[JosephC]

I've been hesitant on posting in this thread, because I know my views aren't exactly the most popular, and very few people, if any at all, share them.

I've read through countless Chief Delphi threads and Facebook posts. I've heard both sides of the argument, and been a volunteer at an event every week. I've had key-chains thrown at me, drive teams screaming in my face, and people complain that the balls aren't inflated properly. I've listened to people complain about the rules, the penalties, how they lost because of penalties.

And you know what? I love this game. I find no issues with the rules, the fouls, or the GDC. For once, a team of average robots can destroy an alliance of great robots. And no, it's not because they got a lot of fouls. Just look at the Great Lakes Bay Region District from this past week. It seems this year that everyone and their grandmother have something to gripe about. As a drive team member of 68 back in 2012, I can tell you that losing your regional because someone on your alliance drew a tech foul is NOTHING compared to what happened at Worlds back in 2012. Did you see flocks of students running to Chief Delphi complaining and letting their emotions run wild? No. Your Alliance drew the foul. It was completely within your control. Unless someone else took control of the robot and caused you to get the foul, it was your alliance's fault. If you accidentally broke a robot on the opposing alliance because they built a non-robust robot, then maybe you shouldn't have hit them so hard. If a piece of your robot fell onto the field and caused you to lose the match, maybe you shouldn't have pieces of your robot that can fall off so easily.

Eliminations is a best 2 out of 3. If you lose one match due to fouls, you still have the other two matches to prove you have the better alliance. If you lose the second match because of fouls, then you're doing something wrong.

Worst of all, you're taking the victory away from the alliance that beat you. They also spent countless hours and money on their robot. What makes your time and money anymore valuable then theirs? Their students worked just as hard as yours, and you should be congratulating them instead of complaining that you lost because of a tech foul.

The game manual and the rules have been here since January 5th. If you don't know them well enough to not draw a foul, it's your own fault. No one elses. Freak accidents happen, yeah. So go on out in your next two elimination matches and prove that you deserve the win.

Sincerely,
Tired of the Gripe