[J-Blondie]

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad

I agree with Navid. I think the issue is not that teams are losing unexpectedly, but the way that they are losing. We lost in the SVR final due to our own actions while facing a superstrong alliance so we came away satisfied; 1323 didn't have an opportunity to play for a win in the semi-finals because of what appears to be arbitrary officiating decision. And we all can cite other examples where teams lost because of factors created by individuals outside of the playing alliances. That makes it difficult to be happy about the experience for many students and mentors. We are the consumers of what FIRST is offering, and we have the right and obligation to ask for a better product when we see problems. Most of the problems are fixable (and there will always be issues--look at the NFL which has many more resources to bring to this.)

BTW, my understanding from someone close to the game design process is that the original design called for two more scorers to assist the referees.

I agree, 1323 in no way can be happy at the results and the reason of why they missed out on playing. Most of this post is not directed to their team. Even in the end when they realized what had happened and were forced to stay on the sidelines, their mentors and students accepted it at the time. I'm not saying they need to accept it, but I know they will follow up with FIRST and I know that FIRST will respond accordingly, be it to their team personally or to everyone.

And I agree that there should be feedback on what happened at the regionals, and I think that people have every right to ask for better circumstances in the future and for FIRST to use this season as a learning experience. However I just don't think that posting negatively towards individuals and being as awful toward situations as people have been is not in the best interest and not the type of feedback we want to pursue.