interview
Josh: We’ve seen you hanging around
with Omaha Vicious lately - in the pits, at
UWL events, etcetera. Why them?
Simon: The people. I have been nothing
but impressed by everyone and everything
to do with the Vicious organization, that
goes from the owners, to the management,
to the team and to the fans. For fun when
I have spare time you will find me on my
forums or in the Vicious OT on PBNation.
I have probably posted more there than
anywhere else in a long time, and it’s
because I enjoy it. I am sat in the airport
now returning from the Vicious Streetball
event which I wanted to attend to meet
some people from the OT and because
I just knew it would be a great day of
paintball. I recommend anyone that hasn’t
attended it, or is thinking about it, to join
us next year. It was awesome!
In a world of “Professional” Paintball I see
Vicious as a stand out that truly deserves
to use the world Professional. Many teams
simply do not and are far from it. I also
like the fact that they all use products I
have been responsible for, Axe, Vanquish,
Z2 and E-Flex goggles. Even though I no
longer work for KEE/Empire I still care
about every product I ever made there
and the customers using them. I want them
to be successful. I designed and wrote the
CNC programs to make the Vicious Axe,
the grip frames they have are designed after a “Simonized” Axe I made for myself. I
actually went back to KEE even after I left
to make sure the project was finished and
went to plan. I love the technical side of
paintball, and Carl and Karen Bortol who
own Vicious appreciate that the details
are important and that makes it fun and
92
interesting for me to work in the pits with
them. The goals and story of the team is
also compelling and moving, and I have
no doubt that the team has the ability to
win the major PSP events. I want to support them in that goal and be there when
it happens.
Josh: Who are some of the people you’ve
drawn inspiration from, or that you look
up to, in paintball and why?
Simon: In paintball, there is really only
Tom Kaye on the technical side. I almost
went into business with him when I left
university and was working on force feed
loaders. I appreciate his scientific approach to what he did and try to emulate
that in my actions. I look to have data
and use real engineering and science in
what I do to make the best products I can
with data and facts to back them up, not
hype and lies. I also appreciate the companies that care about what they do and
are paintballers and part of what is going
on. The team at Planet Eclipse are a good
example of that. Otherwise I try to lead,
not follow.
I have never been interesting in copying
someone else’s work. We are all standing
on the shoulders of the giants that came
before us, but I am always trying to innovate and improve with everything I do,
sometimes it’s just small steps, but every
step forward is a step in the right direction.
I have a couple of concepts right now that
if they work, could be some of the most
exciting innovations I have ever made. We
shall see!
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