[Brian Selle]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

"Once upon a time, there was a competition called the Fair Robotics Competition..." -Issac Rife, FRC #33

I think Bag and Tag could get dropped in the somewhat distant future based on a number of things (what if the whole country shifted to mostly Districts and required all district events to be held in the first 4 weeks of the season?), but for now let's put aside that.

Your link is a great post and thread. Thanks. I searched before starting this one but didn't find anything this meaty. People are obviously passionate about this both ways. I think using the word "fair" amped things up and really wasn't what I was after... I was mainly thinking is it "necessary".

I'm totally on board with doing what it takes to achieve your goals no matter what the circumstances. I work tirelessly and endlessly for my FLL and FRC teams. We have made incredible progress in the last several years and will continue to get better. We are blessed with resources to field 2 identical robots. Perhaps it came across differently, but there is absolutely no whining from this camp. We do what it takes to get the job done.

I don't like rules that have loopholes rendering them ineffective to their original purpose. I'm relatively new to FRC and when I first heard about teams building practice robots I thought, really? It's certainly within the rules but honestly it felt like a little sidestep. Within the goals of inspiring students for science and technology I don't see stop build day as helpful. There is still a deadline... choose what week(s) you want it to happen. I like the idea of the districts where everyone has to attend a week 1-3 event. On the other hand, those that want to wait until week 6 to compete, great.

In the end, removing the stop build day will not change the outcome of the regional or national events... the same teams will still be on top. It will simply provide more opportunity for kids to be inspired throughout the competition season at a lower cost for everyone.