NEW YORK - "Stocks retreated sharply and Treasury bond prices jumped Monday as investors reacted to a stunning reshaping of the landscape of Wall Street that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points."
What does this mean to paintball? Honestly allot! I will explain a 2 year ripple effect that generated in paintball that I have argued before that the industry has to make legitimate stands before things go in the shitter.
Before I start off, Brandon Lambertson went on a cruise over the weekend to build brand recognition and smooch with the bigger-ups like financial wizards, models, men who have to pay there way to get laid and so on. Anyways, what an ass.
This weekend I played at the world famous SC Village to get my sweat on, watch players and see how paintball progressed in the this nature. I found it still moving but not as grand as it was in the past. People still play with no mention of sport, but camaraderie and all around good fun. As we were divided into teams, I began to try to mix with the regulars and not get picked on or typecast to help alleviated a awkward balance of how the groups are divided. As usual, I got to the side where the other group looked to be outgunned, out equipped, and out-experience. My little group of 6 ninjas decided to come out of hiding and said that we will go on the other side. I began to hear sigh of reliefs and groans as we walked to the other side. My buddies are trying to wonder why we are led to sheep-side and i said, "We all need to have fun, we all need to have a good story of paintball when they go back to their lives on Monday. Plus its paintball, we all can play again." They agreed and we let our 6 mingle in with the 75 or so to involve them in to slaughter.
Ok, back to ripples. Not allot has seen what had happened over the two past Christmas seasons, but there has been a huge explosion of online games and other game formats to help generate the "in-house athlete." Everything from Halo 3, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and so on has making its way to help "forget" playing outside, forget paintball. Now, I'm not saying this is a conspiracy to defeat paintball, I'm stating the fact that a 60.00 game can go along way than a case of paint on a Sunday. Now seeing this, stores begin to feel the noose on their necks as people are slow to come in stores. What begins to happen next is obvious and cowardly. Stores begin to slash prices just to get people in the door realizing that it is now getting into the margin of paying the electric and employees. Industry decides to do the same because of manufacturing also needs to get paid for new products and overhead and so forth.
Then stores begin to die. They carry way too much product, not enough demand. The buyer becomes aware of cheap deals, and more stores literally giving away product to make ends meet. So now here comes a wave of great valued products at lower than wholesale prices and can be delivered with free shipping and it keeps... rippling. The stores that are surviving, are merely surviving on paint. and now there great inventory is not moving. which means more sales. I use to have a 500 dealer base around the country and now down to 200. We thought it was just us telling people we are slowing down and knowing that our competitors kept pushing the "Hybrid is dead" agenda in hope to create a better demand for their product. Call it smear tactic. Remember in high school when the girl your trying to mix- it-up with wont give it up so you later on to make your self feel better, you promote to the school that she is a whore? Yea, I'm the whore. So back to ripples!!! industry is now fighting for the same store giving them whatever to make sales and quickly for get because we are all on survival mode, to promote paintball as a sport, a sport of leisure, a sport of release, a sport of team efforts, a great sport of all ages.
So hear is a sport with their demographics wrapped around their finger. A group that expands to even senior citizens and now slowly, dying. While skate boarding is steadfast because they see future and future is bright. As skateboarders get older they stop skating. So they promote more on youth organizations and media attention. As a paintballer gets older, fuck we still play!! As other industry looks at their demographics, their future, they work on awareness and stability. Not the quick buck which will lead to countless issues of disaster. Its like paintball player of old, the sport is so great, we lose jobs, girls, even opportunity for it.
So now sales are down, industry is down. Mags cannot keep advertisers in. Magazine went from a plus size chicken grease wearing big booty model, to a 85 lb. toilet paper-eating, bulimic crack-laced wannabe 50 yr old who now cannot figure out how she got where she is now... Now the magazine dies... no media, no spectacle....ripple continues.
Now the banks you use that you put your hard earned money in, uses that money to work on special interests to help make banks make more money. This can be from real estate to private international wars. Don't believe me, look it up. For this, they give you, interest. Allot of people don't ask what happens to their money as they give it to their banks because they assume it just stays there.
Now, investors are putting money in media frenzied events and or people. More exposure more they want into what you are doing. For example: Monster.
Its all about media, exposure, fan base, news, spectacles, information, longevity and commitment
With no news, no exposure, allot of politics and no future for newer business to make money, why would anyone be part of it. Maybe the Marine corp, but they too have an agenda bigger than ours.
Where is your money now? What do we do? For now, just play.
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