Maximus Lundqvist has just decided to leave New York Xtreme for Joy Division. Here's a Facefull exclusive glimpse of what his next season might look like, and the real reasons why he left. We caught him between a flight from Mexico and another to spend Christmas with his family in Sweden.
Text: Matthieu Chan Tsin
- From New York Extreme to Joy Division, what happened?
Well, I was banned from World Cup and ended playing Division II XBall with the
Hurricanes. It was awesome. It opened up my eyes so much about theNXL and I
realized that Div. II has so much potential. It is more fun and there is less
pressure. In Europe, I had so much fun with EXL. I am still young and I want
to try everything. I felt held back last year because I could only play NXL...
Then when I was at Campaign cup and Toulouse, I had the opportunity to play
a different format. It was weird to have somebody tell me where to play and
where not to play. Magued (Idris) called me two weeks ago, he had just got off
the phone with WDP. He told us (brother Alex and Max) all the things WDP was
ready to do for the team. Alex did not take the offer. He does not
have that much time, plus he has a baby now. I am still
young and I want to travel and play. So I took the offer.
-
How do you feel about the NXL now?
I am bummed that I won't be playing NXL this year. The
NXL has the best paintball. Paintball is amazing in the NXL, the skills of the
players are amazing. But I did not see a lot of things happening next year.
I don't think it is going to grow. I don't think it is going to be on TV and
that players will get any money. The NXL will still be awesome next year, but
it is not going to take off. That is why I felt that I could take a year off
with the NXL. It is like Dynasty, they waited to find out what things were going
to be, they played so much and got so much. But the NXL is much better. Many
10-man teams are now going to play XBall. The NXL is turning paintball into
a real sport. Somebody who does not know about paintball can watch an NXL game
and get excited, unlike with 10-man.
-
Where do you stand with New York Extreme?
We are still buddies. I talked to Rosie and he was understanding.
I have two families. One in the US and one in Sweden. Rosie understood my ties
with my Swedish friends. Not everything was like I wanted in NYX. But Rosie
said that I would be welcomed back next year... plus I am still going to practice
with NYX. I am still going to live in New York.
-
How did you feel as an NXL player?
The NXL made players expendable in that nobody knows who
is on the field. But, you can't take anybody and throw them into the NXL. I
don't like that players lost all their power with the NXL. The NXL is about
team owners. If the players don't like something, they can deal with it or leave.
I think that promoters should listen. If they don't, they're retards...oz players
think about paintball 24/7, and they think about ways to make the sport better.
When we started the NXL season, we had no guarantees. They said that it might
take a year before we would see nay money. Media coverage sucked for NXL teams,
compared to coverage of teams like Dynasty and the Naughty Dogs. There was good
promotion for the league, but not as much as they could have. I felt that we
were held back, as players... and Dynasty had an amazing year.
-
The future?
I am just happy that I am back playing with Joy Division,
playing PSP and NPPL. If it was not for the EXL, I would not have seen all these
guys. We going to win a lot of tourneys with very dedicated team captain, Magued.
It is going to be very cool to be back with WDP. They have been taking care
of Joy since 1991-1992. They know how to promote paintball.
*this interview is
extracted from face-full.com