| Craig Roys |
03-05-2006 17:34 |
Re: Newton Discussion
Quote:
Originally Posted by PBurrell
The problem is the sword cuts both ways. It is great to have the cinderella story, but how about the ninth place person (and no, we were not that team). They work just as hard and don't get picked? In fact, they actually did better because their score are 5-2. The bad thing is that there is no way to determine your fate unless you are one of the top 8. Out of 84 teams, that is hard to do. As I heard several people say at the competition, there is such a fine line that allows a team to advance or not.
FIRST is trying to sell the competition like a sporting event. If you look at how most sporting events are run, there are not any teams in the 0-7 that make the playoff cuts. The cinderallas are the 3-4 or the 4-3 teams and that is dependant upon the bracket size.
I don't know if there is a solution that would make everyone happy, but since there was all of the discussion about the picks, I thought I would add a different perspective.
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Good point, but at the same time that FIRST tries to sell themselves as a sporting event, they brag about how different it is. Most years, it seems that there are two main strategies to a game - offensive and defensive. More often than not, the defensive teams do not make the top 8, but rely on the fact that the the top 8 offensive teams will need a good defensive team to advance in the eliminations. This makes for interesting strategy decisions in early Jan. - Do you want to be an offensive team and hope your good enough to be in the top 8 or a defensive team and hope your good enough that someone in the top 8 picks you? FIRST is supposed to be about more than just wins and losses - the collaboration is a big part.
I also want to add that my argument doesn't come soley from the fact that I'm on a rookie team who spent their season in the middle to bottom of the pack (although that has some influence). I spent the previous 4 years with a team who was most often in or near the top 8 - only once in those four years did we leave a regional without playing in the eliminations. I liked the fact that we could pick whatever team (no matter where they ranked) we felt best complimented our robot and gave us the best chance to win. I also didn't mind that if we were out of the top 8, we would have to hope someone thought we could help them win. It adds to the excitment of the whole process.
Lastly, as was said in an earlier post - 7 matches is not enough to fairly determine rankings. So much importance goes to the randomness of who your alliance partners are in qualifying matches. Hence, the importance of scouting.
Debate away - just my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions). |
