PR1ME's 2011 Jersey!

PR1ME has it’s jersey for the 2011 season brought to us by Animal Customs! They were kind enough to both have it designed and overnighted to us in Galveston for us to wear by our Saturday games! Now that’s service!

The jersey went through seven iterations before arriving to the sharp design pictured above. Upon suggestion from Animal, we went from a semi-custom design and worked from there. The team chose the Aramis Green/Gray design (no shield) and carved away and placed logos on top. Having Photoshop or Corel would really help with this process, luckily I didn’t have to. Scott Q, a friend and PBNation mod, hooked it up with some clutch .PSD format conversion. Thanks Scott!

Logos:

-PR1ME with a “1” logo from last season has continued.

-Alien and Exalt logos were graciously submitted to us by both companies (though Animal has just about every conceivable paintball logo on file in their system. Updated monthly)

-The newest and most impressionable addition to the jersey is the Five-Pointed Fractal Star. (More on that at bottom).

Thanks to the entire Animal team! They never once hinted at exasperation from our constant requests. Special thanks to designer David Cortez!

A fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called “self-similarity”… Because they appear similar at all levels of magnification, fractals are often considered to be infinitely complex. “Repeated at every scale and so cannot be represented by classical [Euclidean] geometry.”

I like to think of it as the geometric counterpart of the prime number. It’s indicative of infinite complexity and individuality matched with a unity to a whole (team concept). The five points is also representative of the five players on the field at a time in an Xball match.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal, (yes I’m aware Wikipedia isn’t an academic source probably written by a community college dropout, but hey, this is a blog) wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fractal

Next post on PR1ME's finish in Galveston.

Mike Paxson, Coach 2011!

Team PR1ME is proud to announce a consecutive year with pro player Mike Paxson as our coach for the 2011 season. The man needs little introduction. Pro for a mere 5 years, he's already become a World Cup and PSP Series Champion and a cornerstone of the legendary Ironmen. Cool confidence, knowledge of the sport at the highest levels, a mad scientist when it comes to paint, and just flat enjoys the game as much as anyone we've seen playing for any amount of time. You can catch him showing kids at Oasis Paintball in Ft. Myers the arts of ground and pound style paintball, raising his daughter, Bebe Paxson, (parents watch your boys, she’ll beat’em up) or off the Florida coast catching sharks to throw in your lap. Look out for a clinic near you!

Find out his next stop at: www.mikepaxson.com

Here’s a vid of Pax’s first practice with team PR1ME in 2010 (Courtesy Mike & Jen Bianca) prior to going down to Lakeland, FL and taking gold at CFOA 1.
Team PR1ME Drills/Scrimmage Winter 2010

-Thanks for the knowledge and the fun times Pax!

But, on a serious note on behalf of a couple of the team members, "You suck." hahahaaaaa!!

*Note: PR1ME began another coaching relationship with one Matt Sossoman of the New Jersey Jesters. We'll let you know how that came about and what he's been up to on a soon-to-be post!

2011 SPONSORS!!!

Team PR1ME is proud and humbled to announce its sponsors for the 2011 season. Alien, Exalt, and Animal Customs. All are homegrown, quality brands with premium, proven, durable products. Pr1me's players seek out the best and thanks to the following companies, we've been able to get it. We wouldn't have it any other way. So don't hesitate to ask us about their gear!


PR1ME will be shooting the 2011 Alien Independence. Ultra-low profile, superlight, highly efficient, ball on ball accurate shot. Reliability with near zero maintenance thanks to a sealed ram chamber, which means no greasing. Still not a believer? We'll let you shoot one. You'll see. We'll also be getting our hands on the new midrange brainchild of Alien engineer Jack Rice, the Invasion. For more info head to www.alienpb.com
- Thanks Jack!

Exalt has demonstrated player-mindful savvy gear from the very beginning. The only company to offer continual evolutions of a paintball cleat, Exalt is fast moving up and elbowing for room alongside the big boys of the paintball industry by diversifying its product line. Exalt will be supplying team PR1ME with pants, practice jersey, feedgates (there's hardly debate that they're the best in the business), barrels (that's right, they got a 7" back for increase ball contact/accuracy too), and an assortment of superclean swag. Check out their new product line at www.exaltpaintball.com
-Thanks Nolan!

This is now a second year of partnership between Animal Customs and team PR1ME. Their attentive customer service and ability to work hand in hand with the players to give them totally custom gear has brought us back. All players want a unique look, Animal is the only surefire way to make it happen. Our first season jersey was a minimalist but iconic design made by players (and wives) of team PR1ME (thanks Jen Bianca!). This time we've worked hand in hand with Animal's team of graphic designers. They've been attentive with quick response times. We cannot wait to unveil our 2011 jersey. Sure to draw eyes (and maybe even controversy??) the new jersey should be brought to the national and regional circuit real soon. Want your own custom gear? www.animalpaintball.com
-Thanks Mondo!

Again, a million thank yous to Alien, Exalt, and Animal on behalf of the entire Prime Paintball organization. You've given this hardworking, homegrown D3X team out of the deep south even more motivation to take national gold and to do it with the best equipment and style.

Practice #2: Phantom Regiment

By Mike McGowan

We'd like to thank Phantom Regiment for joining us for a practice. PR has been a staple of the paintball community in Alabama for over 15 years. Just about everyone has played for the team at one time or another including a number of PR1ME players. Basically, you can't talk about paintball in Alabama without mentioning Phantom Regiment. Prime Paintball is glad to see the torch being carried by a mix of wiley veterans and a number of young players. We hope they'll be around for years to come. You can always find PR in the ACES series with several teams thrown in. Two lines joined us for practice and it was a lot of fun!

Pictured from left to right, top row: Brad Wallace, Justin Hammond, Rodney Griffin, , Roy Hatch, Patrick Lovell, Tiffany Sirles, Ryan Iversen; at bottom: Bruce Devnew, Dannon Vining, and Zach Griffin.

First Practice of 2011

by Mike Bianca

And so it has begun, Team Pr1me’s 2011 season. So far we are off to a bit of a slow start but I think this may have proven to be a positive thing.

Originally scheduled as a two day weekend practice, reasons ranging from the stomach flu to work schedules narrowed us to a single practice this weekend. But it was a good practice. We were able to see how two of the new players handle themselves in a game environment, see what the PSP sample field would play like (don’t know if I will comment on this or not just yet) and have a good time knocking the rust off.

The team played a bit reckless the first part of the day. The mood could only be described as comfortable or laid-back. We wanted to get out there, get the blood pumping and “remember” the feel of the game. Slowly gather our intensity back until we explode on March 10^th. Yesterday was about a whole lot of things. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t about winning. It was about the team. Learning each other all over again, seeing who stayed in shape, seeing who was still firing on all cylinders, who was still tapped into that killer instinct, seeing how the new blood worked with the core team but most of all, it was about having a good time with the boys.

See, when you are out there grinding hard this season, remember the old adage: “Work hard/play hard”. We try to do both at the same time.

Not enough information just yet to fully size things up but they are looking good. Everyone still seems to have a good idea of the game. But even more now, everyone knows what we expect from each other this season.

I’m cutting this one short. I must say that I am terribly anxious to announce Team Pr1me’s 2011 season sponsors but I want to wait until we have certain things in our possession. The team and I could not be more pleased with the sponsorship decisions we made this year. I look forward to sharing them with you very soon.

I want to take a quick moment to thank the boys from down south, LA SWAT for traveling up to scrimmage us and giving us a good day of ball! Thanks guys!

2011 ACES Schedule

Pr1me Paintball is proud to be considered among the premier Alabama locations to host the Alabama Championship Event Series! We got one 3man and one 5man in the Fall! 5man Season kicks off this weekend at Advantage in Cullman, AL!

Why So Serious?

By Mike Bianca

Many teams will tell you, "We're a serious team". Great. Cool. Fantastic... but just what the heck does that mean? If it means that you practice 3 out of every 4 weeks in a month, great. If it means you drill the fundamentals often during those 3 out of every 4 weeks, cool. If it means you travel out of state to scrimmage higher divisional teams with a winning lineage, fantastic. If you do all these things (and others) then, in my mind, you ARE a serious team. You obviously have the drive and resources it takes to get better, become competitive and win.

Pr1me does this. Now, before anyone starts casting "internet stones" and asking who we think we are, allow me to explain why I say this: We are a serious team. (See how I did that?)

Team PR1ME scrimmaging in Macon, GA

In order to improve in this sport, a team must have the willingness to learn. This is not as simple as it sounds. The TEAM must have a willingness to learn each other and learn together. And here's the kicker that most of you are all too familiar with: Getting better/learning is expensive and time consuming. Not only is it financially difficult with having to purchase paint, field fees etc... To do that often can put quite the strain on team member’s disposable income (especially in our current economic environment). However, if a team is serious about being competitive and winning, then this is the first hurdle that must be met. The next would be availability. I am married, the father of three children and work a full time professional job. Other members of Pr1me are college students with part time jobs or high school students with other responsibilities. Finding time or having the capability to schedule time off in order to practice, much less compete, is difficult. We won't even get into time with loved ones.

Before you think this is going to be another, "How to get sponsored" tutorial or "10 steps to be a better team player" list, let me assure you, it is not. This is simply a blog by Team Pr1me. It is our story and if you learn something from it and it helps you or gives you an idea, terrific. We have succeeded in accomplishing one of the goals we set through this medium.

Pr1me has taken many steps to make it affordable for its members while trying to create an environment for winning. Not everyone can have a private regulation size X-ball field to practice on. Not everyone can have relationships that make paint accessible and affordable. And certainly, not everyone can have such good friends that are bonified Champions in the sport to assist, train, coach and guide. This is not me bragging about what we have. As a matter of fact, it couldn't be further from that. All of this is a culmination of financial stability, patience, well thought out negotiations, intelligent decisions and plain blessings from God over the past 8 years. That's right. 8 years! If anything, it is a testament to the ingenuity and drive of this team’s captain. The willingness to learn, to make hard decisions, to set goals and reach them through perseverance, blood, sweat and tears.

When I started writing this, I thought about how I was going to tell a quick story about what it took to get us through the first year. Instead, (as I often have throughout the first year of this teams existence) I have found myself thinking about my teammates and how inspired I am each and every day by their commitment to each other and our common goal of being the best we can. I genuinely like and trust each and every member of this team and that is rare to find today. That is what will make a team successful and I guess that is the point I want to make. If you find yourself lucky enough to find that ensemble of players who not only get along but compliment each other's playing style and on top of all that, are all willing to learn together and get better together, well, then... you have found yourself a "serious team".

Bianca pictured with teammates at World Cup. Mike has been playing for over 15 years. Played on teams over 3 states in in all formats, owned a field, and is the co-founder of team Pr1me.