The Grandest Finale
text and photographs
By Joshua D. Silverman

Wayne Dollack, the creator of the entire scenario, role playing paintball genre, has been hosting his remarkable scenario event, the Grand Finale, for many years. Supported by thousands of players and a cavalcade of major paintball industry companies, the list of attendees at the Grand Finale has been, for many years, a veritable who's who of both the paintball industry and the competitive style of scenario paintball play. As the 2003Grand Finale drew near, it was clear that it would likely be the Grandest Finale yet produced by paintball's favorite scenario producer and his family.

The Facts

1. The Grand Finale was held on December Fifth, Sixth and Seventh at Wayne Dollack's home base of operations, Wayne's World of Paintball in Ocala, Florida

2. Wayne Dollack and his family; wife Jackie and daughter Wynter, were on-hand to assist Wayne in the promotion of the event.

3. 1,738 players from across the United States and Canada made the trip to Ocala, Florida to attend the game, making it the largest Grand Finale ever held, and the largest Wayne Dollack scenario game yet.

4. The game would, for the second straight year, feature a Star Wars scenario based upon the legendary Star Wars motion picture empire, pitting the bounty hunters against the Jedi for control of the universe (in a galaxy far, far away from copyright infringements).

5. Mark "Mudguts" Cohea of the Moles scenario paintball team would general the Bounty Hunter team against the Jedi, led by "Dutch," who took the job on less than two days' notice.

6. Wayne Dollack and company constructed a large new pavillion in their staging are for the comfort of their players and the vendors, many of whom erected their displays inside.

7. The event would feature not only a scenario game, but also a Tippmann tournament and two off-field contests including a "Stupid Human Tricks" contest and the now customary Worr Game Products costume contest, both emceed by Craig Miller of VForce and Draxxus.

8. The prize package offered to the players at the event would prove to be one of the richest ever awarded in the history of scenario paintball, with nearly one hundred paintball guns alone to be given away, along with dozens of packs, hundreds of pods, dozens of VForce goggles, and many, many more prizes from the generous event sponsors who believe in the scenario genre of the sport.

9. Hot food and cold drinks were available throughout the event from the extremely friendly, efficient catering staff.

10. While some players chose to stay at hotels just up or down the street from the field, many players chose to camp at the site, erecting lavish team staging areas with tents, camp fires and even RV's.

11. After a hard-fought two-day slugfest that pushed the teams, the players and their tanks back and forth across the sixty-acre Wayne's World jungle, Dutch and his Jedi were victorious over Mudguts and the Bounty Hunters.

12. Winners of the costume contest included a small boy posing as a "Jedi in Training" and a man with a box on his head, awarded the prize for both originality and initiative. Prizes included a Worr Game Products paintball gun, a Diablo Mongoose paintball gun and 32 Degrees paintballs.

The Vendors

1. Major Sponsor National Paintball Supply brought their Bob Long tech support tractor trailer to the event and sold amazing amounts of paintball gear at extremely low prices, in addition to bringing a paint tractor trailer to supply the event with Draxxus and Diablo paintballs.

2. Draxxus/VForce continued to show their support for the scenario/big game side of paintball by sending Craig Miller, ZBid and Harley to the Grand Finale in their remarkable new Draxxus show and support tractor trailer, that offered the new VForce Profiler mask and new DXS line of clothing for sale throughout the event. Craig even utilized the trailer's PA system and microphone to keep the event interesting and the players informed.

3. Joe West brought his J&J show and racing trailer to the event to show off his new line of ceramic Edge barrel kits along with his Ceramic, Edge and Pro-1 barrels and Tippmann A5 grip frames. The steaks, chicken and ribs he cooked on the integral gas grill were second to none at the event and attracted almost as much attention as the barrels.

4. Tippmann, the manufacturer of the most durable paintball guns on the planet, brought their patriotic red, white and blue fifth-wheel trailer to the event to provide support to the favorite paintball guns of the scenario genre, the A5 and 98 Custom.

5. Team Strange, the Florida professional team that has dominated Division One XBall throughout 2003, brought their new Team Strange tour bus to sell Strange Vision Impulse paintball guns and a new line of clothing.

6. Worr Game Products was well-represented at the event, as owner and Autococker creator Bud Orr himself played the event alongside his son, Jeff Orr, creator of the ultimate scenario paintball gun, the VF-Tactical Autococker. Richie of Worr Game Products also played, as the WGP crew played alongside Radar and the WGP scenario team, the Sin Sity Raiders, who played scenario events on both coasts that weekend. A large booth inside the pavillion, manned by Cole Krebs and company, showed off all the various Autococker models and the complete line of Worr Games gear.

7. Airgun Designs, long a supporter of the scenario side of paintball with their Automag line of paintball guns and other products, provided a technical support booth at the event thanks to Jon Comprado.

8. The Aggressive Generation, owned and operated by Bob, Dee and the Midget with a Machine Gun Sandifer, brought their usual "tent city" display and provided technical support for Angel paintball guns and other gear.

9. Ratco, manufactures of what have become the some of the hottest soft goods and gear bags in the game of paintball, manned a well-stocked booth near the entrance to the pavillion, while Kicker played the event with his new Palmer paintball gun, handing out Ratco prizes in the middle of the game.

10. Pro Team Products, represented by the lovely Tracy Hatcher, displayed their impressive line of scenario-specific custom paintball guns such as upgraded Tippmann paintball guns and other gear.

11. Major Paintball showed off their latest product, a new powder or paint-emitting land mine, perfect for scenario use or for use by the military, who have already begun to purchase the amazing, air operated device.
Teams In Attendance (Partial List)

1. Moles
2. Daytona Posse
3. Dead by Dawn
4. Doom Troopers
5. Black Hearts
6. Recon 1
7. Bad Company 2
8. Happy Cobras
9. Trailgunners
10. Sin Sity Raiders

Competitors in the Stupid Human Tricks Contest

1. A boy with extremely stretchy skin
2. Two contortionists
3. A boy who could make noise with his tonsils
4. A man who could put paintballs in his ears
5. A man who could bend his knee backwards
6. A boy willing to appear before hundreds of people in a thong
7. Several more idiots that defy description

Prize Sponsors
1. National Paintball Supply
2. 32 Degrees
3. Paintball 2Xtremes Magazine
4. Crossfire Paintball Magazine
5. Draxxus
6. VForce
7. ADCO
8. Airgun Designs
9. Worr Game Products
10. Ricochet
11. Crossfire Inc.
12. J&J Performance
13. Centerflag
14. Mokal
15. Gen-X Global
16. Major Paintball
17. Paintball Radarchron
18. Ratco
19. Redz Comfort Gear
20. Tippmann Pneumatics
21. Extreme Rage
22. Pro Team Products
23. Spectre Camouflage
24. PaintballDVD.com
25. TShirts by Ritchie

Problems
Disclaimer: While all at the event had an amazing time and the event was well-promoted from beginning to end, some minor problems did occur that bear mentioning.

1. Theft finally reared its ugly head at the Grand Finale, once the last bastion of honor among paintball players as the new millennium approached. A compressed air system, a barrel, an Autococker and an Impulse were all stolen from various vendors in the early hours of the game, but an alarmed and angry Wayne Dollack cracked down, called the police, and put both uniformed and undercover policemen and security on the site, bringing theft to a complete end at the game once and for all. In spite of the unfortunate incident, it was handled with speed and professionalism by the promoters.

2. Air was at a minimum at the Grand Finale. While CO2 shooters had few noticeable problems obtaining air, compressed air shooters were lucky to receive more than 2000psi of propellant at any time during the event. For such a prestigious event, that drew more players than at any time in its history, the promoters should have been better prepared with to deliver acceptable amounts of compressed air to their players.

In closing, the 2003 Grand Finale was without a doubt the Grandest Finale of them all. Drawing nearly two thousand people to sixty acres of pristine Florida paintball to play for fun and a share of a mountain of prizes from generous sponsors, Wayne, Jackie and Wynter Dollack and the entire staff of Wayne's World of Paintball promoted the event with their usual skill, kindness and ability that keep the Wayne Dollack name at the top of the scenario ladder.