Red Heat persecution

[haz]

Hi everyone,

In response to all of the criticism our team has been recieving, of which i've only been made aware of tonight, I felt it neccessary to post this thread because quite frankly im astonished at the audacity with which some of you who do not know the team have written us all off, regardless of our role in the incident. Im not looking for an arguement at all, i just need to say my peace.

Let me start off by saying that in no way do I condone the incident concerning Olly, but i won't stand by and watch the team be unfairly ripped apart. For all of you wanting to know who else was present at the incident and were slating us as cowards, here's one of them. I was there, I had nothing to do with the incident at all, but i was there. Would a 'coward' do this? I've been labelled as one of the '3/4 thugs' backing Lee up. Im a skinny 15 year-old. Some thug. And as for Lee being a thug, some of you need to take a long hard look at yourselves. I marshalled that big game, and on three separate occasions i was physically threatened by players, including being pushed, poked and verbally abused; thats 3 fully grown man threatening a 15 year old kid. Why? because they are male, human, and don't like to be challenged. Some 'ambassadors of the sport' they are. I'll be honest, i was frightened by the actions of some of those players towards me. and im not exaggerating. So as for those of you who are slagging Lee, what about those guys who gave me a hard time? The truth is, this has got way out of hand; what happened wasn't good, but over the last few days you've all as good as ruined that man's life for at least a while, destroyed his paintball career. And for what reason? because olly's good with words, thats why. Well so am i. I have no gripes with olly or anyone else, all im saying is don't be so quick to judge, especially since only a handful of you know the truth, which means not second-hand, hyped up witch-hunt banter. If it wasnt for Lee, me and the rest of the young guns would still be playing in the woods with tippmanns. He made us. In the space of a year that man put so much effort into helping us that at the KOTH MM, with no tournament experience, we played twice, won, twice. 6 months before i didnt know what paintball was; let alone did I think i could win something playing it!(even if it is only the koth). He bent over backwards for us (no wisecracks please ) and hes one of the nicest, decent guys I know - who else could have took on a bunch of kids with no experience, with tippmanns and infernos, put time, effort and money into them, and produced a half decent,winning squad in little under a year? Not many of you im sure.

Everyone loses their rag when provoked. No, its no excuse, but remember that for this little blame game youve all been playing with the threads, i'd put money on the fact that most of you have had outbursts all the same. Just because its paintball doesn't make it worse. Walking through staging areas i've heard players boasting about this guy or that guy they've 'taught a lesson' in a pub or whatever, but outside of the paintball circuit. How is this different? Are you all 'thugs'? how can you be so harsh just because its two ballers we're talking about? Let me say again that im not trying to cover for anyone, just think about whats happened as a result of these threads.

I'll finish by saying that although the remaining young gun players have been advised to reform as a new team, we are not. Why should we, when we have nothing to be ashamed of? We're all human. As a result, you will still see the Red Heat jersey around, and we will wear it with pride. Not because we are making a statement, or because we're being ignorant or defiant. But because we are not abandoning our indentity when we have nothing to be ashamed of. The smart ones amonst you will realise that we are not thugs - we just wanna play ball like the rest of you, and so next time you see us young guns we'll be playing the best ball we've ever played, and we'll be just as sporting as any of you - who knows, maybe we'll wipe ur arses off the field, maybe we'll lose. But we'll have fun doing it, and we'll be damned if we let any prejudices on anyones' part stop us. I expect i'll be recieving nasty replies to this post, but please bare in mind that i don't want an arguement, im not hiding anything and I won't walk away from Red Heat and won't abandon The Daddy. 'We stand alone together'.

Oh, and by the way, these views are my own and not representative of anyone else's; I am influenced by no-one.

Bring it on.

 

[Rosie]

I second that, totally.

if Lee had not found me out of the blue i would probably have got bored of playing at warped and stopped playing altogether.
Last year i went to the Campaign Cup, ive played Bullys, the MMs and the KOTHs all of which without Lee i would not have even known about.

Without his
A bringing me into the competetive sport and
B his support from then to today (about 3 years)
I would not have lasted this long and had so much fun, met so many great people.

didnt Lee bring HPAC into paintball too?

We will continue to play as red heat Kids
We will wear the jersey

and if you have read the thread concerning this incident, just think...were you there? how many of the people who posted on that thread...were there? how much of it is second or third hand information, or even just speculation?
think carefully before you form an opinion please

 

[Rosie]

and yeah, he has bent over backwards to accomodate each & every one of us and would do anything for us.

Lee has put so much time and effort into us, and we are only the second team, not even the team that he plays for. None of the teenagers on our team have been playing full stop for more than 3 years, most of us a LOT less. Lee has brought us up to tournament standard very quicklyand we are improving all the time.

I am proud to be a member of Red Heat Kidz, and grateful to Lee that he brought me into the sport and helped me so much.
Im also proud to play with a great group of guys so eager to just play, and not get involved in crappy politics and sniping.

Big Up to Lee the Big Daddy, Noza, Luke, Lee, Harry, Kenny, Pala, Campbell

 

[Noza]

ok first i jsut wont to say sorry for my spelling but im not the brightest of the bunch.

we are all fond of lee yes u may have ur opinions of himmos tof u hate him from what has bin said, but hes done well for us hes made us see what the sport of paintball is brought me in to a group of new people and last year iv had the best time of my life playing paintball , in the space of a year lee made me belive in my self helped me belive that if i set my mind to it i can be jsut as good as any one . took me to compeet in Maliga with some fine ballers ok so we didnt do to well but thats part of paintball u win some looes some jsut like in anythink u do , but we Kidz are still hear and will cary the Red heat name with our chins held high and be the comited paintball players we are like every one eles in the sport .
all the best Noza

 

[Smally85]

Thank god for this!!!

I was wondering how long it would take for the more "sane" members of Red Heat (and Kidz) to reply to the blatant baiting that has been going on. Haz, well done, very well put, and you are right, you are almost as good with words as Ollie

Most of the people who have been taking the piss out of Lee have recognised at some point in their "baiting" that Lee may not be a good example of how the rest of Red Heat feel and act. If everyone had taken the time to read all of the comments posted about Red Heat I'm sure you would find that most of the comments are directed solely at Lee (for being what is undeniably stupid with regard to threatening Ollie no matter what the provocation or reason) and recognise that Red Heat are not all "thugs".

I myself have replied to the thread started by Ollie about Lee and whilst I have little knowledge of the team I pointed out that Lee may not be representitive of the group. Others have mentioned that it may be time for Red Heat to replace Lee as their Captain/spokesperson, given the circumstances around Lee and his obvious contribution and connection to the Kidz team I wouldn't say that was a good idea. He has obviously put in a lot of effort for the team and it would be hard for the Kidz to continue their growth (at their current speed) without his aid.

Maybe its time to forgive and try and forget. I am in no way condoning Lees actions in this matter, but I don't see him coming on here and trying to apologise/justify his actions whilst there is such an obviously hostile reception waiting for him here. I know I'd be very cautious of coming on the boards if I knew how bad feelings were against me like this.

So maybe we should just let Lee come online, apologise and admit that he was wrong (I can't see ANYONE saying his actions were just) and then let him try and rebuild his image from there. If he doesn't learn from it then its his own fault, people will now be naturally cautious around him and find it hard to trust him, so its gonna be hard for him, but thats his fault. Everyone deserves a second chance.

The majority of Red Heat (and Kidz) are clearly normal paintballers just out to have fun. Don't punish them for one mans actions, and why not just let him have a second chance, surely you have room in your hearts for that (Hell you'll probably go and re-elect Tony Blair, I'm sure you can let Lee have another go at life )

Peace, and well done Haz (just what I've been waiting for )

 

[haz]

positive comments appreciated,

Thanks smally, i was hoping that someone would be more understanding in the matter than what i've been reading all night, so thanks, it is much appreciated

 

[Smally85]

Meh, someone's gotta start the ball rolling

What you've got to remember is that a lot of people are having a lot of fun here so don't let them get to you. Who cares if they take the piss, show them how much you care by wiping them off the field like they don't exist. If you can't do that... erm beat them up or something I dunno

The majority of the people who have gotten oh so upset about Red Heat and are taking the piss are simply jumping on the bandwagon, it happens. Some people's minds you'll never change, but others will forget all about this before the next lunch trolly comes round. Keep your heads up you'll be fine.

 

[haz]

Dude, you make a lot of sense. Cheers. We intend to keep goin, regardless of this mess, and thats kinda lifted the old spirit a bit Lee's a bloody nice guy; like you said, this thing just needs diplomacy and time, and then I guess we shall see, eh. By the way, that was subtly done that last joke, smooth

 

[Matt "Kenny" Pryce]

Well, it just isnt Red Heat without Lee. He's made the team what it is, so for us to hide under a new name at the first sign of trouble is just wrong.
What is now "Wolverhampton Red Heat" Is what used to be the second team - ie us 6 kids + Pala.
As smally said, if you've met any of us in real life we're just the same as any other team - not the monsters that some people have made us out to be.
We're just here to play paintball like everyone else, so it would be great if any predjudices could put put aside.

 

[Dark Warrior]

As far as the incident on Sunday goes under no circumstances do I condone what happened, and I have keep silent basically because I was there and had not wish to be associated with it.
As you have noticed he has not posted and why should he, he knows that in ths case he was out of line and took things too personal and he has admitted that to those that matter.
Strangely enough paintball means a hell of a lot to that bloke and there are quite a few of us that owe him quite a lot.
Now lets make one thing clear there was 5 of us walking up the drive, but only Lee went up to Olly. None of us knew what was going to happen and when we recovered from the initial shock Mad dog shouted at Lee to stop. I certainly was not in a position to do much having my kitbag on my back and a case of paint in my hand, Other people present was Rosie and one of the other members of the kids team and Maddog. Also present were about 20 or so other people some as close as we were to Lee and Oolly, who also stood and watched the incident in stunned silence.
As far as I'm concerned this incident is closed Olly has had his vengence and Lee now has to live with the fact that his actions has ruined years of his own hard work. Some of the first team have decided to seek pastures new and Lee will probably take a rest from paintball for a while.
Now the Red Heat Kidz are a different ball game. These kids have been looked after and are prepared to stand by Lee, and why not the guy ain't perfect and none of us are either. I totally respect thier decision to remain as a team and wish them the best.

I urge fellow players and marshalls to judge them for how they conduct themselves on and off the field and give them a fair shout

And just a couple points of fact
1. I do not play for Red Heat and have not done since Campaign last year, but I am still friends with the whole squad
2. Although Lee is a very vocal person, in all the time I have known him I have never seen him attempt to hit another player or marshall and I don't expect that he ever will.
3. In reply to an accusation

Originally posted by [RPPB] Neil
Idiots
I was a Head Field Judge for MS last year and can safely say that after thier reaction to the judging staff on my field at Campaign Cup, Red Heat do not surprise me with the way they conduct themselves.

I was subject to threats of violence and general abuse, not uncommon to a MS Judge but you got the feeling these guys really meant it.......

Sorry, but i don't itimidate all that easy and neither does my friend Olly.

Keep up the good work RED HEAT, true ambassadors for the sport.......

I captained the only Red Heat team in last years Campaign Cup :- Red Heat Novice
and at no time did any member of my team threaten violence, abuse or intimidate any of the judging staff on any field at any time during the event and to say that we did is so is a blatant lie.
We had, like most teams did, have calls that went against us, but we took them in the same way has we did calls in our favour
I would suggest you go check your facts throughly