An affiliation of paintball enthusiasts from all over the world. We film, photograph and write about paintball.
We publish here, Facebook, Twitter, and put films on our Youtube account, SPBTV.
We try to cover as many games as possible, inspire hardwork and sportsmanship, and above all, have fun.
See you on the field!
The last two weeks have seen a lot of non-paintballing women in the paintball media. Now we at SPBTV love a girl in a Bikini as much as the next person, and yes, as Social Paintball, Wolf and many others have noted, Sex does sell... and big time.
but on the other hand, there's been a lot of people saying someone should acknowledge the women who actually play... and no one has been doing that.
So we did a lot of thinking and realized that in our 1000's of photos, there are actually quite a few pics of girls getting dirty on the paintball field. So we've decided to put them up, cause girls don't just make paintball events look good, they play 'good' too!!!
So stay tuned to our girl pballer of the week every Friday, starting today.
This is Hlin. She's Swedish. She and her friends had never ever played paintball. The day after Valborg, which is pretty much the most alcohol drenched event in Sweden (you can wikipedia it), she and several of her friends still managed to crawl out of bed, beat their hangovers and have a blast at AC Paintball, in Uppsala. Hats of to Hlin & all her Swedish compatriots.
Hlin, A real live girl who played paintball! Valborg, AC Paintball, Uppsala, 2010
Laying down fire @AC Paintball, Uppsala, Sweden 2010
Gearup @ AC Paintball, Uppsala, Sweden 2010
If you are a girl or know a girl who plays paintball who wants to be Friday's Paintball Girl of the Week, email a pic, name, game description etc to scenariopaintballtv@gmail.com, subject: PBGirl
They can be as hardcore, racy or average as you want. No full-frontal nudity, can't post that. And you gotta include paintball in there somehow.
So I set out to hunt done some POSITIVE examples of paintball in 'non-paintball' related media. I found some awful examples, some good examples and some generically awesome paintball vids. I'll include anything that falls under good or awesome in the following list.
We're gonna skip RIGHT OVER the disaster that was the 7-11 TV spot featuring paintball.
One could argue that it shows a mainstreaming of paintball, but the flagrant disregard of safety keeps it off our list of cool paintball commercials. It sends the wrong message and its too soon to be advertising paintball that way (i doubt it will ever be soon enough) since it sends the wrong and extremely unsafe message.
Instead, I selected a different criteria. I looked for 1. sheer awesomeness, 2. minimal safety violations and 3. the use of paintball by a serious/established NON-paintball industry/organization.
Here are some that made the cut. They don't necessarily meet ALL my criteria, but they're fun to watch.
Check em out!
The freshest is Saman Keshavaraz's 'Video Game Style Paintball Match'...
It wasn't really an add for anything except the kickassery of paintball and his skillz of filming/editing and getting people to rehearse a paintball battle for a single take. And despite one painfully obvious missing hopper (you'll know), this staged paintball match plays out the way we all wish paintball happened in real life... with lots of action, video-game effects, and slow-mowing of faces.
Running a close second is Powerade's promo from 2010. Although it features an oversized bazooka and an impossibly large caliber paintball tank, these elements are, in the end, quite humorous... and the one mask violation is not extreme, (the guy does it before and after the match... he's still on the field... but we'll give it to him... did you see that Tank-paintball-balloon?) demonstrating a balance and compromise between whichever paintball conscientious advisor they hired to help out and the need to have someone drinking Powerade at the opportune moment. And Powerade is a major beverage company, so for paintball to make the cut and be listed as a Sport is a great plus.
Third, with some far-fetched actiony scenes and only a few mask violations, this video from the Euromillions lottery does have some shortcomings... but the over-the-topness fits... I'd argue pushes it straight into the Awesome category, because who want wouldn't blow a few millions of their hard-won lottery earnings on an epic scenario match replete with Helo-inserts, jet-skis and humor. Well done, EuroMillions!
Who doesn't love a beer now and then? Budlight's take on paintball includes an epic airstrike.
This spot by the U.S. adoption agency features dad making a terrible on-field mask violation... but we think the overall message, humor and use of paintball by such an organization buys them some slack. Plus he gets nailed as soon as he puts his mask back on. Phones on silent, please.
Hane's puts an amusing twist on the Boxer vs Briefs debate in this Speedball-on-Ice, tongue-in-cheeck advertisement.
Last but not least, this epic Russian vid has been circling youtube for years... and that's just because it continues to be one of the most epic staged paintball vids of all time. It has nothing to do with anything but an extreme mil-simulation of paintball. But it does a kickass job of that.
Do you have a favorite paintball add/video we didn't list? Let us know in the comment section!
SPbTV Member Scott Hayes emerges from smoke at the Fall Combat Classic 2011, West Point Click to Enlarge, pic by Jaime Tucci
"It was the stale smell of fishoil and gun grease, the smell of sweat and the Earth through the mask. Sometimes blood. It was the rush of running through the forest, swamps, fields... through sunlight, rain or snow... adrenaline quivering in the limbs, exhaustion draining the body, resolve hardening the mind. It was turning down the volume on school, work, womenz, life, if even for a few short blessed hours, everything wiped clean and rejuvenated as the body and mind were broken down and rebuilt again, stronger. There was no sport like it on the planet, and I had played it a hundred times, but every time I crawled out of bed, or a tent or from sleeping under my car, I knew it had its hooks in me and would never let go.... and for that I was eternally grateful." -Fear & Loathing in the 518, circa 2010
SPbTV had the rare opportunity this summer to interview the man who started paintball... Bob Gurnsey.
He attended the Black Market War: Forgotten War, held at Paintball Sports Inc. in Plattekill, NY, USA. After the match, Benny and Misfit sat down with him for nearly an hour and discussed the history of paintball, Bob's involvement, the personal costs of pioneering the sport and also the joys it has brought him to see it grow.
Most of SPbTV with Bob Gurnsey, August 2011.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a great honor to be able to have an hour of Bob's time and really sit down and have an honest (sometimes painfully so) Q&A about paintball.
Thank you to Bob, from all of us at SPbTV and the viewers whose questions you tackled.
Adam has condensed the interview into two Youtube clips which are available below.
With 25 minutes left, Freebird and the Ducks were pressing hard across the field on us. If they took the castle it would give them a 1000 point bonus... We were down to 9 people and we had maybe 100 paintballs between the lot of us. We divvied them up carefully. "Make'em count." "And what do we do when we run out?" someone asked.... "Do we just leave the field?"
"No. Fix bayonets... and barrel tag."
SPbTV member BennyT after a brutal final battle at Red Dawn, Hornet's Nest, NY.
the 31st of October is Halloween. Benny's favorite Holiday. He could write a book about the pranks, tricks and awesome stuff he has done for H-day. (Most of it legal and easily reproduceable)
October 16th is also the U.S. release date for AMC's The Walking Dead. A TV show about one of Benny's favorite other things.... ZOMBIES!!!
So you can google Halloween or Zombies if you have no idea what they are, or The Walking Dead for showtimes near you, but clearly, SPBTV would be remiss not to acknowledge October is all about the undead. So in honor of Z-Month, we are pleased to bring you the following clips from the vault, alll related to, you guessed it Zombies!!!!
First up, Benny and the crew at Tigerstripe Paintball. With almost no paint left, one player on the field is given a marker with all the remaining paint. The rest of the players are Zombies and must try to tag the human player before being eliminated!!! Rain on the speedball course gives this vid a creepy feel.
Next, Benny takes the fight to Sweden at Kilsbergbataljen 8. He and Patrick search an abandoned building for a flag... and encounter the undead!
Benny goes back for more at Kilsbergsbatljen 8, Stråssa, Sweden. Remember your Rules!
Lastly, the gang of the 518 gives a new player the chance of a lifetime, the opportunity to take his paintball skills up against an Army of the UNARMED undead!!!! Sounds easy right? WRONG. But good practice for the Apocalypse. Check it out at Hornet's Nest Killhouse:
