Avarice and the Troll

After a solid day of team-only drills on Saturday, team PR1ME received some exciting news. Our fellow Alabama team out of Cullman (Advantage Paintball) would like to scrimmage with us, and they had a special guest. That guest was, XSV pb superstar Thomas Taylor.

However hard we try not to, you make assumptions about people. Whether on appearance or rumor, or knowing that they have a bit of celebrity under their belt. Thomas Taylor: pro of almost a decade, winner of titles, sporting tattoos and the ever-notorious mohawk, some of us weren't sure what to expect. I mean, we are from Alabama, and he is from California. Instead, he did his home state proud. He was approachable and frank. Humble and helpful. I even asked him about Alien and his experience, he didn't badmouth them one bit. On the contrary, Jack Rice is still a personal friend and they still speak often. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe having a young child (now just over a year old) has calmed him, or maybe he's just always been a laid back Cali guy.

T.T. from a not often back center. Thinking, "Rich, it's so easy.

On the field is a different story. We were only graced (or shall we say laced?) with his on field performance for a few points, but I can say unequivocally that he's the consummate front player. He's fast, he fills gaps, and he's just plain crafty. Like sidestepping a corner by 10 feet then running at the snake-insert (god) but diving off last second into the snake. Eyes up, watching the paint. If you gave him an inch, he took a mile.

While Avarice has had the further honor of being coached by #77, it seems they've made a solid choice. He conferred with them often. We was supportive, but also to the point if grave errors were made. Team PR1ME expects to see solid improvement out of Avarice, we certainly saw some out of them through the course of the day. They have a few familiar faces from back in the day leading the squad, plus some up and comers. Like Avarice's snake player Liem Nguyen. Fast, aggressive, and hungry. He was giving us a headache on the snake-side all day.

Thomas Taylor, Scott Q, and Liem Nguyen just before a point.

The day went well. A ton of points played. Box after box of paint shot. And it was uncharacteristically cool in the low 80's. The field layout came to play out well, with a standard push snake side, but a more sneaky D-side. Run-thrus were commonplace.

In sum, I can say that seeing other teams in Alabama bringing in world class players to teach them does all of us proud and is for the betterment of our sport and our state. There's nothing better for developing players than to surround themselves with experienced winners. Plain and simple. I expect big things out of the state of Alabama in New Jersey.

Thanks for joining us Avarice. Hope to do it again some time real soon.