Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

What are you? an idiot? nobody laughs that much... that could cause asphyxiation. you need to pause to take a breath. people could take that seriously and try that and end up hurting themselves. plus, people could over work their abs and cramp hard. do you know what one of the most painful types of cramps are? ones on your full set of abs. thats why i use the ab-blaster. it melts away chuck norris' fat, i.e. it can do wonders for taking my keg to a set of 6.
additionally that is not GP at all.

but really, champs is going to be interesting. remember what jon stewart was calling the presidential election race in 2008? take that word and add 2011 FRC championships to that IHMO.

i do like the idea that it wont be as far to travel for teams half of the time but it really takes away from the allure for some teams. my favorite part about championships was being able to play on the floor of the ga dome in front of all of those people exactly where my childhood (and now socially outcasted) hero, mike vick, would play on sundays.

and yes, i admit, i am the performer at champs. wait till you hear these pipes.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

Personally, I don't mind the fields being in different locations, however, the switching mid-day is the problem. Teams, like mine, with intricate scouting setups, become all messed up because of this. If i had it my way, i would have 5 Fields in the Dome (4 FRC Divisions, + Einstein/FTC) and FLL in the Convention Center. Obviously, if there is enough room, all 6 in the dome, similarly to the way it was done in Atlanta.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

Something I was wondering was that, are they going to be switching divisional names along with the team/field swap? Or will the division winner banners be like Pit #2 Champion.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this:

Dean talked about this at the Philadelphia Regional. The Black Eyed Peas (well, "Will.I.Am and his friends") will be performing in St. Louis. Also, Morgan Freeman will be there. No, seriously.

To preempt any "link or it didn't happen" comments, sorry, it was webcast but I don't have anything archived on hand. Anyone videotape it?

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I'm surprised noone has mentiond this:

“We get what we celebrate and we are celebrating the wrong things.” – Dean Kamen

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

Thank you, IndySam. I obviously didn't say it better myself.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

If the fields aren't going to be in the dome then what is?

I'm sure many of us are eagerly waiting to hear the answer to this question.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

One thing I think we're learning from this is how portable the competitions are and how flexible the venue is/can be. I don't know many competitions that are as portable but they do usually deal with the hand they are dealt. Weather plays a part in sports like football and baseball. So do bugs. So do field conditions. I don't know if they could continue their game if it were moved outside of the arena/field, though. So this does show flexibility and adaptability on the part of FRC/FTC/FLL teams.

Here in Austin, we have a rodeo each spring and it's a big deal. A very big deal. At the end of the rodeo competition (a series of different events like calf roping and bull riding), a stage is brought in and a country music star or group performs. So, in this way - the stage is portable, not the competition. This is not the greatest comparison but it is what I am familiar with. What we're doing in FIRST is flip flopping that example - if it is indeed the stage. If it is other FIRST competitions that require the space, such as FTC, then again, we are seeing the portability/adaptability of the competition.

Just some thoughts.
Jane

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I was there for that disaster in 2007. Teams fighting over tubes, knocking over expensive A/V equipment, etc. It was terrible. And if I recall, they even were dumb enough to announce that before Chairman's (if I'm remembering right). I hope something like that never happens again.

Is there anyone who would seriously want this? No offense, but this is just not a good idea at all. Not to be elitist but I've met the general public; I do not want them in my pit area. And especially not the ones coming for no reason other than to get an admission stamp to a musical concert. Interested public is fine; general public absolutely not. One of the things I liked best about the Long Beach regional was the security at each entrance. Made me feel like not just anybody would walk in there. FIRST is not going to achieve its mission by pulling in random people off the street. Bad idea.

The day FIRST offers the public free admission to a musical concert in order to get people to their robotics competitions is the day I walk away and start a VEX team.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I'm not sure I understand your point.

Shouldn't FIRST be requiring the venue to place everything in the dome? If FIRST really wants to emulate mainstream sports events, how can it justify keeping it's main event away from the limelight? In this case, FIRST should be rigid, not adaptable, in requiring all of the fields in the dome, especially FRC.

At the same time, if this is a venue issue, why isn't the venue doing everything possible to appease FIRST in hopes of keeping the event in the future? It would make no sense for the venue to anger FIRST and risk losing the event in the future.

Something I am speculating here, is that two fields are being moved outside of the dome to accommodate the Collegiate FIRST competition. FIRST really needs to ask itself, Is this experiment really worth putting FRC in the back seat a little bit? I don't know. To me FRC is the bread and butter of the FIRST organization, and FIRST is missing out every time it doesn't maximize FRC's exposure.

-Jack

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I didn't videotape it, but I remember that video that Dean played. I know of people who I am close with who know of robotics who are saying they would love to go to Championships just to see him, not for the experience...

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

If FIRST really did move the fields into the pits to make room for a concert, I'm not sure what to think.

I see why FIRST thinks this is a good idea, as a way to get people to notice the matches and think, "hey, that's pretty neat."

At the same time, I think FIRST has their priorities out of order if they aren't putting the teams first, who have done far more for outreach than the marketing department ever will.

If it's the collegiate program, I still disagree with the move, but wouldn't be upset. Though if that was the reason, I think we would already know about it.

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I don't see anything on here about whether we are allowed to use the practice field on Wednesday or not...does anybody have any thoughts about whether we are allowed to? I know 316 would like to try and get some time on the practice field as soon as possible on Wednesday...

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

Basically, FIRST can do whatever it wants in the interest of FIRST. The FRC teams that are affected will deal with the decision(s).

Jane

Re: Bills Blog - Champs info
 

I don't think that's how it should work. What is FIRST without its teams?