Emoney: MONEYBALL PRO PAINTBALL WEEKLY EVAN MONEY

[News Guy]

MW6rhNI_EnY
Author: EMONEY700 (http://youtube.com/profile?user=EMONEY700)
Keywords: MONEYBALL (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=MONEYBALL) PRO (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=PRO) PAINTBALL (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=PAINTBALL) WEEKLY (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=WEEKLY) EVAN (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=EVAN) MONEY (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=MONEY) NPPL (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=NPPL) PSP (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=PSP) NXL (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=NXL) XPSL (http://paintball.org.nz/results?search_query=XPSL)
Added: April 6, 2007



Original Link (http://youtube.com/?v=MW6rhNI_EnY)

[dannefaerd]

Some more info on this ... an interesting concept on making a format that is more user friendly for TV.

Maybe this (in an adjusted format) will be the answer (such as X-Ball was a modified version of the USPL format)

Comments/thoughts?

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.

Contact Evan Money at evan.money@verizon.net for questions.

[Vijil]

People generally seem to think that this whole idea is rubbish, and in some areas I agree. That said it raises a few good points.

I'll start with the bad things though - the breakout. This breakout will be boring to watch, seeing a team in formation at the ten second count, and the tension this causes (especially for the snake runners) is one of the best things about watching paintball. The best photos are often of breakout formations. I don't think this should be changed. They're making it a little too much like gridiron.

The "line of posession" will be a massive pain to enforce as a refferee, especially since players will often get a few shots off after getting out and thus potentially unbalance the results. Short of an automated gun shut down system linked to a computer tracking the flag by GPS... I can't see this being reliable. More confusing than anything else. In this video they aren't playing seriously enough to really test the idea.

There are definitely a bunch of good points though.

Firstly the hang zone. Even in regular xball this would make hangs before the G5 more frequent and mean the action wont always die down before the hang. It helps give the flag more purpose. This could result in faster games with more of a focus even just on it's own, depending on the field setup.

The flag position is also good. Putting the flag in the snake means that it'll be captured much earlier in the game and often while the action is still going strong, depending which team controls the snake and the snake tape. This immediately gives the game focus *regardless* of whether there is a line of elimination or not. It also puts the action in a spectator friendly spot.

Improvements?

So I'd propose a watered down but probably more workable version - basically xball with the flag in the snake and a hang zone. The LOP is not only hard to enforce but would remove some of the point of paintball: shooting people.

If you REALLY wanted to replace the LOP I'd suggest this: no firing backwards; you can't shoot further back than directly across field. So in order to take out a flag runner that just passed you you'd have to move back, and in the process risk getting shot. The flag runner on the other hand could (perhaps if it's not too complicated) be allowed to shoot in any direction thus allowing run throughs, which gives added incentive to have the flag. Not only would this be easier to ref but it would remove a lot of confusion, while still having the same effect on the game in terms of fast paced focussed play.

The only other thing (and I'm half joking here) is to use a small rugby ball instead of a flag, so that you can pass the flag around the field if you think you're about to get shot or if a teammate is in a good spot. That would be... interesting :D

[Wheelz]

I have to say that the LOP was my first reservation. I reckon for that to work to some degree you'd have to have a camera on a wire that keeps up with the LOP and therefor a third umpire who is powerless to make decisions during play ('cos it's too late) other than hand out penalties.
My feeling is that there is so much power to player with flag that the defending team are going to be throwing all the paint they have at him right up until they're on the LOP and a little further because they haven't hit him yet and he's running like a locomotive toward the hang zone.

I also see some VERY short games. Not sure I like that.
In regular PB, I like seeing how the play changes when you're down to 2-4 players on the field with only a minute or so left.

I guess I see Moneyball as an alternative method of play but not a replacement.

I'd love to see more PB on telly and I suppose this would be how to get it there, but I think this style is purely for the camera. I'm not sure the live spectators would be satisfied for long and, least of all, the players.

Thumbs down for me. But just my opinion.

[MikeE]

So you can do run throughs without having a working gun... interesting.