Uh... wow. Ok then. I guess there's something to be said for the old "it
was cool" review.

(now I know how you guys feel with my novel posts)

--
Jeff Goslin - MCSD - www.goslin.info
It's not a god complex when you're always right


"Lee Drake" <verysexymanNO@SPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:gynuc.105682$hY.63148@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> Here is my review after playing a day at headrush in Syracuse:
>
> a.. This place is right off the Thruway at the 690 exit (2 exits down).
> It's easily accessible from the Thruway - about a 70 minute drive from
> Rochester.
> b.. It was easy to find if one followed the instructions on their
website
> (www.headrush.com). Note that you need to have cookies enabled to see
this
> site.
> c.. The fields:
> a.. This place was amazingly huge.
> b.. They had three (yes three) complete airbunker fields available.
> c.. One was the exact setup from the Tampa NPPL (they'd brought back
the
> entire Tampa setup airbunker from NPPL),
> d.. The other two were X-ball type setups.
> e.. All 3 fields were outside when I got there - each in their own
> screened setup on all 4 sides. They were using only 2 of the 3 fields.
> Each field had a good screened door, though The two X ball fields were set
> up identical to each other. They were playing normal paintball on them -
> not XBall.
> f.. They also had a field similar to Compete's "tubes" speedball field
> at the outdoor, but about 2x the size.
> g.. They had poles up and were growing grass for another 2 fields
worth
> of paintball. In all they could easily host a national tournament with 5
> full sized air bunker fields.
> h.. All outdoor fields had normal grass. Not sure how long that will
> last throughout the year of play...
> i.. They had room inside for 2 complete full tournament sized airball
> fields. The ground was dirt, but there was astroturf piled up outside
> waiting to be installed. They were trying to dry the indoor ground more
> before laying down the turf. In the winter they'll be able to host 2 full
> sized nppl fields or one x ball field indoors.
> j.. They were in the process of building a BMX/motorbike area to host
> BMX bike and dirtbike events.
> k.. They had an outdoor field that was roughly the size of ONE of the
> smaller of Compete's areas (IE pathetically tiny for most concerted
> woodsball players). They had a couple of brush bunkers but it was
anything
> but old growth forest The trees might have been thick enough to hide
> behind if there were 5 of them lined up side by side . Though there were
a
> few people playing woodsball it wasn't really their focus and you could
> tell.
> l.. They had cleared an area in the woods of pretty much all the
trees -
> looked like they were going to set up forts/buildings and maybe an urban
> assault area there, though they were playing it close to their vests.
> d.. Facilities
> a.. There was a store, roughly the size, but not nearly the stock, of
> Pro in Victor. Didn't assess prices as I'm not familiar with the prices
at
> other stores. They offer similar guarantees (labor free warranty for
life,
> install any part bought from them for free, etc.). They had plenty of
room
> to expand.
> b.. There was a full snack bar with hots, hamburgs, pizza, popcorn,
> various chips, sodas, sports drinks etc. Didn't eat there so I can't
judge
> the food.
> c.. They had some rentals and a repair shop but I didn't get the
feeling
> that was a huge deal for them. Air was self serve, CO2 was done by the
guys
> behind the counter and appeared to be included in the entry (Though the
> website said it was $3 a fill). Didn't check out rental prices but I
think
> they're on the website. The air station was nicely done with the whip
tied
> down so even if it blew off (which it didn't) it wouldn't hit anyone or
> become a danger. There was however only one air station so between games
> the line could get long.
> d.. There were clean bathrooms, with decent plumbing and stalls.
> e.. All floors were concrete and very clean.
> f.. No idea about locker rooms/setup areas for the indoor - they
didn't
> have them open.
> g.. Outdoor setup areas consisted of about a dozen picnic tables and
one
> spool. They were ok but already getting crowded.
> e.. Refs
> a.. In the morning there were adequate refs for the fields. By the
> afternoon when a couple of private parties joined the fun there were times
> when a ref wasn't available to keep the open rec players busy. They had a
> ref assigned to each private party and the other refs were frequently off
> doing other things so we sat around waiting for someone to ref us on the
> field. There was a goodly crowd of open players in the morning that
rapidly
> thinned through the afternoon. By 5pm I was gone.
> b.. The Refs were very good about safety. They would monitor the
> "airlocks" out of each field and be sure that everyone was barrel bagged
and
> safetied before they went out. I saw them admonish several people who
were
> going around without barrel bags in the open zone. There was very little
> unsafe behavior - but they also didn't actually penalize anyone for
> disobeying rules so if they don't get on it people could get complacent.
I
> had to admonish one kid that was shooting at phone poles in the setup area
> where people didn't have masks. His parent was nowhere to be found and
> there were no refs around at the time.
> c.. Refs were polite and respectful of both newbies and experienced
> players. They made a concerted effort to set up relatively even teams,
but
> didn't break up groups that wanted to play together. Nicely handled I
> thought.
> d.. Refs tended to be game starters, enders, and to occasionally yell
to
> let players out of a bunker once they were declared out. Other than that
> they stayed near the door or exit to the play area. I felt they should
have
> been more active, had shields etc. for the open play players.
> e.. There was virtually no paintchecks or reffing of hits per-se.
They
> were not doing their job on that score.
> f.. Though people were pretty well behaved there was no admonishments
> for overshooting.
> g.. The non-ref staff was friendly and helpful
> f.. General rules
> a.. 280FPS was the limit and it was well maintained with hand-held
> chronos as people entered the field. There was a full sized chrono set up
> later in what I would call an unsafe area of the field (not separated from
> the setup area by a net). I would have preferred to see this behind
> netting.
> b.. The refs had adequate tools for helping people adjust chrono
speed.
> c.. Bunkering was allowed even with open play and even with little
kids
> in play.
> d.. Guns weren't allowed past certain points in the field and this was
> pretty significantly enforced.
> e.. Mask on in field was strictly enforced.
> f.. Barrel bags off field were strictly enforced.
> g.. No one was checking tanks to ensure safety
> h.. They were able to easily accommodate both private parties and open
> play at the same time.
> g.. Downsides
> a.. Paint was $80 a case. Not outrageous considering the size of the
> place but not cheap either.
> b.. Not sure what the normal field fee is, but I got a $20 unlimited
air
> all day pass. I think they have a 1/2 day pass as well.
> c.. There was no mask cleaning area or outside water available to
clean
> masks. People were snitching toilet paper from the restroom and/or
spitting
> on masks to clean. It would be relatively easy to set up a mask cleaning
> station but it wasn't there.
> d.. I don't think the inside area is done yet, so lighting wasn't up
and
> the floors were very muddy.
> e.. They were in the process of digging drainage ditches because the
> newly seeded upper fields were still pretty soggy. The drainage ditches
> appeared to be working though.
> f.. Some of the air bunkers weren't properly staked down in one of the
> X-ball fields and blew onto the other X-ball field making some impromptu
> bunkers.
> g.. The bottoms of the screens weren't well attached. In the wind
they
> blew up enough that I considered it a danger that a stray paintball might
> come through and hit a kid at toddler level. There were toddlers running
> around picking up unbroken paint to play with - some near the screens.
No
> one gave them any trouble or directed them way. Some paint occasionally
> went over the net between fields. At least one person got hit sitting at
> their setup table by a mostly spent round.
> h.. Event notes
> a.. They had a truck there from National Paintball with merchandise
> b.. They had a representative from the Carousel Mall there with a
raffle
> for a drawing to sporting goods stores. Two bored looking gals were
there.
> c.. They brought two Hooters girls that looked like they were still in
> high school, had them tour around and pose with Rhythm. It was pretty
lame
> d.. They had 2 or three different bands on a stage that as fortunately
> several hundred feet away. The attendance at the bands was pretty
> lackluster, but fortunately they were far enough away that you could still
> hear to play.
> e.. In keeping with the "xtreme sports" theme there was a booth from a
> local piercing and tattoo place there doing on-site piercing and tattoos.
> Cheers,
>
> Firefly
>
>