This weeks pro paintball rumor report features the latest paintball news and gossip from San Antonio X Factor, San Diego Dynasty, Edmonton Impact, Newport Entourage and Sacramento XSV.

• Dynasty tells their players they won’t be flying people in. Archie Montemayor, Billy Bernacchia, Chad George, and Devin Odell are rumored to no longer be playing with the team.

• Archie Montemayor and Devin Odell are rumored to be reuniting with their friends and former teammates on San Antonio X-Factor. Between Dixon Yang, Grayson Goff, Dusty Odell, Devin Odell, Archie Montemayor, Ryan Cohen and Cody Bayless, X-Factor will once again be a top contender in 2011.

• Chad George will be joining former teammates Ryan Moorhead and Tim Montressor from the Philadelphia All Americans.

• Johnny Thompson is rumored to be retiring from professional paintball. Johnny competed with pro paintball team Edmonton Impact. Sources indicate his departure opened the door for Chad to join the team.

• Pro Paintball insiders indicate that pro team Newport Entourage will not be competing in the 2011 pro paintball season. Several of the players are said to be looking for a team.

• Ryan Martin of Newport Entourage is rumored to have signed with Sacramento XSV.

• Sacramento XSV is rumored to be signing with Empire Paintball to shoot the new Empire AXE . Sources indicate a Sacramento XSV private label AXE is in the works. In case you missed it, be sure to check ProPaintball’s review of the Empire AXE.

Newport Entourage

Rumor has it that Rodney has been trying to merge Entourage with another Xball team for 2011. PRO Paintball insiders suggest that Rodney first attempted to work a deal with Dynasty but moved on when he learned that the team has well over 10 players. Sources report that an Entourage and Ironmen merger is on the table. A potential merger would combine the strength and experience of veteran Ironmen players with the speed and agility of Entourage players. It is worth noting that Kevin “SK” Bredthauer, Rodney’s friend and former teammate on Dynasty, is coaching the Ironmen and this could increase the potential odds for a merger. That is of course if Dave Youngblood signs off on it.

Los Angeles Ironmen

Sources around the Ironmen camp suggest that 2011 will be a new year for the men. PRO Paintball insiders suggest that the Ironmen will be refocusing on local players in an effort to reduce cost and build the program. The first player released from contract was Ryan Cohen and we expect a few more cuts are in the works. As of writing their is no word as to what Oliver Lang will be doing.

Russian Legion

The Russians dominated Chicago Aftershock in the PSP World Cup 2010 Finals for a strong 1st place finish. PRO Paintball insiders let on that the Russians may be considering testing their luck in the 7-man arena. As far as the roster is concerned we do not see much if any movement. Word has it the management is very happy with the teams performance this season and plan to continue full speed ahead. As rumored during the PSP World Cup, the Russian Legion has dropped Draxxus/Procaps and will be a GI Sports flagship paintball team in 2011.

Stay tuned for part 2 and part 3 as we share the latest rumors and news surrounding Sacrament XSV, Chicago Aftershock, San Diego Dynasty, Tampa Bay Damage, San Antonio X-Factor and many more.

Paul Shelton of Entourage had these words to share “Professional Paintball team ENTOURAGE is pleased to become the newest member of the Planet Eclipse Emortal Army for the remainder of the 2010 tournament season. Planet Eclipse has always been a top tier company with an excellent reputation in providing goods and services at the National tournament level. Planet Eclipse has stepped up to assist us in getting ready for the World Cup. As ENTOURAGE moves forward in preparation for the upcoming 2010 World Cup we are excited to be using and winning with the newest technology available in Paintball markers, the new EGO11 and GEO2.” Planet Eclipse

We are proud to present scores from Day 1 at the Mid Atlantic Open pro paintball event. Today is going to be a hot one so we recommend that everyone playing or heading to the event stays hydrated.

Reports from the event indicate that Danny “Derv” Dervin from L.I.F.T. separated his shoulder on a run to the snake. Paramedics are said to have treated him and possibly taken him off location. We wish you a speedy recovery Derv!

08:00am – Entourage (7) vs. Vicious (2)
08:45am – Aftershock (3) vs. Legion (7)
09:30am – Impact (7) vs. X-Factor (4)
10:15am – Legion (7) vs. Vicious (2)
11:00am – Aftershock (7) vs. X-Factor (1)
11:45am – Impact (4) vs. Entourage (7)
01:00pm – Ironmen (4) vs. XSV (7)
01:45pm – Infamous (3) vs. Aftermath (7)
02:30pm – Damage (7) vs. Dynasty (3)
03:15pm – Aftermath (7) vs. XSV (1)
04:00pm – Infamous (3) vs. Dynasty (7)
04:45pm – Damage (5) vs. Ironmen (6)

Score Credit: Robs45

Richmond Italia’s non-compete with Procaps is set to expire this Saturday, July 31st. With that in mind, rumors are circulating that a new paintball manufacture and brand will show up shortly. Sources indicate that the new paintball launch may take place at PSP World Cup.

One of our readers pointed out that Giovani from SC Village and Giant Paintball Parks is listed as a speaker at Paintball Extravaganza. Scroll to the bottom and take note, Gio is now pushing .50cal! Rumors are floating that Gio and Kingman have worked out a deal to supply .50cal Spyder paintball guns and paintballs throughout the Giant Paintball Park chain.  Giant Paintball and Kingman Headquarters are down the freeway from one another and sources report that it was only a matter of time before a deal was reached.

Speaking of the D’Egidios, Bear will be heading off to Italy for a summer vacation. Sources indicate that he won’t be back in time to play with his team, Newport Entourage, in the PSP Mid Atlantic Open. Speaking of Entourage, Raney Stanzack was spotted playing with the team over the weekend. We anticipate he will be playing 7-man NPPL in Vegas.

Rumors suggest that Vicious has decided against bringing in “hired” guns and going forward they will be sticking to the homegrown program. We anticipate players from the Division 1 DSSP8NTBALL.com team will be brought up to fill voids left by recent departures of pro players Pat Roberts and Billy Bernacchia.

Photo Credit: Jeff Stinson

Now go ahead, give it a try and put your knowledge to the test. Lets see what you got! Enter in your picks at PBPickem.com! It will remain open until midnight July 24th and is updated at the end of each day with the user submissions.If you’re looking to compete against a group of friends or just want to test your Pro team knowledge, fill out a Pick’Em. It’s a completely FREE way to be more involved in the upcoming event for individuals that might not be able to attend. Previous season field layouts and Previous event match by match scores are also maintained. Also, the Pick’Em form has been updated to be more iPhone friendly, so you can do something fun while stuck in traffic. Good luck!

PSP Field:

Friday, June 25, 2010

8:00 am            Los Angeles Ironmen vs. San Diego Aftermath

8:45 am            LA Infamous vs. Dynasty

9:30 am            Edmonton Impact vs. Sacramento XSV

10:15 am            Dynasty vs. San Diego Aftermath

11:00 am            LA Infamous vs. Sacramento XSV

11:45 am            Edmonton Impact vs. Los Angeles Ironmen

1:00 pm            Vicious vs. Entourage

1:45 pm            Chicago Aftershock vs. Boston Red Legion

2:30 pm            Tampa Bay Damage vs. X-Factor

3:15 pm            Boston Red Legion vs. Entourage

4:00 pm            Chicago Aftershock vs. X-Factor

4:45 pm            Tampa Bay Damage vs. Vicious

Saturday, June 26, 2010

8:00 am            LA Infamous vs. San Diego Aftermath

8:45 am            Sacramento XSV vs. Los Angeles Ironmen

9:30 am            Edmonton Impact vs. Dynasty

10:15 am            Sacramento XSV vs. San Diego Aftermath

11:00 am            Dynasty vs. Los Angeles Ironmen

11:45 am            Edmonton Impact vs. LA Infamous

1:00 pm            Chicago Aftershock vs. Entourage

1:45 pm            X-Factor vs. Vicious

2:30 pm            Tampa Bay Damage vs. Boston Red Legion

3:15 pm            X-Factor vs. Entourage

4:00 pm            Boston Red Legion vs. Vicious

4:45 pm            Tampa Bay Damage vs. Chicago Aftershock

PSP: Semi Pro

Rumors are circulating that the PSP may be doing away with the semi-pro division. If this were to take place, we anticipate that a few semi pro teams would be invited into the pro paintball division.

• Rumors indicate that FIERCE Semi-pro is taking Chicago and quite possibly the remainder of the season off due to members refocusing their attention on their families.

• Raiden has also been in the rumor mill recently and sources suggest the team is dealing with personality clashes and player departures.

• The Palm Beach Vipers are currently restructuring (reported here) and focusing on their divisional teams. The semi-pro team has been disbanded.

• SK Moscow played PSP Phoenix and according to Gary Baum of Paintball Photography are planning on returning at PSP World Cup.

• X-Factor‘s semi pro squad has been rumored to be repositioning themselves in division 1 though no official confirmation has been received.
• Scottsdale Elevation competed in PSP Phoenix and we

• RNT-Allstarz recently combined forces for the Chicago Open and potentially the remainder of the season with Indianapolis Mutiny.

• Entourage has several players with PRO experience including Mark Lack, James “Kekoa” Ferguson, Dalton Vanderbyl and Ronnie Filippone. Ryan Martin played with RNT in Phoenix because Entourage had too many pro players. We can expect to see Ryan Martin play with Entourage in PSP when the team goes PRO.

• San Diego Aftermath has been spotted in the APPA registration database as registered for PRO at the Chicago Open. At the Phoenix Open, SDA’s pro players were Steven Pitts & Alex Goldman and staffing was Patrick Hughes. Patrick has been playing with Oakland BLAST but is rumored to be returning to SDA when the team goes pro.

Potentially, we could see RNT-Allstarz/Mutiny, Aftermath and Entourage moving into the PSP Pro Paintball Division. The only problem with three teams moving up is that it would create an odd number of total teams and create a need for by-games.

NPPL: Division 1

Arsenal Predators and Hollywood HK are pulling out after the Huntington Beach event, leaving only 3 teams to fight for the series title.

• Arsenal Predators will be switching over to the PSP format. The team had a solid run in 2009, leading the division 2 series and winning both Huntington Beach and DC Challenge events. They are a solid group of guys and we are eager to watch the team transition into the race-ball format. Division 1 PSP is going to get real interesting!

• Hollywood HK was rumored to have been banned from the NPPL. While we are not exactly sure what transpired, we do know that the PBFashion/HK booth was shut down at HB due to alcohol.  on the other hand will be running their Crash at the Coast clinic and considering their options.

The lack of division 1 teams could be attributed to the prizes based on teams attending in the division (and with three the prizes are very slim). With that being said, the league now has only 3 division 1 teams and sources suggest they are incorporating them into the pro schedule, creating a Pro/Am series of games.

This year, Vancouver Vendetta and Newport Entourage will be making their pro paintball debut. Throughout the off season, teams like Edmonton Impact, Tampa Bay Damage, San Diego Dynasty, St. Louis Avalanche and Los Angeles Infamous have been stacking their rosters with national champions from years prior. As we go into the first event, everyone here at Pro Paintball is very excited and we are all placing bets as to which teams will be leading the pack.

With all of this in mind, we are proud to open this story for your NPPL HB team predictions. If you are lucky enough to predict the top 4 teams in the pro division we will award you with a prize. Our prizes include T-Shirts from Sly Equipment, San Francisco Explicit and Pro Paintball.com, barrel wraps from Paintball Photography and DLX Technologies, and headbands from PBheadbands.com. 

For extra credit, feel free to share your predictions for divisional paintball teams.

Read on for the official pro paintball team list and be sure to place your top 4 picks in the comments below.

NPPL 2010 Pro Paintball Team list (in alphabetical order):

• San Diego Dynasty

• St. Louis Avalanche

• Oakland Blast

• Chicago Legend

• San Francisco Explicit

• Sacramento XSV

• Indianapolis Mutiny

• Edmonton Impact

• Vancouver Vedetta

• LA Infamous

• Tampa Bay Damage

• Naughty Dogs

• Newport Entourage

If your interested in the players roster-ed for the event, be sure to check out the teams registration information here.

Please note that our predictions will be closed Friday morning at 7am and prizes will be doled at the discretion of our moderators. In order for your entrees to be considered you must enter a valid email. Offer valid while supplies last.

Good luck!

Third Place: Early Chip Leader Busts
Raney Stanczak played an outstanding tournament, but lost his momentum late, resulting in a third place finish. He watched helplessly as Joseph Cheong took over the chip lead and dominated the later states of the tournament. Stanczak managed to double up a few times and moved back into contention, but he was knocked out by his adversary late when he moved all in with  . Cheong insta-called with  and watched happily as five blanks fell on board, making the pocket Q’s the best hand. Stanczak, a student who has played Paintball professionally, earned $7,609 in his first time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event. [ Link to original article ]

Raney has played with numerous pro paintball teams over the years, including Escondido Aftermath, San Diego Dynasty, Newport Entourage, and Hostile Kids. After NPPL Vegas last year, Raney decided to take some time off and focus on his education and card playing.