June 9th, 10th & 11th - New York Classic

In case you are new to reading Pie Charts, the Blue area represents all of the teams that have secured their attendance at this event.

The SMALLER, Orange area represents those spots that remain available.  It's smaller than the Blue area, because there are fewer open slots than there are claimed ones.

I belabor this math point because counting seems to be an issue with some players - like when they claim they got 18 eliminations in a single game against a ten player team.

But any way.

The main point here is, that Orange area is going to keep on getting smaller and smaller, until there is none of it left.  If you haven't signed up by then, we'll have to replace the Pie Chart with a Crying Emoji for you, because you won't get to play, and you'll miss out on all of the fun being had by the likes of the teams displayed in our next chart.

Here's a Pie Chart of where the teams are coming from.

Think its going to be mostly NY region teams?  Think there won't be much chance to meet and play against teams you've never met?

Think again.

Not only does the New York Classic have teams attending from across the US, but it also has international attendees in the form of Germany's All Stars and the UK's Predators.

If that multi-colored  Pie Chart makes you think there's a lot in that mix, you'd be right!

For Clarification's sake - the "United States" team listing is for the Band, that team of legendary paintball personalities, who hail from all over the country and who come together at WCPL and other events to help spread the word of Paintball.  People like Dan Colby, Tim Schloss, Fred Schultz, Chip Kuhrt, Tom Ghee, Bud Orr and others.

And, lest we forget, one of those California teams is the all female team, the Valkyries, who could also have been listed as "International", as they have women players from all over the world on their roster.

But what's not well illustrated by those previous charts is probably the most important aspect of WCPL's New York Classic in particular and WCPL events in general, and that's the ratio of Fun to Competition.

Let me explain.

We're all paintballers because, when it comes down to it individually, each and everyone one of us thinks that we can  go into the woods with a gun and get those other players, also armed with guns, before they get us.  There's an essential, call it a "background self confidence and belief in oneself" (also sometimes known as arrogance) that's carried in the mind of each of us, that gives us the gumption to RUN towards the other team when we hear "Game On!".  I don't think you can play Paintball successfully without it.

What that means is that we value good, strong competition.  Plinking at cans is one thing.  Plinking at them when they're shooting back is an entirely different matter.  It's the challenge that we're looking for, and you don't get challenged by bad or inexperienced players.  This means that, in general, we'll take our competition wherever we can find it.  We'll step over the hurdles of bad fields, bad reffing, expensive trips, low pressure fills, malfunctioning chronographs, bad weather, and all the rest, so long as we can compete.

BUT.

We're also in it because we ENJOY it.  No matter how bad things get, (and boy, if you've been in this game as long as I have, you've got a list) we usually manage to extract a little fun from even the worst events.  Watching great play, partying with old and new friends, listening to the tall tales, checking out the new gear.

The WCPL thinks...no, KNOWS...that it possible to combine both at the same event.  Competition AND Fun.  Fun AND Competition.

Which brings us to our last set of charts that illustrate the ratio of Competition to Fun across paintball's tournament spectrum.

Don't trade competition for fun.
Don't trade fun for competition.

Get BOTH!

Play WCPL!