[EricH]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

The question is almost part of FIRST's (Dean's?) DNA. FIRST has competing motivations. They want to tap into the excitement and passion of sports... ...but they don't want to import all the negative aspects that come with those passions. So FIRST continually tries to motivate FIRST participants to cooperate with each other (even naming a game Coopertition FIRST*).

*which imho was perhaps FIRST worst games ever. In fact, I use it as an argument for the robustness of FIRST FRC, if we can survive that game, we can survive pretty darn near anything.

You mean 2000? One of the best FRC games ever, with the two troughs and a ramp? Because I think you're really thinking of 2001's "Diabolical Dynamics", the one and only 4v0 game. (I think a lot of people get those two confused...)

P.S. Do the folks in Canada REALLY believe that 1114+2056+ANY OTHER TEAM = CERTAIN VICTORY? I can't believe this.

It's pretty close, Dr. Joe. "2056" and "losing regionals" don't work in the same sentence--because 2056 has not lost a single regional event they've attended (started in 2007). 1114 is no slouch either--they've not lost any events since 2005, when competing within Canada.

Though, there's finally a guarantee that those 4 teams will not be in the finals of a Canadian event--none of them is registered for Montreal.