How about a real good dose of Bad Karma?….no its not that real Karma thing but rather another great group of Scenario Paintballers who stopped by The Catshack today to share their adventures.

A Chick-fil-A, one Special Ops forum, and a few fired up paintballers that have played since the late 80’s This is how Bad Karma got its start. At the end of 2006 both Jared Bronson, the teams Commander, and Chris Frank, the teams Co-Commander had played a few games together via the Brigade, but didn’t decide to put the team together until a thread on the Special Ops forum. From there, PMs and phone calls were made. An initial meeting at the Chick-fil-A confirmed everyone was on the same page with what type of team it would be (scenario, big game and CQB). Then a couple recruiting games were put up on the Brigade. The response was overwhelming: 20-30 players wanted to join in the first month. Two players that came out the first week were cousins Nate and Brandon Durbano. Along with Jared and Chris, they now form the leadership core of the team.

In the past three seasons, Bad Karma has seen a lot of changes. It grew to 18 people in 2007 and then ballooned to almost 30 in 2008. “It got a little too big”, said Jared Bronson, Team Commander. In 2009, the decision was made to slim the team down to just the players that were focused and dedicated to the game. Currently, the team roster includes 15 people. It’s an adult team with one exception (Joe Durbano).

Leading the team is Jared Bronson, a U.S. Army veteran who has applied some of that experience to the tactics he teaches the team, as well as to the big game generaling he frequently gets called on for. Leaders Chris Frank, Nate Durbano and Brandon Durbano all have more than a dozen years of playing, reffing and organizational experience as well. The roster is rounded out by players Pat Burns, Levi Lauck, George Gallagher, Eric Vander Linden, Cliff Reid, Marv White, Matt Kehr, Steve Garnet, Mitchell Graham, Mark Barrett, Joe Durbano, and honorary member Brian “MOATI” Russell, owner of Special Ops Paintball, who is a friend of the team. One player that will be added to the roster in 2010 is Tim Andrus, owner of A Pirates Paradise in Mesquite, Nevada.

Bad Karma has traveled to many games around the Rocky Mountain region and beyond. Utah, Nevada, and Idaho are regular haunts with occasional visits to places like Oregon, Arizona, and even Illinois. The events to this day that the team talks about are trips to the CPX Living Legends game outside Chicago for the amazing field and people, an Arizona Black Cat scenario for the constant pranks on the road, and of course the Nevada games. The Casa Grande event in Las Vegas and the interesting things that happened after are team legend.

In 2009 the team really stepped up its game in scenarios and competitions alike. It started via the extreme Mt. Suribachi scenario in southern Utah with grueling firefights that ended in the team planting a flag literally on top of a mountain. SPPL was a low, not for how the team finished, but for the unfortunate events that happened there. And the season ended on some very good high notes with two amazing scenarios at A Pirates Paradise down in Mesquite, Nevada. Operation Torch in September had primarily competitive SPPL teams attend from neighboring states while the Xtreme Combat Weekend included MMA fighters and other stars. Bad Karma spent most of the week prior to the Xtreme Combat Weekend helping build the field and then having a great time meeting new people like the Northern Gunmen from as far away as Canada.

As far as equipment goes, the team does not require players to purchase specific guns. Anything from Tippmanns to Dangerous Power guns can be found on the team. They are fans of Special Ops soft goods, so you’ll see many vests and even some custom packs. Several team members also run Medusa Paintball systems as well. Camo generally fits the environment the team is playing in. For 2010, Bad Karma plans on standardizing around the Omnipat pattern from Special Ops.

The team will be expanding in a couple of ways for the 2010 season. One is by bringing on some new members. They have not actively recruited for over a year and a half, but will be opening up tryouts over the winter to fill some key spots. The team will also be playing many more road games this year. California and Chicago are on the list, with several slated for their favorite Nevada venues. The team also plans to play in all three Triad events this year. These events pit players from three states against each other at the same time. Games rotate from state to state.

Look for Bad Karma to pick up some key sponsorships this coming season as well. They already represent organizations like Elite Weekend Productions and the National Guard. Real Action Paintball, promoter Paradox Games, and software company TreeHouse Interactive are also sponsors.

As far as what makes the team tick, they’re just a bunch of guys that play hard, play fair, and like meeting other people that love the game. Because of this approach, Bad Karma has been honored by several event promoters with MVT, MVP, and sportsmanship awards.

To get in contact with the team, visit www.teambadkarma.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter via links on their website.

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