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Girls, Guns, Gear & Glory



ISSUE 20
FEBRUARY '10




EXCLUSIVE!!!



  SPLAT OF 2009
     BEST
          Awards
 Player of the Year - Team of the Year - Event of the Year and MORE!!
SPLATXD #20
www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 17
Editors Deadbox
Best of the Best and the
best of the rest.                                                                                                                 Cast of Characters
                                                                                                                                  v   Chris "IQ" Iaquinta Editor In Chief
                                                                                                                                                 You would think that the
                                                                                                                                                 editor of a paintball maga-
                                                                                                                                                 zine would actually try to
                                                                                                                                                 find the time to get his butt
                                                                                                                                                 out on to the field from
                                                                                                                                                 time to time. Unfortunate-
                                                                                                                                                 ly, his air hockey addiction
                                                                                                                                                 cannot be cracked.
                                                                                                                                  v   Don Saavedra West Coast Editor
                                                                                                                                                 When he's not creating
                                                                                                                                                 Blu-ray menu's for Holly-
                                                                                                                                                 wood's biggest movies (no,
                                                                                                                                                 seriously), Don the Magic
                                                                                                                                                 Wand can be found tearing
                                                                                                                                                 it up at So. California's top
                                                                                                                                                 fields, where he punishes
                                                                                                                                                 newbies without mercy.
                                                                                                                                  v   Alex Cadalso Managing Editor
                                                                                                                                                 Proud wearer of the
                                                                                                                                                 world's worst moustache,
   ........................................................................................................................WTF?                  our managing editor is cur-
                                                                                                                                                 rently hard at work putting
   I apologize up front for the use of the above photo, I have                                                                                   his college degree to good
no frackin' clue of who that dude is, but when our buddy and                                                                                     use, as a rag to wipe the
famed paintball photographer Gary Baum sent it to me, I knew I                                                                                   paint off his goggles in-be-
had to work it in this issue somewhere. It looks like an outtake                                                                                 tween games.
from a paintball-based remake of "Predator" or something. Ok,
seriously now, who the heck is this guy?                                                                                          v   Fernando Blando Hispanic Relations
   Maybe he's just some juiced-up paintballer, but he might as                                                                                   Que diablo! Hola Juan,
well be the mascot for our third annual SPLAT Awards issue,                                                                                      donde esta el gato? Maria
where we hand out acknowledgements in a number of different                                                                                      es en el bano verde. No
categories from top player, team, event, etc. We've expanded                                                                                     me gusta las papas fritas.
the number of categories this year from last year, allowing us to                                                                                Hace muy calor! Aye, que
recognize an even greater amount of talent that was on display                                                                                   lastima! Mucho gusto!
throughout the 2009 season.                                                                                                                      Estoy hablando espanol!
   Who is the player of the year? Guess what, his first name isn't
Oliver, meaning for the first time ever since forming the awards
issue, we've named someone other than O-Lang as our choice                                                                        v   Pro Paintball Columnists
for greatest on the planet. Oh, and Dynasty isn't top team ei-
ther. Blame it on the big guy up top.
   Dig deeper into this issue and you'll find an interview with
Junior Brown from XSV, complete coverage from the first UWL
event of the season, and an in-depth interview with our mystery
player of the year. Now we'll give you until the count of three
before we let our mascot loose.                                                                                                    Todd           Nicky            Sonny
                                                                                                                                  Martinez        Cuba             Lopez
                                                                                         - Chris IQ                               v   Expert Columnists/Deities
                           We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our discretion
                           without explanation. All manuscripts, art, or other submissions must
                           be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
                           Send submissions to SPLAT, 310 South Jefferson St., Suite 4-E,
Placentia, CA 92870. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. Writers and photographers
should send for our Guidelines outlining specifications for submissions. SPLAT is an open forum.
We also reserve the right to edit any letter or manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted
have an implied waiver of copyright.Use the information published in SPLAT at your own risk.
                                        SPLAT Internet Addresses
                                     Web site: www.splatmagazine.com                                                                  Chris       Aaron          Alberto
                                                                                                                                                                  Alberto
                                                                                                                                      Raehl       Karsh          D'Egidio
                                                                                                                                                                 D'Egidio
                                     E-mail: Editors@splatmagazine.com

                                                                                                                                              www.splatxd.com XD XD Page
                                                                                                                                                www.splatxd.com Pub
SPLATXD #20
abackoff
Player of the Year                                 sin R
                                                Ju t
                                                Justin Rabackoff




J-Rab Himself: While he may not receive the same amount of media at-
tention as players like Oliver Lang, Alex Fraige or Rich Telford, Justin
Rabackoff enjoyed a 2009 season that could rival that of literally any tour-
nament player in the last decade. He helped lead DC Arsenal to three
straight USPL pro victories, while at the same time picking up point after
point in X-Ball with the Red Legion, a season ending with a World Cup
win. The spawn of legendary pro player "Scuba" Steve Rabackoff, Jus-
tin has been training and playing with the best of the best with multiple
generations of ballers, all of which has accumulated into him becoming
the most well-rounded young pro player on the field today.
Runners-Up: Steve Dabilis, Oliver Lang, Tim Montressor
splat Awards
              BEST OF 2009
 SPLAT Awards
         The Third Annual SPLAT Magazine Awards recognizes
 the best of the best in the paintball world from
              tournament, scenario, industry and more.
   by IQ Photography by Mike Neveux, Mike Adelmann, Gary Baum, Brandon Showers, Josh Bauder

  2009 was a rough year for paintball. The recession hit hard, resulting
in the closure of numerous stores, fields and manufacturers, leaving many
players and teams without a place to play or sponsor support. Despite all the
setbacks however, many of paintball's superstars were still able to shine in
a season filled with stiff competition and shortened schedules. Salaries and
big endorsements are all but completely gone from the professional ranks,
but that didn't stop some of our favorite ambassadors from making the most
of one of the hardest years in paintball history. This year's choices for the
SPLAT Awards are filled with familar faces as well as a few newcomers who
aren't in the spotlight as often as they should be. We'll be looking towards
these players for the leadership to get our sport through what is expected
to be another rough year, so without further ado, we present to you the
2009 SPLAT Magazine Awards.........presented by GoDaddy (<---lie).
Top 25 Players
Top 25 Players
#1                 #4                   Best of the Best:
                                      There is definitely no short-
                                      age of amazing pro paint-
                                      ballers stretched across the
                                      globe. However, few players
                                      can say they make the same
                                      contributions to the game as
                                      our Top 25 Players of 2009.
                                      From living legends to Russian
                                      imports, these individuals are
Justin Rabackoff     Oliver Lang      keeping the world of pro paint-
                                       ball in the spotlight.
#7                 #11                 1. Justin Rabackoff
                                       2. Tim Montressor
                                       3. Steve Dabilis
                                       4. Oliver Lang
                                       5. Konstantin Fedorov
                                       6. Alex Fraige
                                       7. Brandon Short
Brandon Short      Billy Bernacchia    8. Kirill Prikhidni
                                       9. Chad Busiere
#14                #17                 10. Dave Bains
                                       11. Billy Bernacchia
                                       12. Bobby Aviles
                                       13. Josh Davey
                                       14. JC Wittington
                                       15. Travis Lemanski
                                       16. Mike Paxson
 JC Wittington     Ryan Greenspan      17. Ryan Greenspan
                                       18. Frank Connell
#21                #25                 19. Matt Blonski
                                       20. Colt Roberts
                                       21. Justin Cornell
                                       22. Todd Martinez
                                       23. Greg Siewers
                                       24. Nicky Cuba
                                       25. Thomas Taylor
 Justin Cornell    Thomas Taylor
SPLATXD #20
Top Ten Teams
                       Top Ten Teams
                        1. Red Legion
                        2. Oakland Blast
                        3. DC Arsenal
Boston Red Legion
                        4. Philly Americans
                        5. Dynasty
                        6. Ironmen
                        7. TB Damage
                        8. Avalanche
San Antonio X-Factor
                        9. Impact
                        10. X-Factor
                         The A-Teams: Head online and
                       check out the rankings for both the
                       PSP and USPL for 2009 and you'll
                       notice one thing in common; the same
                       squads dominated event after event
                       all year long. We even had to remove
                       "Best New Pro Team" as a category
                       this year since none of the newly-
Edmonton Impact        pro rosters managed to do anything
                       against each league's powerhouses.
                       Arsenal swept three of four USPL
                       events, while the PSP X-Ball pro divi-
                       sion saw the same four teams in the
                       finals almost every tournament. Why
                       can't the new teams compete? Be-
                       cause all of the top pro squads have
                       developed the Dynasty-mentality
                       when it comes to keeping together a
                       core roster year after year. As a result,
                       2010 may very well end up being one
Tampa Bay Damage       of the toughest pro seasons ever.
SPLATXD #20
Boston Redt Red
                                                 on
                                               osLegion                           Lego
                                                                                     i
                                                     B
Team of the Year




                                                                                           Splat Awards 2008
Team of the Year




      Behind the Iron Curtain: Don't let the "Boston" tag confuse you, the Red Legion is still a
     Union vodka. Heavily considered to be the greatest non-US team in the history of paint
     forced all major pro teams to rethink their training methods after the Russians came to t
     entire world championship squads off the break. They redefined the level of seriousnes
     the top levels of the game, and to this day they still practice more than any other team o
      Runners-Up: Philly Americans, Dynasty, DC Arsenal
on




 as Russian as Soviet
 tball, the Red Legion
 the PSP and started laning
ss required to compete at
on the planet.
Front Player of the Year Brandon ort
                           ndon ShShort  Bra




      I Am Iron Man: As the current all-star front player for the LA Ironmen,
     B-Short is only committed to playing the major PSP events. However, his
     reputation as one of the most overpowering individuals on the field keeps his
     dance card full all year long as he has become a favorite pick-up player for
     teams both in the U.S. as well as around the world. His clinics sell out the
     second they're announced, and foreign teams spend thousands of dollars to
     get him overseas to play in international tournaments. Simply put, he stands
     out on a team that also includes Nicky Cuba, Oliver Lang and Mike Paxson.
      Runners-Up: Justin Cornell, Alex Friage, Thomas Taylor
Mid-Player of the Year
                                                   B ry Smith h
                                                  Bryanan Smit




        Mr. Smith: When we do these annual award issues, we compile a list of
      nominees for each category and then ask a number of industry profession-
      als and paintball pros for their votes. Most of the time, voting runs extremely
      tight, with just one player barely edging out the other. Not this time. Bryan
      Smith was the only player this year to be unanimously chosen as the winner
      for the category he was nominated for. The Florida native cut his teeth in the
      pro ranks on the Miami Raiders before joining up with Tampa Bay Damage,
      where he has become the most feared mid/insert player in the game today.
      And at only 24 years old, we don't expect that to change anytime soon.
        Runners-Up: Josh Davey, Bobby Aviles, Oliver Lang
Back Player of the Year DaveBains
                          ve Bains         Da




       Mark of the Beast: Back players in paintball don't get the kind of credit they
     used to. Back in the day, the guys carrying a case of paint onto the field
                                                                                        Splat Awards 2008
     were highly respected as the players that were able to lock down a game
     and let their mid/front teammates do their thing. Dave Bains is solely keep-
     ing this tradition alive. The only player this year to win both the PSP (Red
     Legion) and USPL (Oakland Blast) pro championships, Bains has cemented
     himself as not only the greatest back player of the last decade, but one of
     the strongest individual players overall.
      Runners-Up: Mike Paxson, JC Wittington, Frank Connell
RodneyeSquires re
                                                                                  s
Coach of the Year                              R odn y Squi




      Put Me In, Coach: Paintball has been around for roughly 30 years. Rodney
     Squires has been playing for 25 of those years. You would be hard pressed
     to use more than one hand to count up the number of still-playing paint-
     ballers that have racked up more experience points than Squires, who has
     been maintaining a stable of up and coming pro all-stars that weren't even
     born the first time he picked up a paintball gun. His main team, Dynasty
     Entourage, won all four USPL semi-pro events in 2009. He'll now be taking
     the squad into the pro division for 2010, where many expect them to be a
     top five contender right out of the gate for both the NPPL and PSP.
      Runners-Up: Glenn Forster, Ron Kilbourne, Mike Hinman
LylayDeeD ee
                                                       la
SPLAT Girl of the Year
                                                     L




      The Import Model Takes Over Paintball: We were first introduced to Lyla a couple years b
     most popular models in the world of Import cars. Since then, requests from readers to
     of SPLAT have been at least double that of the next girl. When we told our advertisers
     the 2009 edition of the "Girls of Paintball" issue, they sent twice as much gear as the pr
     us to send them photos of Miss Dee wearing their products. And yes guys, she actuall
      Runners-Up: Shay Lyn, Katarina Van Derham
back when she was one of the
  have her appear in more issues
 that Lyla would be appearing in
revious shoot and pleaded with
ly does play paintball.
Konstantinn Federov
                                               ti
                                            onsantFederov
                                             K
Import of the Year
Import of the Year




       Remember, No Russian: When Konstantin first appeared on the profes-
     sional tournament scene years ago, almost every major pro player at the
     time agreed that he was likely the best in the world. Since then, Federov has
     been referred to as the "Russian Oliver Lang" countless times, where over
     the course of his 11-year career he has helped the Boston Red Legion and
     now the Philly Americans dominate the highest levels of X-Ball competition.
      Runner-Up: Mikko Huttunen, Justin Cornell, Kirill Prikhidni
SPLATXD #20
Paintball Website of the Year                      Pro ro Pain ball
                                                    P          t
                                                       Paintball.com




       Free Mason Society: In a time where many parts of the paintball media
      have all but died off completely, ProPaintball.com took the opportunity to
      provide the sport with the daily updates and investigative reporting it needs.
      Few other sites have the guts to talk about the controversial issues the way
      that Pro Paintball owners Justin and Brandon Mason do, which is why hard-
      core tournament fans have listed this site permanently in their "Favorites".
       Runners-Up: PBNation, View from the Deadbox, Ballers Cafe
SPLATXD #20
y an Collet te
                                                R
Semi-Pro Player of the Year
Semi-Pro Player of the Year                           Ryan Collette
                                                           Collette




      World Famous: Ryan Collette is probably the greatest paintball player
     you've never heard of. His abilities helped make Entourage (USPL) and Af-
     termath II (PSP) two of the most unstoppable semi-pro teams of 2009. The
     other semi-pro teams were thrilled to hear that he'll be stepping up to the
     pro ranks for 2010, while existing pro teams have already earmarked him as
     potentially the biggest new threat coming into their division. He'll be playing
     with Entourage exclusively across both leagues, which is not just exciting
     news, it's WORLD FAMOUS news.
      Runner-Up: Tyler Shelton
THE FIRST AND STILL THE BEST!!
    Thousands of Photos   FREE HIGH-RES DOWNLOADS




PaintballPhotography.com
   The Web’s #1 Paintball Photo Site
Crossover Player of the Year                             Bob Long ong
                                                          Bob L




        The Deer Hunter: If you don't know who this guy is, quit paintball. Bob
      Long has single-handedly done more for the game than almost any other in-
      dividual, ever. From captaining legendary teams, producing industry-chang-
      ing products, and being involved in every aspect of the sport since its incep-
      tion, Bob has seen and done it all. Now that he's retired from professional
      tournaments, he's once again making an on-field name for himself playing in
      a wide-range of different paintball events, from scenario games to woodball
      leagues like the UWL. You can argue that no one has played more week-
      ends of paintball then Bob, nor has the same love of the game. How do we
      know that? He once didn't want to have a major heart procedure done on
      himself because he was worried it would keep him off the field for too long.
        Runners-Up: Kat Gong, Chuck Hendsch
SPLATXD #20
Wo ld C
                                       PSP WorldrCup
                                                                          up
Event of the Year
                                  P    SP




       We Are The World: Everywhere you look, you can see signs of the terrible Paintball econ
     Despite field attendance being down to record-setting levels and paintball stores closing
     aged to be the light at the end of the tunnel for 2009. Lane Wright and his crew manag
     flagship tournament, building good momentum leading into the upcoming season. No
     matching those numbers, with many believing that World Cup will continue to be the to
       Runners-Up: USPL Commanders Cup, Paintball Extravaganza
nomic downturn, except at World Cup.
 g all over the country, World Cup still man-
ged to draw over 300 teams to the PSP's
 other tournament came even close to
op finale event for years to come.
Matt Marshallhall
                                                     at Mars
                                                       t
                                                M
Best Paintball Personality




       You're On The Air: As the only repeat winner from our 2008 awards issue,
      Matty Marshall continues to prove why he is still the most important person-
      ality in all of paintball. The hands-down top choice for on-air tournament
      commentary, Matty has set the bar when it comes to paintball presentation,
      bringing a level of professionalism that no one else has been able to match.
      We're not sure if paintball will ever make it to the mainstream sports media,
      but if it does, this is the only guy that should be talking about it.
Obataket e
                                                        Derrickck Oba ak
                                                              i
                                                         D err
Best Pump Player




    Pumped Up: Thanks to the recession, pump guns are making a big comeback in
  paintball, with pump tournaments popping up all over the country, including major na-
  tional leagues. Many current and former pro players are taking the pump resurgence
  as an opportunity to get back to their roots and enjoy a different side of paintball.
  However, when they want to win these pump events, there's one player at the top of
  their contact list, Derrick Obatake. At a spry 51-years old, Derrick is undoubtably the
  most feared pump player in the country, having won over a dozen major pump titles in
  the last year alone, often against teams stacked with pro players. He's proof positive
  that you can still get the job done with just one ball at a time.
iv ing Leg e
                                                                  L
Scenario/Big Game of the Year                                        Living Legen




       The Legend Continues: Many years ago, promoters used to throw events designed to l
     names in the game. As tournament paintball became more popular though, these type
     time, until the invention of the Living Legends big game. Living Legends brings togethe
     er in one location for a weekend of fun with the regular walk-on players. It provides an u
     meet their paintball heroes, but also gets a glimpse at what paintball events should reall
       Runners-Up: D-Day, ION, Decay of Nations
gnds
 e
nds




 let average paintball players meet and play with the biggest
es of get-togethers completely disappeared for a long period of
er many of the biggest names in the history of paintball togeth-
 unforgetable experience for the attendees, who not only get to
 ly be about, community.
H hend and T
Lifetime Achievement Award Chuck Hendschsc To
                             uck                        Ch




  The Gods of Tournament Paintball: The NPPL makes its official return as a series this year, where i
one but two NPPL presidents. Tom Cole, current bigwig over at Kingman and operator of the Ult
the first-ever head of the NPPL when the organization made its debut almost two decades ago, w
leadership responsibilities years later. Together, the two have held more top industry positions tha
having started out as professional players on legendary teams including Bad Company and All Am
ally, Chuck and Tom have had a hand in nearly every major decision that has shaped the past, pre
paintball. Without their contributions, paintball would likely still be stuck permanently in the woods
om Cole
T Cole
om




 it will be spearheaded by not
timate Woodsball League, was
with Chuck Hendsch assuming
an any other paintball pairing, both
mericans. Together and individu-
esent and future of tournament
s.
SPLATXD #20
2
                                                                                                     February '10


                            PLAYER OF THE YEAR




    Justin
            Rabackoff
    With eight victories in 2009 and a legendary
         former pro player as his father, J-Rab
      heads into 2010 as the top player in the world.
                           by Don Saavedra Photos by Joshua Bauder - www.BauderExtreme.com


    1. You had one hell of a 2009 Season. But, before we get to your total dominance, I
    want to know more about how you got started. First off, give me a run-down on who
    your Dad is.

    Ahhh, my Dad! Well, he was one of the biggest names in paintball (Steve Rabackoff) and still
    is, and without him I really wouldn't be here talking with you right now! He has been there for
    me in my career from start to finish. He played for Avalanche when they were dominating ev-
    ery tournament series (before Dynasty had their reign), and then helped build me a team so I
    could start playing tournament paintball. He coached us for two seasons before I went pro.

    2. When did you start playing paintball and how involved was your Dad? Did you start
    out immediately on the tournament fields, or did you play in the woods for fun?

    Well I'm not sure exactly when I started, I've been around paintball for a long time because my
    Dad was always playing or working for a paintball company. When I was little I played a little of
    both, but honestly I wouldn't even call it starting out 'cause I was so off and on and didn't even
    really like to play. I would say that I started playing paintball in '04. That's when I started playing
    3-man in my Dad's PTS tournament series. So to answer the question; I started out playing
    on tournament fields but I loved playing in the woods as well. I like to be sneaky! My Dad was
    super involved with me and paintball since the start, so I picked it up really quick because I had
    someone there always giving me criticism. Two other people that were big influences on my

                                                                                 www.splatxd.com XD Interview
SPLATXD            Interview


"It took me a couple
years to come out
of my shell and tell
myself that I CAN
play with these
guys and that I'm
right on the same
level as them."
- Justin Rabackoff




       paintball career are Rusty Glaze and      right off the bat, they were expecting so much from
       Jon Richardson.                           me because of who my Dad was. It took me a couple
                                                 years to come out of my shell and tell myself that I
       3. Did you feel that you had a lot        CAN play with these guys and that I'm right on the
       to live up to?                            same level as them. I think I played a little timid at
                                                 times because I was still new to the pro level and it's
       Yes, I felt like I had a lot to live up   a little scary at first. As soon as I pushed all that out of
       to. Not with the fans but with all the    my head is when I started to become the player I am
       other pro players because I thought,      now, with some help from the Russians!
  JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
February '10




4. When you played for Infamous, you were
playing along side several of your Dad's former
teammates. Were they easier or extra hard on
you because of the relationship?

They were extra hard on me for several reasons; I
am Steve Rab's son and because they knew the po-
tential that I had, so it was not easy playing for that
team. But I can say that was the most fun I ever
had playing paintball and I love all of those guys on
that team.

5. Let's talk about the 2009 season. You won a
World Championship and almost had a perfect
season in 7-man. Tell us all of the tournaments
you won.

The 2009 season was my coming out and I did
win a lot of tournaments last year. I won the World
Championship with Red Legion at PSP World Cup,
the most amazing feeling I could have ever imag-
ined. I used to dream about that day all the time. I
won the Chicago Open with Red Legion as well.
I played with Dynasty Arsenal in the Millennium
Series and we won Germany and later on I won
a 3-on-1 to take the Turkish Cup. I went over to
Australia and won a Super 7 tournament. And yes,
a perfect season was ripped from us because of a
gun penalty in the USPL with Arsenal. It happens,
and I have no regrets from my season with them.
We won Huntington Beach, the Corona event,
and DC Challenge all in a row, and everything that
could have gone wrong in Vegas, did!

6. We are naming you The Player of the Year for
2009, an honor previously only held by Oliver
Lang. You were easily the winningest player of
the year. What does this mean for you and for
your career?

Wow! This is quite an accomplishment for me
personally because I've always looked up to Oliver
because he is "The Name of Paintball" and has done
so much for the sport! This is a huge step for me
                           www.splatmagazine.com JUNE 2008
                           www.splatxd.com XD Interview
February '10
SPLATXD           Interview




 to win this because I do work hard to be the best player I can be
 and I hope to only get better because I know I have not reached
 my limit. Thank you for the honor.

 7. 2009 was also quite a break-out year for you, but you've
 been playing at the highest level for a while. What would
 you say made the difference for you this year?

 I think it was just going out there and playing, not worrying about
 anything else, not a care in the world but to just play paintball. I
 think the experience I've got from this year finally meshed with
 the skill I have on the field and when I put the two together I got
 fantastic results. For the "hopefuls," I would like to say keep play-
 ing and that nothing comes to you overnight. You have to work
 hard to be the best, and don't ever quit.

 8. How do you top yourself in 2010?

 Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! There are a lot of things that I am not good at still and I will continue to work
 on them as long as I am playing paintball!

 9. Last, but not least, tell us who your sponsors are and give one last message to your Dad.

 KEE Action Sports, Virtue, MacDev, SLY, Vents, Empire, Paintball Photography.com, Bauder Designs,
 ProPaintball.com, Clone, Guerrilla Air, KM. Dad, you were one of the great ones to play paintball but
 you still will never beat me 1-on-1!

 JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
                                                                               www.splatxd.com XD Interview
SPLATXD #20
SPLATXD          Photo Feature




                                                          DAVIS
                                          CAPTA IN: JAMES
                                   Team

www.splatxd.com XD Photo Feature
eXSo. Cal Ghosts
                                                                    February '10




             Scenario


 The
     Posed
                    By IQ - Photos by Michael Adelmann




                                         christian barnes
             rnes
    Jason Ba




                                                          cDaniel
                                                  Aaron M


   John ballew sr.
                                                              www.splatxd.com XD
                                                                       Impact
SPLATXD              Photo Feature




                             s: 15             Top Secret
               Active Member
                               es: OCMI
               kn own associat                   s
                                   So. Cal Ghost
                                   cartel
                                                   Posse
                                   psycho Clown
                                    dog soldiers
                                                  hers
                                    Bandless Brot

                                   ear
                  Suppliers: ANS G
                             Save phace
                                           ll
                             giant paintba
                                            orts park
                              hollywood sp
                                            ww.socalgh  osts.com
                    Last Know n Location: w




 104 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Photo Feature
February '10



Members Not Shown
1. Steve Janetzke
2. Scott Barber
                         Travel Route
3. Rob Hulton           - Decay of Nations
4. Dale Christison
 5. Andrew Christison   - Blood Diamond
 6. Rick Krug
 7. Chris Carello        - Castle Conquest West
 8. Adam Endicott        - King of the Hill
 9. Tom Dragonetti
 10. Kevin Bender
 11. Ricky Krug




                              Deidra Davis
             ockery
    Justin D




                                        allew Jr.
                                  John Bwww.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 105
         Andy Butler
                                                         www.splatxd.com XD
SPLATXD   Interview
2
                                                                                                    February '10


                                   PRO PLAYER Q&A



       Stephen
                     "Junior"
    Brown
    Known as one of the most experienced players on
         the field today, Stephen Brown has moved
      to the world of pball media with BallersCafe.com.
                           by IQ Photos by Brandon Showers - www.brandonshowers.com

    1. Even though most of the paintball industry is in the tank, there still isn’t a massive
    shortage of online outlets covering the pball world. What was the motivation behind
    starting Ballers Café and competing with what is already out there?

    Well I actually took over an existing site that was called SacPaintball. It was a really popular site
    in Nor-Cal and my goal was, and is, expanding it to become the premier West Coast Paintball
    community for world news, west coast used sales forums, store and field reviews, store and
    field forums, plus much more. A one stop hub for paintball.

    2. Is there a creative team behind the site or are you running a one-man operation?

    I guess you could call it a one man show, although I have some great Mods and someone that
    helps me with some of the tech type stuff. If the site keeps going well over this next year you
    will see a creative team form.

    3. Putting up daily updates, which is something you’ve done a great job at keeping
    up with, can get really tedious. How are you coping with the demands of running the
                                                                                www.splatxd.com XD Interview
SPLATXD           Interview

 "My goal is to help
 promote paintball
 and West Coast
 stores and fields
 the best way I can,
 right now I have a
 lot of things in the
 works and only
 time will tell. "
 - Junior Brown




      website, especially since it’s not         things I have to get done. That is one of the benefits
      your only job?                             of having a website, I can work on it at 2 in the morn-
                                                 ing or 2 in the afternoon. Rarely is there something
      First of all thank you! I try hard to      that must be done in particular instant so I can work
      keep people talking about paintball.       around my other ‘jobs’.
      This is how I feel I can help our sport.
      But I must say that some days it really    4. Is the plan to keep it mainly a news-driven
      does catch up to me. I have found          paintball source or do you have some secret
      that the key for me is to prioritize       plans to grow it into much more?
 JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
February '10




I plan on it being much more than just Paintball
news. My goal is to help promote paintball and
West Coast stores and fields the best way I can,
right now I have a lot of things in the works and
only time will tell.

5. Most of the other paintball news sites try to
stand out among the crowd with controversial
articles and/or topics, will Ballers Café be do-
ing something similar?

I don’t plan to go out of my way to find ‘contro-
versial’ topics or articles. But if I find something
relevant that is true/accurate it will definitely go up.
A benefit of being in my position is that I do often
know of some great paintball news before others.
I like to visit a lot of paintball news sites so I will
report to the Ballers Café readers some cool things
I find as I’m surfing the net. 90% of the time I try to
credit the site and even link it back to them. We are
all trying to do the same thing! Tell people what’s
going on and keep people talking about paintball.

6. What’s the hardest thing about being a part
of the paintball media?

Well having a lot of friends in the industry is hard,
especially if you are posting something about them!

7. On the XSV side, is 2010 shaping up to be a
good year for the team?

We surely hope so. We have made some big
changes for 2010 and like all teams in this tough
economy, we are happy to actually still BE a team! I
have high hopes for XSV for 2010.

8. With a number of paintball teams either go-
ing under or forced into mergers to stay alive,
what steps is XSV taking to ensure the longev-
ity of the squad?

We are working hard to keep promoting our spon-
sors and paintball. We are working with the RPL to
                           www.splatmagazine.com JUNE 2008
                           www.splatxd.com XD Interview
February '10
SPLATXD           Interview
                                                    help the league get new players into the game and
                                                    this will help everyone in paintball. But you just never
                                                    know what will go down at the end of 2010. Who
                                                    could have called the All-Americans going under or
                                                    Aftermath merging?!?! So I will say this, if you have a
                                                    lot of money and would like to invest in Sacramento
                                                    XSV please feel free to email me.

                                                    9. What’s your own take of the current state of
                                                    the paintball industry?

                                                    Well it’s tough, really tough. Having a business that is
                                                    a ‘recreational sport’ during a recession is very chal-
                                                    lenging to say the least. But we have to keep pushing
                                                    and promoting the game of paintball and I think we
                                                    will be okay.

                                                    10. If you were paintball’s commissioner and all
                                                    the leagues and companies had to listen to what
                                                    you say, what changes would you make to the
                                                    sport?

                                                    Haha, what a question! One thing I would like to
                                                    see from the leagues would be for them to come
                                                    together as one but keep two formats for the differ-
                                                    ent player types. Run six big events and have two of
                                                    them at the same time as two of the big games so
                                                    we put even more paintballers in one place. Then
                                                    the big thing I would like to see from the companies
                                                    would be them working more margins into products
                                                    for paintball stores. We are seeing a lot of stores go-
                                                    ing out of business and this makes it hard for the new
                                                    players to have a place to go and ask questions about
                                                    our sport. But that’s just my first thoughts!

 11. Various reports show that the number of paintball players in the U.S. has dropped by as
 much as four million participants in recent years. Will the sport ever be able to return to its
 peak strength and beyond?

 Wow that is a large number that I haven’t seen before. I think as with most ‘recreational sports’ it’s very
 cyclical. People come and go, then come back again. I have recently seen so many people that have
 said, I used to play x number of years ago, and I’m getting back into it. Their tanks are expired, their
 guns are leaking and they don’t have much money. But they know how much fun paintball is, how
 much of a release it is, and they want to get back out there! So let’s all hope we see it come back.

 JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
                                                                                 www.splatxd.com XD Interview
SPLATXD #20
SPLATXD         Event Coverage




Ultimate Woo The famed woodsball series returns to SC Villag
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




odsball League
ge for the first stop of its 2010 season.
                             by IQ Photography by Chris Dilts & Gary Baum

                                                               www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD         Event Coverage




      The Ultimate Woodsball League      become the most popular woodsball tourna-
      returned to SC Village for the     ment series in the country, netting interest
      first stop of the series’ 2010     from both walk-on, scenario and tournament
      season, once again utilizing the   players, including a number of high profile
      world’s most popular paintball     pros like Todd Martinez, Nicky Cuba, Bob
      park as a home for its unique      Long and Matty Marshall.
      woods-based format. Although       The UWL is ran by former NPPL President
      this is only the second season     Tom Cole, who started the series in an effort
      of the UWL, the league has

www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




to try and return paintball to its   10min periods, with players attempting to
roots, and as he says it, “Make      capture flags and hold strategic points on the
paintball fun again”. The for-       field to acquire points.
mat is 10-man with points            This year a third division, Tactical, was added
scored by capturing on-field ob-     on to the existing Open and Skills division.
jectives and bases (think “Dom-      No pro or semi-pro players are allowed to
ination” from Modern Warfare).       enter in the Tactical division, an important
Games are played with a 30min        addition to the series to avoid the beat downs
time limit divided into three
                                                              www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




 106 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 107
 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




       from the first season when         unable to make the trek out to the season
       relatively inexperienced squads    opener this time around, giving teams in the
       were thrown in against the San     Open division a better chance of victory, that
       Diego Daggers, a team com-         is at least until Bob Long showed up. That’s
       prised almost completely of        right, the most famous player in the history of
       existing and former pro players,   the game returned once again to play in the
       captained by Matty Marshall.       UWL, bringing along an impressive roster of
       The Daggers, however, were         players that included his son Zach Long and
                                          former Dynasty player Johnny Perchak, all
 108 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




playing under the “Assassins”       that in no way represented what tourna-
team name. Bob’s team was           ment players have become accustomed to in
the early favorite going into the   recent years with airball. The terrain posed
event, and they did not disap-      little trouble for the Assassins though, as they
point.                              easily won all three of their Saturday games
Games were played on one of         with wins against the Heretics, Entourage
the more heavily-wooded fields      and Henchmen. Bob and company continued
SC Village has to offer, a field    their roll on through Sunday, though they
                                    ended up dropping a game to Desert Edge
                                                             www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 109
                                                              www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




       in the process. The two teams      another 2nd place finish in the Skills division
       would meet again in the finals,    as well, with team Gat winning that bracket.
       were the Assassins' veteran        Luckily, Desert Edge was finally able to pick up
       squad was able to keep up on       1st place honors in the Tactical division, where
       the pressure for the 30min fina-   they ended up besting the Psycho Clown
       le, taking home 1st place in the   Posse.
       Open division.                     Thousands of dollars in prizes were awarded
       Desert Edge was able to grab       to the winning teams, with each squad prom-

 110 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




ising to come back
for another stop         CLICK THIS
                       BUTTON TO
along the tour. The   VISIT THE UWL
next UWL will take    OFFICIAL WEBSITE
place at the Oasis      AND SIGN UP
Paintball Park in     FOR THE NEXT
                          EVENT!
Florida on February
20th – 21st. Learn
more over at www.PlayUWL.com
                                         www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 111
                                          www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




 112 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 113
 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




 114 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 115
 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
SPLATXD              Event Coverage




 116 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com
www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
February '10




www.splatmagazine.com  June 2003 117
 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
PRESENTED BY TODD MARTINEZ



CUSTOM JERSEYS
personal luxe
GOT SPLAT XD
ON THE MIND?




 SIGN UP HERE
GET EVERY ISSUE SENT DIRECTLY tO YOUR EMAIL!
 38 June 2003  www.splatmagazine.com

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SPLATXD #20

  • 1. Girls, Guns, Gear & Glory ISSUE 20 FEBRUARY '10 EXCLUSIVE!!! SPLAT OF 2009 BEST Awards Player of the Year - Team of the Year - Event of the Year and MORE!!
  • 4. Editors Deadbox Best of the Best and the best of the rest. Cast of Characters v Chris "IQ" Iaquinta Editor In Chief You would think that the editor of a paintball maga- zine would actually try to find the time to get his butt out on to the field from time to time. Unfortunate- ly, his air hockey addiction cannot be cracked. v Don Saavedra West Coast Editor When he's not creating Blu-ray menu's for Holly- wood's biggest movies (no, seriously), Don the Magic Wand can be found tearing it up at So. California's top fields, where he punishes newbies without mercy. v Alex Cadalso Managing Editor Proud wearer of the world's worst moustache, ........................................................................................................................WTF? our managing editor is cur- rently hard at work putting I apologize up front for the use of the above photo, I have his college degree to good no frackin' clue of who that dude is, but when our buddy and use, as a rag to wipe the famed paintball photographer Gary Baum sent it to me, I knew I paint off his goggles in-be- had to work it in this issue somewhere. It looks like an outtake tween games. from a paintball-based remake of "Predator" or something. Ok, seriously now, who the heck is this guy? v Fernando Blando Hispanic Relations Maybe he's just some juiced-up paintballer, but he might as Que diablo! Hola Juan, well be the mascot for our third annual SPLAT Awards issue, donde esta el gato? Maria where we hand out acknowledgements in a number of different es en el bano verde. No categories from top player, team, event, etc. We've expanded me gusta las papas fritas. the number of categories this year from last year, allowing us to Hace muy calor! Aye, que recognize an even greater amount of talent that was on display lastima! Mucho gusto! throughout the 2009 season. Estoy hablando espanol! Who is the player of the year? Guess what, his first name isn't Oliver, meaning for the first time ever since forming the awards issue, we've named someone other than O-Lang as our choice v Pro Paintball Columnists for greatest on the planet. Oh, and Dynasty isn't top team ei- ther. Blame it on the big guy up top. Dig deeper into this issue and you'll find an interview with Junior Brown from XSV, complete coverage from the first UWL event of the season, and an in-depth interview with our mystery player of the year. Now we'll give you until the count of three before we let our mascot loose. Todd Nicky Sonny Martinez Cuba Lopez - Chris IQ v Expert Columnists/Deities We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our discretion without explanation. All manuscripts, art, or other submissions must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to SPLAT, 310 South Jefferson St., Suite 4-E, Placentia, CA 92870. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. Writers and photographers should send for our Guidelines outlining specifications for submissions. SPLAT is an open forum. We also reserve the right to edit any letter or manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted have an implied waiver of copyright.Use the information published in SPLAT at your own risk. SPLAT Internet Addresses Web site: www.splatmagazine.com Chris Aaron Alberto Alberto Raehl Karsh D'Egidio D'Egidio E-mail: Editors@splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD XD Page www.splatxd.com Pub
  • 6. abackoff Player of the Year sin R Ju t Justin Rabackoff J-Rab Himself: While he may not receive the same amount of media at- tention as players like Oliver Lang, Alex Fraige or Rich Telford, Justin Rabackoff enjoyed a 2009 season that could rival that of literally any tour- nament player in the last decade. He helped lead DC Arsenal to three straight USPL pro victories, while at the same time picking up point after point in X-Ball with the Red Legion, a season ending with a World Cup win. The spawn of legendary pro player "Scuba" Steve Rabackoff, Jus- tin has been training and playing with the best of the best with multiple generations of ballers, all of which has accumulated into him becoming the most well-rounded young pro player on the field today. Runners-Up: Steve Dabilis, Oliver Lang, Tim Montressor
  • 7. splat Awards BEST OF 2009 SPLAT Awards The Third Annual SPLAT Magazine Awards recognizes the best of the best in the paintball world from tournament, scenario, industry and more. by IQ Photography by Mike Neveux, Mike Adelmann, Gary Baum, Brandon Showers, Josh Bauder 2009 was a rough year for paintball. The recession hit hard, resulting in the closure of numerous stores, fields and manufacturers, leaving many players and teams without a place to play or sponsor support. Despite all the setbacks however, many of paintball's superstars were still able to shine in a season filled with stiff competition and shortened schedules. Salaries and big endorsements are all but completely gone from the professional ranks, but that didn't stop some of our favorite ambassadors from making the most of one of the hardest years in paintball history. This year's choices for the SPLAT Awards are filled with familar faces as well as a few newcomers who aren't in the spotlight as often as they should be. We'll be looking towards these players for the leadership to get our sport through what is expected to be another rough year, so without further ado, we present to you the 2009 SPLAT Magazine Awards.........presented by GoDaddy (<---lie).
  • 8. Top 25 Players Top 25 Players #1 #4 Best of the Best: There is definitely no short- age of amazing pro paint- ballers stretched across the globe. However, few players can say they make the same contributions to the game as our Top 25 Players of 2009. From living legends to Russian imports, these individuals are Justin Rabackoff Oliver Lang keeping the world of pro paint- ball in the spotlight. #7 #11 1. Justin Rabackoff 2. Tim Montressor 3. Steve Dabilis 4. Oliver Lang 5. Konstantin Fedorov 6. Alex Fraige 7. Brandon Short Brandon Short Billy Bernacchia 8. Kirill Prikhidni 9. Chad Busiere #14 #17 10. Dave Bains 11. Billy Bernacchia 12. Bobby Aviles 13. Josh Davey 14. JC Wittington 15. Travis Lemanski 16. Mike Paxson JC Wittington Ryan Greenspan 17. Ryan Greenspan 18. Frank Connell #21 #25 19. Matt Blonski 20. Colt Roberts 21. Justin Cornell 22. Todd Martinez 23. Greg Siewers 24. Nicky Cuba 25. Thomas Taylor Justin Cornell Thomas Taylor
  • 10. Top Ten Teams Top Ten Teams 1. Red Legion 2. Oakland Blast 3. DC Arsenal Boston Red Legion 4. Philly Americans 5. Dynasty 6. Ironmen 7. TB Damage 8. Avalanche San Antonio X-Factor 9. Impact 10. X-Factor The A-Teams: Head online and check out the rankings for both the PSP and USPL for 2009 and you'll notice one thing in common; the same squads dominated event after event all year long. We even had to remove "Best New Pro Team" as a category this year since none of the newly- Edmonton Impact pro rosters managed to do anything against each league's powerhouses. Arsenal swept three of four USPL events, while the PSP X-Ball pro divi- sion saw the same four teams in the finals almost every tournament. Why can't the new teams compete? Be- cause all of the top pro squads have developed the Dynasty-mentality when it comes to keeping together a core roster year after year. As a result, 2010 may very well end up being one Tampa Bay Damage of the toughest pro seasons ever.
  • 12. Boston Redt Red on osLegion Lego i B Team of the Year Splat Awards 2008 Team of the Year Behind the Iron Curtain: Don't let the "Boston" tag confuse you, the Red Legion is still a Union vodka. Heavily considered to be the greatest non-US team in the history of paint forced all major pro teams to rethink their training methods after the Russians came to t entire world championship squads off the break. They redefined the level of seriousnes the top levels of the game, and to this day they still practice more than any other team o Runners-Up: Philly Americans, Dynasty, DC Arsenal
  • 13. on as Russian as Soviet tball, the Red Legion the PSP and started laning ss required to compete at on the planet.
  • 14. Front Player of the Year Brandon ort ndon ShShort Bra I Am Iron Man: As the current all-star front player for the LA Ironmen, B-Short is only committed to playing the major PSP events. However, his reputation as one of the most overpowering individuals on the field keeps his dance card full all year long as he has become a favorite pick-up player for teams both in the U.S. as well as around the world. His clinics sell out the second they're announced, and foreign teams spend thousands of dollars to get him overseas to play in international tournaments. Simply put, he stands out on a team that also includes Nicky Cuba, Oliver Lang and Mike Paxson. Runners-Up: Justin Cornell, Alex Friage, Thomas Taylor
  • 15. Mid-Player of the Year B ry Smith h Bryanan Smit Mr. Smith: When we do these annual award issues, we compile a list of nominees for each category and then ask a number of industry profession- als and paintball pros for their votes. Most of the time, voting runs extremely tight, with just one player barely edging out the other. Not this time. Bryan Smith was the only player this year to be unanimously chosen as the winner for the category he was nominated for. The Florida native cut his teeth in the pro ranks on the Miami Raiders before joining up with Tampa Bay Damage, where he has become the most feared mid/insert player in the game today. And at only 24 years old, we don't expect that to change anytime soon. Runners-Up: Josh Davey, Bobby Aviles, Oliver Lang
  • 16. Back Player of the Year DaveBains ve Bains Da Mark of the Beast: Back players in paintball don't get the kind of credit they used to. Back in the day, the guys carrying a case of paint onto the field Splat Awards 2008 were highly respected as the players that were able to lock down a game and let their mid/front teammates do their thing. Dave Bains is solely keep- ing this tradition alive. The only player this year to win both the PSP (Red Legion) and USPL (Oakland Blast) pro championships, Bains has cemented himself as not only the greatest back player of the last decade, but one of the strongest individual players overall. Runners-Up: Mike Paxson, JC Wittington, Frank Connell
  • 17. RodneyeSquires re s Coach of the Year R odn y Squi Put Me In, Coach: Paintball has been around for roughly 30 years. Rodney Squires has been playing for 25 of those years. You would be hard pressed to use more than one hand to count up the number of still-playing paint- ballers that have racked up more experience points than Squires, who has been maintaining a stable of up and coming pro all-stars that weren't even born the first time he picked up a paintball gun. His main team, Dynasty Entourage, won all four USPL semi-pro events in 2009. He'll now be taking the squad into the pro division for 2010, where many expect them to be a top five contender right out of the gate for both the NPPL and PSP. Runners-Up: Glenn Forster, Ron Kilbourne, Mike Hinman
  • 18. LylayDeeD ee la SPLAT Girl of the Year L The Import Model Takes Over Paintball: We were first introduced to Lyla a couple years b most popular models in the world of Import cars. Since then, requests from readers to of SPLAT have been at least double that of the next girl. When we told our advertisers the 2009 edition of the "Girls of Paintball" issue, they sent twice as much gear as the pr us to send them photos of Miss Dee wearing their products. And yes guys, she actuall Runners-Up: Shay Lyn, Katarina Van Derham
  • 19. back when she was one of the have her appear in more issues that Lyla would be appearing in revious shoot and pleaded with ly does play paintball.
  • 20. Konstantinn Federov ti onsantFederov K Import of the Year Import of the Year Remember, No Russian: When Konstantin first appeared on the profes- sional tournament scene years ago, almost every major pro player at the time agreed that he was likely the best in the world. Since then, Federov has been referred to as the "Russian Oliver Lang" countless times, where over the course of his 11-year career he has helped the Boston Red Legion and now the Philly Americans dominate the highest levels of X-Ball competition. Runner-Up: Mikko Huttunen, Justin Cornell, Kirill Prikhidni
  • 22. Paintball Website of the Year Pro ro Pain ball P t Paintball.com Free Mason Society: In a time where many parts of the paintball media have all but died off completely, ProPaintball.com took the opportunity to provide the sport with the daily updates and investigative reporting it needs. Few other sites have the guts to talk about the controversial issues the way that Pro Paintball owners Justin and Brandon Mason do, which is why hard- core tournament fans have listed this site permanently in their "Favorites". Runners-Up: PBNation, View from the Deadbox, Ballers Cafe
  • 24. y an Collet te R Semi-Pro Player of the Year Semi-Pro Player of the Year Ryan Collette Collette World Famous: Ryan Collette is probably the greatest paintball player you've never heard of. His abilities helped make Entourage (USPL) and Af- termath II (PSP) two of the most unstoppable semi-pro teams of 2009. The other semi-pro teams were thrilled to hear that he'll be stepping up to the pro ranks for 2010, while existing pro teams have already earmarked him as potentially the biggest new threat coming into their division. He'll be playing with Entourage exclusively across both leagues, which is not just exciting news, it's WORLD FAMOUS news. Runner-Up: Tyler Shelton
  • 25. THE FIRST AND STILL THE BEST!! Thousands of Photos FREE HIGH-RES DOWNLOADS PaintballPhotography.com The Web’s #1 Paintball Photo Site
  • 26. Crossover Player of the Year Bob Long ong Bob L The Deer Hunter: If you don't know who this guy is, quit paintball. Bob Long has single-handedly done more for the game than almost any other in- dividual, ever. From captaining legendary teams, producing industry-chang- ing products, and being involved in every aspect of the sport since its incep- tion, Bob has seen and done it all. Now that he's retired from professional tournaments, he's once again making an on-field name for himself playing in a wide-range of different paintball events, from scenario games to woodball leagues like the UWL. You can argue that no one has played more week- ends of paintball then Bob, nor has the same love of the game. How do we know that? He once didn't want to have a major heart procedure done on himself because he was worried it would keep him off the field for too long. Runners-Up: Kat Gong, Chuck Hendsch
  • 28. Wo ld C PSP WorldrCup up Event of the Year P SP We Are The World: Everywhere you look, you can see signs of the terrible Paintball econ Despite field attendance being down to record-setting levels and paintball stores closing aged to be the light at the end of the tunnel for 2009. Lane Wright and his crew manag flagship tournament, building good momentum leading into the upcoming season. No matching those numbers, with many believing that World Cup will continue to be the to Runners-Up: USPL Commanders Cup, Paintball Extravaganza
  • 29. nomic downturn, except at World Cup. g all over the country, World Cup still man- ged to draw over 300 teams to the PSP's other tournament came even close to op finale event for years to come.
  • 30. Matt Marshallhall at Mars t M Best Paintball Personality You're On The Air: As the only repeat winner from our 2008 awards issue, Matty Marshall continues to prove why he is still the most important person- ality in all of paintball. The hands-down top choice for on-air tournament commentary, Matty has set the bar when it comes to paintball presentation, bringing a level of professionalism that no one else has been able to match. We're not sure if paintball will ever make it to the mainstream sports media, but if it does, this is the only guy that should be talking about it.
  • 31. Obataket e Derrickck Oba ak i D err Best Pump Player Pumped Up: Thanks to the recession, pump guns are making a big comeback in paintball, with pump tournaments popping up all over the country, including major na- tional leagues. Many current and former pro players are taking the pump resurgence as an opportunity to get back to their roots and enjoy a different side of paintball. However, when they want to win these pump events, there's one player at the top of their contact list, Derrick Obatake. At a spry 51-years old, Derrick is undoubtably the most feared pump player in the country, having won over a dozen major pump titles in the last year alone, often against teams stacked with pro players. He's proof positive that you can still get the job done with just one ball at a time.
  • 32. iv ing Leg e L Scenario/Big Game of the Year Living Legen The Legend Continues: Many years ago, promoters used to throw events designed to l names in the game. As tournament paintball became more popular though, these type time, until the invention of the Living Legends big game. Living Legends brings togethe er in one location for a weekend of fun with the regular walk-on players. It provides an u meet their paintball heroes, but also gets a glimpse at what paintball events should reall Runners-Up: D-Day, ION, Decay of Nations
  • 33. gnds e nds let average paintball players meet and play with the biggest es of get-togethers completely disappeared for a long period of er many of the biggest names in the history of paintball togeth- unforgetable experience for the attendees, who not only get to ly be about, community.
  • 34. H hend and T Lifetime Achievement Award Chuck Hendschsc To uck Ch The Gods of Tournament Paintball: The NPPL makes its official return as a series this year, where i one but two NPPL presidents. Tom Cole, current bigwig over at Kingman and operator of the Ult the first-ever head of the NPPL when the organization made its debut almost two decades ago, w leadership responsibilities years later. Together, the two have held more top industry positions tha having started out as professional players on legendary teams including Bad Company and All Am ally, Chuck and Tom have had a hand in nearly every major decision that has shaped the past, pre paintball. Without their contributions, paintball would likely still be stuck permanently in the woods
  • 35. om Cole T Cole om it will be spearheaded by not timate Woodsball League, was with Chuck Hendsch assuming an any other paintball pairing, both mericans. Together and individu- esent and future of tournament s.
  • 37. 2 February '10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR Justin Rabackoff With eight victories in 2009 and a legendary former pro player as his father, J-Rab heads into 2010 as the top player in the world. by Don Saavedra Photos by Joshua Bauder - www.BauderExtreme.com 1. You had one hell of a 2009 Season. But, before we get to your total dominance, I want to know more about how you got started. First off, give me a run-down on who your Dad is. Ahhh, my Dad! Well, he was one of the biggest names in paintball (Steve Rabackoff) and still is, and without him I really wouldn't be here talking with you right now! He has been there for me in my career from start to finish. He played for Avalanche when they were dominating ev- ery tournament series (before Dynasty had their reign), and then helped build me a team so I could start playing tournament paintball. He coached us for two seasons before I went pro. 2. When did you start playing paintball and how involved was your Dad? Did you start out immediately on the tournament fields, or did you play in the woods for fun? Well I'm not sure exactly when I started, I've been around paintball for a long time because my Dad was always playing or working for a paintball company. When I was little I played a little of both, but honestly I wouldn't even call it starting out 'cause I was so off and on and didn't even really like to play. I would say that I started playing paintball in '04. That's when I started playing 3-man in my Dad's PTS tournament series. So to answer the question; I started out playing on tournament fields but I loved playing in the woods as well. I like to be sneaky! My Dad was super involved with me and paintball since the start, so I picked it up really quick because I had someone there always giving me criticism. Two other people that were big influences on my www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 38. SPLATXD Interview "It took me a couple years to come out of my shell and tell myself that I CAN play with these guys and that I'm right on the same level as them." - Justin Rabackoff paintball career are Rusty Glaze and right off the bat, they were expecting so much from Jon Richardson. me because of who my Dad was. It took me a couple years to come out of my shell and tell myself that I 3. Did you feel that you had a lot CAN play with these guys and that I'm right on the to live up to? same level as them. I think I played a little timid at times because I was still new to the pro level and it's Yes, I felt like I had a lot to live up a little scary at first. As soon as I pushed all that out of to. Not with the fans but with all the my head is when I started to become the player I am other pro players because I thought, now, with some help from the Russians! JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
  • 39. February '10 4. When you played for Infamous, you were playing along side several of your Dad's former teammates. Were they easier or extra hard on you because of the relationship? They were extra hard on me for several reasons; I am Steve Rab's son and because they knew the po- tential that I had, so it was not easy playing for that team. But I can say that was the most fun I ever had playing paintball and I love all of those guys on that team. 5. Let's talk about the 2009 season. You won a World Championship and almost had a perfect season in 7-man. Tell us all of the tournaments you won. The 2009 season was my coming out and I did win a lot of tournaments last year. I won the World Championship with Red Legion at PSP World Cup, the most amazing feeling I could have ever imag- ined. I used to dream about that day all the time. I won the Chicago Open with Red Legion as well. I played with Dynasty Arsenal in the Millennium Series and we won Germany and later on I won a 3-on-1 to take the Turkish Cup. I went over to Australia and won a Super 7 tournament. And yes, a perfect season was ripped from us because of a gun penalty in the USPL with Arsenal. It happens, and I have no regrets from my season with them. We won Huntington Beach, the Corona event, and DC Challenge all in a row, and everything that could have gone wrong in Vegas, did! 6. We are naming you The Player of the Year for 2009, an honor previously only held by Oliver Lang. You were easily the winningest player of the year. What does this mean for you and for your career? Wow! This is quite an accomplishment for me personally because I've always looked up to Oliver because he is "The Name of Paintball" and has done so much for the sport! This is a huge step for me www.splatmagazine.com JUNE 2008 www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 40. February '10 SPLATXD Interview to win this because I do work hard to be the best player I can be and I hope to only get better because I know I have not reached my limit. Thank you for the honor. 7. 2009 was also quite a break-out year for you, but you've been playing at the highest level for a while. What would you say made the difference for you this year? I think it was just going out there and playing, not worrying about anything else, not a care in the world but to just play paintball. I think the experience I've got from this year finally meshed with the skill I have on the field and when I put the two together I got fantastic results. For the "hopefuls," I would like to say keep play- ing and that nothing comes to you overnight. You have to work hard to be the best, and don't ever quit. 8. How do you top yourself in 2010? Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! There are a lot of things that I am not good at still and I will continue to work on them as long as I am playing paintball! 9. Last, but not least, tell us who your sponsors are and give one last message to your Dad. KEE Action Sports, Virtue, MacDev, SLY, Vents, Empire, Paintball Photography.com, Bauder Designs, ProPaintball.com, Clone, Guerrilla Air, KM. Dad, you were one of the great ones to play paintball but you still will never beat me 1-on-1! JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 42. SPLATXD Photo Feature DAVIS CAPTA IN: JAMES Team www.splatxd.com XD Photo Feature
  • 43. eXSo. Cal Ghosts February '10 Scenario The Posed By IQ - Photos by Michael Adelmann christian barnes rnes Jason Ba cDaniel Aaron M John ballew sr. www.splatxd.com XD Impact
  • 44. SPLATXD Photo Feature s: 15 Top Secret Active Member es: OCMI kn own associat s So. Cal Ghost cartel Posse psycho Clown dog soldiers hers Bandless Brot ear Suppliers: ANS G Save phace ll giant paintba orts park hollywood sp ww.socalgh osts.com Last Know n Location: w 104 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Photo Feature
  • 45. February '10 Members Not Shown 1. Steve Janetzke 2. Scott Barber Travel Route 3. Rob Hulton - Decay of Nations 4. Dale Christison 5. Andrew Christison - Blood Diamond 6. Rick Krug 7. Chris Carello - Castle Conquest West 8. Adam Endicott - King of the Hill 9. Tom Dragonetti 10. Kevin Bender 11. Ricky Krug Deidra Davis ockery Justin D allew Jr. John Bwww.splatmagazine.com June 2003 105 Andy Butler www.splatxd.com XD
  • 46. SPLATXD Interview
  • 47. 2 February '10 PRO PLAYER Q&A Stephen "Junior" Brown Known as one of the most experienced players on the field today, Stephen Brown has moved to the world of pball media with BallersCafe.com. by IQ Photos by Brandon Showers - www.brandonshowers.com 1. Even though most of the paintball industry is in the tank, there still isn’t a massive shortage of online outlets covering the pball world. What was the motivation behind starting Ballers Café and competing with what is already out there? Well I actually took over an existing site that was called SacPaintball. It was a really popular site in Nor-Cal and my goal was, and is, expanding it to become the premier West Coast Paintball community for world news, west coast used sales forums, store and field reviews, store and field forums, plus much more. A one stop hub for paintball. 2. Is there a creative team behind the site or are you running a one-man operation? I guess you could call it a one man show, although I have some great Mods and someone that helps me with some of the tech type stuff. If the site keeps going well over this next year you will see a creative team form. 3. Putting up daily updates, which is something you’ve done a great job at keeping up with, can get really tedious. How are you coping with the demands of running the www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 48. SPLATXD Interview "My goal is to help promote paintball and West Coast stores and fields the best way I can, right now I have a lot of things in the works and only time will tell. " - Junior Brown website, especially since it’s not things I have to get done. That is one of the benefits your only job? of having a website, I can work on it at 2 in the morn- ing or 2 in the afternoon. Rarely is there something First of all thank you! I try hard to that must be done in particular instant so I can work keep people talking about paintball. around my other ‘jobs’. This is how I feel I can help our sport. But I must say that some days it really 4. Is the plan to keep it mainly a news-driven does catch up to me. I have found paintball source or do you have some secret that the key for me is to prioritize plans to grow it into much more? JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com
  • 49. February '10 I plan on it being much more than just Paintball news. My goal is to help promote paintball and West Coast stores and fields the best way I can, right now I have a lot of things in the works and only time will tell. 5. Most of the other paintball news sites try to stand out among the crowd with controversial articles and/or topics, will Ballers Café be do- ing something similar? I don’t plan to go out of my way to find ‘contro- versial’ topics or articles. But if I find something relevant that is true/accurate it will definitely go up. A benefit of being in my position is that I do often know of some great paintball news before others. I like to visit a lot of paintball news sites so I will report to the Ballers Café readers some cool things I find as I’m surfing the net. 90% of the time I try to credit the site and even link it back to them. We are all trying to do the same thing! Tell people what’s going on and keep people talking about paintball. 6. What’s the hardest thing about being a part of the paintball media? Well having a lot of friends in the industry is hard, especially if you are posting something about them! 7. On the XSV side, is 2010 shaping up to be a good year for the team? We surely hope so. We have made some big changes for 2010 and like all teams in this tough economy, we are happy to actually still BE a team! I have high hopes for XSV for 2010. 8. With a number of paintball teams either go- ing under or forced into mergers to stay alive, what steps is XSV taking to ensure the longev- ity of the squad? We are working hard to keep promoting our spon- sors and paintball. We are working with the RPL to www.splatmagazine.com JUNE 2008 www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 50. February '10 SPLATXD Interview help the league get new players into the game and this will help everyone in paintball. But you just never know what will go down at the end of 2010. Who could have called the All-Americans going under or Aftermath merging?!?! So I will say this, if you have a lot of money and would like to invest in Sacramento XSV please feel free to email me. 9. What’s your own take of the current state of the paintball industry? Well it’s tough, really tough. Having a business that is a ‘recreational sport’ during a recession is very chal- lenging to say the least. But we have to keep pushing and promoting the game of paintball and I think we will be okay. 10. If you were paintball’s commissioner and all the leagues and companies had to listen to what you say, what changes would you make to the sport? Haha, what a question! One thing I would like to see from the leagues would be for them to come together as one but keep two formats for the differ- ent player types. Run six big events and have two of them at the same time as two of the big games so we put even more paintballers in one place. Then the big thing I would like to see from the companies would be them working more margins into products for paintball stores. We are seeing a lot of stores go- ing out of business and this makes it hard for the new players to have a place to go and ask questions about our sport. But that’s just my first thoughts! 11. Various reports show that the number of paintball players in the U.S. has dropped by as much as four million participants in recent years. Will the sport ever be able to return to its peak strength and beyond? Wow that is a large number that I haven’t seen before. I think as with most ‘recreational sports’ it’s very cyclical. People come and go, then come back again. I have recently seen so many people that have said, I used to play x number of years ago, and I’m getting back into it. Their tanks are expired, their guns are leaking and they don’t have much money. But they know how much fun paintball is, how much of a release it is, and they want to get back out there! So let’s all hope we see it come back. JUNE 2008 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Interview
  • 52. SPLATXD Event Coverage Ultimate Woo The famed woodsball series returns to SC Villag www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 53. February '10 odsball League ge for the first stop of its 2010 season. by IQ Photography by Chris Dilts & Gary Baum www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 54. SPLATXD Event Coverage The Ultimate Woodsball League become the most popular woodsball tourna- returned to SC Village for the ment series in the country, netting interest first stop of the series’ 2010 from both walk-on, scenario and tournament season, once again utilizing the players, including a number of high profile world’s most popular paintball pros like Todd Martinez, Nicky Cuba, Bob park as a home for its unique Long and Matty Marshall. woods-based format. Although The UWL is ran by former NPPL President this is only the second season Tom Cole, who started the series in an effort of the UWL, the league has www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 55. February '10 to try and return paintball to its 10min periods, with players attempting to roots, and as he says it, “Make capture flags and hold strategic points on the paintball fun again”. The for- field to acquire points. mat is 10-man with points This year a third division, Tactical, was added scored by capturing on-field ob- on to the existing Open and Skills division. jectives and bases (think “Dom- No pro or semi-pro players are allowed to ination” from Modern Warfare). enter in the Tactical division, an important Games are played with a 30min addition to the series to avoid the beat downs time limit divided into three www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 56. SPLATXD Event Coverage 106 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 57. February '10 www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 107 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 58. SPLATXD Event Coverage from the first season when unable to make the trek out to the season relatively inexperienced squads opener this time around, giving teams in the were thrown in against the San Open division a better chance of victory, that Diego Daggers, a team com- is at least until Bob Long showed up. That’s prised almost completely of right, the most famous player in the history of existing and former pro players, the game returned once again to play in the captained by Matty Marshall. UWL, bringing along an impressive roster of The Daggers, however, were players that included his son Zach Long and former Dynasty player Johnny Perchak, all 108 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 59. February '10 playing under the “Assassins” that in no way represented what tourna- team name. Bob’s team was ment players have become accustomed to in the early favorite going into the recent years with airball. The terrain posed event, and they did not disap- little trouble for the Assassins though, as they point. easily won all three of their Saturday games Games were played on one of with wins against the Heretics, Entourage the more heavily-wooded fields and Henchmen. Bob and company continued SC Village has to offer, a field their roll on through Sunday, though they ended up dropping a game to Desert Edge www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 109 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 60. SPLATXD Event Coverage in the process. The two teams another 2nd place finish in the Skills division would meet again in the finals, as well, with team Gat winning that bracket. were the Assassins' veteran Luckily, Desert Edge was finally able to pick up squad was able to keep up on 1st place honors in the Tactical division, where the pressure for the 30min fina- they ended up besting the Psycho Clown le, taking home 1st place in the Posse. Open division. Thousands of dollars in prizes were awarded Desert Edge was able to grab to the winning teams, with each squad prom- 110 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 61. February '10 ising to come back for another stop CLICK THIS BUTTON TO along the tour. The VISIT THE UWL next UWL will take OFFICIAL WEBSITE place at the Oasis AND SIGN UP Paintball Park in FOR THE NEXT EVENT! Florida on February 20th – 21st. Learn more over at www.PlayUWL.com www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 111 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 62. SPLATXD Event Coverage 112 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 63. February '10 www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 113 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 64. SPLATXD Event Coverage 114 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 65. February '10 www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 115 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
  • 66. SPLATXD Event Coverage 116 June 2003 www.splatmagazine.com www.splatxd.com XD Event Coverage
  • 67. February '10 www.splatmagazine.com June 2003 117 www.splatxd.com XD UWL
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