Bruises Never Felt so Good

   So I probably should have written this blog a few weeks ago, but there seems to be less and less free time in my schedule for blogging (and by free time I mean time I'm not wasting on the Internet).  I posted about going to a paintball game with friends a few weeks earlier (if you didn't know that, just scroll down some) and had forgotten about telling how the game turned out.  In short, it was awesome!  Playing the game is just half the fun in most activities, it is the stories that you walk away with that really matter.  So here's my story...

     I wake up at 8 reminding myself that I'm supposed to be at Corey's church at 10:30 and take a shower getting pumped up (yes, in the shower... what? don't judge me!)for the game at hand.  I get dressed (blue jeans, underarmor, and a black hoodie over that) and check my bag for the fourth time to make sure I have everything.  It's time to go so I get my Dad to run me up to the church to find that there's no one in sight of the meeting place.  I phone Corey and he explains that we're meeting at 12.  I head home and call Sam, who originally told me the meeting time was 10:30, and tell him of the new time.  He offers me a ride back to the church and everything is back on course.  About 9 other people turn out for the game and we're soon underway.

     The next few hours are really a blur of paint, mud, running, and near misses.  There are a few points that stick out in my mind in particular though.  First being during one of the first capture the flag games when I distinctly heard a paintball whistle as it flew into my gut, run the curve of my body and bounce off. I also remember my visor fogging up about 3 minutes into every game. The precipitation was so bad that I would usually identify opposite players by their position on the field or the direction they were running.

     During a team deathmatch game, I was pinned down behind a low barrier from 2 points and I remember nearly getting my kneecap busted from a paintball that went through the edges of the barrier.  One of my favorite memories is being behind the same low barrier and popping my head over the barrier to find out where the people where that were pinning me down.  I saw the person fire at me and immediately ducked my head back into the bunker.  As my head was about half-way back into the barrier, a paintball exploded a matter of centimeters from my head and splattered all across my vision.  I called for a paint check and I was ok.

     During my last game (a speedball match) I ran deep into the left mid-field and nearly knocked over the inflatable obstacles I was trying to hide behind. As I checked my position, I found that I had come out ahead of my teammates by about 2 rows of obstacles.  During a previous game on the same field, I found myself feet away from an opposing player hiding behind the obstacle next to the obstacle that I described above.  I knew I would feel bad if I shot this person in the head at such close range so I tried to use the other side for firing.  But on the same note as the sentence before the previous, I saw that there were people who could flank me from the right.  As I sat and figured my position, a paintball whistled by and glanced off of my kneecap.  Needless to say, it hurt and I had a limp for the rest of the hour.  I knew that Evan Ramsey's dad, my archenemy during all of the games, was close to the right so I decided to check on him.  As I shifted to the right, he jumped from his cover and shot me just a couple inches above my heart.  I fell and rolled backwards from the impact calling for a paint check even though I knew I was gotten.  That was the only time during all of the games that I had been shot, it felt good.  Back home and I'm on the computer for a while, then off to bed.  The next day I'm sore all over.  When I try to sit, I can manage to get about half way before collapsing into the seat.  But I don't care, cuz the bruises have never felt so good before.

Here's a few tips from an amateur paintballer for anyone interested in playing.

1. ALWAYS find cover. (even if that cover is a shallow hole that doesn't even go past your ankles)
2. Never look over cover. (you can be shot from a 360 degree angle over cover but at a much smaller degree from beside cover)
3. Don't try to wipe paint off of your visor, it will only make it much worse.
4. Make sure that you have enough ammo and air before a game. (one of the worst ways to get out in a match is a lack of ammo or air that you forgot to replenish before a match)
5. Run, don't walk. (I literally watched as one of my teammates walked for cover and got gunned down)
6. Keep your barrel clean. (ammo can go crazy with a greased or dirty barrel)
7. Don't be afraid to slide into a mud pit for cover or otherwise get knee-deep into a mess. (trying to save your favorite pair of blue jeans from a little wet Earth is an easy way to get out)
8. Have fun and don't get angry if you get out, it happens to everybody
9. Tell me when you're going to play a game!  I'm always up for a good game of paintball