[TheGuy]

Distortion_UK, on 20 December 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

There was a deaf group at a field I worked at and that sounded hard enough. Blind people playing just isn't safe.

You dont need to hear to play paintball.

[qwertyuiop]

What is this...... I don't even........

I cannot conceive of a single way in which this could work short of having someone walk around with each blind person and aiming for them, telling them when to shoot, telling them if they got hit on their gun. It would be ridiculous.

[UV Halo]

That's because so many folks in this thread are assuming that the individuals who wanted to play were fully blind (vice legally blind and capable of receiving the aid of one of these organizations). If they weren't fully blind, I can easily see these folks playing as a private group.

[oldnewb]

Hmmm... I wonder how long it would be before this same group tries sueing a flight school for not letting them take airplane piloting course.

[Distortion_UK]

TheGuy, on 20 December 2011 - 04:00 PM, said:

Distortion_UK, on 20 December 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

There was a deaf group at a field I worked at and that sounded hard enough. Blind people playing just isn't safe.

You dont need to hear to play paintball.

Yes but its still difficult to reff a group of 40 who can't hear. Its easily over come but you always find yourself saying things and the realising.....oh yeah they're deaf.

Ever approached a deaf player from behind? Don't It ends bad.

[Rival]

The quote illustrates that the field has a "no blind fire" rule, right? (sticking your marker above the bunker your hiding behind and "blindly" firing in the direction of the other team etc). Thats how I read it anyway. It doesn't really say that the owner specifically told this group of partially sighted/blind people that they couldn't play because of their disability. So, jog on stupid people?


But America is a daft place with regard to lawsuits and such. So applying logic to this is probably a bit, stupid, right?

This post has been edited by Rival: 20 December 2011 - 07:47 PM

[-ORaNGe-]

If they want to prove something they should hit a motocross track

[K.YO]

interesting case

[squares]

I actually had a conversation with one of the guys at the field about this very event. I got the impression that it happened a long time ago, and was already thrown out of court (maybe this happened before?). This same group of people took a bus to the field, but got off at the wrong stop... MILES away from the field. They proceeded to walk along the side of the highway to the field. A group of blind people, walking along side a highway, to go to a paintball field, without finding out if they could actually play beforehand.

[OUpaintball37]

Molybdenum, on 19 December 2011 - 09:06 PM, said:

I love how the felt the need to put "professional" in quotes. I guess professional paintballers are less "professional".

Yeah. We aren't nearly as professional as college basketball and their numerous child rapists.

oldnewb, on 20 December 2011 - 05:46 PM, said:

Hmmm... I wonder how long it would be before this same group tries sueing a flight school for not letting them take airplane piloting course.

HAHA yeah...

[DcSalem]

Sounds like a ploy to get money, I to if I was owner deny them to play for there own safety...sounds like I'm being a an @ss

[UV Halo]

I recommend before anyone makes any further comments, think about this- If you were partially blind (i.e. not able to get a drivers license nor read but, track people in a room or field)), and you wanted to play speedball with some of your similarly disabled friends, but, were told "No" because you're 'technically blind', what would you think?

If the organization is simply trying to make a buck, then to hell with them. But, given the little amount of information about this case, I honestly think folks should chill out with the hate. Especially given that in the claim, they assert that they've played at other fields.

This post has been edited by UV Halo: 20 December 2011 - 10:35 PM

[Robot85]

UV Halo, on 20 December 2011 - 10:34 PM, said:

I recommend before anyone makes any further comments, think about this- If you were partially blind (i.e. not able to get a drivers license nor read but, track people in a room or field)), and you wanted to play speedball with some of your similarly disabled friends, but, were told "No" because you're 'technically blind', what would you think?

If a group of pregnant women all wanted to ride the roller coaster at the same time it wouldn't be any safer. It is a rule that exists for everyone's safety, including those who happen to be visually impaired. This is simply a cash grab or attempt at getting attention.

[modelstarter]

this is ridiculous.....but if you read the comments in the link to the article there is a commenter who posted that the group had booked the field in advance and has played there before...the authenticity of this...


thank god i live in a country with a slow(shit) legal system where civil litigation can take up to 3 years or more before its even its even heard in court and even longer proceedings......
thus effectively cutting out bullshit lawsuits ...

This post has been edited by modelstarter: 20 December 2011 - 11:24 PM

[Yodi21]

Being visually impaired is a very very broad term. The group was most likely considered legally blind, not fully blind. In any case, myself being visually impaired, it is hard(er) to play paintball the less vision you have. It is all well and good for the group to try and see if they can play paintball, I say go right ahead... to a certain point. My vision corrects extremely well for my circumstances, and I am all for everyone getting an equal right to participating in whatever they deem possible. Paintball, however, is a very, very big grey area. It is a sport that is very fast paced, and that causes trouble for those with visual impairments, let alone if an individual is legally blind. I don't see how even if the field let them play the group would have fun. Just focusing on running to the correct position whilst not running into anything would be difficult, let alone shooting at the other players. In this case, its not a matter of equality, its a matter of safety. Be it the safety of the group (now the suitors), the refs and staff of the fields, or the other players (if they didn't know the group in question was visually impaired.) Long story short, these lawsuits make me sick, honestly, if you have an impairment, don't let it stop you from doing everything a "normal" person can, but know your limits for God's sake!

[blckninja]

Robot85, on 20 December 2011 - 10:45 PM, said:

UV Halo, on 20 December 2011 - 10:34 PM, said:

I recommend before anyone makes any further comments, think about this- If you were partially blind (i.e. not able to get a drivers license nor read but, track people in a room or field)), and you wanted to play speedball with some of your similarly disabled friends, but, were told "No" because you're 'technically blind', what would you think?

If a group of pregnant women all wanted to ride the roller coaster at the same time it wouldn't be any safer. It is a rule that exists for everyone's safety, including those who happen to be visually impaired. This is simply a cash grab or attempt at getting attention.

Its a rule that is designed to keep everyone that is participating in the event safe. Rules are meant to be followed, not broken.

And yes, this is a cash grab. And this is a perfect example of how broken our legal system is.

[No Mercy Ever]

This is stupid and ridiculous. Let's say that people who wanted to play were completely blind. These are people who rely on their other senses to allow them to keep interacting with society. We all know that a mask can impair one's sense of hearing, as well as one's sense of smell. So that means they have to rely on their sense of taste (Yeah, right) and their sense of touch. Touch is helpful when they are getting shot, but do they really know from where they are getting shot, much less can they tell if the paintballs are bouncing or breaking?

Let's say that the people were partially blind. From the Washington Examiner article, it does not say that they tried to play, and actually gives emphasis to the no blind firing rule. Funny that, long before there was paintball, there were soldiers in wars fighting for whatever reason that they were there fighting for. Not just here in the US, but anywhere there was firearms. Some soldiers got the idea to stay behind their cover, a building, a tree, wall, whatever, and stick their gun, rifle, submachine gun, whatever, around the corner and shoot. They don't know where exactly the bullets are going, just a general idea. This was called....wait for it....Blind Firing. It's not exactly new, or specifically limited to paintball. And yet, I don't see this same group going to the military and trying to sue them over the term. It's utterly ridiculous.

This is stupidity for the sake of stupidity. Nothing more, and nothing less.

[MayheM]

As hard as it may seem...reffing a group of blind players is not impossible. I have a reffed a group of special needs players, including deaf, blind and developmentally disabled. Only modification to the rules was the assistants for the blind players were allowed to work with them as a tandem. Basically one player was the eyes and the other was the marker. In the end it turned out to be one of the most interesting as well as enjoyable games I ever had the opportunity to ref.

[Nobben #44]

MayheM, on 09 January 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

As hard as it may seem...reffing a group of blind players is not impossible. I have a reffed a group of special needs players, including deaf, blind and developmentally disabled. Only modification to the rules was the assistants for the blind players were allowed to work with them as a tandem. Basically one player was the eyes and the other was the marker. In the end it turned out to be one of the most interesting as well as enjoyable games I ever had the opportunity to ref.

You can't really do that when everybody in the group is blind can you?
I blind person visually leads another blind person, a bunch of Norwegian comedians did a skit on this once, in a rally car.

[Conscript10001]

Nobben #44, on 09 January 2012 - 02:44 AM, said:

MayheM, on 09 January 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

As hard as it may seem...reffing a group of blind players is not impossible. I have a reffed a group of special needs players, including deaf, blind and developmentally disabled. Only modification to the rules was the assistants for the blind players were allowed to work with them as a tandem. Basically one player was the eyes and the other was the marker. In the end it turned out to be one of the most interesting as well as enjoyable games I ever had the opportunity to ref.

You can't really do that when everybody in the group is blind can you?
I blind person visually leads another blind person, a bunch of Norwegian comedians did a skit on this once, in a rally car.

No, what he means is that you would have a person who is not impaired in any way to assist the person with the impairment.