The problem with using the pits as walkways is that, well, what do you use as walkways then? Plus having very spread out pits would generally be a bad idea because it makes getting robots to and from the staging area that much more difficult. It also makes FIRST's job harder to manage the pit. I still say we'll never leave Disney and that they'll continue limiting attendance at nationals.

Matt

The walkways are generally pretty wide so if the pits took up half of the walkway width there would still be room for pedestrians and carts. If there are more teams at nats then you might not need to get to the pits as quickly, if they keep up with the match scheduling like they had this year. If FIRST wanted to stay with Disney as a sponsor but move to a stadium, a coast change might take place for nats. The Angels are owned by Disney (I think) It could work. The people running FIRST are pretty smart, I'm sure they'll figure out a way from having to limit nats.
C~ya,
Carolyn

Wide World of Sports Complex
 

I know the Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney has a baseball stadium. Do they have a basket ball arena or anyting like it?

Re: Wide World of Sports Complex
 

The Wide World of Sports does have a baseball stadium but it is used for spring training by a professional team (no I don't remember which one). Then again the main problem with most sports stadiums is a lack of a roof. Rain + robot = very bad thing. So it'd need to be a domed stadium.

Matt

Lol, one more post Matt....
 

...just one more post ;)

rain + robot =not very bad thing...if we have a water game

I think you guys missed something here. Based on the size tents we had this past year I'm sure to figure out a way to cover a field. Afterall, there were some teams who's pits got rained on when the tent cieling caved-in. One of the teams was in the Galileo pit area and across the aisle from team 122. They had to move everything out. Rain is a minor set back. After all, Mike could be right, uh oh that's scary that those words came out in that order and context. If we have a water game the problem could bedome finding a big enough pool or beach area.
C~ya,
Carolyn

yes! im right...im gonna have to write it down on the calender...and im gonna have to print it out and hang it on the refridgerator...havent had anything up there since - i guess i never have even though my brothers and sisters managed some good grades. finally i get something though...yay...

Let me rephrase that then:
sun + pasty white engineers = bad thing ;)

Matt

touche

how could this irishman forget that?

where shoulod I start?
 

Oh, Wow. I havent posted in a while. Well, I have a lot to say about this one.

1. I really like having nats at disney, just because its got a great atmosphere, and the weather is usually great (minus the rain). I really like the idea of having each division at each disney park. That would be really cool. I definatly think that we could easily figure out a way to keep nationals at Disney without having to keep teams from participating.

2. I dont really think that FIRST can easily limit who comes to nats (i've said this before). Many rookie teams can only go to nationals, because of funding or other reasons. If we then tell them, sorry, you cant go because you didnt go to a regional, then it seems like participating in FIRST isnt worth their time.
Also, Nationals is such a great experiance. I feel bad for teams that can only go to a regional, they dont know what they are missing. It would be wrong to not allow everyone to enjoy nationals.

3. Who said that they didnt see dancing???!!!????
Our team is slightly insane about dancing to the music at competitions. (this is what happens when you team has 16 girls and 11 boys...the girls end up dancing all the time. :D lol)....(think the big crowd before opening ceremonies on sat) Also, just wait until next year, when it will the danceing wil be better than ever!!!

ok...i needed to get that all out.
~Mimi who had lots of built up posting energy in her

Re: where shoulod I start?
 

Let me respond point by point:

1) I think all of us enjoy Disney as a location for nationals. However, the fact that it is Disney makes it harder keep people focused on FIRST. I know I have trouble with that myself even though I love FIRST and I've already been to Disney 3 times. That is one of the main reasons that moving nationals to another location would be beneficial regardless of the additonal capacity of another location.

2) FIRST already has limited the number of teams going to nationals. If you mean limit nationals attendance to teams that also went to a regional, I personally feel that that would be a good idea. Why? Because the experience of a regional is much better and much more rewarding than the experience of nationals. At regionals there's more a feeling of competition; people are sitting in the stands watching most matches; people are excited; it's louder, there's more enthusiasm; there's a better chance of winning something. I've done just the regional thing for a year, and I would recommend that over just going to nationals. Regionals are just more fun. The main thing I get out of nationals (besides seeing people) is just the size and expansiveness of FIRST. Yes, it's a good feeling and it's neat to see, but I don't think it's necessary.

3) I didn't say anything about not seeing dancing, but I will say I see a lot less dancing and yelling at Nationals as opposed to regionals. I personally believe that there was more yelling at the finals in NJ than there was in the finals at Nationals (this could be because I was down by the field at NJ yelling while I was sitting in seats at Nationals but that was the impression I got). There's just more enthusiasm at regionals. I don't remember seeing random conga-lines sprouting up at Nationals but do at NJ (yeah, I know, no conga music but it still counts).

Personally I hope to see FIRST stay at Disney and to allow unlimited teams to show up. Unfortunately, I don't think that'll happen. We'll wait and see what FIRST decides.

Matt

Re: where shoulod I start?
 

I'll build on what Matt said.

1. Well, I'll skip this one because I've already commented on it.

2. I'll voice my opinion here again. With the current of Nationals, it is too large. If FIRST can do something to make it feel more like a regional and get people excited while keeping or increasing the number of teams, I'd love it. But if they can't bring the fun back, they have to reduce the number of teams. FIRST has a big problem here: Nationals isn't as fun or exciting as regionals.

Since this is the Rumor Mill, I'll pass one along. I heard that FIRST is considering limiting Nats to teams that attend a regional, unless it's a rookie team.

3. I was the one who said there wasn't a lot of dancing or excitement at Nats, and I'm standing by that statement. Sure there were isolated instances of dancing, but it doesn't come close to what you find at a regional. And I can't help but compare Nats '01 to Nats '96, where during most periods between matches people would stand up (sometimes on the park benches) and dance, and during some songs almost everyone was up dancing. I just didn't see that type of excitement this year.

And as Matt said, there wasn't as much yelling either. Actually, there weren't many people even watching the matches. With ~80 teams per division, I'd expect the division stands to be overflowing (the only time this happened was the division finals). At times there were plenty of open seats. And during the finals on Einstein, the stands were empty. Contrast that with the finals in Chicago where everyone was watching and cheering. The place erupted when our alliance got the 710.

FIRST needs find a way to make Nationals as exciting as regionals and as exciting as it used to be.

Mike

Good point....
 

Hello,

I will just chime in here and say that time and time and time and time and time and time again I have heard people voice the same concerns as Mike. Nationals isn't fun anymore because it's too big. I went to nationals during the 3 year period of 97, 98 and 99 and I must say I have some very good fond memories. I took 2000 off from Nationals and went to them again in 2001. What a rude awakening that was....the size of things mushroomed out of control. And the whole time I was there I couldn't shake the feeling that I had much better memories from the previous trips. One thing that I think has severely limited the dancing/party atmosphere....indoor stages. I hate them...they are small, u are packed into the tents like sardeens. I say leave the stages outside. Drink plenty of water...u'll learn your lesson sooner or later like I did in 1998 when I almost dehydrated. But I'd gladly take a little sun to return that party atomsphere to nationals. I don't think finals @ Nats have ever been well attended in my exprience...to many people much more interested in the magic that Disney has to offer by that point than a robot compeition. If anything divisions hurt nationals the most. It was impossible to find teams...and if you had teams u wanted to see in multiple divisions...just forget it...here was no hope.

In regards to the rumor...it seems like a good money maker for FIRST. Because if you have to go to a regional to go to nationals well that $4000 + $5000 right there so basically all teams going to Nats will be shelling out a min of $9000...but give the rookies a one time break.

Just my thoughts,

-Justin

A few other things...
 

Okay,

First, something about sports stadiums. Most of these places have teams that inhabit them. I am hoping to see a Regional at the new Manchester Civic Center here in Manchester New Hampshire. However I was informed of a few obstacles to holding a FIRST comp @ a sports arena. Basically you have teams who inhabit them...so you have to work around a fairly regular schedule for a professional sports team. My response was "well they can break down a basketball court and have ice in the hockey wrink in just a few hours." Anyone who has assembled a FIRST field knows that this is not concieveable. Scheduling wise it isn't like FIRST is in and out in a day or even nite...they are there, setup, entrenched for 4 probably more days. There is no ticket revenue so u have to rent the place out...which cost enourmous amounts of money especially if the workforce is unionized because they have a minium amount of wages, etc. that need to be covered.

Secondly on a completely unrelated note...

My question is this to everyone who said Nationals shouldn't be limited....aren't the really already???

-Justin (again)