As a mentor who's been with the team for a number of years, the students felt comfortable approaching me with some issues which they had spotted and requested that I go with them for moral support while they went to take up matters with the referees.
The most disturbing of errors was where one game win was not recorded for our team--our alliance partners got the points, but we did not. I approached Mark Breadner about the issue and it was fixed 45 minutes after the game was over, within 20 minutes after I breached the issue.
I can understand that there is a certain human element involved in these matches, that errors do happen, and all that jazz. The second issue (which had a direct effect on our seating) was that in game 2 (
linky) we got onto the coopertition bridge, invited 4307 along with us (and due to a lack of driver training, nearly flipped them in the process (sorry!)), however they did make it up there with us! I'm unsure of 3117's intensions, but before we were on the bridge, they had positioned themselves in such a way that would have made it impossible to score the 2 coopertition points for those involved; however the outcome was that 0 (zero) points were rewarded. A similar situation arose in game 53 (
linky) where the result was that 1114 was awarded 1 CP (for inviting, I imagine). From what the kids saw, Karthik went 'crazy' and was yelling at the refs, and the refs were trying to calm him down.
It was brought to my attention by the kids, and I agreed that that was an interesting result, so I went with our driver to go discuss the matter with the refs. I was treated with a very poorly initially (ref stated that he had 'no sympathy for a team that says other teams should not be rewarded points' and once I explained the situation his tone changed to one of agreement and sympathy) and instructed to discuss with the head ref. I approached the head ref and explained the situation, and it was explained to me that he did not remember that game and that detailed data was not kept on CP; essentially I was SOL. I thanked him for his time and went back to the pits with the news.
I can understand that people are people, that's all good and well, and it's what makes society an interesting place to be a part of, however when there are key individuals in positions of power within the FIRST community, who are so engrained and invested in one team (as the young blonde woman's tears attested to in 1114's Chairmanship award video), just as in society, there are silly games that silly people play, but you have to be diligent keep your eyes and ears open.
As with everything in life, battles have to be chosen and political games have to be played.
When the dust settles you've got to rise above it all, give praise where praise is due, and cross your fingers extra-hard for next time. Our warchest may be a paultry sum by comparison to the titans out there, but what we lack in deblumes we make up for with wit, character, and good old-fashioned elbow grease.
If anything can be taken away from this past regional, it's what an upset Team 907 has become to the status quo, where I'm confident that we would have gone on to the finals had it not been for a poor design decision regarding the battery placement. It would have been nice to see the 1114/2056 alliance broken up and would have made for far more interested gameplay (that is to say, having two of the
Gods go hand-to-hand) as opposed to the ho-hum same-old pairing, with the same-old outcome.
I'll say here the same words that I have said to the kids on Team 907, who designed and built every component with their own two hands:
we did not loose; our battery broke free, preventing us from winning.
The opinions expressed in this message are my personal feelings, put forth by my mind and typed my by hands, and are not representative of Team 907, its sponsors, or the martians that fly overhead monitoring our brainy-wavies (where did my tinfoil hat get to... ).
In closing, I may be loud-mouthed and might come across as crass at times, but I sincerely mean no ill-will and I invite debate because we are, after all, human; we are not omni-present beings who can see-all and be everywhere, so with that said if I misunderstood any issue or misrepresented any information, please bring the issue up and correct me--I'm inviting it! I need to know where I've been wrong and would jump at the opportunity to truly be engaged in a civil debate which doesn't reduce to a pissing contest.
We're all here to have fun, to teach, and equally to learn. Once you actively stop learning and seeking out new information, or are resistant to change, I weep for you.
I have
such gratitude for those who made the first GTR East @ UOIT happen--it was a fantastic event, run on schedule in a very organized manner. I look forward to many years to come at this new venue and many more working the spirited and varied kids that make up Team 907. More praise needs to be given to all those involved in getting this event going!
If you made it this far I'd like to leave you with these words: more data, less wank; watch the watchers; sky blue, water wet; more news, at 11.
Looking forward to GTR West,
-The Professor.