| "I live a life measured by intensity, focus, and determination. Every breath, every shot, every move means something more, something immeasurable and indescribable. I live game to game, bunker to bunker. Four others are beside me, living in the same way, striving for the same ultimate goal. We move together, we think together; we live together, we die together, and nothing can take that away. We earn every success; we learn from all of our failures, and from our failures we become unbreakable. Our dedication is not restricted to the field; we are paintball players, and paintball is our way of life. Our obsession isn't understood, our actions aren't accepted, and our life isn't respected. All the rest judge us because our life is foreign to them. We are judged because of the way we look, the way we act, the time and money we dedicate to this sport, the blood, the sweat, and the tears we sacrifice. But it's OUR life, and no person, no loss, no struggle can stop us from living it to the fullest. They all ask, "For what?" For the sweet taste of victory, for the camaraderie, for the rush that you can only experience when you're on the field, diving to your bunker with your brothers behind you all the way no matter what. Then and only then, when you are on the field overwhelmed with the perfection of this game, will you understand this life. We are paintball players, and we're damn proud of it."----------------------------------------- "It happens on a random Monday, coming back from an event, or late on a sunday night, right before you get on the plane and you're about to be frisked for the third time. You're driving, you're flying, you're sitting in a airport seat with boys from the team. You're drinking stale coffee trying to stay awake, you're explaining the fat welt on the side of your neck to a confused stranger or a best friend. You're coming back to the other life; the one without paintball, where no one understands why you do it. You're tired. You're working off little sleep, the question creeps up and you try to ignore it. Why do I do this? Why the travel? Why the losses and the missed work, the missed school, hours of practice and the complaining girlfriends? Because the lure of living a paintball life is just too potent, and the products of the road, the travel, are memories forever, and trips and strange lands with stranger people. At tournaments, it feels like, for once, you actually get to live as loud as you want. It's worth the sacrifices, it's worth all the bullshit. Because if you work hard enough a Sunday will roll around and you'll be in the huddle, screaming, with your hand in, one among ten playing for the World Title. And suddenly, all those cliches you ever heard make sense, and you are defined. You say it to yourself and it means everything. I am a paintball player; and this moment, right here, is my life." |
