Was passierte alles im Paintballjahr 2004? Paintball.com haben einen Rückblick erstellt, den wir Euch nicht vorenthalten möchten.
2004 was a great year for paintball. Paintball keeps growing and there were many memorable moments thanks to all the growth. Here are some memorable for 2004…
Evan Money gets on the radio airwaves with a paintball sports talk show.
Dynasty leaves WDP and signs a lucrative two year deal with Smart Parts. Soon after the Dynasty Shocker is released to the public and proves to be a hot seller.
Ed Poorman picks up the whole Kapp Factory team to play as Avalanche. In another surprising move, Avalanche goes to Empire/National Paintball Supplies and parts with longtime sponsor JT.
The Naughty Dogs leaves WGP and JT suddenly and signed on with Empire/National Paintball Supplies. Soon after the Naughty Dogs Intimidator comes out.
Smart Parts solidifies the reality that paintball is now serious business with their “electronic gun” patent. All the other manufacturers follow suit and there are legal proceedings everywhere. This is great for the industry, now that it truly is an industry, for more innovative products will surface. The good ole stance of not protecting your patent to help the paintball industry grow is over. Those days are over; the paintball industry is all grown up and is growing by leaps and bounds.
Excessive (XSV) led by former LA Ironmen Rich Telford debuts after jumping the Dye ship.
Two new all female teams are formed, Empress and Destiny.
Team Strange enters the NXL as Detroit Strange.
P2P magazine launches with a great pictorial section of Keely Watson.
Chris Lasoya's team Miami Effect leaves the NXL.
A paintball mom is killed by a malfunctioning co2 tank, the industry responds by making improvements to co2 systems so that this kind of unfortunate accident could never happen again.
The NPPL S7 Huntington Beach got the most live non-paintball playing public exposure for any paintball event in history. ATMs within 10 blocks of the event ran out of money.
Rock Group Linkin Park plays a celebrity match against the B Real's Stoned Assassins team at the NPPL S7 Huntington Beach event.
WDP releases the Angel 4 Fly at the NPPL S7 Huntington Beach event.
NXe crosses over and makes soft goods like paintball harnesses and gear bags with the input of professional paintball players. NXe signs sponsorship deals with many high profile teams to market their product. This pays off; NXe is some of the most sought after products by the rest of the tournament baller community.
Dye's DM4 takes a huge slice of the marker pie being the marker of choice amongst many tournament ballers.
Naughty Dog Andrew ‘Lil Drew' Robertson passes away. He desired to play for one of the best teams in the world and succeeded. We miss you.
Quality is up and prices are down. Don't believe me, well when was the last time the average non-sponsored Joe Schmooze could go to a paintball store and buy 2000 great paintballs for $40? Yeah this year. The more people that play, the cheaper stuff gets. Stop hating and start playing, too much of that crap on any paintball message board. It's ridiculous.
Chris Lasoya's team changes its name to Infamous, plays the NPPL S7 Tampa event, and wins some money… finally.
Soon after, the NXL slacks it's players exclusivity rules to allow NXL players to play any tournament series. The members of LA Ironmen, Oakland Assassins, New York Xtreme, Detroit Strange, and Chicago Aftershock got the chance to play outside of the NXL.
Disney loved paintball so much that they have signed an agreement with the PSP to host events on Disney World property twice a season.
Chris Lasoya's team Infamous goes on to win more money at the NPPL S7 Denver event.
Dynasty finally loses a Millennium Event getting edged out by Arsenal.
The NPPL announces a Pro cut of 18 teams in the Professional Division for 2005.
K2 buys out Worr Games Products and Brass Eagle.
Avalanche beats out Dynasty to win the PSP Chicago event. These kids can ball, think what it could have been like in the amateur division had Ed hadn't come along.
Richard ‘RT' Travis manager of the Cousins Facility in Newburgh/Plattekill New York passes away in July. Rest in peace ‘RT.'
SC Village celebrates its 20th birthday.
After much anticipation the Smart Parts Nerve is finally released.
Planet Eclipse releases the E2 E-Blade trigger frame for the Autococker and their first in-house marker the Ego.
WDP releases the 05 Angel Speed.
ESPN signs on to air the NXL Championship match on TV.
Fox Sports Net has aired NPPL S7 paintball on national and regional TV.
The NPPL S7 can setup anywhere to host a tournament thanks to their acclaimed Action Turf. This turf was used at the Huntington Beach, Denver, and San Diego events.
Detroit Strange and Philadelphia Americans beat all the other NXL teams to earn the right to play on ESPN thanks to the backing of Dick Clark Productions.
Cartel Kidz sweeps the rookie 10-man division.
Dye releases the DM5 and Proto releases the Proto Matrix.
After two years in the making and many rumors, the first true console paintball game, Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball, hits the stores for the X Box.
The Men a Dye All Star team consisting of players from Chicago Aftershock, New York Xtreme, and Los Angeles Ironmen) take home the check after winning the Commander's Cup in the NPPL S7.
Dynasty wins another Triple Crown (winning the Millennium series, the PSP series, and the NPPL S7 series).
The Russian Legion buys an NXL franchise and will play as the Boston Red Legion.
The Bob Long and company bows out of the NXL to play NPPL S7 and PSP in the pro division. This leaves the Oakland Assassins without a roster for now.
2004 may be the last year of 10-man paintball.
The X Box Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball game goes platinum and is nominated for a gaming award.
Let's have a safe and fruitful 2005!