Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I was at my brothers football game today, and it ended with a bang… a fight broke out and the game was over. I was wondering if there has ever been a fight like after a match, or maybe in the pits?

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

At the end of the inagural Montreal regional while I was helping tear down the field I noticed two boys standing face to face nearby and shouting at each other. it was in French so I didn't know what they were saying or what the dispute was about but I knew aggression was. I got between them and yelled at the bigger one to go away. He was still hot and was trying to get back over but his teammate was walking with him and was blocking his path back over. I turned to see how the other boy was doing. He was surrounded by three of his teammates and another boy from another team who were really letting him have it. Looking back on the incident it would not surprise me one bit if the whole thing was over a girl.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

Well I have never seen a fist to fist fight but I have been at an FTC qualifier that you saw coaches and parents yell at the FTA for the system messing up. Now granted this event started like 4 hours late and ended at 10 Pm when it was suppose to end at 6, but It got pretty crazy between the adults.

I think a student had to tell his coach to cool it because he got really angry about the score of the match and wanted a redo.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

And I thought 30 minute delays between matches was bad...

I can't even imagine what kind of reactions this would cause if it happened at an FRC regional or district CMP. What could even cause an event to start so late?

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

The FTC control system is not fun. I don't know how long ago this was, but until this year, it has been an nightmare for us in Michigan to get working consistently. In our first year it was rare for competitions to not be an hour or two behind, with a few being three or four hours slow. Recently we've got it quite better, but I think that is more because of our experience than improvements in the system.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

Not to my knowledge. However, there was one event that ended badly... due to control system issues all the time, teams refusing to recognize results, stuff like that. A team that had just been eliminated staged a sit-in on the field to demand a rematch. That was a few years ago, and the event went much better the following year.


I think the long-standing rule about uncivil behavior not being tolerated helps keep the fights down.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I haven't seen fisticuffs in eleven years of doing this. I've seen arguments that stopped the show for over an hour, but no physical blows.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

Although I do know you have been attacked with a clipboard from time to time...

Nope, me neither: In 10 years, never saw a punch thrown. Kinda nice, that.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

There was a significant dust up between two guys outside of the dome when one of them tried to jump the line just before the doors opened. The names of the two well regarded teams the two were from shall remain unmentioned since the incident was not a representation of what the teams stand for;) this incident was just one of the many incidents that led to the positive changes we saw regarding crowd control this year. Kudos Frank and company!

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

At a district event this year a volunteer was harassed during load in by a mentor from a team trying to cut in line. The mentor was a about to punch the volunteer had another adult not broken up th confrontation. This type of behavior is unacceptable, especially from mentors

Sadly, lots of the behavior problems I have seen at competitions have been from mentors, the ones students are supposed to look up to.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

There was one at championship 2012 over some seats that a team had believed that they were entitled to for their students that were unable to get wristbands for Einstein seating. It could be seen off the live steam as I'm told by my family. It wasn't anything big but its now a pun when it comes to referencing that team (which by the way is one of the most respected teams in FRC). But again it was a few young students starting it all.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I had a fight with my robot once during competition.

I felt bad about it and apologized.

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I have lost every fight I had with our robots and have the scars to prove it:D

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I fought with my student's robot this year... and it ended up knocking me to the ground.... (make sure your catapults safty mechanism works, and doesnt misfire... ow.)

Re: Has there ever been a fight at compeition?
 

I got capped by a robot in 2005, because I was wearing a partially visible green collar under a volunteer t-shirt, while doing field reset on Curie. It was entirely my fault -- the robot was just doing its job. :o