Editing Music City Open

'''The Music City Open''' was a recurring American [[paintball]] tournament held in the Nashville, Tennessee, area and produced by Jim Lively and Sam Caldwell through [[Lively Productions]]. Contemporary coverage described the event as being in its ninth year in 1993 and identified the 1994 tournament as the tenth annual Music City Open.[1][2]

The tournament was distinct from Lively Productions' larger [[International Masters]], serving as the promoters' Nashville-based event. Its competition formats changed over time and included ten-player, five-player and seven-player tournaments, as well as separate pump and open equipment classes.[1][2][3]

== History ==

Jim Lively and Sam Caldwell became involved in tournament production through the [[National Survival Game]] championship system. They hosted an NSG regional tournament in Nashville in 1984 and subsequently produced other events within the championship series. Their five-year relationship with NSG ended after they hosted the 1988 NSG World Championships.[1]

Lively Productions continued organising the Music City Open after the NSG championship tournaments ended. In 1993, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'' described the Music City Open as being in its ninth year and characterised it as the longest-running annual national-level paintball tournament in the United States.[1] The following year was promoted as the tenth annual event.[2]

== 1994 tournament ==

The tenth annual Music City Open was held in Nashville on 14–15 May 1994. Twenty-one five-player teams representing nine states entered. Rather than separating professional and amateur teams, competition was divided according to equipment: 13 teams entered the Open class and eight entered the Pump class.[2]

Open-class teams could use equipment ranging up to constant-air semi-automatic markers. The Pump class was restricted to pump-action markers.[2]

=== Pump class ===

The Pump-class tournament used a round-robin format in which aggregate points determined the winner. Thunderstorms interrupted play during the seventeenth set of games, but the remaining rounds were subsequently completed. [[Phantom Regiment]] won the class, followed by Crow Warriors I, Guns of Paradise and the Rad Busters.[2]

{| class="wikitable"
! Place
! Team
! State
|-
| 1
| [[Phantom Regiment]]
| Alabama
|-
| 2
| Crow Warriors I
| Ohio
|-
| 3
| Guns of Paradise
| Michigan
|-
| 4
| Rad Busters
| Tennessee
|}

=== Open class ===

The Open-class preliminary games used ten-minute time limits, with the leading teams advancing to a four-team round-robin final. Ridge Runners won the division ahead of Team Farside, Sasquatch and the C.I.A. Widowmakers.[2]

{| class="wikitable"
! Place
! Team
! State
|-
| 1
| Ridge Runners
| Tennessee
|-
| 2
| Team Farside
| Illinois
|-
| 3
| Sasquatch
| Florida
|-
| 4
| C.I.A. Widowmakers
| Tennessee
|-
| 5
| Ruby Shooters
| Tennessee
|-
| 6
| [[Phantom Regiment]]
| Alabama
|-
| 7
| Timber Wolves Gray
| Tennessee
|-
| 8
| Deadly Assault Force
| Not stated
|-
| 9
| Timber Wolves Black
| Tennessee
|-
| 10
| Bush Pilots
| Tennessee
|-
| 11
| Tasmanian Devils
| Michigan
|-
| 12
| Wacky Warriors
| Missouri
|-
| 13
| Slam
| Kentucky
|}

== 1998 return ==

Lively Productions returned to tournament promotion with another Music City Open at Nashville Paintball Sports on 17–19 April 1998. The event included a seven-player centre-flag tournament with 29 teams, as well as Top Gun, quick-draw and target-shooting competitions.[3]

The Squad won the seven-player tournament, followed by Benchmark Warriors, Nemesis and Tagg Team.[3]

{| class="wikitable"
! Place
! Team
! Final-round points
|-
| 1
| The Squad
| 176
|-
| 2
| Benchmark Warriors
| 150
|-
| 3
| Nemesis
| 128
|-
| 4
| Tagg Team
| 21
|}

== See also ==

* [[Lively Productions]]
* [[International Masters]]
* [[Nashville Paintball Sports]]
* [[Paintball tournament]]

== References ==

# Randy Kamiya, “Masters Experience”, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', Vol. 7, No. 6, June 1993, p. 74.
# Andy Lahner, “The 10th Annual Music City Open”, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', Vol. 8, No. 11, November 1994, pp. 37–40.
# [https://warpig.com/paintball/tournament/music98/index.shtml 1998 Music City Open], WARPIG, April 1998.

[[Category:Paintball tournaments]]
[[Category:Paintball in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Lively Productions events]]