[Taylor]

It wasn't that long ago - 2008? when I was one of these haters. I certainly wasn't public or overly vocal about it, but I was a maker of snide comments to those who I thought had a similar worldview. Essentially it boiled down to "why are all these grownups playing at a high-school game? Get out of the way and let the kids have a chance!"
Somewhere along the way, my perspective got changed. I think it was by 1024. I knew several of the adults on that team; I knew a couple of the students. I knew they were "in it for the right reasons" and I knew their robot that year was a thing of beauty - and they had the Midas touch with everything but Einstein. They weren't some mysterious team in a mysterious land with a NASA or GM in their backyard - they were on the northeast side of the town I lived.
Around that time, I learned to stop hating and start appreciating. Learn how they do it, and in time, do it better.
The machines in 2008 were absolutely astonishing and inspirational. They opened my eyes to what was possible. 1024, 45, 931, 148, 1114, 217 - thank you all for showing me how elegant a TEAM-built robot could be.
2007 was a dark period for me personally in the FIRST world. I felt "outside the loop" - I felt like FRC was a political game and we weren't invited to the party. My opinion on FIRST soured that year - partially because our robot frankly inhaled audibly and wasn't too inspirational; but mostly because of the Us vs. Them mentality we harbored.
We are very fortunate to live in Indiana, the home of Andy and Mark and Chris and Chris and Chris and Flo and Wayne and Jeff and Scott and Tim and Melodie and Brant and Joe and Josh and scores of other people who do things well and do things right. Despite my private misgivings, these people still welcomed us and are now counted among my friends.

Perhaps we're not looking through the right lens. We've always equated FIRST to sports - to me, the greats aren't athletes. They're rock stars. And nobody hates Joe Perry or Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix because they play the guitar well. These folks are idolized and revered - and everybody knows they got to where they are through hard work and a bit of talent.