business partner named Bob Dunwoody at the time , and we built a really nice field for its day . But it was still terrifying not knowing where my next paycheck would come from . Two years later we launched our first paintball magazine which was again terrifying . And by this time , I was playing competitively in Lively events , the IAO , later the NPPL and on and on . Those were some of my best times in the game .
At some point , early on I bought out my business partner , started a paintball retail store and was running a magazine , a field and a store . I also took on another business partner , Mike Peverill . We were growing so fast , probably too fast … again many scary moments there .
Playing on the Pro circuit was amazing ; Selling the magazine and starting new ones was amazing . I was traveling internationally for the first time in my life and that was incredible .
But in my 40 years in the game , when I look back , it ’ s the people and relationships that I will remember the most .
Quick related story : From the moment I started playing paintball I was reading every magazine issue cover-to-cover . I knew every major player and industry person in the game but hadn ’ t met any of them yet . They were like rock stars to me — people like Bud Orr , Debra
John ( second from the left ) Virginia Badlanders , 1992
Dion Krischke , Tom Kaye , Bob Long , etc . I remember meeting Bud Orr early on with our magazine , maybe 1992 or 1993 . I was in awe . Fast forward almost 30 years later and I ’ m sitting in Bud ’ s backyard in California chatting about our experiences in the game over all of those years . This is just one of the hundreds or maybe thousands of memories I have and treasure .
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