Championship Location Rumor
 

The standing rumor is that the championship is not going to be at Epcot. The latest rumor is that it will be in a dome stadium and it is a dome that opens. And it will be in a city that already has a regional. That narrows it down to either Huston or Phoeniz. I will guess Phoeniz. We will know for sure within one week.

If this is true, we will soon find out which students are in FIRST for the right reasons and which are in it for a trip to Disney. I personally am tired of Disney and will welcome the change.

I continue to hear Houston as a possibility.

If you look at the options that Raul mentioned, Houston and Phoenix, I think Houston has the lead for a few reasons.

- The hotel situation is marginally better in Houston
- Houston is a more central location
- There are more daily flights in and out of Houston's airport
- With NASA's connection to both the city of Houston and FIRST it seems natural

If this is true there are a few more remote possibilities. Toronto's Skydome for one. I'm not sure if FIRST is ready to take nationals across the border, but a Torontonian can dream...

We'll see how all this plays out in the next few days. Although, for now I think Houston has become the front runner.

- Karthik

We already have a thread about this lalalalalalala. :mad:

True, but this is a more focused point. It could go in the other thread, but it may not need to.

assuming Houston is the choice- what off hour, accessible activities are there for large groups of students and how is the surface transportation?


what is the hotel situation near this "large domed stadium"- AKA the Astrodome?

Anybody have info to offer?

WC



:cool:

Check out this link for information on Hotels and other tourist issues in Houston.

http://www.houston-guide.com/press/tourism.htm

- Karthik (Hopes the cart isn't too far ahead of the horse)

Here is my guess
 

From what was posted above, here is my guess:

Reliant Complex in Houston


Andy B.

Wow that place is really nice, I wouldnt mind going there :-)

argh! I told you people a year ago that Houston would be a great place to move nationals to. But nooo.... It's not Disney, and there's nothing to do, and what building in Houston could possibly be big enough to contain nationals?

Yeah, the Reliant Complex is cool. The new Reliant Convention Center is state-of-the-art and really huge. The only real problem is that the Rodeo is in town Feb. 25th to Mar. 16th. That could cause a few problems.... but on the plus side, its something fun for the kids to do.

Anywhos, I'm gonna laugh at you all if it is in Houston. :D

Here's an idea!

WAIT FOR THE ANOUNCEMENT UNTILL YOU GLOAT!!!

So innoventive! So amazing!

Hmm...

I gotta admit that'd be phat... the only problem is the Texans built this stadium for them and themselves only- the turf in it is probably permanent... we could theoretically cover it all up.. but that'd be tough...

and what about pit areas? this place is about as big as 2 football fields- EPCOT was much bigger

Six Flags Astroworld is across the 'street' (read: Interstate highway) from the Astrodome.
There is a bridge, so the surface transportation comes via Nike.

Just curious, where did anyone hear Houston anyway, It just seems too small for the nationals. I think it will be back in epcot. It is one of the only places big enough to accomodate the nationals in the first place.

my guess would be that the idea hosting area would be somewhere around michigan, they have a lot of hotels, and it is centralized better

Too small? Everything's bigger in Texas!
 

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States. Any NFL football stadium in the country would have more available space than what Epcot gave us, and the Astrodome/Reliant complex has two stadiums, an arena, and two huge exhibition halls.

I will say one other thing:
If it is in a domed stadium at a major city, it will draw a lot more media coverage than Epcot does! Anytime you put a 3 day event in a major stadium, everyone there wonders what is going on.

I can just see the local headlines - "Robots Invade xxxx Stadium!"

New playing field anyone?
:D


Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~
/me walks away nonchalantly

Re: Too small? Everything's bigger in Texas!
 

Actually, we're down to one huge exhibition hall, and some extra exhibition space attached to the arena. They tore down most of the astrohall to make up for the parking taken up by the stadium and the new hall. but yeah. Anyone who says Houston is too small needs new glasses.

And to JosephM,

I did say I'd laugh IF it was in Houston. not when. sheesh.

By looking at the qualities Raul listed, Pheonix and Houston are the only two options within the USA. As for where those qualities came from, I have no idea, but I do know that Raul usually knows what he's talking about...

oooohhhh. football playing robots.(begins to drool)

Yea, NTS. really wasn't THAT huge anyway. I mean it was enormous in the grand, overall scale, but the actual feilda and tents seemed like thay could fit in any oversized theme park or stadium parking-lot. I mean, the rides and the whole park definitly helped to accomodate us nicely :rolleyes:, but when it comes to necessity the astrodome does have more than anough room to accomodate us. "and anyway, Six Flag's thrill rides show-up disney's any day"

Flights are Cheaper if you fly from Manchester (where FIRST is based) to Texas than it is to Arizona, if that is ANY indication I have no idea...

Mira Costa High School and Redondo Union High School are rivals on the football playing field, and teammates on the robotic team. We hope that at our game next season we’ll have built a small robot carrying the ball and racing across the field. Our MCHS School Superintendent, Jerry Davis, said he’d chase after it! Our RUHS Superintendent, Bill Nunan, has good naturedly declined to say if he would.

Then Bill, not Jerry, asked to be on our team email list so he remains informed and an enthusiastic supporter of our team.

Is Reliant connected with Enron?

Umm.. no. Completely unrelated. In fact, they are/were competitors. Both in the natural gas and energy trading markets. Oddly enough, however, Reliant has been split into different companies thanks to deregulation. I dunno if any of them are still Reliant, but my dad's division is now CenterPoint Energy. Just a little random tidbit, there.....

The Astroturf would make a good playing field surface, but we might run up a really high bill for "damaging the carpet."

I am almost positive that the new Reliant stadium where the Texans play is grass. That was part of their feats as a new team, "Indoor grass playing field" I could be wrong though.

correction this site says it is natural grass. http://www.houstontexans.com/facilit...?cont_id=26701





where did this rumor about a dome in a regional host city come from?

perfect.. Finally we can use our school's new $1.6 million Nexturf field...

holy crap, you guys got a NexTurf football field? thats do cool! it looks like real grass but it isnt.(ive walked on the field at Veterans Stadium in Philadelpha and they have it.)

So - how much money does your school district budget for your team?

$1.60. They can buy a soda for all of them to split. :D ;) :rolleyes:

OK i hate the fact that nationals is in houston. I work for a major airline that flies out of there and and soon and tickets are being bought in mass to there ticket prices will sky rocket only 2 majors fly out of there continental and southwest. I am warning all of you guys now get tickets early or you will not even get them at all later no matter how much you pay

Ummm, its not there yet....just settle :D

fact?

Nothing in the Rumour Mill is fact. That's why it's called a rumour.

WHAT!?!?! SAY IT ISNT SO!

You're crushed, aren't you, MattK?

you missed your chance- you could've gone on it during Ramp Riot....- and yeah the Vet has it- we were the 3rd place in the US to get the field...

and about the $ (1.6 spent)... basically our school is cutting so much stuff off the budget now (vocab books, new books, etc) it's not even funny.. I also don't know how much $ they give us.. but we're listed as "Wissahickon School District and Wissahickon High School" on FIRST's website..

The truth is- I'm actually not that mad about the field for a few reasons- lacrosse, gym class now rocks, and we get so much attention :)...

It's sad when the school district gives into whiney (the most appropreate name for these people on these boards) parents who want the best for their precious future Fighting Irish. Give me a break. The chances of getting a scholarship for football is pretty low. And they use that field for, what, 6 games? Mabey it's multipurpose, so you can add soccer.

So now all the long term investments in books, supplies, and such are hurt for a fancy turf field.

Disgusting.

Hmmm, $1.6 million can buy A LOT, wow...

That's how most of my classmates feel... there's been alot of animosity against the field.. and now they're cutting classes like Latin..

(the field is multipurpose- there's a game on it basically every night with field hockey, football, soccer, lacrosse, etc.. and since it's top quality we host a lot of state tournament games for all sports...)

those are pics of what the field looks like- (not from our field)
http://www.nexturf.com/images/nexturf_drawing.jpg
http://www.nexturf.com/images/wmu21.jpg

Has anybody thought of this???
 

I know a very big indoor arena that could easily easily hold Nationals and is in a city that's flights run readily and hotels are all over the place. What such wonder of a city could I be talking about BOWSTON (Boston for those without the accent). What site am I suggesting the Bayside Expo Center its a huge place and it can easily be divided into many different fields indoors. Or you can do the parking lot thing there. However I think Boston would be a better choice than Houston I'm not knocking Houston its just that Boston is such a great city. Don't be surprised if you see this as the site of Nationals

Nationals, this year and beyond
 

If, God forbid, Nationals are in Houston, and FIRST figures out how to have the Championship event in a stadium or convention center, then there's no reason why any of at least a dozen cities couldn't host it. I don't think that the days of the travelling championship event can be too far off.

Also, don't get me wrong, if it was in Houston, I'd love it - it would be great to show off my new hometown to all of the teams travelling here, but that trip to Disney World was nice for the past two years.

Then again, it would also be nice to see something that started its first year in a high school gym grow so large as to need a giant football stadium to house it.

Very!

I dont even want to go to school today, I wanna stay home and surf CD to see when this breaks!!!!!!


WAIT, WIRELESS WEB ON CELL PHONE- I'm SAVED!


awww crap, parents too cheap to activate it :mad:

I know the feeling. Guess I'll have to sneak on during school (I don't even get my hour off today! Grr....)

ha ha ha hahaha

I-have-an-iBook-with-wireless-in-my-school

falalalalala

darn you people and your rich parents. i may have cable internet but i have an 833 mhz pentium 3 gateway desktop. it is so slow.


back to the thread: ive never been to nationals in Epcot so i really have no clue why they would want to move it.

The best part, the school paid for the w h o l e t h i n g!!!

HA HA HA HAAAAA!

how many people attend your school?

Man Houston would be great for our team, cut about 2/3 of our travel budget. Phoenix is still probably 17 hours drive away versus 10 to Houston. We've been to the Lone Star regional three years now and they always do a good job and the complex out there is huge. There would be no problem holding the championship there. The afterhours activities would be the only concern. I'm sure FIRST is looking to bidding this event out to cities,and maybe disney also. just like the Olympics, who comes back with the lowest/best bid package. Think of it this way - instead of the prestige that Disney brings to FIRST, the prestige of hosting the FIRST National Competition would bring to the host city. Stay tuned

Ken

2,000 + and it's a country wide thing, so 20,000 + iBooks are roaming around. It's a 23 million inititive by the school board.

Send me one please,

thank you

I would just like to say that i think the nats should take place in Phoenix or anywhere on the West Coast just for the fact that a lot of West Coast teams who have had money trouble in the past would finally be able to attend them. Seriously the East Coast has hogged them from the begining now its our turn:)

~SHANA~

Do I smell a East Coast vs. West Coast FIRST Robotics war developin?? :eek:

From all the evidence I have heard in the last few days, I am about 90% convinced that Houston, Texas will be the site of the 2003 FIRST Championships....

Do you have any actual evidence, or are you basing this on all the arguing that's been going on here? Cause I've just been espousing the merits of Houston as a nationals site. We still don't actually know if nats is moving or where it's moving, unless you've got some inside info.

GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
*muttering to myself*stupid RV, they spend $29 million dollars on renovations, a crappy new Performing Arts center, a new gym, and cafeteria. why couldnt they give the responsible people laptops like JosephM's school did. They could have at least given the robotics club some money.*end muttering*

i wish i had lots of money to buy all the things i want to buy.

Wireless notebooks for kids? Yeah...our school doesn't have that. We're still running low-end PII's with Win98 in the computer labs. And the extent of our computer program is Intro to Computers. I feel deprived...

I would have loved it if my school built us a new Performing Arts center...

instead they gave us a foot ball field and a paved Mud lot (its called a mud lot for a reason, people)

I'd call it some almost confirmable rumors...

Please keep this thread on-topic

sorry about straying from the post topic. The east coast hasnt hoggedt the Nationals competition. its just that it was the place where it has been located from the beginning. (First it was in NH, then it moved to Epcot). Im sure the people running FIRST want to stay somewhat close to home.

whew. now that i said stuff pertaining to the thread, i can tell the masses how crappy our performing arts center is. If you are a musician, actor, techie, this place sucks. it has acustic dead spots, no pit, the stage is 3 ft high off the ground and oh i could just go on and on but Brandon would kill me.

-Ian
ecstatic to do Les Miserables in our new POC...wait PAC(PAC,POC, same difference)

Please try to leave the moderating to the moderators.

Thanks.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2002...Forumnotes.pdf

maybe in hear holds a hint to what FIRST said to where the nationals might be held or whether or not there will be an eastern division and western division and then a national champion then again who knows

Although I am no moderator, I do agree that we should keep this on-topic, since everyone care about the Championship event so much. I would hate to see this thread turn into something else, especially when they are announcing the location very soon.

Besides, this is a nice break from chit chat ;)

seems to me like it says, "The Championship Event will be at Disney with dates TBD" right on the first page.... maybe we're all fussing about this for nothing :)

Tom

I saw that too...

/me hopes it is announced in florida soon...

Where exactly does it say the 2003 Championship will be at Disney???

We have endless bickering, rumors, and such AND IT'S RIGHT THERE!

OK, so the forum notes say that. And early on, the events capacity list also said that, and then they removed the location.

I did not begin this rumor on a whim. It was based on ... nevermind - I do not want to reveal my sources. I guess we shall soon see if my rumors should ever again be taken seriously.

Bewitched, Bothered and bewildered?
 

I can't find that Disney reference either. The notes from the forum mentioned are just that- notes from the forum conference last August- not official proclamations by FIRST. I am sure a lot of events have happened since last August.

From this part of the country we are hearing Houston too. But nothing is confirmed and, like everybody else, we are sitting here with both feet firmly planted in midair.

And as for bickering- I've seen folks stating an opinion with no hostile intent. This IS the rumor mill.

Hey- we have hundreds of teams out there waiting for FIRST to get around to making the announcement so they can make their plans, scrape up thousands of dollars and get on with their programs. I think their concerns are justified and I hope FIRST gets on with the announcements sooner than later. I'd like to return to Orlando but the more I see of Houston the better I like it!

WC

it is on the first page, under the "events" section. i copied and pasted directly from the PDF file.

Tom

I think that the nationals should be held at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. Its huge! and its made of glass. shiny objects attract crowds!!!

tenkai

Im pretty sure that the document was released before FIRST took Disney as the location of the championship off of their website

Going back to NASA
 

I have heard NASA tossed around in here and I have also heard that FIRST is hurting for money around too. Since NASA is a large supporter of FIRST (team sponsorship, Grants, Webcasts, Regional Sponsor, etc...)

It would only make sense that if the Championship event was to be sponsored by someone other than Disney (if you call that sponsorship charging big bucks to teams to go) it would be NASA since they are such a large supporter in general.

So it could be in any (hopefully large) city near a well known NASA site (ie. San Francisco, Los Ageles, Houston, Orlando, Richmond) I know that these Sites are all near or are current regionals and most if not all have been sposored by NASA at sometime.

I would be a bit surprised if the Championship event is held in the same city as a regional event, but it happend last year (and who knows maybe there was a contract for EPCOT for so many years) and could happen again.

Personally the Championship event should be held in a more centralized location or better yet it should be in or near a city that held a regional in the previous year that is closest to the previous years champion team that selected the alliance or the National Chairmans award winner.

Chew on that for a bit...

ummm.. I would think that moving nats every year based on who won something the previous year would be.... well crazy. We can all see for ourselves what a big delay there is this year because of some sort of nats planning SNAFU. I would think that moving nats annually would only make things worse....

Well the annonuncement was supposed to be made by the end of this week 11-3 / 11-9.

Well it's Friday the 8th... Where is this announcement???

I was gunna say the same thing

Hot Off the E-Mail
 

Greetings Teams:

We will be releasing the Championship date and location next Thursday,
November 14th both via e-mail blast to main contacts and via posting on the
web.

Championship Registration will open 9:00 am est, November 15th
simultaneously with remaining Regional Event registration. For those of you
eligible for the Championship, please remember that you still have to
register - admittance is not automatic but done on a first come first serve
basis!

The hotel and travel reservation system will be opened as soon as all
arrangements are finalized. We are working hard to provide economical
packages that will include lodging, ground transportation, entertainment
and food.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,



Deb, Sue, Thelma and Michelle
Team Support
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
200 Bedford Street
Manchester, NH 03101

Re: Hot Off the E-Mail
 

If this doesn't say NOT Epcot/WDW, I don't know what does...

Re: Re: Hot Off the E-Mail
 

I dunno..
hopefully nothing else

they obviously know where we are going now- what are they waiting for?

WC

They must have just finialized it. I think the reason why is to get all the info up and ready to put onto the page and to warn people ahead of time instead of just randomly picking a date and suprising people.

please stop double posting.... and post on subject...please

heh, I thought it just didn't make sense because I was tired. Glad to hear I'm not alone there.

Here's a twisted idea-

Suppose they NEVER announce the location of the Nationals. Then the challenge of the game this year is to make a robot which can somehow find them......

LOL, I take it you're one of the loose screws you haven't repaired.

I heard a rumor that the Nationals would be in Atlanta.

YAY!!!
 

1 more day until the annoucement!!!.... hopefully hehe

Re: YAY!!!
 

Not quite.

Now it's one more day till announcement.

Re: Re: YAY!!!
 

Not quite.

Now it's two weeks till announcement.

Championship "announcement"
 

well, the announcement was supposed to come today....

I guess negotiations are taking longer than they thought.....

for anyone who hasn't seen it...this is the email that main contacts got this morning.
------
"Greetings Teams:

Many of you may have heard that FIRST will not be holding The Championship at Epcot in 2003. FIRST and Walt Disney World worked diligently to come up with a date that would allow us to return to Epcot but several factors simply worked against us.

We fully intended to announce the date and location of the 2003 Championship today and open registration on Friday, November 15, 2002. Although we have been working diligently to complete arrangements and obtain the very best possible pricing for teams, we have not yet finalized all the details.

We thank you for your continued patience as we complete this process. Our objective is to create an event that meets the high standards achieved in the past. We hope to have the arrangements finalized within two weeks and open registration for The Championship at that time. If it is necessary to extend the registration period for The Championship to give teams sufficient time to register, we will do so."
-------

sounds interesting

Well, I see a lot of anxiousness out there as we all wait on FIRST to announce the location. Well, at least it is confirmed that it will NOT be at Disney. I feel bad for those of you who were still hoping I was wrong about my rumor.

I have not heard anything from my sources that contradicts my earlier statements. I guess I am just as anxious to get this over with as all of you. 2 more weeks - arrgh - I hope they finalize this before Thanksgiving.

This just might be crazy enough to be the truth!!!
 

I just thought of something, What if the Championships were moved to Dean's island?? That would definately involve issues with transportation and food and come to think of it lodging as well.

But if it was there it would be a simple drive for us to get to where they pick us up for the boat, since the island is off of the coast of CT in the Long Island Sound (I think?? someone correct me if I am wrong)

People in my area may have trucks with enough lift to wade to his island :P (Or with air intake high enough)

Where is Dean's island anyway? How big is it?

Oh, and Lifted Trucks RULE

Dean's Island used to be a part of NY but yes I believe it is in the Long Island Sound. NOT POSITIVE. ANd i wouldn't reccomend the trucks you could run over the electricty cable that is in the Sound. Plus it is very small.

It's big enough to have it's own money, in the value of pi none-the-less!!!!