ProPaintball insiders indicate that there will be an influx of new pro paintball teams joining the PSP in 2012. Division 1 teams Upton 187, Assault, New England Hurricanes, TKO and Top Gun are all planning on going pro in 2012. In addition, pro paintball team Sacramento XSV is said to be rejoining the PSP pro division in 2012. If all 6 of these paintball teams made the jump they would bring the total number of PSP Pro paintball teams to 16. Talk about a huge increase!
Adding support to the Hurricanes “going pro” rumor, the New England Hurricanes are said to be closing in on an major cash sponsorship from a non-industry source. Rumors have it that Jeff Stein has uncovered Danny Manning’s old NIKE lead. With the pick up of pro player Billy Bernacchia and the teams recent win at the PSP 2011 Chicago Open, all signs are indicating they will be making the jump to pro in 2012.
In anticipation of PSP New Jersey, pro and divisional paintball teams are going to be putting in additional practice time at various parks to fine tune their skills. Pro paintball team Los Angeles Ironmen and D-1 team LIFT are planning a practice at OXCC in Maryland. Also in Maryland, Upton 187 & Assault are planning a big practice at Paintball Adventure Park in two weeks.
What do you think about the rumored influx of pro teams in the PSP 2012 season? Will they all make the jump?
at 12:27 pm
Alfred and cryil rumored to be joining globetrotters
at 12:41 pm
^^^ LMFAO so fucked up
at 1:32 pm
also both were offered head chef jobs at their local kfc’s.
at 1:02 pm
Assault/187 practice will hopefully be a home & away event -
At PAP July 23rd & 24th
At Fox 4 August 6th & 7th
Still trying to work out all the details.
at 1:51 pm
I think the influx would be nice. Everyone knows playing the best makes you better.
at 2:24 pm
Wha chew talkin’ bout Willis?
at 3:55 pm
HAHA none of those teams can hang in pro not even TKO or us, this has to be a joke..
at 5:05 pm
tk will will be able to hold their own though they wont be another russian legion but i think they will still be a force to be reckoned with
at 5:58 am
Yeah but, many of the teams would get so much better playing in event’s with pro’s so probably after a season at most most of the former D1 teams could hold their own playing some of the pro teams. Defiantly the newer pro teams like VICIOUS or CEP. So I think it would make it even more interesting. And overall better for the sport….
at 4:13 pm
Thad b cool if they do all go pro but what would happen with D1
at 4:14 pm
@ight,
There are about 10 or 12 D1 teams. A large portion of them would stay and several D2 teams would move up.
at 4:21 pm
These guys aren’t ready for pro not 1 of them
at 4:26 pm
i agree. there is too big of a gap from d1 to pro, thats why they should have never gotten rid of semi pro. most of these teams wouldnt even play good in semi pro if they got bumped up.
at 4:29 pm
@Trevor,
I agree that there is too big of a gap right now. Unfortunately though there is not enough teams in the upper divisions to justify a semi pro division.
There are a ton of lower divisional teams working their way up though the ranks so hopefully it will fill out the upper divisions in a year or two.
at 4:48 pm
I miss the days where you had to earn your pro spot.
at 5:04 pm
I am sure Lane would love it if all 6 came to pro. Right now pro is a losing deal for PSP. 6 additional teams may make it at least break even.
at 6:30 pm
Would love to see 6 teams move to pro it would be interesting. People say they coudnt hang with pro do you guys know what happened to uprising in the nppl. Anyone can win
at 6:50 pm
That’s 7-man. In xball, the better team usually wins.
Most d1 teams would have a rough transition
at 6:52 pm
HAHAHA the D1 games were the most boring games I’ve ever witness. NOT 1 of those teams can hang in the PRO division. There wasn’t even 1 player that stood out as a possible pick-up for an existing PRO teams. HAHAHHAAHAHA!!!!!
at 6:54 pm
But anybody can win it just takes hard work plus I’d love to watch alot more x-ball teams in pro ranks
at 7:31 pm
jesters have had a better average results then 187, assault, and top gun and there is no word of them pumping up into the pro bracket?
at 8:06 pm
if any d1 teams should go, it should be the hurricanes and jesters imo
at 8:30 pm
CEP took one event to bring there stuff together to win their first match as a Pro team in their second time ever playing Pro. I think if they worked at it they’d be able to play Pro.
at 9:06 pm
any team can win in paintball. People forget about the ppl who go off the map in paintball because it is too expensive. Paintball is not a hard sport to play. Should go back to open
at 9:07 am
Sounds good for VCK. I could see grad, boom, and wolfpack moving up to d1.
at 10:06 am
Why would boom go d1? They haven’t made top 4 this season
at 2:50 pm
Rumors are raging that the Master Blasters are putting a D1 team in the NJ PSP Event with some big names coming out of retirement..This will be interesting
at 4:45 pm
seriously none of those teams should go pro…hurricains could go pro after a year of hard practice they have the potential same as jesters…tko cant go pro.but Damien and el negro definitly could
at 5:52 am
That’s ridiculous TKO was going to go pro but, Chattanooga went pro instead, because TK took to much time to decide, because of money. And TKO defiantly has some of the best players on the roster right know. And A-lot of pro players came from TKO. For example- Keith Brown, Jacob Edwards, Jason Edwards. And many could go pro if money wasn’t so tight. And I think Galveston speaks for it’s self….
at 1:33 pm
Jason Edwards didnt come from TKO. He coached them while he was playing for Philly. Which is why those players got to where they are, as soon as Jacob and Keith moved up, TKO didnt “need” Jason so he stopped coaching. Easy as that.
at 6:07 am
I would think all these teams would pick up some pro players if they made the jump to pro. They won’t keep the same roster as they would in d1.
at 8:20 am
We (hurricanes) are not ready for pro currently…we have 2 events and an off season. We have the talent and the infrastructure…all we have to do is put in the work. We hope to realize our potential and win some matches in the pro ranks in 2012 before the world ends…
at 6:15 pm
fortune favors the bold.
at 5:46 am
That would defiantly be legit. Defiantly if TKO was in the pro circuit!!!!!!
at 10:04 pm
As a former member of the TKO organization for the past 2 years, most of the guys, if not all, on the D1 team can hang in pro. Like mentioned earlier, the reason they did not make the bump to Pro this year was all a timing issue. TKO practices TBD every other week, if not every week and is able to hang with them and TBD is one of the top pro teams. It would be GREAT for the PSP and the sport if all 6 teams made the jump to pro in the 2012 season.
Good luck to all teams in NJ.
at 9:51 am
These guys are good, there isn’t any denying that these are all solid divisional teams ..but Pro? Not a chance, that’s a huge gap.. Some players from these teams could play Pro with no problem but as a whole they would all get slaughtered by the current pros. (Damage, Legion, Aftermath, etc.)
at 8:11 pm
Why is everyone hating! Good for them, glad to see all that hard work is paying off…. There’s not a person that loves tournament paintball that wouldn’t want to play pro…. I see it as inspiring, hopefully it will be a few more the next year and the year after until we have a large legitimate pro league! Finally we will have some underdogs fighting for the top spots instead of just watching a few teams dominate year in and year out! Just my 2 cents!
at 1:50 pm
I SAY MORE POWER TO ALL THESE TEAMS! ALL U HATERS SHOULD SHUT UP, JUST CAUSE U DONT HAVE ENOUGH GUTS TO PLAY AGAINST THE BIG BAD PRO TEAMS SMH!
at 3:51 pm
well i guess im gonna go pro too then
at 11:28 am
Aaron Tholey left Mutiny for XSV
at 7:51 pm
@idk u say pb ain’t hard to play, just to play pb, not hard at all, but to be good and/or win is really hard, try it some time. REALITY CHK, yep it is a huge jump to pro, and as vicious and others found out winning consistently in lower divs d2,d1,and semi, does not make u competitive in pro. You better revamp teams and bring on experienced pros like hurricanes did, play lower divs and grind, grind, grind, to solidify your youth and inexperience. yes pro is a slippery slope. Did anyone see billy close out the d1 chicago final match by destroying peeps, now that was a pro playin’ against d1 players and it showed. Really, “hanging” with a pro team in practice all goes out the window when it is tourney time and the best in the game walk all over u and your starry eyed glory boyz. U will hate gettin’ smashed by the RL, dynasty, impact, ironmen, x-factor, tbd, etc etc and u will when u go pro. It is a ton of grind and there are no guarantees that u will win a game or 2 let alone a match. Need less chatter and a whole lot more grind if u r going pro. just sayin’ good luck
at 3:54 pm
watch out for a semi pro next year. It will happen. too many young teams not ready to get shit on every event and not pull out a point. sponsors will get tired of putting money into a team that doesnt do nothing but lose.
I understand that some free agent pro players who missed maybe a half season to a full season could help, but when you got dynasty playing at there best. RL still in the top 4 every event. Infamous looking better every time, and impact having some good old vents playing. These teams will never be a true pro team.
Far as nike joining, what are they going to do? make paintball cleats? oh wow. that going to be 55$ out of my wallet when i can go to an outlet store and get cheaper shit. this is unless nike is going to start making pads, jerseys, pants, packs, gloves, pods, and other gear needed for players. then great, this will make others look into the sport and put money finally in it!
at 6:57 pm
paintball is declining and this is completly new to see teams making big jumps to the pro division. I think its a good idea for many reasons. 1. look at the teams going in Hurricanes, Assault, 187, tko.. Huge fan base this would bring alot more attention to the pro division and to psp events. 2. more money for the psp and we might pay less.. If these teams are moving up to the pro ranks, divisional teams might move up and new teams might start playing event.. d3 teams will move up to d2 and d2 teams will move up to d1.. 3. It freshens each division. Teams move up that means each division teams in d1 will be facing newer teams and this can make teams shine or bring up a new under dog we havnt seen before.. it basically just keeps things interesting. In the end the more pro teams the better. More pro teams make the PSP look more sufficient and more structured. It willl bring in more money and more spectators and thats a gaurntee. Yes these new teams will get roughed up a bit but good for them taking that huge step in the end thats every players dream and what every paintball player should be playing for to move up to finally get to pro.