The Ford Report » Featured

Andy Potter joins Valken Sports Team

The Ford — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:51:48 +0000

Andy, who has been in the paintball industry for over a decade, got his start at EMR in PA., one of the most renown paintball fields on the east coast, and worked his way up the EMR corporate ladder. After attending Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, he worked for JT USA as one of their top sales performers, then in 2009 he joined the Pro-Caps Direct team in less than 2 years, was promoted to US Sales Manager. Andy’s involvement within the paintball industry ranges from one end of the spectrum to the other. He’s a grass-roots scenario and tournament player, Sales, Production and Logistics Manager, Events Coordinator and has been one of the industry’s most respected and hands-on managers.

“It will be great to be working with such an exciting and driven company that is so focused on the needs and wants of the players. I’ve watched Valken grow over the past 3 years and I’m eager to see what 2012 has in store for all of us”, says Andy Potter.

Gino Postorivo, President and CEO of Valken Sports said, “Andy brings a lot to the table; whether it’s in sales, customer service, event support or production; he’s an asset. We welcome him we are proud to have Andy as part of the Valken team.”

Valken Sports is the exclusive distributor of Redemption, Graffiti, Crusade, Fate and Infinity paintballs. For more information on how to become part of the Valken Distribution Network , have access to over 50 brands of paintball and hundreds of airsoft products, please call 866 97-VALKEN, visit Valken.com or email Debbie@valken.com

The December 2011 Issue of Shooting Hot Magazine is here!

The Ford — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:24:09 +0000

It’s the end of the year and Shooting Hot Magazine dominates the Christmas Season with Bill Murray’s take on the Custom Products Pro Barrel kit, gun wraps and the look of this month’s magazine while The Big Boss, Seth Manchester takes on Skeletor and paintball in Venezuela! Your fearless editor chimes in with his monthly editorial, this month taking on Social Media, and reviews the Empire Prophecy Z2! Also check out the coverage of Paintugal 2011!

Just getting warmed up, Bill takes on the Dangerous Power G4, and TB lets loose again! It’s a wild ride for the end of 2011, check it out at http://www.shootinghotmagazine.com ! World Domination can be at your fingertips!

The Shooting Hot Magazine Truck is complete!

The Ford — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:01:44 +0000

Right on schedule, Shooting Hot Magazine’s Billy Smith and Anderson Performance’s Bert Anderson finished up the 1959 Chevy Apache truck, just in time to take the vehicle to World Cup to display in the DXS/V-Force Pavilion.

The off-frame restoration and customization took over 700 hours, with every part of the vehicle getting attention from Smith and Anderson. Early this week Mr. Smith will be departing South Georgia for Fantasy of Flight near Lakeland, FL to cruise the ’59 and display it. This writer is currently trying to convince Mr. Smith to cruise the truck in Old Town on Saturday night, but given the amount of time, effort, and resources poured into this one-of-a-kind truck it’s proving to be a hard sale to make.

Make sure to drop by the DXS/V-Force Pavilion this week at World Cup to check out the SHM Apache!

Life long brothers and the game: We grew up together and we sling paint together

The Ford — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 23:07:46 +0000

I knew James Guy since 4^th grade. Looking back on it, it seems like a life time. Our paths in life have always crossed or ran parallel to each other. From elementary school right into high school at North East were we did AFJROTC (FL-822). He’s a die hard speedball player who recently made the decision to join the United States Army. His Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is 31 Bravo, Military Police.

The day we hit the field at Extreme Rage was a reminder of being in high school again. It was a whirlwind of jokes and old stories from those days that I won’t go into details about ranging from classmates in those days, right down to wild stories of high school and post high school. Hitting the field we walked it to get a feel for what the day had in stored. The woodsball area was drastically worked in since my last visit almost a year ago. There were trenches, a swinging door in the kill house, and plenty of areas to use or get trapped in.

The first game of the day was a pistol fight in the kill house between my brother and me. It’s kind of a creepy thing moving in there with just one 7 round magazine. It was pretty interesting how we both ran and gunned trying to exploit a weakness in the other. I managed to get behind him at an angle were his blind spot was and got him in the leg.

Yet I digress, this is more about a guy that is in every way a brother. I asked Jimmy about the day and his prospective and a bit on his past and future.

SM: What was your introduction into paintball?

JG: My little sister Megan wanted to try it out for her birthday so we gave it a go with our whole family and once we did we just got addicted to it and just make it fun for the whole family.

SM: What was your motivation for enlisting and choosing to become an MP?

JG: I chose to enter the ARMY because I wanted to do something in my life that will not only make me a better person but also to have my family proud of what I am doing because not everyday someone tells there family that there going into the service so now where ever they send me I know if someone goes what does your brother do it will make me proud to know that they can look at then and say he is a member of the UNITED STATED ARMY the choosing to be a MP was because I wanted to do something after the life or a soldier so when I retire I can take what I learn into the real world.

SM: What was your impression of Extreme Rage?

JG: I thought that the woods ball field was just like real life combat area because you have the sniper tower over looking the whole field the house with rooms that will surprise you and just a great field all around.

SM: Your time with AFJROTC and your entering the U.S. Army, how do you think it has changed your outlook as a player in paintball or in life?

JG: Well from the JROTC days it thought me the values of integrity first service before self and excellence in all we do so I took all I learned from that into the paintball life.

SM: Playing with Adam and myself, how do you think things have changed with the three of us as guys or in a group dynamic?

JG: Well we were young and crazy at the first time and as we got older it started to catch up to us and now we are more men and well raised.

SM: What was your take on rolling with FOXHOUND WOODSBALL as a part of the team in terms of how the day went?

JG: I thought it was great because when one man on the team is in need I saw that the members were there for you from needing paint to cover fire.

SM: The guys of the Miami Raptors (the cops we played against) what was your impression of them and other players at Extreme Rage?

JG: It was great. I tried to challenge myself against the cops but everyone knows there training …… everyone else at the field was very nice and knew how to play the game and is not a new person to it.

That day was one that will be unforgettable. The bonds we share as brothers were forged over the years and made stronger that day. Despite what life has thrown our way, our paths in life always seemed to intersect. From school, to our days as AFJROTC cadets (FL-822), to right now, it’s almost like we were brothers in a past life or something. I wouldn’t change that for the world. I know what he’s going to do is good yet can be dangerous and We’re going to really miss him one way or another.

SIDE NOTE: Our day their, we met “Cornel” who is one of the referees at Extreme. “Cornel” is also a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer that commands a grate deal of respect on the field. Myself and the members of FOXHOUND WOODSBALL would like to express our deepest condolences for the loss of his son, who gave his life in service to his country.

PBL’s Gab Fest

The Ford — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:32:15 +0000

Traveling with Kitty!

The Ford — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 01:30:09 +0000

Kitty “Galore” Wandel with some travel tips:

Terry Black speaks out on CO2 and The EPA

The Ford — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:33:04 +0000

Terry Black is a respected member of the OG sites and of the paintball community in General. No government employees or legislators were harmed in the production of his opinion, which coincidentally may not necessarily be the opinion of The Ford Report, its’ owners or its’ advertisers.

What can you say when so many people in this world are left of Lenin, so to speak. It is easy for people to cut out what doesn’t effect them. The policy makers for the most part don’t play paintball. But they do drink beer and soda, frequent restaurants that use this CO2 technology, and benefit from their purposes. All of which release more CO2 than paintball.

The same can be said about taxing and restricting cigarettes as apposed to alcohol. The tax and restrict tobacco more because they don’t use it. Despite the fact that alcohol is responsible for more deaths and side effects a year. In fact, more than 3X more…. Claim that its more offensive to others. What, something you smell or someone who is belligerent? Claim second hand. Please, a drunk is 1000X’s more likely to cause you harm than second hand smoke.

Fanaticism is is just that. Everyone has to blame something and preferably something that doesn’t effect them. People prove more and more how selfish they really are. CO2 from paintball. If your going to be a bear, be a grizzly I guess. But even a bear will take the obvious choices to eat up first. And Paintball CO2 is no where near the top of that list.

I only have one question for the policy makers who proposed this… “Have you hugged your tree today?”

Free Finale 2009: The Finishing Touches

The Ford — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:05:56 +0000

With one week to go until Free Finale 2009, everyone at Low Country Paintball is girding their loins for an absolute beast of an event for “Ninjees vs. Pirates: Quest for the Brass Monkey”, which will pit Dread Pirate Chris “Camojester” Greer and his XO Bill “Firebug” Meister against Scott “Redneck Ninjee” Hall of Camp Blanding fame and his XO Lawrence “TB” Wright (yes, that TB).

Several new features have been added to LCP’s 67 acres, including “Boathenge” “The Ninja Base”a new base for the Ninjees to work out of, and for this event “The Great Wall of China”, which will change the playing dynamics of LCP markedly. DXS is busy cranking out the custom paintball for this coming weekend’s event, and LCP Game Writer “Georgia” Joe Hamilton is putting the finishing touches on the intel side of the game.

All in all, things are coming together nicely. BT Paintball, DraXxus, Planet Eclipse’s Gerry Bates, Blue and Duece representing Smokin’ Products and JT Paintball, Bambi Bullard’s Coastal Trading Company representing Medusa Packs, Hammerhead barrels, and Water Pods, and we’re hearing rumors that First Call Paintball will be on site as well, but that hasn’t been confirmed as of yet. Sacred Art Tattoos will be on site too, for those who want to get inked while having a blast at this year’s Free Finale!

For those of you flying into the game, your best bet is to fly into Jacksonville, Florida (JAX) or Savannah, Georgia and make the short drive on I-95 to exit 58. Low Country Paintball is 13 miles west of the exit near Ludowici, GA. Hotels are available at Exit 58, and if you’re into camping, tent camping will be available on the area normally occupied by LCP’s X-Ball field. Parking will be tight, so when you enter the property, attendants will guide you to where you need to park. For the technologically savvy among us, here are LCP’s GPS coordinates: N 31′ 36.771″, W081′ 37.786″

Right now the Ninjees outnumber the Pirates, but Dread Pirate CamoJester has been keelhauling his players as a way to motivate them to get signed up and ready for some of the most intense paintball in the Southeast! Pirates or Ninjees…you choose! Sign up today at www.freefinale.com !

Versa Two loader becomes official hopper of The Ford Report

The Ford — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:03:42 +0000

While everyone else was eating turkey and vegging out in front of the TV over the Thanksgiving weekend, The Ford Report’s Dale Ford and SPO Gear’s Ken Akins were hammering out a an endorsement deal for the 2010 season.

Terms of the agreement haven’t been released.

The Ford Report is a weekly journal of all the happenings in the sport of paintball that is delivered directly to a subscriber’s inbox. The website, www.thefordreport.com , carries previous week’s Reports for people to read, as well as exclusive editorial content.

For 2010, Dale will be using a new Versa Two hopper, which couples SPO’s Versa shell with the internals of the new Invert HALO Too. “I recently reviewed the HALO Too for Shooting Hot Magazine, and I came away impressed with how easy it is to live with. Put those internals in Ken’s shells, and you got a winner! The Versa Two is the way to go!”

The Versa Two is now available in all of SPO’s patterns and colors. For more information, or to get your Versa Two today, check out www.versagear.com

South Beach Pimps sign with Planet Eclipse for 2010

The Ford — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:08:14 +0000

The South Beach Pimps, based in Miami, Florida and home of legendary South Beach, have renewed their sponsorship agreementwith Planet Eclipse. The terms of the agreement haven’t been made public.

The team is comprised mainly of old school tournament players getting back to their roots in the woods. Obviously playing inthe woods isn’t the same as it was 15-20 years ago, and that’s where Planet Eclipse comes in.

Today’s scenario/big game play in the Southeast is among the most intense in the country. Having the trifecta of speed,reliability and accuracy forms the powerhouse of the South Beach Pimps’ dominance.

Along with team IYAOYAS, the South Beach Pimps have formed the South Eastern Alliance, which is a collection of like-mindedteams that want to work together at events and understand fair play, sportsmanship and the value of a good gunfight.

While the South Beach Pimps don’t have a captain per se, it’s generally accepted that John Navarro is at the helm by virtueof being the nastiest, most aggressive player on the team. Here’s what he had to say about the 2010 Sponsorship from PlanetEclipse: “It’s an honor to be backed up by a paintball leader such as Planet Eclipse, we can continue our mission in takingover one field at a time with Planet. We welcome anyone to walk up to us at any field we visit and we’ll gladly put a P.E.marker in your hand and convert you!”

Ian ‘Jacko’ Parsons of Planet Eclipse had this to say about keeping the South Beach Pimps in the Planet Eclipse stable ofscenario teams: “Having the Pimps in our stable this year has been great they have travelled and spread the Eclipse word andare great Ambassadors for the sport of paintball, we are looking forward to a great 2010!!”

Planet Eclipse joins Kila Products, Deadlywind, LCP, Guerrilla Air, SoBe Paintball, and the The Ford Report. To keep up withthe Pimps, check out www.sobepimps.com . For more information on Planet Eclipse, check out www.planeteclipse.com