Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamHeard
Agreed, my answers would change a lot if we were competing under the district qualification system.
|
+1; my team didn't win an even this year but got to Worlds, while last year we won a district and a district chairman's award and didn't qualify. in the case of a district, I'd rather my team be a captain.
that being said, at a regional competition, I'd rather win something that qualifies my team for champs (whether it's being the 24th pick, getting engineering inspiration, or whatever), because I firmly believe that championships is one of the absolute best experiences one can have. once my team's at champs though, I want to win on personal merit- scouting, robot skills, etc. so while I wouldn't mind being the 24th pick, if it was what our performance made us deserve, I'd rather be ranked higher if we performed in a way that made us deserve that ranking. I never go to worlds expecting to be on einstein (well, except freshman year, but that doesnt count because I didnt understand what world-class play looked like at that point
), because you can be the best robot in the world, and not make it due to any number of reasons.
also, being a 22nd pick (it's almost a 24th, just like we almost won our division) this year at champs showed me that later picks can be done to fill an extremely important niche role in an alliance (uprighting cans was ours), and aren't always the same as late picks at districts/small regionals. or they can be overlooked: 1671 was the 25th pick on the alliance that won einstein, and they could make 3 6-high stacks on a good day
TLDR: I like going to champs, but once there, I want my team to be ranked as well as it deserves, and just have a fun time while I'm there regardless of the outcomes. also late picks can be vital