Puptastrophe plays for Bleep Bloop in division six of the Pro league. Bleep Bloop finished the regular season 7-3 and looks to likely be in the playoffs.

Pup also participated in and provided answers to the original ten questions which you can read here.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

For me the most favorite is definitely playing and competing with a group of guys whom I truly consider close friends. The chemistry we have on the court together is fantastic and it’s a big part of what makes this game still enjoyable for me after nearly sixteen months. If I were on a team where everyone was constantly bickering with each other, I think I would have quit long ago.

I’d say I least enjoy all the drama in Grifball. I play this game to unwind and have a little fun. While I do enjoy winning, I don’t think it needs to be taken so seriously.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

There’s definitely quite a big gap in skill between most amateur and pro level players. While occasionally I’ll run across an amateur player who is quite impressive, for the most part I see many who still have a lot to learn.

As for the decision process, the biggest thing that effected my team’s decision was scheduling. Having a set night for games this season has made a big difference in things running more smoothly. We’ve had a few annoyances with scheduling, but nothing like last season.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

Personally for me it’s runner. It’s something I’ve been working on to improve but I still wouldn’t ask my teammates to trust me to be the primary ball carrier. It requires you to be completely aware of not only where your teammates are but your opponents as well. When your opponents start hopping around and flying all over the place, running the ball can often times become pretty unnerving.

On a less personal level though, I would say that each position is just as important as another. They all have a level of difficulty which will increase especially if you face off against tougher opponents. One critical error by a defender can cost your team the game, just as a missed stiff-arm by a runner or an ugly betrayal at the worst possible time by a tank can be disastrous.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Certainly. Aside from running, as I mentioned, I believe I could still use some improvement in my defense around the goal. Often times I’ll get an ugly and unecessary betrayal that could have been avoided had I been more aware of the position of my teammates.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

Definitely the game with Separate Intelligence this season. Though Tortoise (my teammate) had host, it was a 50 minute war. While SI was for the most part being out-tanked, they were still doing a remarkable job of getting themselves into position and pulling off the clutch kills when they needed to. The fact that the game was decided on the very last goal made it all the more epic. Every single person in that game had over 100 kills. You don’t see that very often.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I believe it’s about as fair as you’re going to get without being able to play the game in a LAN setting. Obviously there are still going to be players that will connect better to the neutral host than others, but it at least removes the one player from the court who has the advantage of a host hammer.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

Honestly I’m not all that concerned with it. I love playing grifball regardless of what map I’m on. Does it have an entirely different feel to it? Yes, obviously, but I can get used to it in time. I do think there should be some bum rush tournaments organized with the purpose of playing exclusively on the Grif Cave. That is perhaps something the GrifballHub staff and I will put together soon.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

For the most part, yes. Despite the fact that more of the community has been included to help in different aspects of the league, I still feel there’s plenty of opportunity to get even more people involved.

I will say however that I believe league admins should be held to the same #1 rule of not being a douche just like the rest of the community. Too many times I see admins making comments on the Rooster Teeth forums that are out of line and quite unprofessional. While they’ll often make the argument that sometimes they’re posting as their non-admin self, I think they have to realize that the majority of people in the community know them too well as admins, and will associate everything they say as coming from an admin, not just a “regular” individual of the community.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I think it would certainly be nice if we could eventually find sponsors for the league that would be willing to either donate products as prizes, or cash to acquire prizes instead in exchange for promotional advertisements. If people outside of the community see involvement of corporate sponsors, perhaps that will change their perception of the league.

I don’t know that the league could ever reach the level of MLG with events taking place in large convention centers and arenas on LANs, but perhaps with the presence of more valuable prizes, league registration as well as competition would increase.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I think it would certainly help to make the playlist more enjoyable for everyone. Finally you would hopefully be able to do away with a lot of the games where parties of grifball league players get matched up against people who hardly know how to spell the word grifball.