I ran Living Legends for the first nine years . One year the Excel spreadsheet I was using to run the scoring calculations had an error . It was MY mistake . It resulted in the scores being skewed , and in me announcing the wrong side had won . I didn ’ t discover the error until on the road home on Monday . I was mortified . I contacted Paul and Sean from CPX and told them . They were , understandably , pissed and disappointed in me . I told them that the only solution was for me to contact both commanders and explain / apologize , and then go online and go public with my mistake , and the actual score and result . It was probably the hardest thing I ’ ve ever done . I really thought that such a huge mistake , and one of the world ’ s premier events , might well be the end of my career . I was really afraid that players would drum me out of the industry . Surprisingly , aside from some disappointed players venting , which I deserved , that was about the extent of it . Surprisingly I think I actually GAINED respect . Not for making the mistake , of course ... but for publicly owning up to it . I got handshakes and positive feedback , for years , from players who wanted to tell me that they had gained a new level of respect for me for how I handled it .
What is the craziest thing you ever saw as a professional paintball referee ?
on the run . His trusty Angel broke a ball so when he got into his prop he put his tank between his knees to clean the barrel . He shifted his weight , and that hair trigger went off and all I saw was all this spray blow out from under his mask .
In 2003 at the PSP LA Open on the “ witches hat ” Hyperball field , at the start of the game a player hauls ass to his spot shooting
I run up and I can see the blood running down his neck and his eyes are as big as dinner plates . I tilt his head back and he point-blanked himself in the neck ! He said to me , “ you can ’ t pull me on that ” and I was like , “ sorry man you just committed suicide ” as I pulled his band . Side note , four games later the same team showed up and that player did the same move but didn ’ t break paint . He got himself a six-pack that game . I think he had a point to prove .
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