Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
One might ask "Why do you care"? You haven't been on a FIRST team in awhile. It doesn't really affect you.
I'm not meaning to be critical... I'm upset and I'm not attending the Championship either. I'm just curious.
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It's because of the principle of the thing.
Teams pay $5K--plus travel--to play in the main arena at the Championships. (OK, to
play at Championships--but you've got to admit, playing on an NFL field, even if it's covered over, is pretty darn cool.) Now they're being told (and note that that's NOW, not 3-4 months ago) that "Oh, we're only putting 3 fields out for FRC this year, the other 2 are in the pit...but we'll make it up to you by making you switch fields halfway through!"
First, that's logistical mayhem. I don't think it could be done in Atlanta--the distances were too great. In St. Louis, they're smaller, but you'll still have a bit of a traffic jam (there are something like 3-4 ways into the dome from the conference area, but I've seen the traffic jam 15K+ college students can create in 2 of those ways at once, while some of them are still at dinner, and a third way at a different time--it's NOT fun to navigate, unless you can use a side route open to volunteers only).
But the lack of explanation is what really gets me. I've had a soccer game moved before--the normal field was rained out. But I knew about it ahead of time, the field change went smoothly, and we all knew the reason. But if that same game had just been moved at halftime, with no reason, even if the move was known ahead of time, I think people would be pretty annoyed.
That's why I'm skeptical. I've seen the speculation.
If the speculation about a musical performance is correct, and it takes half the venue for three days to do it properly, then I really won't like the change. (Note: This is only if the musical performance takes half the venue for the full time. Otherwise, I continue to wonder...)
If the speculation about the college pilot is correct, then I won't mind--they need the ceiling and the space to do it right. Plus, it can be a show-stopper/attractant of the public--better advertising.
If it's something like a big water tank in the other half of the venue... Don't get me started on that (L.A. 2008). But that's not a FIRST problem, that's a venue problem, and would probably not be a future issue. That's one that I could probably stomach--wouldn't like, but could take.
As for it not affecting me: Not this year, but if it's continued in future (say I mentor a team in future), and I do go to the Championships again, it will affect me then. The best way to control the future is to do things in the present. As such, if it's a reasonable reason, I can add a voice that says, "Sure, that's OK, let's do it again!" If it's not, then I can add a voice that says, "What Were You Thinking?"
If there were a reasonable explanation that FRC HQ could release, that would probably satisfy me. Even if it was, "We're planning some form of event in that half of the venue, but we can't tell you what it is." Or denying a rumor or something like that.
Or, as I tell teammates on my college competition team: "Well, at least we know for sure that that company
isn't going to sponsor us!" (It's not fun to have a potential sponsor not respond for months on end.) I'll take knowing for sure (even knowing that I can't know) over speculation on why.
P.S. This is the first year since
1999 that I haven't been to at least one competition, either as a spectator, a team member, or a volunteer. My folks are still involved, too. That's 11 years of 1+ competitions/year, and only 6 of those years were with a team.