Meanwhile , the players had a party . The unique set of circumstances allowed the players to do something they don ’ t often do at tournaments . They just hung out .
The players took time to actually get to know one another . They talked with vendors and learned about the products that they would typically walk by with little time or concern . They mingled with one another . There was a on hand DJ who played music and created a chill party atmosphere . Kids played football in the pit area . OG Master Blasty “ Howdy ” McGuffog brought out his genuine “ Termite Termite ” marker and allowed some of the players to shoot it in the woods . One team organized a poker tournament which , at some point grew large enough that there weren ’ t enough poker chips to go around and the pot devolved into a pile of headbands in the middle of the table . Another team organized a corn hole tournament . People enjoyed authentic- Chicago style pizza from a mobile brick oven pizza vendor .
“ Credit has to go to the players , man ,” said Jim “ Howdy ” McGuffog . “ This was truly a testament to the patience of the players . With all of the adversity this event went through , they not only contributed in any way they could to help but they stayed and truly made the best out of an uncontrollable situation .”
“ I ’ m still struggling to find the words to capture that whole weekend . Maybe tumultuous would be the best way to describe it ,” Said Drew Witman who played with Indy Reign . “ This was my first time really getting to know the crew on Indy Reign after playing against them for a few years at Indy Paintball Battleground . And us even making it to the finals in what was a lot of the team ’ s first open mechanical event was absolutely amazing . I vividly remember looking around in the pits throughout the weekend and throughout the finals and it seemed like whenever we hit a road bump everyone was still smiling , still working together , still trying to figure out what to do next .”
Still , even with all of the good vibes on Saturday , the sour lemon of the day had a bit more juice in it . The staff fired up the borrowed air system after it arrived , and five minutes later , it blew its head .
Out of options , Glavin and a player / electrician went to work on the generator , and the staff decided to begin the tournament , allowing the players to fill their tanks from the 3 bank tanks Miller had sent down . After an entire day of waiting in the beating sun , the atmosphere had turned and the collective mood was pretty defeated . But the air in those three tanks was just enough to reinvigorate the players and whet their appetites once again .
Five games were completed before the air on-hand had run out .
Recognizing that people were worn out from the long day of hanging out in the heat , a decision was made to send everyone home and start a marathon that would take a miracle to accomplish : playing the entire tournament on Sunday . Then , as if the paintball gods were playing a proverbial joke on the entire scene , not 20 minutes after that call was made , the power came back on .
The Rally and The Miracle at Fox
Some people on site literally called it a miracle what happened the next day .
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