What really happened at the NPPL Reno event against Aftershock ?
part of your shoulder into the ground and after I knew I was clear from more shots I looked around and saw Chuck Hendsch ( the referee ) and called him over . I pointed to the spot of impact and he said “ that ’ s nothing ” and let me play .
What really happened was that an ordinary paintball occurrence got way overblown for political reasons . Remember , this was early in the life of the NPPL and its enemies ( Debra Dion Kirschke ) and others took every opportunity possible to tarnish the reputation of the league and one of its more influential players and representatives . Armed with a video that admittedly looked bad , they took every possible opportunity to attack .
As for the play itself … I felt an impact on the top of my shoulder near my neck in a spot that is impossible to see with your goggles on . The first reaction is to get out of the way by burying myself down in the hole ( it was a stump that had been knocked over with dirt and roots ) and if there was a mark then maybe it would be there , maybe it wouldn ’ t . However , it is virtually impossible to get that
The rules at the time were that if the ref saw it hit and break , any paint would have meant I was out . If he didn ’ t see the impact and if the mark was the size of a quarter or more then I was out . Apparently , Chuck didn ’ t see the impact and there was little or no mark . I couldn ’ t see it because of where the impact was .
The reality is that it was one of those impacts that leaves very little on the player but a large spray through the air afterwards . Chuck did not see the spray but the camera right behind me did . So on camera it looks much different than it actually was .
As for the significance of the game or the play … there was none . We were playing Aftershock and only lost one player that game ( 99-3 ?) and then beat them 100 - ZERO in the finals . They didn ’ t like that so they were more than happy to add fuel to the fire . Kind of funny given their history of antics against the AA ’ s .
As a side note , the NPPL at our annual meeting discussed the event and the captains decided to punish me by making me bungee jump at Old Town , which I did .
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