The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of Dale Ford and his alone. They don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of The Ford Report or their sponsors. Be Warned: In order to satisfy the need of some of us within the paintball media, I will engage in the excessive use of polysyllabic words in order to demonstrate my intelligence. Steve Davidson and his lawyer are hereby reminded that the 1^st Amendment to the US Constitution applies to us in the paintball media, just like it does out in the real world.

Before I get too far into this excursion into the exercise of the first amendment, let me start off by saying one thing about White Hats, LLC:

I Don’t Care.

There, I said it. Aside from having dinner with Adam, Frank Connell and some of the guys on the All-Americans years ago at a nice place in New Orleans during a Mardi Gras Open, I have no real connection to Smart Parts, other than I use a Freak Boremaster Kit with my Deadlywind barrel.
So in a very real sense, I have a clean slate when it comes to commenting with regards to talking about this particular company and its’ ignominious end in US Bankruptcy Court. For the moment, we’ll have to take White Hats’ word on how things are progressing with their agreement in principle with the bank and the Bankruptcy Court Trustee to purchase the assets of Smart Parts.

Like my friend John Amodea, I was besieged with questions and requests for information this past weekend once White Hats, LLC made their announcement regarding their potential purchase of SP. Aside from Steve Davidson being brought on with his media powerhouse to handle PR and Media Relations, it’s not yet known who or what is involved with White Hats, LLC.

What came as a surprise to me was the speed and vociferous reaction on the various paintball forums who immediately set to speculating about who was hiding behind Davidson in his role as PR Guy. While it’s not certain fact as yet who is involved, I can say without hesitation that Valken Paintball’s Gino Postorivo is NOT involved. Yes, he had some fun posting up a picture of him standing next to the Smart Parts sign on FaceBook, but it has been made crystal clear to me that he is NOT involved. A guy’s gotta have some fun, right?

What I find particularly funny on certain forums there are those speaking with an air of authority like they’re really ‘in the know’, then proceeding to some blatantly obvious speculation and hoping that this air of authority and even outright arrogance would give their words the patina of truth.

In either event, what White Hats’ intentions are aren’t known at this time, and it’s been made painfully clear that the release of information will be on their schedule, not ours. I would hope that those at the helm of White Hats, LLC are at least reading the forums to get an idea of what people would want from this notional new company product wise, so once things are in motion, they’ll have a running start on what the market desires.

Speaking for myself, my interest is mainly limited to morbid curiosity as to who would want to invest in a company specializing in a luxury sport during a time of recession, “Summer of Recovery” or not. I suppose that if the price was cheap enough, it’d be worth doing to acquire the business and its assets and sit on them until genuine economic recovery begins. But that’s speculation on my part, not anything based on concrete evidence.

At the end of the day, it’s not in the paintball playing public’s hands as to what will happen with Smart Parts, White Hats, LLC, and whomever or whatever is behind the machinations of purchasing the company and assets from the Bank.

However, if you people at White Hats, LLC really are listening, would it be too much trouble to do a run of Stainless Steel bore kits? I had a set years ago and I regret selling them. Just sayin’.