**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL**/Championship Schedule Change

[Mark McLeod]

**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL**/Championship Schedule Change



Greetings Championship Teams:

To accommodate all FRC Championship teams, we are making an extension to our Thursday Qualification Matches.

Qualification Matches will begin at 1:00 pm and will run until 8:15 pm on Thursday, April 26th, with a dinner break from 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm. The FRC Pits will be open from 7:00 am to 8:30 pm on this date.

Please monitor our 2012 Championship planning page: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/championship-event and Championship email blasts for important updates as Championship approaches.

Go 2012 Championship Teams!

FRC Team Support

[jblay]

Thursday is going to be an absolutely crazy day.

[Mark McLeod]

Good luck with any team dinners planned for Thursday...
I think we'll be eating in this year. :)

[dodar]

This longer run time could mean each team might get a total of 12 qualifying matches though. 12*100=1200/6=200. Do you think we could run through 200 matches from 1-815(Thursday), then 930-530(Friday), then 930-1130(Saturday)? I think we could.

[RobotMom]

Good luck with any team dinners planned for Thursday...
I think we'll be eating in this year. :)

Not to mention the kids that want to go to the Roboprom that night.

[TD78]

This longer run time could mean each team might get a total of 12 qualifying matches though. 12*100=1200/6=200. Do you think we could run through 200 matches from 1-815(Thursday), then 930-530(Friday), then 930-1130(Saturday)? I think we could.

A few blog posts earlier, Bill said 9 qualification matches per team...but I hope it's more than that!

[EricH]

This longer run time could mean each team might get a total of 12 qualifying matches though. 12*100=1200/6=200. Do you think we could run through 200 matches from 1-815(Thursday), then 930-530(Friday), then 930-1130(Saturday)? I think we could.
I don't think so. To get close, either you're running through lunch on Friday (172 matches on a 6-minute cycle) or you're running 5-minute cycle times (which gives 195 matches not counting Friday lunch, and 207 counting Friday lunch). And the field doesn't break down. Give Friday an extra hour and you have a chance with a particularly fast cycle time; give Friday an extra two or three hours and maybe you can do it on a normal cycle time.

However, with that kind of schedule, I'd bet on a minimum 10-match schedule and possibly an 11-match schedule. Just not a 12-match schedule.

[dodar]

The main reason why I said 12 is because with 100 teams and 6 teams per match, only 9 matches and 12 matches per team comes out with a solid number of total matches without surrogate matches.

[rachelholladay]

13.5 hours of robotics? Gee this is just like the last few days before ship..
And as a member of our drive team, I guess dinner just isnt going to happen.

[jblay]

13.5 hours of robotics? Gee this is just like the last few days before ship..
And as a member of our drive team, I guess dinner just isnt going to happen.

I fear that some people, possibly me, will be forced to break the no eating in the pit rule.

[tim-tim]

I fear that some people, possibly me, will be forced to break the no eating in the pit rule.

In St. Louis there vendors in the pit area. Last year they didn't seem to care about food in the pits.

[waialua359]

In St. Louis there vendors in the pit area. Last year they didn't seem to care about food in the pits.

Tim,
I sure hope so as its going to be a long day from the get go!

[Nate Laverdure]

The main reason why I said 12 is because with 100 teams and 6 teams per match, only 9 matches and 12 matches per team comes out with a solid number of total matches without surrogate matches.
If the number of teams per division is a multiple of 6 (e.g. 96, 102, etc), then you can play any number of matches per team without needing surrogates.

[BigJ]

A quick control-F for "food" of the At The Events admin manual section, and the safety manual, doesn't show any rules against eating in the pit.

That being said, I've been eating in the pit for years. :p

[Karthik]

This is a great change. I've always been a proponent of playing later to get extra matches in. It's definitely going to be a long day, but well worth it in my mind.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Good move.

[class1234567]

For Drivers like me thats going to be crazy. . I Guess its No dinner

[jblay]

This is a great change. I've always been a proponent of playing later to get extra matches in. It's definitely going to be a long day, but well worth it in my mind.

It's going to be absolutely awesome and ridiculous, great move FIRST.

I just know after the adrenaline from competition wears off this is just going to make my Sunday night crash even more brutal.

[GaryVoshol]

Bah, come learn from a district/championship system. :) We played 71 matches today, scheduled from 9:15 to 7:30, had a 20+ minute talk from Dean Kamen, and still finished only 1 minute late.

They should be able to do a 6-minute schedule at St. Louis. With the times listed, that just about comes to a 10-game schedule.

[bduddy]

6-minute schedules were the standard in the past, but that was with longer waits for the score, and more complex games to reset/set up. I don't think 5 minute turnarounds are out of the question if they hurry... maybe 5.5? I think the only obstacle may be the connection issues...

[GaryVoshol]

Getting less than 6 minute turnaround consistently is very hard. We had a few series where we hit 5 minutes for 4 or 5 matches in a row, but then one relatively short delay - say an 8 minute turnaround - and you're right back to 6 minute averages.

[Shelbers2486]

For Drivers like me thats going to be crazy. . I Guess its No dinner

Exactly what I thought when I read this, but i'd trade dinner for more matches any day!

[Nawaid Ladak]

great move by FIRST. This is going to be nuts, but i'm going to absolutely love it.

I don't think they would extend the time on Friday as they FIRST does have some program at the Cardinals/Brewers game that night.

[Starke]

This is a great change. I've always been a proponent of playing later to get extra matches in. It's definitely going to be a long day, but well worth it in my mind.

Totally agree with you!