BARNEY'S BLOG

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[10/05/2011]
How Did Barney get his name? One of the questions that I am always asked is “So, how did the Barney thing get started”? We all know how in paintball you cannot really pick your name. Some people get to choose their own, but most of the time it does not happen that way. Nicknames are usually given due to some unfortunate or random event or happening where you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes it is given to you according to your personality or something great you did, a quality you have.

Well, here is the story of how I got my name “Barney”. It all started with this one day that I decided that I wanted to buy a new marker. I was looking for something different, reliable and not too expensive. So I went out and got myself a Black Bob Long Millennium with Purple Splash. To match the marker I went out and purchased a JT Purple to Black Fade Jersey. At this time the only people making anything purple was JT.

As some people know, I was in the Marine Corp. Reserve for 6 years. So, being a “Jar Head”, I would always wear camo. I definitely found what I was looking for when I saw the Bob Long Millennium. I currently own three of them (All Black, Red Splash and Purple Splash). Now I go up to the field that I’m working as a referee. Back in the days it was called “Survival NY” in Newburgh. Now it’s currently called “PSI” for Paintball Sports Inc. At that time the field manager was Richard Travis (RT). He was my mentor and was also one of the Original “Master Blasters”.

Anyway, so here I come walking up to the field early in the morning before any customers show up. It was my weekend off and of course all I wanted to do was play. However, like most of the guys would do, I showed up early to help set up and prepare for the day. It’s funny, now that I think about it, how half of the time I would show up to play, I would end up working because the field was very busy back in those days.

Okay, back to the story. So I’m walking up to the compound, all the while thinking to myself “I’m the Purple People Eater”!! Everyone that’s scheduled to work that day is sitting around waiting for RT to come out of his office to begin the day. I’m saying my “Hello’s” and telling everyone that “I’m the Purple People Eater”!! Finally, out comes RT from his office and he takes a look at me, puts his fist on his hip (a habit of his) and says “Who the Hell you think you are “BARNEY”!!” And that’s when everyone broke out laughing and pointing and repeatedly shouting “ha, Barney!!”

At this point I thought well, people will either back off from the name or run with it. I decided to show them all and run with it. So the next time I showed up to the field to play, I had added to my purple collection of Barney gear. I had a set of purple Premier 2001 JT Gloves, a JT purple Mask with fan, and my JT Purple Fade Jersey and Millennium Splash that I started out with. I also added a Purple Richochete Hopper, Expansion Chamber and a Barrel. This time when RT walked out of his office and saw me, he stopped and threw his hands in the air, then laughed and turned around to go back into his office.

So, like I said at the beginning, you certainly cannot always choose your nickname. It is something given due to some unfortunate event or happening. It seems to either be earned by a mistake, something random that happened, something great you did or it is just simply chosen by a person or a group and for whatever reason it sticks and becomes a part of you. It gives you a story to tell.

Barney