I figure an event this big for Pump Play warrants a good and thorough review.
I unfortunately was unable to play, which means that my POV was that of an informed spectator. Any Mods who know of a better location for this thread feel free to relocate it.
Timing: This is where my only main gripe will be. The tournament started too late. 11 am is too late of a start for any tournament. I understand that this was at the mercy of the NPPL management Gods, who allowed OSC even to coincide with their tournament, but something should have been done to streamline the process. As a result of the extra games and lag calculating points for the finals, the tournament ran painfully late. The sun was going down during the finals which sent a nasty glare into the faces of the team fighting in the direction of the pier (and undoubtedly gave their opponents a decided advantage). Winning the coin toss and choice of side seemed critical in the later finals.
This may also be attributed to the extra teams added into the roster after the initial invitation registrations were already fulfilled.
Location, location, location: There is a reason why the NPPL hosts their season opener at HB. It was cloudy until midday, but the Sun finally came out after noon and the rest of the day was absolutely beautiful. Got a little chilly as the sun went down though (see previous paragraph).
Field Layout: For want of the proper expletive, the fields were awesome (at least to watch). NPPL field Jedi's made a versatile and aggressive set-up that perfectly showcased the nature of tournament pump play. I mostly hung out on the Chronic field, which had the snake positioned directly in front of the spectators making for some very interesting action. The 50 snake seemed to be the key offensive bunker, with the 40 car-wash as a formidable counter to aggressive snake.
Refs: Referees never get a break, and won't get one here either. Referees were on par with what i'd expect for an OSC tournament, but for the amount of money participant teams were investing in this event, the $500 entry fee, time off of work, travel and other expenses, I would have expected more. The finals folded both referee crews onto the #1 field, but there still didn't seem to be enough coverage for the quick action and run-throughs (a problem I'm sure Talfuchre is still miffed about).
Play Absolutely topnotch, and mostly clean.
Vendors: There were a ton of vendors, especially the smaller ones which i like. Most had their new '08 gear for show. I would have liked CCM to have been there. They probably would have sold a few S6's and a couple pump handles.
Format: Something should be done about the round robin finals. As a buddy pointed out; the best team is still the winner, but it drags out the finals and seems rather anti-climactic to not have one team sweep the field in a final game, followed by the
we-won-it-all celebratory dance. Most the other formats have it.
All in all: Good event, in need of more planning and streamlining. Hope it comes back next year, because i wanna play!
Anyone else who watched or was actually
able to play, post up your experiences and Feedback.