The scenario of this year?s game went something like this:  a villain comes out of the future and goes into the past, pursued by Shatner, Mancowe, and Col. David Hunt (a highly decorated Vietnam War vet, commentator for Fox, and all around amazing guy).  Basically, we were the cavalry pursuing the villain who went back to 1880.  The villain group was lead by the intrepid Tom Kaye and his team.      I arrived at the game in a tank with a cavalry sword and hat.  I think I had at least 400 or 500 players o­n my team (there was a total of about 1,000 players).  For a while, the two teams were neck and neck -- but truthfully, the scenario quickly turned into an outright game.

     One incident stands out in my mind ? apparently, Tom Kaye had ?bribed? o­ne of my team members with the offer of a $1500 paintball gun if he agreed to ?assassinate? me.  What Tom didn?t count o­n was the spirit of mankind.  It turns out this man had seen me play Shakespeare at Stratford long ago, and that I had taught him to love Shakespeare.  Because of his appreciation, he couldn?t bring himself to ?kill? me!    

Instead of assassinating me, I devised a devious plot that would get the gun and Tom at the same time!  I told this poor man that he ?had to kill me.?  What I really did, though, was turn him into a secret agent.  I yelled, ?cease fire!? in the middle of the game and had this gentleman accompany me into the enemy camp.  Neither he nor Tom knew that I had a pierced paintball literally ?up my sleeve.?  So when I got close to the camp, I started pretending I was having a heart attack.  Everyone gathered around me, whereupon I took the pierced paintball and ?spplated? Tom and my own player!  Since a ?hit? of a team captain inside his own camp was worth 50 points, I gained those points for my team!  Call me underhanded, but it worked!   

The tide began to turn after that.  At another point, the team leaders were supposed to be playing poker for thirty minutes.  I arrived o­n time to the game, but the other two leaders were late.  So I began playing with Mancowe and was able to explain the game basics to him (aided by my recent time spent with expert players and watching poker o­n TV).  By the time the others arrived, I had won all Mancowe?s chips.  Plus, I was dealt a straight during the game.  All in all, I ended up with most of the chips and another hefty point award for my team.   

After the game, the final battle began.  As it was the year before, this battle was a free-for-all.  There were paintballs flying everywhere!  It was so much fun you can?t believe it!  Afterwards, people came up to me and told me this was the most fun they?d had their lives.  It was indeed an amazing time.    

The best part, of course, is that the whole thing was for charity.   I?d like to take this chance and thank everyone who helped with the event (including my wife, Elizabeth, who happens to have turned into a fierce player).  If you went to the event, I hope you had as much fun as we did.  If you couldn?t make it, well, there?s always next year.  Plus, of course, a new DVD and a possible airing of the event o­n OLN.