Quote:
Originally Posted by SpaceBiz
Ok, so don't do any wild card....
|
The wildcard system is the best thing that has happened to FIRST in a very long time. Especially in Canada (As you gave Waterloo for an example). Wildcards are awesome!
I think part of what you are saying is that the
24th pick gets a free ride and that these teams perhaps aren't as deserving as say, the 5th best robot who may not qualify because they are just out of wildcard spot.
Instead I will give you a few examples of teams that have been 3rd picks at Canadian regional and
1325 - Inverse Paradox is a great example.
1325 was a team that wasn't really a top contender for eliminations for many years. They were finalists at GTR W in 2011 as a third pick, but they were largely unselected at events that they attended. In 2013 they were selected by 2056 and 1114 at GTR E and won the event, and then attended world championships for their
first ever time. 2014 they significantly stepped up their game fielding a very competitive robot, captaining the 8th seed at GTRE, and being drafted in the other two events that they attended in 2014. While they did not qualify for champs again, they did attend a 26 hour offseason event (WVROX) and came out
winners as second pick overall. As some may have noticed in 2015 they captained the 6th seed at GTR C and 2nd seed at GTR E, where they
went to the finals with some very close matches against a heavily favored #1 seed, and won the
chairman award. Talk about inspiration!
Not to mention the many, many other teams that I have seen inspired by qualifying for champs, that I have seen a huge impact on their students, and their team as a whole. Like
5076,
4914, and
2198 from 2014. Hey, who can forget the
rookie 4814 who won as a 3rd with 1114/2056 at GTRW 2013 and went on to captain the number 3 alliance on Curie and take it all the way to the division finals with 3 matches. They had a largely successful 2014 season being knocked out in the semis at Windsor in 3 against the powerhouse 1285/1241 combo.
865 3rd robot at Waterloo 2014 has a
very impressive machine this year.
4069 Waterloo 2013, went on to captain the 7th seed at North bay in 2014 and pulled upset after upset and nearly took the finals to a 3rd match.
4001 of 2012 has been fielding better and better robots every year and recently went to the finals at GTC.
3756 Waterloo 2011, has a unbelievable season in 2012, and has been putting out great robots ever since.
There are so many examples, and heck that's just Ontario.