This is my first installment of the Michigan Player profiles that I will be doing throughout the year. Enjoy!
Name: Rick "Spydie" Steinebach
Team: TCP Machine, Captain
Sponsors: KEE Action Sports (Halo, Empire, Pure Energy, Invert), Planet Eclipse, Virtue, Stiffi, Mafia Stylz, Magnum Sportz, Custom Products.
Current Marker: Planet Eclipse Ego 8
First Marker: Spyder
Superstitions: must wear my 'machine' headband, I don't like to step on the painted lines on a field (Sparky Anderson), I never call the coin toss. I insist that the other team's captain calls it.
Favorite paintball moment: MANY. Winning Skyball twice, playing in front of thousands for 1st place at an NPPL event. signing autographs in California, winning with my nephew, winning a tie-breaker one on one to advance to finals in NPPL Kansas City in 2007, being told by established pro's 'your team is f'ing awesome'.
Rick started playing paintball back in 1996. His first marker, like many of ours was a Spyder. Rick and his friends rented a local paintball field once a month. They started getting better and investigated some paintball tournaments. They entered in Blizzard Ball, located in London, Ontario. They won their first two games to the surprise of them and everyone at the tournament. But it was back to reality after few losses, this was the first taste of real competitive paintball Rick had! After Rick started playing tournaments he was hooked! His team worked and played a few local tournaments with the goal of winning a few, now in 2008 TCP machine's goals are set a bit higher!
In 2001 they decided to start playing national level 10 man paintball. They played the world cup in Orlando Florida, and then the entire 2002 10 man season. At the end of 2002, the NPPL split into 2 different tourney circuits. NPPL became the 7 man format, and the PSP became xball and 10 man (which they later dropped since all the pros and any other good teams wanted to play xball so 10 man died). They started in D2, and had mixed results for a long time. Then finally finished #5, & #6, #3 in consecutive years! They decided to move up to D1, and took 2nd 3 times in 5 events, finishing the year in 2nd place, then this past year they moved up to Semi-Pro. Needless to say it was a very big jump! They took 4th place in Jacksonville this year and finished the year in 7th place. They began the year with a 'two year plan' (to be pro in 2 years). The pro NPPL division is locked at 18 teams. At the conclusion of every year, the bottom 3 pro teams are 'relegated' to the semi pro bracket and the top 3 semi-pros are invited to the pro bracket to make sure the pro bracket is the best of the best. In their first season, TCP Machine finished 7th, only a stone's throw from the top 3! Keep TCP Machine and Rick on your radar for the 2009 season, we possibly could have Michigan's first pro NPPL team!!
Rick is currently overseeing the TCP paintball store in the Grand Rapids area. He also works with magnum sportz, doing consulting and running special events. Magnum sportz often hosts many great nights for paintball, including masters night (30 and over), FIGHT NIGHT (next one happens to be TOMORROW NIGHT, Saturday 29th, I will be there, come check it out!), random draw leagues, clinics and much much more.
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