[Mullen]

Perhaps Michigan is weird in this aspect, but it seemed to me that at the Waterford district getting on the Coopertition Bridge was a given for most teams. When working on strategy it wasn't really a question of "Do we get on the Coopertition Bridge with someone this match?" Rather, it was "Who is their best bridge bot? Let's get on the bridge with them."

Teams realized the value of the points, and to miss out on the Coop Bridge was a pretty big loss and could drop you quite a few spots in the ranking. In only one match were we approached about not getting on the bridge by someone in the other alliance. Three of the teams playing were all seeded high, losing out on the extra two points would have risked us all slipping down in the rankings. A reminder of this changed the game plan right there.

The Coopertition points are meant to get opposing teams to work together. Hearing that alliance partners are actually out sabotaging their own alliance partners attempts at the bridge just seems so...wrong...

If you want to keep up with the top teams you still have to win. They aren't getting up their by simply relying on the bridge (though the bridge doesn't hurt). If you have a problem with the bridge impacting rankings, then get on it every time. If every match ended with two bots on the Coop Bridge, the extra 2 points are a non issue. I think Michigan is on its way to seeing that real soon.