Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Team SWAT of NSW wins 13th Annual Australian Masters!!
Team SWAT of NSW wins the 2007 13th Annual Australian Masters! Guesting for SWAT was Mike Paxson, Danny Tiljak (Avalanche), and Nicky T. (Planet Eclipse), and they defeated Menace from New Zealand! Brandon Short from the Ironmen and Alex Savino (former LTZ and currently on SD Aftermath’s roster) guested for Menace. $10,000 goes to the Champs and Menace wins the overall Series Championship in the Super 7 Series here in Australia so they’re taking home a whomping $10,000! Andy Kopcock played for East Coast Raiders (Ian Treseder’s team) and Jono Clark from New Zealand, as well, and they lost to Menace in the semi-finals, giving Menace the overall series title. READ MORE for the details from today and check out my FLICKR account (click on images to the right) and see Team Bitchin, co-ed/mostly female team, images.
{body}Nov. 18, Sunday: So SWAT wins in PRO! They take home $10,000 and 40,000 Reactor Paintballs, 7 Eclipse Cerberus, 7 Kitbags, 7 JT Flex8’s, 7 JT Pro team Jerseys, 7 JT Pro team pants, and 7 Derder DVDs! Even though Menace took 2nd place, and $4,000 plus 20,000 Reactor Paintballs, 7 Paintball Asassin Deathstix, and 7 Derder DVDs, they also take home an additional $10,000 for winning the overall series title in the Australian Super 7 Series.
Semi-pro team, Bitchin’, is the team I was guesting for and we finished up in 7th place out of 13 teams, and team Platinum from Sydney wins the Championship and the Series Title, a $3,000 cash and other cool prizes like 20,000 Reactor Paintballs, 7 Eclipse jerseys, and 7 Invert Mini Paintball Guns, which is a nice prize finish.
Tonight, we’re going to have the Awards Ceremony at Vineyard Hotel here in Rouse Hill, which is cool because most everyone will be there to enjoy the food, drink, and company. We had a great time playing with our Australian paintball playing friends and Mike, Derder Rob, and I will be here until Nov. 26th. We will spend Thanksgiving here with our Australian friends. Danny Tiljak, Nicky T, Carl Markowski, Kaarin Schroepher, Ben Frederick, Jono Clark (New Zealand), Nicky T. (England), will all be leaving this upcoming week. We plan to see this beautiful country of Australia and so grateful that we had this opportunity to be with the world’s friendliest people - Aussies.
Nov. 15, Friday: Yesterday, Mike Whybrew took Mike Paxson and Rob (Derder) to the field and they both helped get things prepared for the weekend’s events: State of Origin and Australian Masters. We haven’t done any sight-seeing yet, but the three of us are here until Nov 26th, so we have some time for exploring. Right now, the focus is all about Australian Paintball. Today, we got up early to get ready for the first event of two here at Action Paintball Games in Rouse Hill. Mike and Rob went with Whybrew while I stayed behind with Mrs. Liz Whybrew. I had some issues with my internet connection via my laptop and had to call into work at Paintball Sports and tell them what was going on, but we’re back on track now and I can get alot of work done now that it’s fixed. What the world did without internet and cell phones before is beyond me because I don’t think I’d be able to be here in Australia covering this event if I didn’t have the chance to still report back to “work” and get my job done with the magazine.
Anyway, State of Origin is really cool. I learned today that there’s 7 different “regions” of Australia and I talked to several people today to get the lowdown on what was up with today’s event. New South Wales was last year’s State of Origin Champs so the other 4 10-man teams are out to get them. Victoria’s Team is new this year in the State of Origin and played strong in the prelims, beating the 06 Champs, NSW, twice, in the only two games that NSW lost in the prelims. I videotaped some of the NSW games for Mike Whybrew, NSW player and also a player on SWAT, as well as the owner of both Action Paintball Games and SWAT. This man, Mike Whybrew, has so much on his plate. I mean, not only does the guy play paintball at the Australian pro level, but he also owns a paintball field and store (the best in the country, no less), is already manufacturing his own paintball products, and has a wife and 3 daughters (6, 9, and 13 years of age). I left early so I could get back to the Whybrew’s house to get some work done because this weekend, I will be playing alongside the mostly-female/co-ed team, Bitchin’.
Mike and I aren’t the only players from North America here at this weekend’s festivities. We’ve also got Carl Markowski (Avalanche) and his girlfriend, and my friend, Kaarin Schroepfer! I wish she was playing with us girls on the Bitchin’ roster, but she’s guesting with Shock alongside her beau, Carl. Avalanche also has further representation through Danny Tiljak, who’s playing with Paxson on SWAT. Andy Kopcok is here again for his second time and playing with Ian’s team. Paxson’s teammate and one of my new top 10 players in the world is here, Brandon Short, and he’s playing with New Zealand team, Menace, with Alex Savino, former pro player on LTZ.
So stay tuned here and at YouTube.com for the news here from Australia! I LOVE AUSTRALIA!
Nov. 13, Wednesday: It was about a 13 hour and 30 minute flight, the plane flew as high as 35,000 feet, and we’re just exhausted. Right after we got to Liz and Mike Whybrew’s house, I was greeted by a huge hug from Liz and we jumped in her vehicle to attend a Tae Kwon Do class! I didn’t really start to feel the jet-lag until after the 1st class because earlier this evening, I went with Liz again to a 2nd class! Now, I’m about ready to hit the sack. Mike and Rob are sitting comfortably in their own lounge chairs, waiting for the pizza to arrive. It’s about 830PM and I think it’s already time for bed for us three.
Tomorrow, more Tae Kwon Do. I actually love the intensity of the class, especially since the 7-man Australian Masters event is taking place this weekend. Friday, it’s the “State of Origin” where the best of the best players jump on 10-man teams from different parts of Australia go up against each other to fight for the State of Origin Title. Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, West Australia, and Victoria, will all compete against each other on Friday, a total of 5 teams, 10 on 10.
Australian Masters starts on Saturday. Twenty-eight teams in Pro, Semi-Pro, and Amateur Divisions will be playing a 7-man format and the rules are very similar to that of the NPPL Super 7 Series.