[sgreco]

In declaring a winner, you're also inherently declaring losers. How was it fair for FIRST to tell 118, 2194, 548, 1114, 2056, 4334, 233, 207 and 987 that they lost? None of these teams ever lost a legitimate round at the championships. This is the biggest question mark for me.

I realize I'm treading on thin ice for saying what I'm about to say and I want to preface it by saying that I have the utmost respect for 25, 180, and 16. They are very classy and professional teams, with incredible robots, and they all deserved to win a championship title. The problem is, the 118, 2194, 548, 1114, 2056, 4334, 233, 207 and 987 are all deserving as well. Nobody won or lost a legitimate match on Einstein, and I question FIRST's decision to award a title at all.

I really want to stress that in saying this I mean nothing against the winning teams. Given the decisions FIRST made, they followed exactly what they were supposed to do. They were even gracious and professional enough to hold back on celebrations out of respect for the other teams there. They were truly a class act. I want to also stress what I said in the beginning; FIRST inherently told the other 9 teams on Einstein that they had lost in declaring that one of the teams had won, and I don't believe this was fair to given the way the matches were played.

And I feel for the losing teams, but I feel even worse for the winning teams. They were put in a difficult situation, and they handled as well as anyone possibly could. They all worked so hard to win a title at the championships, and they deserving achieved their goal, but were unable to celebrate the accomplishment to the fullest. That must be an awful feeling, to know you won, and know you deserved to win, but have some form of an asterisk next to the title. I feel bad for them. They are great teams, and I wish them the best of luck next year!