Introducing Don Saavedra's views on the latest paintball news. Don is the co-host of "Paintball LIVE" which airs every Wednesday night at 7PM PST (10PM EST) via www.PBLive.TV. Here's Don's take on what is new in the Paintball Industry and why you should care (or not!).

I am your destiny
Bea Youngs and her team, Destiny, are putting on a Clinic inTampa, Florida at Break50Paintball.com on Feb. 2nd. and 3rd. Just $99 for air, entry, and a case of paint, this 2 day clinic is the most wallet friendly I've seen and, with coaches like Bea, World Champion Mike Paxson, and legend Rocky Cagnoni, you can see why you will get more coaching bang for your buck than you're likely to any place else.  Since Destiny is an all female team for 2008, this clinic is perfect for you ladies who want to take your game to the next level. This is a perfect opportunity for you to break this sport wide open for women and teach those dumb guys a lesson.  RAWR! Guys, you're invited, but bring your girlfriends and get them to understand why you love it so much. I can't think of a better chance for romance than a Destiny Clinic!

Just when I thought I was out...
Michael Wise, owner of the now defunct Chrono300 paintball photography website, has started a new venture in paintball photography: www.michaelwise2.com. His new venture will have a more artistic point of view. "I had always felt the need to uphold the 'paintball picture for players' statement that I had on the site. Doing this, I always had to take thousands of photos that I felt were sub-par at best and did not show my vision of what a great paintball photo was all about. Do not expect to see hundreds of photos from an event here. Expect to see a few of the best shots (in my eyes) that I took. If you are looking to find pictures of your team or, even more specific, yourself, please save yourself time and do not look here. Come here to see the world of paintball in my eyes. It is about style, action or emotion not some guy posting in a bunker." He is available for hire for you or your team. As of this writing his website is not finished, but I expect this new direction will show us a new side of Mr. Wise. I hope to see him in a beret and dark sunglasses, holding a glass of absinthe and smoking Gauloises while sneering at the bourgeoisie. That might be a good look for him.

Smart Parts goes to Europe
In a move to provide faster and more efficient response times for its European Customers, Smart Parts, Inc. is now providing warranty and technical support through Gun Tech of Germany. 
"This move will help us improve our technical assistance for our whole range of products, as well as enable us to offer a higher level of technical support at all major European events. Carsten Reichardt and Torsten Striegel Gdr are fully trained in all areas of the Smart Parts product line and have a reputation for excellence inside our industry. That's why we had to have them on board," says Philip Webb, European Affairs Director for Smart Parts Europe.

So long, Strange
Detroit Strange has called it quits. The team disbanded. They've been an institution for quite a long time. World Cup Open Division winners in 2003, they made the bump to the NXL the next year, replacing Detroit Thunder. With some of the players moving to Tampa Bay Damage, this isn't the last we've seen of them. What ever happened to their bus?  I think we should have a News with a View bus, with a big screen TV and a hot tub. 

Speaking of buses
PbNation has announced plans for their own tour bus for the 2008 season. They are taking suggestions for design plans on their forums for the PbNation SkyDeck. The Skydeck is a two-story motor coach with a patio deck for 15 on the top floor. Finally... a place for paintballers to go to relax and get away from obnoxious kids hating on the pro players.

PSP Phoenix Open
With 2007 ended, PSP resurrects professional tournament paintball from the ashes for the new year in the only appropriate city: Phoenix, AZ. March 13th through the 16th will see the first event of the season at the Glendale Youth Soccer Complex at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, about 15 minutes from downtown Phoenix. This event will be on grass on the soccer fields, and not on concrete in the parking lot, where they will probably still be cleaning up from Super Bowl XLII in February. Those football tailgaters are actually messier than paintballers. Troof! We'll get our first taste of how the NXL season will stack up with almost half of last year's L.A. Open teams not returning. Can the Ironmen repeat? Will Tampa Bay Damage come from nowhere and surprise us? How big will the Vendor Village be? More importantly, will the Yardhouse Restaurant just down the road from the arena serve that same spinach dip that I've come to love here in Cali? The unknowns are swirling in a haze of confusion about this PSP event. But, I trust Lane, Keely and our nation's spinach farmers will come through for us all in the end.

It's automatic for the Blue’s Crew
Blue, and the Crew that represents EMR Paintball Park in Pennsylvania, will be shooting the new Autococker SR (www.JTSports.com) in the 2008 season. They rave about how lightweight they are, which is a must for scenario players who are running and gunning for hours at a time. And, with a rate of fire up to 25 bps, Blue's Crew will keep the paint providers happy at all of the 24 hour scenario events they attend this season. They debuted their new markers at the Penguins and Polar Bears game at TOP GUN PAINTBALL in New Jersey on Jan. 13th. If you want to see this marker in action, go to www.BluesCrewTV.com, or you can always catch them at their park: www.EMRPaintball.com

Delta Paintball is full of rocks
No, wait. I read that wrong. Delta Paintball has announced they have a new sponsorship deal with Rockstar energy drink for the 2008 season. With a 22 game season, Delta feels they need the energy the world's most powerful energy drink delivers. I would say so! That's almost 2 events a month. That's a lot of energy drinks! I guess they'll announce in 2009 that they've signed a deal with a sleep medicine company. Lord knows they won't be getting any rest in '08 if they plan on partying like ROCKSTARS that much.

SPPL one-ups itself
SPPL has announced some pretty big changes for the 2008 season, including 10 qualifying events, a National Ranking System with Divisional Play (Rookie, Masters and Elite), a Player ID system for each division, and up to $15,000 in prizes at each event. Now, your year in the SPPL isn't judged solely by how you do at the championships at the end of the season, but how you did overall at the 10 qualifying events. They also have made it easier to find an event near you:
March 15-16th - Georga
April 19-20th - Illinois
May 2-4rd - Utah
May 17-18th - California
June 7-8th - Oklahoma
June 28-20th - Oregon
July 26-27th - New York
August 23-24th - Minnesota
September 13-14th - Tennessee
How do you stack up against the best scenario teams in the country? Find out by going to www.ScenarioChallenge.com

Paintball Live’s new co-host
The only weekly live webcast devoted to Paintball has completely upgraded their hosting staff. With the sad loss of Ben Erwin from Team Carter (www.TeamCartel.org) due to their new day and time (Wednesdays at 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific), Don and Ryan have asked Bea Youngs, The Voice of Paintball (and glorious Editor of this fine magazine) to join them every week to add prestige, knowledge, class and beauty to the show. With a long, rich history of not only playing this sport at the highest levels, but also covering the sport as a writer and announcer, Bea brings something to the show that none of the other hosts had: a clue of what she's talking about. Thanks to the internet, Bea is able to join the show from almost anywhere she travels around the world! Go to PbLive.tv to hear the show.

Rumor accuracy
As of this writing, everything in the '08 season is unsettled. Rumors are flying, and by the time you read this, those rumors will either be verified or exposed for the lies they are. You, gentle reader, now know what is truth and what is fiction, so I give you the rumors at the time of this writing: XSV is no longer sponsored by Eclipse; Chris Lasoya will play with the NE Hurricanes; NXL format will be a race to 7 points; Bea Youngs and Mike Paxson begin work on a new generation of super paintball babies with laser eyes and time dilating speed-fingers. Ok, the last one isn't a rumor.