Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

i know for a FACT that there was never a 666 because FIRST would not give that number

My mentor called and made a special request for that number (666) :-P, FIRST refused to give that number so he got 665 instead, (which then was PHAT, now is known as MEYHAM).

was there ever a team 13?, he mentioned FIRST never gave that number out either...

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

Not listed on FIRSTWiki.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

Team 13 did exist: http://web.archive.org/web/200011192.../teamlist.html

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

Yep, here's some more team info. from the old FIRST databases without all the missing parts http://www.team358.org/files/team_lookup/
As Chris pointed out we know of lots of FIRST data entry errors, but nothing major. Some rookie years messed up, events & awards mislabeled.

Team 13:
Team 3
Team 15:

Team 1337 registered but never competed:
Team 1338:
Team 72:

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

I think it is important to note that team #'s in 1998 were assigned by sponsor. Thus all Motorola teams were in the first and second decade above 100. Thus team 111 was in the middle of the 108-113 range.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

Number 911 would have been handed out to a rookie team for the 2002 season.


I wonder if that number was assigned to a team pre-9/11 in 2001 and then changed after 9/11?

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

Team numbers were only up to 716 in the 2001 season.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

That's what he said. Teams 717-999 were rookies in 2002. Those numbers were beginning to be assigned in late 2001 as teams signed up.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

I just checked our database and there are 216 team numbers (from 1 to 2681) that have never been assigned (from the era of permanent team numbers in 1998 onwards).
I recall that some of the unused numbers were reserved and used for database testing by FIRST. At least based on the fake entries found in them.

Sorry, I wasn't paying close enough attention...
Registration wasn't open for 2002 until after 9-11 and the tragedy.
New teams signing up probably didn't near the 911 mark until mid-November, a couple of months later.

In any case team #911 was never assigned.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

I just did a quick google for team 666 and got this http://www.myspace.com/aubinhick990

I just thought it interesting.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

2681 is the highest team number assigned.

As you probably know, FIRST started rookies at 2330 this year, skipping numbers 2288-2329. Does the 216 missing numbers you noted include those 42?

Missing from the FIRST "what's in my area" page for current year (rookie) teams are 2331, 2350, 2351, 2356, 2357. 2379, 2384, 2392, 2416, 2426, 2442, 2451, 2452, 2482, 2492, 2494, 2507, 2516, 2519, 2527, 2541, 2548, 2552, 2578, 2610, 2615, 2616, 2631, 2636, 2639, 2646, 2651, 2666, 2671 and 2677. I suspect most of these are teams that registered, but then could not come up with funds to compete. Many can be found if you type the number into the "myarea" "teaminfo" page; they have no regionals assigned.

At least some of them are listed in TBA with regionals attached.

2331 was the original number given to 1025 when we registered. Later it was decided that we were not a rookie team, and were reassigned as number 1025. We appear in TBA as both 1025 and 2331. I heard that there were 5 such teams that were determined not to be rookies. (When registering in TIMS it doesn't give you the option to state rookie status, just returning or new team.)

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

I wonder if they will ever return to the low numbers that were left behind by teams reactivating as rookie teams and teams that never competed.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

I hope not, I find it quite useful to be able to get a rough idea of how long a team has been around by their team number (a # under 200 means the "rough idea" is "a long time"). I think it would be a bit odd to see a rookie team show up at a competition next year with a number under 2681.

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

They do on occasion. Team 39 is one example.

It usually happens when a team breaks up into new teams that have competed before and don't want to be rookies again. What usually happens is that FIRST goes into the pool of numbers available and says, "OK, here's a 'new' number."

Re: Random question about the history of team numbers
 

My apologies to Brooklyn :)

Yes. It is simply a count of the numbers that have never been associated with anyone. There are similar blocks of unused numbers throughout the span of teams, however, they don't all align with breaks in registration years.

Some of them were teams that started registration, but dropped out. Others are numbers that were skipped and never actively assigned. Our database tracks those teams too. We like to keep track of teams that tried to happen.
Your original team number 2331 is an exception. Since you "relocated" we did remove the original entry from the public database. We may end up putting it back. The webmaster is contemplating additional history information, such as how some teams changed numbers over the years.

I think teams 509, 1025 and 1988 are the non-rookie rookies who survived.
Another one, Team 916, failed to launch. This from our pre-kickoff thread on registration.