It's entirely legal to shoot someone at 7 p.m. on Thursdays -- with paint, that is.
If you're looking for a new high, Auburn paintball club's got what you need.
It may not be America's pastime or the South's officially unofficial religion, but according to the few and the proud who play, it is the most legally addictive rush known to man.
Paintball has not grabbed America by the eyeballs just yet. Unlike its family members of the same last name -- football, basketball, baseball, etc. -- the fringe sport still remains on the extreme periphery.
However, the cult-like following, which is always on the hunt for fresh recruits, is hooked and feels as though it has found some new adrenalin high mainstream sport lovers aren't ready for just yet, if ever.
"There's nothing like the rush that you get, honestly," said Brad Lugar, president of the Auburn paintball club. "When you're in a situation and you're trying to keep from getting eliminated, there's literally nothing like that. That moment is one of the best feelings. You're on the edge of going and getting blew out of the game, or you're going to stay in and win a battle between somebody else."
Lugar, senior in industrial design, has played paintball for 10 years.
He has been involved with the club, which has nearly 15 members, for four of those years.
He said they are looking for new people to join.
Whether they are unfamiliar with paintball or have been playing for years, as Lugar has, there is a place on the team for all skill sets.
As a warning for newcomers that attest to paintball's drug-like addictive element, Lugar said throughout his career in the sport, whoever he involves in it cannot quit.
"Everybody that has wanted to play with me and has gone out and started playing tournaments with me -- they'll put their gear up, and they'll say 'I'm not playing anymore,'" he said. "'I'm quitting, I'm retiring,' blah, blah, blah, and then they'll literally have the urge to play again," he said.
One the newest members, Chris Kay, junior in architecture, who transferred from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the summer and had played paintball in 2008 with Lugar, said he had not played for a while and missed the sport.
Then, after learning of Auburn's paintball club, he joined and said it felt like he had never left the sport.
"Everyone was really nice," Kay said, describing his introduction to the club. "Basically, I just kind of walked in. We started playing. We started going to practice. It wasn't like I was a new person, just another person on the team to play with."
The team played its first tournament Sunday, Oct. 7.
It was the first of the year for Payton Howle, junior in environmental science, who said he fell in love with paintball in fourth grade.
Howle explained the paintball team primarily keeps in touch through its Facebook page and has meetings throughout the semester to encourage recruitment.
He described a typical practice for the team.
"We played a lot of games," he said. "As soon as one would end, we would flip sides and run it back. It's just a lot of practicing being smart, and you know, not getting too wild and making stupid mistakes. It's just like any sport."
Lugar said his love for the sport extended beyond the adrenalin rush.
Something that resonated with the team, as Lugar said, is a connection -- a bond that is shared among those that play the sport.
He said he likes representing Auburn, even unofficially, since paintball has not been recognized as an official Auburn University sport, as it has been among several neighboring universities.
More information on the Auburn paintball club can be found at Auburn.edu/AUInvolve
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