[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by Ivan Malik

........ the same teams are always within grasp of wining. You don't see much turnover in the FRC. Rather you see the same regional powerhouses again and again beating their opponents....

FIRST people tend to understandably think in terms of numbers. We extrapolate the results of matches before they happen. I am a former engineer so I get that idea. But a blind belief in only the numbers and the machines will lead to a defeatist attitude. You can rise above the numbers and the machines. What is often overlooked and underestimated is the human factor in a match. Having the foolish belief that you can win a match in which you are completely outgunned will drive you to develop a winning strategy.

Long before we were considered a powerhouse team we would win matches and playoff rounds that we had no business winning, because we believed in ourselves enough to make the effort to win the match.
I also wish I had a dollar for every time we went into a match with the wrong attitude and lost a match that we should have won because we thought the data would hand us a victory.
FIRST is a sport and every sport starts "inside your head". I remind my students and coaches of this message at every opportunity.