[ablatner]

What's "inspiring" for me isn't going to a high-production value competition with really awesome robots. I don't actually care about all the loud music, crowds, big ceremonies, etc. Basically all the stuff that makes it similar to a sporting event. I go to competitions to compete with the robot I sunk hundreds of hours into (and this 10+ hours every day of spring break). For me, it's about about the engineering challenge. I don't want a "magical rainbow and unicorn filled experience", I want a competitive championships that showing the best robots. In 2011 and 2012, my team was definitely not championship quality, yet last year we went to championships. I'm certain there were many other teams with much better robots. Team 1662 comes to mind as an example from this year. They were one of the best, if not the best, individual robot at Sacramento, but they were upset and didn't get a spot at championships. I'd like for teams such as 1662 to be able to go to championships even if they don't win. Right now, championship qualification matches are nowhere near as competitive as MSC, which doesn't seem right.