JOLIET, IL - When William Shatner told his executive officer, Patrick
"Pacman" McKinnon," that his goal was not only to have fun, but to win the Shatner SPPLAT Attack game on Sat., Aug. 31 at Challenge Park Xtreme, the wheels were set in motion to gather the most experienced paintball scenario players available to become Shatner's field commanders and special operatives in this historical event for the sport. Shatner himself made it plain he would be leading the Federation "red shirts" from the front as they battled the Klingons - led by Chicago's syndicated radio talk show host Mancow Muller, and the Borg - commanded by Tom Kaye of Airgun Designs.

The result of McKinnon's efforts culminated in a fully industry sponsored
team of seven of the most experienced and professional scenario
personalities in the sport. The Magnificent 7 would lead Shatner's troops on the game break to take the majority of the field, five of the seven flag
stations and acquire a substantial lead in the game, which they never
relinquished. The special ops units would immediately acquire two of the
three game props ("relics) and infiltrate the enemy lines, resulting in
chaos for the Klingons and Borg.

The Magnificent 7 consisted of: Patrick "Pacman" McKinnon of Team Blitzkrieg and Mackz Xtreme Sportz; Mike "Blue" Hanse, owner of EMR Paintball Park; "Smokin" Joe Stayback, owner of Sherwood Forest Adventure Games; Kerry "Viper" Rosenberry, owner of Viper Enterprises and Paintballmaxx; Kevin "Joker" Wilkes of team Joint Fury; Matthew "GQ" Zeyn of the Florida Doom Troopers and Area 52 paintball products, and Diane "Mother" Howe McKinnon of Team Blitzkrieg and Mackz Xtreme Sportz. The special ops units were led by Bobby "Darkman" Gogolin of Mackz Xtreme Sportz; Shawn and Jason Imbach of Evil Inc. and Tactical Gear; Robin "Styles" Stiller of Atomic Ordinance and
Lawrence "TB" Wright of Team Blitzkrieg and Scenario News.

More industry representatives who took on active roles for the Federation
were: Ethan Wheeler of team Forced Entry and CEO of BustNBalls; Rob Lussier of AT Systems, Eric Fetterman of SplatzEnough  and Greg "Red" Hastings of Redz Comfort Gear.

Scenario teams Evil Inc., Rat Pack, Texas Rangers, FUBAR, RPM and Misfits International also made strong showings on the field.

Members of The Magnificent 7 were fully outfitted, down to their underwear, as industry supporters rallied to the Federation's battle cry. Generation E supplied Shatner's field commanders with Matrix LCDs; Odyssey provided Halo loaders; CP donated Pro Barrel systems, ASAs and cradles; PMI sent Pure Energy 4500 PSI tanks; Redz Comfort Gear came in for the team, Shatner, his wife and daughter with Dimension pants, packs, belts, gloves, lanyards and bags; V-Force provided Shatner and his field commanders with Morph goggle systems; BustNBalls supplied HydroStorm hydration systems and comfy underwear, and paintball artist Ronn Stern added the final touch with his custom Barrel Blocking Devices. The entire group shot RP Scherer's Advantage
process JT ball during the game.

A great, big "Thank you" goes out to JJ Brookshire of SPPLAT and Challenge Park Xtreme for providing this event, and supporting the recball players in this industry.

Accompanying photo courtesy of Scenario News
William Shatner is flanked by left to right:  Mother, Viper, Blue, Pacman,
Smokin' Joe, Joker and GQ.
 

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