Chief Delphi - Championship 2008 - Atlanta

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Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeTheEng (Post 742033)

I know this may seem somewhat readical, but FIRST considers the opening ceremonies on Friday to be the "FIRST Championship Welcome". If that is true, they should give some consideration to doing them at like noon on Thurs. By Friday morning FLL and FTC are half over. It's no longer a welcome.

It's just a thought. At the same time I have to congratulate FIRST on integrating the other programs into what has historically been an FRC focused event.

I know you mean well, but I hope they don't do opening ceremonies on Thursday. To do that, FLL and FTC would have to interrupt their Thurs schedules to accomodate the opening. Including moving the FLL tables off Einstein and then back on again.

FLL had it's own opening ceremonies Thursday morning before their practice and judging sessions started. I presume FTC had one as well, or could have one if they wanted.

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol (Post 742034)

FLL had its own opening ceremonies Thursday morning before their practice and judging sessions started. I presume FTC had one as well, or could have one if they wanted.

Yep, Dean, Woodie, and Ken Johnson spoke at the FTC opening.

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlavery (Post 741371)

I guess I just don't understand what the objection is here. What exactly is unfair?

Even with the speeches, award presentations, and alternating division matches, the time between consecutive matches for any of the alliances that make it to the Einstein field is still considerably less than that experienced by every other team during the qualification matches. They have a shorter period between their matches to affect repairs, they can not return to their pits for parts or supplies, and (new this year) they are forced to work on their robots via flashlight in a darkened arena. So can someone please explain where they are getting an advantage?

Given the situation, if we have to choose between granting an extra three minutes to an Einstein-bound team to repair their damaged robot and then let them participate as a full competitor, or have the International FRC Championship be decided by having a damaged robot fail to make it to the field because we could not wait for them to complete a repair, I will always choose the former option.

-dave

.

I TOTALLY agree with you Dave. Einstein alliances all have the SAME time while on the field...How is their ANY advantage?
They have earned the right to be there ... and though it may seem selfish.... I want them ALL to be at their best so I can watch the play. As long as it fits within the constraints of the awards ceremony...giving them this time is a really GOOD thing.

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Other thoughts!
Einstein yearly proves how the game should be played.
I saw the rationale now of only having 2 trackballs. The key to winning in my opinion was what the 3rd robot did/didnt do.
Awesome defense by the 3rd bot could predict an outcome.
Had there been 3 trackballs, it would have only been an offensive showing which may not have been as fun to watch.
In both semifinals matches #1, defense by team 60 and 348 proved very pivotal. It's what allowed their teams to win the first match.

I was so proud of our team even though we lost to 968, 233, and 60 in Newton. As the 3rd robot that played defense, we did not allow PINK to hurdle at all for BOTH matches once we took "control" of that trackball.
We love the PINK team, and wished we could be teammates in the elim matches then playing against them. That's twice this season we played against them in elim matches. But, they are a great team and we love them a lot!!!!!:D

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

While I completely agree that 7 qualification matches is just not enough, one thing to remember is that if we increase the number of fields, this will inevitably lessen the time between matches. While this is less of an issue at a Regional, there isn't a 10-minute-plus hike from the pits to the fields and another one coming back at any Regional, plus the additional time this year getting through some very crowded pits. This means less time to make repairs, less time to run through check lists. Putting alternate fields at the GWCC is a solution, but that brings up issues with scouting, additional camera crews, etc. There are pros and cons to every idea...

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Quote:

Originally Posted by M. Mellott (Post 742266)

... one thing to remember is that ... [increasing the number of qualifying matches] will inevitably lessen the time between matches.

Food for thought: what if teams could "buy into" a certain number of "exhibition matches?" Of course, there shouldn't be an actual monetary cost to playing in an exhibition match, only an effect (as M. Mellot has delineated above) on the time between matches. These matches would allow teams to gain additional play time, as well as the opportunity to compete against teams in other divisions.

These matches could count for RS and MS, but not QS, which would mean that good performance in such a match would only slightly raise a team's rank, and bad performance wouldn't hurt their rank at all. There would be a limited number of exhibition matches; if demand for participation in these matches was found to exceed supply, a lottery system would have to be instituted to ensure fairness. Such a lottery would also ensure fair distribution across all four divisions. Self-policing by the FIRST community would ensure that teams honor their exhibition field time slots.

The exhibition matches would be played in a very visible location within the Dome, and they would serve as a focus point for all FRC competition during qualifying rounds. The exhibition field would be seen as an elite battleground; consistent winners on the exhibition field would be viewed favorably in the consideration of performance and design awards.

As written, this idea has a million problems with it, but it's interesting to think about at any rate.

Re: Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

Quote:

Originally Posted by KathieK (Post 741896)

In order to stay on the daVinci Fields, they had to show me proof that they were indeed media people.

I was only took photographs, didn't coach anyone and I swear I stayed off the carpet!
I would like the option to send select pit crew out on the dome floor at times. They rarely see any matches and being on the dome floor can be pretty inspiring.