Quote:
Originally Posted by rachelholladay
So, is 2008 when the 'modern era' of IRI began? Modern era meaning that it has recognition as the most prestigious off-season event and it is event that has competition level that matches Einstein. Or rather, how did it achieve such a status? (sorry/not sorry to sidetrack the thread onto its own history)
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I remember the IRI being compared to Einstein as far back as 2001. There were qualification matches that year that many people predicted would match or beat the regular season high score. Incidentally, that event was the first time that the match schedule was given to teams in its entirety before the competition started, a practice that was adopted by FIRST the following year.
The hype from the 2001 event carried over to 2002 and it was talked about heavily on chiefdelphi leading up to the event. I seem to remember a few teams that travelled close to 1000 miles to attend.
Then it really started to spiral out of control. Teams from all over the country were attending by 2004. The organizers did a great job of finding more pit space and lengthening the schedule to give teams plenty of matches, despite the increase in number of teams. 2008 was just when it hit its limit
Obviously when you have to turn teams away, the lower end rises and therefore the average ability of the teams increase. But I would say the top end of the IRI has been the best of any competition for at least 5 years before 2008.