mean bagging huge kill counts. Ultimately, the more your team wins, the better you'll look. So if you want to be regarded as a superstar, go out there and do the work that tag requires. Make moves that open games, set your teammates up to get easy kills and enjoy their success as they mop up after you. Don't worry; those guys will inevitably try to claim all the plaudits anyway, but then again, that's the difference between the superstars and the rest: Superstars don't need to talk about how great they are. Everyone else does it for them.
