Author: James

But forgets why he’s leaving.

Bart Monroe (cowabunga, dude) writes a long post to give his closing word, though I would say it was a closing page. Zing!

He basically thanks everyone for existing, his players, sponsors, refs, and anything else he could think of, but never really mentions why he’s leaving. He just says that it’s unfortunate circumstances.

And since I ripped the last post, here’s his full post

I’d first like to start off by thanking every one of you out there whom I had the privilege of interacting with throughout my paintball tenure. There are many of you associated with both leagues that I have the utmost respect for and I wish everyone of you the Best and thank you all for your support and advice that you’ve handed down to me! I will never forget the friendship we shared and the battles we fought on the field.

Not many things in my life have caused me to take a knee emotionally but stepping away from this team and paintball in general has my heart heavier than it’s been in a long time! Its really going to take me and Aly-Shea sometime to put this behind us and I feel for her everyday when I see her sad right now. As hard as it’s been for both of us though, I can’t look back with any regrets because I know I gave 110% of my heart and soul to this Team and this sport everyday I was involved. Sometimes that’s not enough though without the same effort being put in by everyone and I think that’s where this situation falls right now.

There’s no one to blame for this unfortunate circumstance, it’s just a part of life when sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. We don’t always know why or have the answers we need but if we can look back and know we gave 100% then there should be no regrets. This Team won as a Team and lost as a Team and we will all move on and tackle the next challenges that come our way in life!

There are more people to thank in this sport and I’d like to start off by thanking the Pros and a few others who I had the honor of interacting with over the past two seasons, I’m really going to miss talking with you guys a lot and seeing you at the events. Even though some of our conversations were short and sometimes-just lots of B.S. it really meant a lot to me that you took the time to listen and give your input! I will never forget your guys’ passion for the sport and your love for it! So to Paxson, Bea, Riley, Ollie, Eric, Wing, Billy C all the Iron Men, Davey W, Alex F, Gary S, D Baines, Cuba, Colt, Rocky, Big Jon, Greenspan, Davies, Zack, Bob, Dan, Dimples and Mike, Mike H (all the SD kids), Greg, Nick, Lane, Tony, Shawn, Rosie, Dusty, Terry, Tyler, Cody, M Carthy, the Schroepfers and many many others, you guys keep fighting the fight and I wish you all lots of success in your continued careers.

And what can I say to all you professional referees! Thank you for all your hard work and efforts at each and every event. You do this because you love it and there is never any glory in what you guys do. I’d really like to see a Professional event run without you guys just once, so everyone could see what a disaster it would be! It wouldn’t take the Professional teams long to realize you guys are the best at what you do. Thank you …

Now for the sponsors who gave this Team the opportunity to be able to play paintball over the past few years. What can I say about you Brady’s Paintball guys! You believed in this Team long before they ever had there first win and your continued support throughout the years will never be forgotten. Same goes for the Custom Products management team and all their staff. This is another great company that approached us in the beginning and believed in us before any success had come our way. Dale and Dan came to us when we first started out and offered us support because they believed in our goals and the way the Team was run. Although the winning hadn’t started yet on the field, they knew the formula was there and that says a lot about these guys. Travis I’d also like to thank you for your continued belief in us and CP as a Team. It meant a lot that you kept us on board through our recent struggles and it says a lot that you stayed loyal to us as we were to you.

As for some of our newer sponsors, you were also apart of our winning ways early on and our success was also achieved with your support. Virtue the best board maker in paintball, I can assure you gave us the advantage to win. And Evil the best paint maker in our sport, enough said there. Halo and Gen-X we thank you for your support this year and wish you the best and all your teams the best throughout the remainder of the year.

And I can never say enough thanks to DYE and everyone involved over there who has helped this team so much over the past few years! This company took to us as if we were family from day one. Although success had already come our way before our first contract was signed, it could not have continued to the level it reached without everything you guys did for us. From the long phone calls to the countless meetings we all sat in, the team always felt you had our best interest in mind. Your support at the events made our experiences at each and everyone of them successful and memorable. Thanks again Dave, Bryon, Eric, Robin, Billy, Ollie, Chris G, Derrick, Wes all the Techs and countless others in the DYE Camp, I’m going to miss every one of you and I thank you again for everything. We won together and we won as one big Team/Family and we can never forget that! I wish all of you all the best of luck in business and Life! Your organization is one of the Greatest in paintball and my hats off to you for your loyalty over the years!

As for the players who have played for me since this Team was started and those of you that have moved onto others, I always felt like I had 19 sons and one daughter at any given time. Each one of you has a special place in my long list of paintball memories and I hope you all have success in your lives and in paintball as you continue to grow. I miss you all more than ever right now and wish you and your families the Best.

And I’d like to close with this! I’ve had them post with this article one of my favorite paintball pictures from the last few years! Every time I see it, it just makes me smile as it brings back some great memories of what this sport is all about and why I love it so much. Such a young Team these Zero Kids were at the time and so full of passion for the sport. Winning meant everything to them and they worked so hard on and off the field to achieve that. They realized the opportunities they were given by their sponsors and never took advantage of them. They played every point in practice and at tournaments as if it was their last and that’s what it takes to become the best at what you do. This Team was ready to sacrifice whatever it took to be successful and so was their family and friends to support them. If we could just find a way to bottle up that passion that many of us have from the start and pull it out whenever we needed it as a reminder, we’d all be better off.

God I’m going to miss competing in this sport. Bart.