Dale: Craig, is it true that Ultimate Airball is trying to “Kill
Paintball as we know it?”

Craig: What the… Dale? What on Earth are you talking about?

Dale: There is a website out there that  published a “rumor”
indicating that Ultimate Airball may sue field operators, leagues and
manufacturers who are infringing your tubeless inflatable bunker patent.

Craig: That’s totally absurd and completely false. Sounds like a
desperate last-ditch effort by our competitors to try to reverse the sales
trends that have been flowing in our favor since Ultimate Airball’s return
to full production in 2009. While a patent could be used to protect an
innovator against infringing users, sales, and manufacturing of a patented
device, usage suits are very rarely aimed at individual users, because
launching so many lawsuits would be ridiculously expensive. Tournament
“Paintball as We Know It” is played on tubeless inflatable bunkers that we
innovated in the late 1990′s. Before Ultimate Airball, inflatables had tubes
and fans, so to correct the poster’s comment, Ultimate Airball actually
improved tournament Paintball as we know it, by removing the troublesome
tubes and fans more than 10 YEARS ago.

Dale: The comments section after their “Latest Rumor”
article has posts from several people who think you’re going after game
fields. Any truth to that?

Craig: That’s absolutely ridiculous, and probably written by our
competitor. I have been an outspoken proponent of supporting game fields
throughout my 20+ year career in Paintball, and my actions have supported my
words. We would obviously never even dream of launching hundreds or
thousands of lawsuits against our customers, or our potential customers.
It’s a ridiculous effort at smearing us, and it won’t work. I noticed that
most of those people didn’t use real names. They all have the same avatar.
The source of this weak effort is too obvious.

Dale: Didn’t you strike up a deal with a competitor for royalties or
something?

Craig: Yes, but unfortunately, they almost immediately breached that
contract and reneged on that deal.

Dale: Did the website contact you for corroboration of this story?

Craig: No. IN fact I invited them to call me or at least email me, but I
think their silence just leads me to think they are part of our competitor’s
scheme. I think you and the PB3X guys are the very few journalists in
Paintball that know what “corroboration” means. Hardly anyone else uses
basic Journalism 101 fact-checking procedures. In fact, I have never heard
of this site before. If they would have contacted me, I would have gladly
provided the facts. We have nothing to hide.

Dale: Have you launched a lawsuit, or do you plan to?

Craig: Our Attorneys have NOT filed any lawsuits. Any contemplation of
any such action is always best kept confidential, but I’ll say with
certainty that we will never consider any actions against Field Operators,
the lifeblood of our industry. We are steadily regaining the Field market
share the old fashioned American way. We make a better product that lasts
YEARS longer, and secrets like that spread like wildfire. We met many old
customers at the Extravaganza that are still using Ultimate Airball fields
after 5 to 10 years.

Dale: Regarding your quality, one of your competitor’s posts actually
accused your bunkers of having “Downs Syndrome”, a form of mental
retardation.

Craig: Yes – I saw that stunningly distasteful post. That was one of the
most disturbing acts of immaturity I’ve ever seen in my 20 years in the
industry. I played harmonica on several CD’s by a prominent Chicago
musician, whose sister has Down’s Syndrome. Since he is active in their
charity, I have met many of her friends, all of whom are a blast to be
around. Their love and emotions are unfiltered by societal norms, so they
often seem to be more human than the rest of us. Such an immature and
insensitive comment is unimaginable, but this is evidently the path our
foreign competitor has chosen. It’s a shame, isn’t it?

Dale: But almost every one of the comment posts slams your quality.

Craig: These posts clearly appear to be “plants”, blatantly posted by
minions from inside our competitor’s shrinking sphere of influence. Let’s
face it – you can easily tell that this string of comments was contrived by
the competitor’s minions. How can you tell? Because these are just
inflatable bunkers. They’re about as exciting as telephone poles for netting
or asphalt for roads. Nobody talks with such passion about infrastructural
necessities. If these were markers or paint, you could expect such heated
emotions, but this site is trying to portray the idea that “players” are all
excited about bunkers. In reality, the only people that really care about
inflatable bunkers are Game Field Operators who just had them FAIL, stopping
a game. Other than that, nobody thinks so passionately about bunkers,
telephone poles, asphalt or netting. This is very transparent BS. Besides,
almost everyone in the business knows about our huge quality advantage. Our
quality and long-lasting durability is our primary calling card. I’m
throwing the BS flag on this.

Dale: The rumor article speculates that a lawsuit would affect the price
and quality of play at tournaments and game fields…

Craig: I’ll put an end to it right now: Ultimate Airball’s tournament
fields are priced equal or LOWER depending on the model. The cost to own and
operate Ultimate Airball bunkers has proven to be dramatically lower due to
the much longer life. So yes, use of our products would certainly affect the
price and quality of tournament play – very favorably.