[evanatch]

Things I learned from Utah:

Calls made by referees can decide matches, and what is or isn't called a foul (or an assist) can be very inconsistent. G28 was enforced more strictly on Saturday than Friday, and in some cases it did decide matches. There were also inconsistencies on when rematches were played, which I know frustrated some teams. Overall, it's an extremely hard game to referee and I think the refs just have too much to keep track of to be able to maintain a high level of consistency in their calls. Ultimately, I think it's the lack of consistency that has made so many people frustrated with this game.

As others have said, defense, assists, and 1-point goals can trump high goals at times. Low goals are especially useful when the high goal is well-defended. Defense can, of course, be very rough. We had a bearing in our drivetrain shatter, a drivetrain chain snap, and our frame bent in one hit. We actually got called for a G28 on that one, as we were hit so hard that our arm dropped inside the other robot's frame perimeter. In the next match, we had a roller ripped off, as the welded aluminum tab that had held it on was snapped. It's a violent game, so building strong and easily replaceable mechanisms is critical.

Overall, inconsistencies in penalties and assists were the biggest frustration. The gameplay can be very hard for refs to keep track of, so inconsistent calls will probably be a persistent problem, I think. Hopefully in coming events it's effect on matches will be minimized. We were lucky enough to escape pedestal lighting issues for the most part, so kudos to the refs for being on top of that.

We enjoyed our experience in Utah greatly and are looking forward to Colorado and Championships!