2003 Mardi Gras Open
The 2003 Mardi Gras Open was a paintball event held from 20 to 23 February 2003 at the Alario Center in the New Orleans area of Louisiana, United States. It combined five-player tournament competition with the opening matches of the National Xball League (NXL).[1]
Strange won professional five-player, Evil Factory won Amateur, Doc's Raiders won Novice and Texas Archangels won Rookie.[2][3]
PSP status
[edit]Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP) produced the Mardi Gras Open as a standalone event outside its five-event championship series. WARPIG's subsequent historical coverage explicitly distinguishes the Mardi Gras Open from the regular PSP series, while identifying it as the opening venue for the 2003 NXL season.[4]
Weather and scheduling
[edit]Rain, lightning and flooding cancelled Friday's play. Crews drained fields using pumps, trenches and culverts, allowing competition to resume on Saturday. Five-player games were shortened to five minutes, and unfinished preliminary games continued into Sunday.[1]
Professional five-player competition was reorganised as a Sunday double round robin without semi-finals or finals. The other divisions completed semi-finals and finals.[1]
Five-player results
[edit]Professional
[edit]The professional competition comprised five teams playing eight games each. WARPIG recorded the following final standings.[2]
| Place | Team | Total points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strange | 584 |
| 2 | Naughty Dogs | 484 |
| 3 | Ground Zero | 416 |
| 4 | Redz Factory Team | 308 |
| 5 | Storm | 228 |
Amateur, Novice and Rookie
[edit]The following totals are from the final round.[3]
| Division | Place | Team | Final-round points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur | 1 | Evil Factory | 212 |
| 2 | Maxim U | 196 | |
| 3 | KAPP Factory | 110 | |
| 4 | WGP Orr-Acle | 106 | |
| Novice | 1 | Doc's Raiders | 288 |
| 2 | Atomix Factory | 184 | |
| 3 | Blackout | 118 | |
| 4 | Cartel | 36 | |
| Rookie | 1 | Texas Archangels | 200 |
| 2 | Atomix Factory Blue | 200 | |
| 3 | The Corporation | 116 | |
| 4 | Fat City Hangover | 108 |
Texas Archangels and Atomix Factory Blue finished level on points. Texas Archangels won the title through the head-to-head tie-break, having defeated Atomix Factory Blue 96–8.[1][3]
Doc's Raiders won all three Novice final-round games. Evil Factory won Amateur despite losing its last game to Maxim U.[3]
Inaugural NXL competition
[edit]The NXL began play on Thursday, 20 February. At 09:00, Miami Effect defeated Baltimore Trauma 11–9 in the league's first match. Mike Ratko served as commissioner, Bill Cookston as ultimate judge, and PRO referees officiated.[1]
WARPIG published event rosters for all eight franchises:[5]
- Baltimore Trauma
- Chicago Aftershock
- Detroit Thunder
- Los Angeles Ironmen
- Miami Effect
- New York Xtreme
- Oakland Assassins
- Philadelphia Americans
These were regular-season matches contributing to the NXL championship, rather than a separate knockout tournament producing a Mardi Gras champion. Friday's postponed matches were to be rescheduled later in the season. Philadelphia Americans finished the event undefeated.[1]
One-on-one competition
[edit]Jonathon Call won the double-elimination one-on-one competition, receiving a US$2,500 Shocktech certificate.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Mardi Gras Open 2003: Contemporary event report. WARPIG, 20–23 February 2003.
- Mardi Gras Open 2003: Professional standings and Preliminary Scoreboard. WARPIG, February 2003.
- Mardi Gras Open 2003: Semi-final and Final Scoreboards. WARPIG, February 2003.
- PSP Texas Open 2006: Historical background on the Mardi Gras Open and its relationship to the PSP series. WARPIG, February 2006.
- NXL Rosters from the Mardi Gras Open. WARPIG, 20–23 February 2003.