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Blue’s Crew at Coram’s Big Game
By Amy The Girl
Blue’s Crew’s Press Wench
Coram’s Big Game has been a yearly tradition in the Northeast since 1988. This 2-day event draws people from all over, as far as England. This year would see Blue's Crew there as well.
Team captain, Mike “Blue” Hanse and some of the Crew arrived in New York on Friday to set up the Blue’s Crew tent. Teams Canadian Contingent and the Wild Geese are a staple sight at the Big Game and were happy to make room in “Tent City” for the Crew. Good natured smack talk began immediately when it became known that the Contingent and Geese were on the Red team, serving under Generals Bill & Dawn Mills (of Warpig fame) while the Crew would be playing for the Blue team, with Generals Graham Easton (Smart Parts) and Greg “Red” Hastings of Redz Comfort Gear. I know, “Red” as the Blue General, ironic isn’t it? Greg was sporting bright red hair for the occasion, while my husband JR, teammate Scott and I had dyed our hair shocking blue! OK, I only put a few blue streaks in my hair, but we were all still quite a sight to see! We are hoping it will soon be a tradition that our other teammates embrace!
Saturday already had a nice crowd of people milling about for the trade show and rec tournament. This unusual tournament has twists on the game format, such as having to carrying a hula-hoop with you on your shoulder at all times while playing. All in fun, it also makes for good watching! A group of Blue’s Crew guys were on hand to watch the tournament and plans were made then and there to participate next year!
On to the trade show! So much to see! The Smarts Parts and Draxxus trailers, vendor booths from Redz Comfort Gear, Worr Game Products as well as Tom Ghee busy in the Tippmann trailer. There were local vendors there as well; a cigar shop, a fruit smoothie stand and the Hooter girls. That’s right, I said Hooter girls, serving up wings and drinks to those not playing. I opted for the fruit smoothie. Yummy!
Nothing quite prepared me for the sight of 1600 people pouring into the parking lot Sunday morning for the Big Game. Cars lined the street outside the field by 7am to get in. Huge kudos to the staff of Cousins Paintball, who got the traffic flowing in quickly and orderly.
The weather was fabulous with sunny skies and the crowd was psyched. The Blue’s Crew guys were ready to go too, still remembering the victory from WestPoint. This would be our second game as team and I was anxious to see how today’s game was going to go. The format was easy; control your bases. Bases were worth points PER MINUTE; so control and point totals for each team would be changing constantly.
The Blue team started with control of the City. Game on had Blue pushing hard through the field to the Village, were the Red Team was starting. Another amazing sight to witness, 800 players charging, hooting and hollering, with Blue’s Crew members shouting SCENARIO!, which is seemingly becoming our trademark word.
The Red Team did well holding us off in the Village. In fact, most of the action in those morning hours took place right there in the middle of the field. The masses of people playing on both sides made it hard to flank left or right and most advances were thwarted quickly. The famous helicopter of the Big Game was out patrolling the skies, looking for someone to grenade, but because the battle was so interior, it was hard to get targets.
Some of the red players did make it past and behind us, which made for even more difficult battles. With control of certain points of the field changing in mid battle, you could suddenly find yourself in enemy territory, and completely boxed in when re-insertion time came. The Blue team managed to gain some ground right before lunch break, but, by then, we were already feeling pretty bruised, and not just physically!
After lunch break, the teams swapped insertion points and it was back to the battle. The helicopter was back out in the skies to contend with as well. There was Doc, from Canadian Contingent hanging out the side of the helicopter, taking shots at players with his Angel. And don’t forget the paintball grenades! I hear he got even sneakier this time out. Armed with Redz Comfort Packs, he would hover and lure players out in an open area by dropping the packs for players to pick up. When they did-instant paint targets!
And lets not forgot about the tanks! The Blue team was being helped by Armored Fist Paintball Tiger Tank, which barreled through the woods blaring music at times and making players scatter for cover. It was a tough fight and by mid afternoon, Red controlled most of the field, leaving Blue with only one insertion point. Blue’s Crew tried forming small squads to do damage on certain parts of the field, but it was too late to catch up. Next time I guess we have to bring even MORE Atomic Ordinance grenades with us! Final point totals; Red Team 2825, Blue Team 1893. Spirits were surprisingly high at games end; it was still a great day of paintball. And, to quote our fearless leader, Blue, “We don’t need no stinkin’ points!”
Players gathered for a prize give-away, which included products from Cousins Paintball, Generation E, Smart Parts, Redz Comfort Gear, Worr Game Products and Tippmann. Paul Sattler, one of the owners of Paintball Long Island, gave out the prizes unconventionally, asking players to answer trivia questions about paintball or stand on their hands!
Blue’s Crew would like to thank Cousins Paintball for having us at their fabulous event. We hope to do it again next year! Thanks must also be given to Severe Paintball, Redz Comfort Gear, Magnum Boots, V-Force, Atomic Ordinance and all the other sponsors that helped make Blue’s Crew in their own important way. Blue’s Crew’s next event will be a big game at Paintball Depot in New Jersey. As always, if you see the big blue tent, stop by and say hi! Hope to see you on the field! J
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