| I named my paintball company Raza because to me it stands for our people, our community, our whole paintball world and everything in it. I have been blessed with so much in this world and because I have such great parents who have taught me how to use my blessings to share joy with everyone around me. My path leads me through the world of paintball and all its unique individuals on a quest to make a difference in peoples' lives. One of the main reasons that I can do the things that I am able to do is because of those that walked the path before me and taught me lessons they learned in order to make my journey easier. I talked before about all the pros who mentored me into a world champion player, but there are also so many that have shown me what it is like to be a good friend. I am on my way home from a long weekend in Omaha where I had the pleasure of enjoying the company of my good friends Greg Pauley, Carl, Karen, Julie, and Bryan Bortol, and of course all the homies on Vicious and DSS. Hooker, Parker, Kris, Jake, y'all are my ninjas. This trip also featured the Hater of all hated hateration hating life hating but is really super cool nice like teddy bears with sunglasses or a pail full of kittens, Ben Frederick of Hater Paintball/Vicious/Tampa Bay Damage. We had a nice dinner the first night in town as everyone was still prepping for the Vicious Series event which began on Saturday morning. It was very relaxing to come in, see good friends, and later that night we took a ride on Carl's pontoon boat and saw a shooting star that looked like Haley's Comet. It was so quiet, peaceful, and clear on the lake, I was excited for the weekend. The DSS crew works hard to put on the Vicious series tournament and I could see the results. People were hustling on and off the field, grinding out games, playing by the rules, it was nice to see such an efficiently run well-organized event. The PSP is lucky to have such a crew organizing feeder events for their series. I spent most of my weekend helping any way I could. I helped Pauley set up all the eclipse tents, lined the fields with Hooker, and also helped set up and run the booth with Julie. It is always fun to get on the mic and announce games but Zack was so tight on the schedule for Saturday that I barely had time to funk around like I normally like to. Sunday was great because the playoffs were good match-ups and I got to run the mic in the tower with Pauley all day. They gave away Geos and tons of other prizes all the way down to 8th place in all divisions. I talked to a lot of people and made a lot of new friends. I won't remember everyone's name but don't be scared to come and say hi when y'all see me around. The kid that shot me in the face with the nerf canon, you can go ahead and be scared. I know what you look like. One of the very cool parts of the weekend was when Karen invited all the boys from Vicious OT over the the crib for a BBQ. They came and hung out with all the Vicious guys, DSS d2 and d3 team. We had a great time bull shnicken and watching the Chargers game on tv. Monday was everyone's day to relax after the event. We did a little running around in search of those water weenies or whatever they are called that Ben wanted to play with and some Santana champagne because it is so crisp. I also just want to let everyone know that tubing behind a really fast boat is not high on the safe things to do list. Pauley devastated me a few times and I decided that I was better at lounging. One last nice dinner with the family and I was back off to SD. It is too bad Omaha isn't closer because I would go hang out with Karen all the time. We are like wangs and bread sticks. I am sure that a few days worth of me is enough to drive anyone crazy but I am very thankful for the opportunity to go to Omaha and spend time with my friends. Maybe I will see y'all in Orlando. |
