[Lauren Bendes]

As a proud member of Truck Town, I am extremely offended to think that some teams within the FIRST organization have come to the point of blatently fixing matches.

Yes, I do believe that to better your own score you must ensure that your opponet has close to the same point amount as you. (It is not appropriate in this game to beat a team 75 to 1.) But, I do not believe in making an agreement to do this from the beginning of each match.
I feel that a large part of what makes a team good is not only their robot, but is their teams ethics and drive to compete fairly. As the team that seeded second in the AZ due do a few teams in the surrounding standings participating in the fixing I was extremely disappointed that my team didnt have the chance to show our true potential. Many teams at the recent regional were oblivious to the fact that this was happening and many agreed, once a petition was raised, that they were in opposition to this fixing. These teams didnt have the opportunity to showcase their robots ability nor what their drivers could handle. Coming from a team where we have exceptionally experienced drivers I feel that part of what makes our team who they are is the drivers ability to make that split second decision in a match whether to score more boxes for the opponent or to let the opponent on the ramp to better their score.

I think that everyone has the right to their own decision about the manner, and I know that some teams do not view this as fixing a match, but I truly hope that these teams realize that this isnt what true competition and gracious professionalism are about.

~Lauren~
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!
GO TRUCK!