[jspatz1]

I certainly don't wish to perptuate this tread any further, but since some have speculated on the role of 1986 in the story I will add just one post with this information:

1986 was not privy to 1538's plans or reasoning before they made their selection decisions. They informed us just shortly before alliance picks that we would be their first selection.

1538 did share with us that although 217 was broken, they intended to take the risk that they could be fixed, and hoped to select them as a 2nd pick if they were still available. They considered it a high risk / high reward gamble. As the captain this was their perogative and we did not question it. Our assignement was to do what we do and score lots of points, to buy more time by helping win matches.

Between the time of alliance picks and the beginning of eliminations, 217's pit was an intense whirlwind of repair work. Their mentors and students worked as you would expect a team of their caliber and experience to work, repairing one sub-system at a time. They worked with 1538 sharing parts and resources. Paul gave us periodic updates on what was fixed, what was still broken, and what was unknown. They considered the available time to be not only that before elim matches began, but also the time between matches, and they hoped to keep working and improving as eliminations progressed.

Anyone who suspects a deception need only look at the outcome. Although 217 was able to get most systems working intitially, problems returned and they were plagued with issues as the matches progressed. Among other problems, the drivetrain itself was not performing due to the overall damaged condition of the robot.

1538 decided to take a championship-sized gamble, but it did not pay off this time. The story is as simple as that.