NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

<Edit>Thank you for the kind words, everyone! I hope I made your April Fool's Day a little more memorable.

Thank you to to Dave and Andy for being good sports, too! (Those were real quotes, folks.)

Let's do this again sometime. Say, 364 days from now? =-]</Edit>

Um... Andy? Dave? You seem to be up to speed already... Care to clue the rest of us in?

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- FIRST, an organization focused on promoting engineering to high school students, was purchased today by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. FIRST, which stands for "For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," was previously owned by its founder Dean Kamen. Kamen recieved relative fame for his inventions the iBot, a wheelchair that can climb stairs, and the self-balancing scooter called the Segway HT. Terms of the sale were undisclosed.

Sources close to Irsay say he already has plans for his new pet project: he will move FIRST's headquarters from it's current home in Manchester, NH to Indianapolis, the home of Irsay's other hobby, the Colts.

What will the move mean to FIRST? Only good things says Dave Lavery, a NASA engineer and creator of FIRST's 2004 robotics competition "FIRST Frenzy." "Moving FIRST to Indianapolis makes a lot of sense," Lavery explains. "Placing the organization in a more central locale will ease some of the communications, shipping, and staff issues that hamper many east coast companies."

"I can't believe it!" exclaims Andy Baker, a FIRST mentor and winner of FIRST's 2003 Mentor of the Year Award. "This is bigger than the Colts moving out of Baltimore at midnight."

But in spite of the change, both men are looking towards the future. "Indy is going wild!" says Baker. "Now, Payton Manning and Reggie Miller want to start FIRST teams! This is great! Tony George has already asked us to hold a Regional at the start/finish line of the Brickyard. This is excellent!" Lavery says that the move "will also allow Dean Kamen to fully concentrate on his core businesses with Deka, Segway and the newly founded WaterMass Project."

Neither Irsay nor Kamen were available for comment.

The FIRST Robotics Compeition is made up of more than 800 teams participating nationwide and internationally, in 23 Regional events and a Championship event.

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On the Net:
FIRST: www.usfirst.org
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

erHEM...you may want to look at your calendar. and if youre a magic player check out magicthegathering.com or any other frequently updated site

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

I knew Segway was doing poorly, but I never thought Dean would sell FIRST to finance the company.

It should remind New England baseball fans of an event that took place in 1920.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

Sometime I forget when the clock changes over. Good one. If it was tommorow, not tonight, this wouldn't have gotten me.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

I always knew I liked that man! :ahh: Jim Irsay has really turned the Colts around from a team whose fans consisted of old ladies knitting to a packed house of true football fans. This will be a great step to making FIRST publically huge!

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

maybe we can all get football jerseys next year!

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

Dean has to finance his denim collection somehow.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

Still not there on the West Coast--come on guys, let it be the right day all across the country first :)

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

I hope this means we get to wear shoulder pads with our safety glasses.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

Wow, I am all shaken up reading this.

I really don't know what to feel about this. On one hand, it says a lot about FIRST when it is ran by a non-profit organization. The purpose of this program is to inspire students into the field of science and engineering. As a non-profit organization, FIRST shows the world that all the money and resources it receives go back to the students and the future of the world. Other than organizations like doctor without borders, I can't think of any other images more appropriate for showing the world you really mean it.

On the other hand, it has always been difficult for FIRST to function with an extremely small staff, and limited budget. Lots of difficulties faced at regionals are simply the lack of funding, and lack of regional support. With the Colts purchasing FIRST, it could potentially introduce FIRST to the sports realm, and bring in a lots of money. Imagine the possibilities! Regionals at all the football stadiums, competition broadcast on ESPN, and lots of FIRST merchandise pumped out from the NFL merchandise machinery. It will be like instant fame over night!

I suppose its useless debating it now. It cannot change what has happened. We simply have to deal with the fact that it happened, and deal with it as it comes. I suppose if FIRST stick to its goal of inspiration to students, the ends really do justify the means. I mean, they are not hurting anyone with the purchase. I am sure once everything is on track, the community will have the strength to shape the future of FIRST to however they see best.

Mean while, I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride. Its going to be interesting watching the speech delivered by someone other than Dean this year. Maybe our new homework assignments is to help sell season tickets to some of the best teams in FIRST. I sure want season tickets to all the regionals the most competitive teams are going to be at.

Mean while, I will be handing out autographed photo at the Championship event for $19.99 a copy signed by me on my famous chief delphi forum red hair picture. I will take advance order if you send them to me 1 week before championship.


Oh, by the way, what's the deal with April 1st? Is it some sort of holiday?

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

I love the NFL (Let's Go Buffalo!) but I don't want FIRST to become some comercial venture where ratings become more important than the message. We have already seen a few cracks in the wall of the dam in recent years we don't need it to break open for the sake of money.

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

Its april fools day, which means that all forms of pranks and tricks and other fun stuff is done on that day.

On a more serious note I find this slightly disturbing....what changes will this mean in FIRST with a new owner, not only possibly to game design and other aspects but also in how the whole program is run?

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

/me is at a loss for words.
How could Dean sell FIRST and let it move??? Does Woodie Know about this? You can't just pick up MIT and move it a thousand miles, can you?

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

I am in shock after hearing this.

You might have been able to see this coming thouhg. FIRST is such a big scale production. It was being run by such a small scale crew and budget. This is something i think FIRST was destined for.

Now, is it a good or bad thing? Only time will tell. But for now, I would have to say good. Sure, it will mean some changes in the way things are run, but it also opens the door for FIRST to just get up and run. We may be exposed to people that we were never exposed to before. I mean how cool would that be if there was ads for FIRST regionals during every colts game?

And another thing... we will never have to worry about finding a stadium for nationals again :)

Re: NFL Owner Buys FIRST
 

OK,
Now the conjecture about next year's game can begin. I predict some kind of brown ball for the playing field pieces, maybe made out of pigskin. Green carpet for the field with lines so you line followers will have your work cut out for you. Instant replays on the bigscreen and unfortunately there will be referee recall after reviewing the play via video tape. Skyboxes will be for sale at the regionals, and minirobots to the first 10,000 people to walk through the doors at nationals. Ra! Ra!