Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Darn. I thought I was on to something there.

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Perhaps it is the seal holding weight?
The first hint would then mean that the seal would never give up the weight.

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

I think that this speculation is not as productive as it used to be. I think that continuing is time wasted. Unless some new Game hint is released I think we will have to wait for the Kickoff on the 5th.

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Ive got it, the game peices will be tesseracts!

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Well that would be quite confusing for everyone

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

I hope we do a triple play-esk game. That was my favorite of all games...

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Path1:
Based on the Dec 18 blog entry "Well, I’m looking at a game hint right now, and, wow! That is one nice game hint" the hint must be a physical something Frank could see from wherever he was on the afternoon of the 18th (anyone?). Running with the image of a seal holding the weight of a ball on it's nose so it can't eat and misses dinner... the misspell in usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-kit-of-arts-info-and-an-actual-game-hint points to a painting or a play or a sculpture. Google's most popular image of a statue of a seal balancing is this one outside AT&T park in San Francisco. Note that it is balancing a baseball.
Now the other part of the Dec 18 blog entry: "but we’re not quite ready to release it yet. We’ll be doing that on 12/21." Why would it matter what exact date the hint was released? I thought of E-bay and a listing that might expire by kick-off (what a clever place to hide the encryption code for the 2013 game manual...) but I don't think E-bay listings can be set to 2 week duration. However, I think Craigslist expiries can be set to two weeks. Wouldn't it be something if there were a Craigslist item for sale, where the listing was released on exactly December 21/12, in the arts category and in the San Francisco area... and if that something were a statue of a seal balancing a ball...

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/art/3482870317.html

It seemed like such a good match but, after contacting the seller, it appears this is all just coincidence.

Path2:
Maybe a release date of Dec 21/12 coincided with something else. For instance, the release of a movie like Cirque Du Soleil's World's Away. Maybe a bit of a stretch but then again, the balancing seal image, pi and the repeated reference to 3 as in three-ring circus?

Path3:
Going back to hint #3 and the rhyming couplet, the last line could be interpreted as bearing defined as "something that supports weight". So, in the art theme, a bear's dinner missed.

Sorry if this is all going from plausible to busted but I had to get it out of my head. Maybe this hint is all (or mostly) a red herring (seal's dinner?) like the fourth (red) thumbtack on the rick Astley photo.

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

No. If it became a 4 robot alliance...Oh. My. Goodness. It'd be pretty cool, though, to be honest with you. Make the field slightly bigger and I think it would work.

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

...or the robots slightly smaller?

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

I can't quite imagine what alliance selection would look like for 4v4.

Current 3v3 serpentine works fairly well because the first seed gets the advantage of first pick, but is somewhat disadvantaged by getting the last pick.

What order would the fourth robot be selected in?

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

I truely think a 4-team alliance will be biting more than FIRST can chew. Strategizing will be a nightmare, as well as driving. It sounds like it would be cool, but in reality I believe it would be a huge mess and nothing more. Too much going on, for referees as well as the audience, and not to mention the drive teams.

Think of the children! And the coaches!

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

Think about a 4-team alliance for a minute. That means 4 teams qualifying from every regional, plus Rookie All-Star, Chairman's, and Engineering Inspiration. There are 58 regionals, plus two district championships, plus the hall of fame teams that get in, plus the Einstein teams from last year. And don't forget about the wild card spots... that means a higher percentage of the spots earned at each regional will actually be used than they have in previous years, as we'll eliminate some overlap.

I just don't see how FIRST can expand Champs enough to accomodate the extra 50+ teams a 4-team alliance format would entail. Even with a 3 team alliance, you get close to 400 qualification based spots at Champs!

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

I agree with all that's said... and remember the same things being said when they went from 2v2 to 3v3! :)

(I'm not saying it's going to happen, or even that I think it might... Just that it's definitely a possibility.)

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

That assumes that 4 teams carries over to eliminations. I'd say that was a big assumption...

Neal

Re: 2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!
 

No. I think that a 4 team elimination would work just as well. Although it would make scouting a nightmare.