[AlecS]

After some time to think about what happened, here is what I have to say about what happened in SF 1-2, and the rest of the regional.

As far as the facts of the situation are concerned, both Brian Bond and Jared are correct. During SF 1-1 our drive encoder wire snagged and was cut, which caused our robot to slam into the driver station wall during autonomous.

When the team got back to the pit and discovered the issue, we knew we needed to fix it for the next match. RC, quickly handed our student a card, and told him to go to the question box and call a timeout. This is where the mistake occurred on our part, in the heat of moment, RC accidentally gave the student the backup card instead of the timeout card. This was not realized at the time, and the student had no reason to believe the card he was handed was the wrong one.

The student went to the question box and verbally requested a timeout, and gave the head ref the card he was handed, which turned out to be the backup card. Although nobody else appears to have overheard this conversation, to question the integrity of the student, who claims to have clearly requested a timeout, is outrageous.

From there, our team went about repairing our robot for the next match. We informed our alliance partners we had called a timeout. At some point during the timeout, the head ref came to our pit and asked if we “were going to be in” for the next match. Without knowing any context to his question, we said yes, we are in. This is where a major miscommunication occurred. Without knowing or hearing any context to the question, nobody on 1323 had any idea anything involving backup robot was being considered. No mention of a backup was ever announced in the pits.

We finished fixing our robot and sent it out to the field, only to be told we would be forced to sit out. The events transcribed as Jared said, with our entire drive team being extremely confused and distraught about the situation. Our drive team explained that they were trying to call a timeout not a backup and that a mistake must have been made. The head ref appeared to understand the error, however after a discussion behind the scoring table with FIRST HQ, we were told we would be forced to sit out.


I will not publicly speculate on who made what decisions, or the officials intentions during communications with our team, nor will we likely ever know exactly what the officials thought was happening. However, the fact that there was a decision actively made to force our team to sit out, and ultimately end our season, while knowing what we had intended to do is a decision that I don't think I will ever understand. In a competition that is supposed to inspire students to pursue STEM, telling our students that even though they worked incredibly hard throughout the entire season, they don't get the chance they earned to compete because of a simple, honest, mistake seems to be just about the least inspiring thing I can think of. This decision, combined with other unfortunate interactions with event officials throughout the event left our students and mentors in a state of frustration that I have never felt before at a FIRST event.

Again we cannot thank our friends enough for their support. The behavior of these teams during this experience is something myself and the rest of 1323 will never forget.

Teams 846 and 2135, you guys were awesome alliance partners, and were completely innocent parties in this ordeal. Your condolences to our team after the matches were greatly appreciated.

Team 670, I am sorry you were placed into this situation. I know it must have been more confusing for you than it was for us as to what was going on. Thank you for being so polite about what happened. One of your mentors brought RC, our drive team and myself waters as we were in tears after the match. This was a true example of gp.

Teams 971, 254, 1662, 1678, 368, 4171, you guys were awesome opponents and your offer to protest as you did was incredibly inspiring. Your teams should never have been placed in a situation where you felt that another team was being wronged to point where you felt you had to protest. Thank you for everything you did.

Team 254, thank you for trying to show support with our banner.

At the end of day, what's done is done. Hopefully, FIRST will learn from this experience and other shocking rulings this season, and in the future, will not disregard it’s own mission statement when making unprecedented rulings during eliminations play.

I expect RC will post his own thought’s on what transpired, over the next few days.