[themccannman]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

My point is that 2, or even 3-4, HOF mentors do not speak for MANY or all of them, much less a high percentage of inspirational people in FIRST. Please beware of hyperbole. It creates false alarm and a hive mentality, something that ChiefDelphi usually already has an abundance of.

Because most of them (dare I say none of them) jump to hasty conclusions. It will likely take them the entirety of the next 2 years to decide whether or not they want to stay with FRC with the recent changes, but the fact that many of them are even considering it is a huge failure for FIRST. If FIRST wants to really have a successful program they shouldn't have all of the largest contributors to their program have half a foot out the door, they should be thrilled to be involved without having so much doubt in FIRST HQ's choices. Of course there will be controversial decisions made by FIRST, but they shouldn't be so controversial that large amounts of veteran mentors and teams are considering leaving over it.

Originally Posted by alopex_rex

A few thoughts on this:

My team last went to Championships in 2012, my first year, and I can tell you guys: yes, it is an experience, and an amazing one at that. FIRST recognizes that, and I think teams like mine do as well. I'm inclined to think that those who object strongly to having two championships are associated with teams that are invited very frequently if not routinely, and don't appreciate how much it means to teams for whom attending the championship is an incredible achievement. I honestly don't understand why so many people are angry at letting more teams go, especially since the number of teams in the world has increased so much. If they stick to one championship, the percentage of teams that attends will get less and less every year, meaning every team that isn't a consistent powerhouse will have less and less hope of attending.

Champs stops becoming meaningful when a third of all teams qualify for it. Why isn't your team just as excited to make regional finals as to make it to CMP? Those will soon become similarly exclusive events. If you claim it's because you get to see other successful teams, well, you won't see most of them anymore because they'll be competing halfway across the country. I'm curious if you happen to discuss finances with the business side of your team, because I'm having trouble seeing why you would be so thrilled to drop $10,000 to go to CMP instead of $1000 to go to district champs and see teams at the same level of competition as you would see in a division at CMP. Is watching einstein live (with only half as many of the teams you're there to see) worth another $9000 in expenses every year? If I were you I would much prefer to go to district champs, not to mention the fact that I would get to play 4x as many matches in the district system instead of at regionals for a lower price.

It's a bit weird to think about having two world champion alliances, but think: right now there isn't a single world champion. There's three. In a couple years there will be six. Perhaps that could be considered diluting the honor, but as a member of a team that is happy just to attend the championships, I'm not going to respect a champion team less for being one of a group of 0.2% of teams instead of 0.1%.

Personally, I don't care much, but here's the reasoning as I understand it, that most other people don't like it: The word champion loses a lot validity when you no longer crown a champion. Now that you have multiple champions can any of them really say "we are world champions"? Why stop at 2? Why not split the country into quarters and have 4 regional champions? Under your logic is that any less reputable, or garnering of respect than 2 champions?

I was excited when I heard the news at MSC this weekend, and honestly I was surprised to see such a backlash. I also don't expect it to have any effect; any organization that reversed massive decisions because of some angry responses online wouldn't have survived nearly as long as FIRST has.

The difference is that most of the people involved in FIRST aren't internet trolls. That's just my opinion though.