The Founders: Charles Gaines, Hayes Noel, and G. Ritchie White
Who are Charles Gaines and Hayes Noel? More importantly, who knows, or has even heard of, G. Ritchie White?
In their own words, “Charles is sort of a workout freak,” Hayes Noel says. While Gaines says, “Hayes is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever known. He’s a jock.”
Charles Gaines wrote a book, ” Pumping Iron .” That’s the book and subsequent documentary that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name.
Hayes Noel was equally accomplished, becoming a New York stockbroker and a former college football star.
By all accounts, Charles Gaines and Hayes Noel were best friends and constant rivals. They competed against each other in all kinds of sports. A friend once said, “The pair of them could bet over the length of a dog or the number of bricks in a fireplace.”
But who the hell is G. Ritchie White? He is the most important man in this story. For now, I will say this: I was able to correspond with Mr. White about this blog… but he was uninterested in commenting on my piece.
The Debate: Survival Skills and Competition
The debate: Charles and Hayes had a long-standing argument about the nature of survival. And on a summer’s night in the late ‘70’s, after good food and drinks, that argument escalated into a heated debate over who would be better suited to survive in the wilderness — in a predator-prey situation.
“And I said, ‘I can survive in any jungle,” Hayes says. “I can survive in the Wall Street jungle; I can survive in any jungle.”
Charles believed just the opposite — that outdoor survival relies on a set of learned skills and abilities. (Taylor Quimby)
The First Paintball Match: The Survival Game
Jump to the ending, on June 27, 1981, a 12-person game took place on a hundred-acre farm in Henniker, New Hampshire. They called it The Survival Game.
Gaines was quoted as saying, “They had the best turkey hunter in the state of Alabama, a wild elk hunter, a Green Beret lieutenant, a venture capitalist from New York, a surgeon, a movie producer, and Joe Drinon was there. Back then, he was a stockbroker and amateur boxer.” There were no women.
Oh… they also had G. Ritchie White, a New Hampshire forester there!
All the participants were outfitted with a single-shot, CO₂-cartridge-powered gun — pistol that shot paint-based pellets…THAT’S RIGHT, PAINTBALLS!!
And the winner was…G. RITCHIE WHITE!!! Who didn’t even fire a shot. See, Ritchie ghosted his way through the course, picking up all four flags in the game. Ritchie White avoided confrontation and won!
And, now you know the real story of Paintball!!
On the back roads with OHB keeping it real…and I am the real Brother Louie!