Gods of paintball....

[Anjin3515]

Curious...who would you consider to be the "gods of paintball"?
or if not that..who would you consider to be the "founding fathers"
or who would you consider to be the "most influential people in paintball history"

Some of you may have seen some of my paintball related art. I am considering doing a series of painting of one/all of the above. But I need to get a grasp on who these people are so I can do some research on them.

Any help would be appreciated.

[punkncat]

Well, I know Jim Lively is the man who came up with the idea that became modern speedball. I don't know the whole story, but he created a league and all, and the idea was stolen from him changed a little and he was left out to dry.

There is a site somewhere, I cannot remember where, that has much of what you seek. Perhaps someone here will know what it is.

[ClassicMagger]

Hey:

Depends on how you are looking at it. Modern paintball, paintball in general, the game, etc. etc.

I have a neat article I found one day that portrays the first paintball game ever. It gives the names of those individuals used and a brief exert on their gear. Mostly Nelspot 707's etc. no not 007's

I would say some of the 'Founding Fathers' of the industry would be:

Budd Orr
Tom Kaye
Glenn Palmer

::Room needed to Edit Later::

-ClassicMagger

[BigEvil]

It's always cool to remember our roots.. however the industry needs REAL leadership right now. Unfortunately none of those people really have much influence anymore. I don't really see the next "Tom" or "Bud" or "Glenn" around anywhere these days.

[tymcneer]

Unfortunately, for us, the "next generation" of leaders are not people, but corporate entities. K2, Smart Parts, etc are the new leaders. In this case the new leadership is not to my liking, but others follow them with a passion.

Ty

[bryceeden]

I would say for the modern game it is.

Tom Kaye
Bud Orr
Bob Long
Dave Youngblood(Its sad how few people don't know who he is given his impact in todays market)

[Anjin3515]

please keep them coming....
and if you know of anywhere I can find info on these guys that be great too.

[grEnAlEins]

Gods of paintball...

Yes?

HAHAHAHA! I kid I kid:smarty:

[JAM]

Tom Kaye
Budd Orr
Glenn Palmer
Dave Youngblood
Regardless of your ********** feelings, the Gardners did a lot from the early days.

Recent(er) times?
Chris Lasoya, Rocky Cagnoni, Ollie Lang, etc...

[bryceeden]

please keep them coming....
and if you know of anywhere I can find info on these guys that be great too.

You can call Bob Long. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to spen a few min talking to you, he's an awsome guy.

[Zeroack]

Being a long time member of Phog I gotta say it....while Mike Cassidy may not have been a founder. He's been here for a long time making the same marker, with the same great quality and it's still going strong.

So Strong + Long amount of time = God

Zero

[sepplainer]

Find a copy of Paintball Games International Nov 07. Pete "Robbo" Robinson gives his Mt. Rushmore of World Cup but it kind turns into a tourny paintball history lesson. Also in that issue is kind of a review of the Automags influence on the current tourny marker

[Cold Steel]

Dave Bell, inventor and creater of the agitated hopper, original owner of Viewloader.
George Spurlock, inventor and creator of the HALO, Pulse, & new Torque loaders.
Dan Colby, owner of Air America and Guerrilla Air, first guy to make affordable, high quality HPA systems for paintball.
Bob Long, legendary captain & gun manufacturer.
John Gregory, original owner of JT USA, known for their goggles and the first company to offer apparel especially for the speedball player.

CS

[grEnAlEins]

Dan Colby, owner of Air America and Guerrilla Air, first guy to make affordable, high quality HPA systems for paintball.

QFT! He also happens to be one hell of a guy. He owned the field I worked at. Really really really nice guy.

[Cold Steel]

Oops, forgot one.
Dennis Tippmann, he made a couple of guns over the years.

CS

[Cold Steel]

QFT! He also happens to be one hell of a guy. He owned the field I worked at. Really really really nice guy.

I agree, he's a buddy of mine.

CS

[grEnAlEins]

I agree, he's a buddy of mine.

CS

Are you from up here originally?

[Cold Steel]

Nope, know him from events and being in the industry.

CS

[flank]

pretty good idea anjin. I think it'd be cool if you could get a pic of the person and paste what they invented/contributed infront of them.

[bread_da_painter]

if you know of anywhere I can find info on these guys that be great too.



GOOGLE.com

:wall:

[TnDeathInc]

Budd Orr
Tom Kaye
Oh Pawlak
Glen Palmer
Jim Lively


Companies -
Nitroduck
Airguns
Worr
WDP

[Triangle]

No one has Said Bill Mills yet?
Earon Carter?


Definitely the Tippmann Family, and the people ColdSteel beat me to.

[Triangle]

OH OH OH.
And Jim Drew!



(heehee)

[BigEvil]

Scott Fertitta. More of an "ICON" than a god perhaps. :kneelsuckers:

[Cold Steel]

Probably oughta add the man who started it all, Bob Gurnsey.

[TnDeathInc]

I'd have to agree with the tipmman family

[bryceeden]

OH OH OH.
And Jim Drew!

Sadly thats kind of true, him and Bob Long were kind of the ones who really popularized the fast shooting markers. Back then nothing shot as fast as a Timmy with WAS board.

Dave Youngblood kind of created the first generation of Aggletts in a way.

[Old School 626]

I'll second Earon Carter

No one mentioned Jessica Sparks, I'd like to offer her name up as having been pretty much the face/voice of the IPPA, magazine editor/writer/publisher and all weather-always-fun-to-play-with player.

I'd also have to mention the high-speed-low-drag field manager of SC village for all those years Joe Eckland. I don't think he "produced" anything but those safety meetings where epic and for countless thousands of people that have played in the LA area that safety meeting is burned indelibly into their heads.

I'd also like to give a personal honorable mention to a few people I've met during my travels Doc Marty and his daughter who's name escapes me, Jim, Fran, Joe, IceCream, Radar,