And Then There Was Nicole …
About ten days in advance of the World Cup the weather forecast for the ‘ Cup looked great . But about a week out the worry of a hurricane became a reality . And by Wednesday , the week of the event , the Orlando International Airport reported they were closing Wednesday night and all-day Thursday . The worst of the weather hit on Thursday but it didn ’ t hit nearly as hard as predicted . The NXL ’ s staff buttoned down the hatches and rode it out and by Friday and through the weekend the weather was much , much better — and even great at times .
Logo graphics provided by the NXL
The Professional Division
The big news in the Professional division coming into the world Cup was that Oliver Whitecloud , formerly known as Oliver ( or Ollie ) Lang , was going to be back playing with San Diego Dynasty — and that in fact , did come to pass , as if Dynasty needed another weapon . Coming into the World Cup Dynasty had already won the Sunshine State Major and the Mid Atlantic Major and are comfortably seated atop the NXL rankings leaderboard for the season .
And for this ‘ Cup and World Cups going forward there was a format change in the Professional division . For the first time ever , four teams in the Pro division received a pass through the preliminary rounds to play in what is called the Champions Cup . Those teams invited were the top three Pro teams in the NXL US standings and the top seed from the NXL Europe — San Diego Dynasty , Edmonton Impact , Houston Heat and the Toulouse TonTons . The Champions Cup will pay out up to an additional $ 40,000 above the regular World Cup Pro prize structure .
PHOTO BY DAVE STUFFLEBEAM www . paintball . media
043