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Biggest Offender.
I admit it. I am the biggest offender of what I call the "descoring strategy". Ask 27, 322, 291, and 63 and they will tell you that I passionately pleaded with them to use this strategy in the elimination rounds.
Now for some facts:
1. We (I know not all of us) asked for the elimination rounds to be more like the qualifying rounds.
2. FIRST decided to use a 2 match total as the elimination scoring and make the loser's score worth more to the winner than to the loser.
3. FIRST mandated that all 3 robots must play at least one time, even if broken. Let's remember why the 3 robot team was started in the first place ... to help alleviate the disaster when one robot breaks.
Given all these rules, the descoring strategy is the smartest strategy to implement.
To Tony,
C'mon man, do you really believe it is unsportsmanlike to descore? If you do, then I apologize for being unsportsmanlike; but I just don't see it that way. By the way, your team did it in the semis against us and I thought it was a brilliant move. That move actually kept you in the game for the second match.
I know it is against the competitive nature in us to try to lose, but when your points are worth more to the other team than you; it is a solution that needs to be considered.
Here are the reasons I like the descoring principle:
1. If it is clear you are going to lose by a big margin, you descore (I.E. moving your robot off the ramp) in order to keep the score close enough to catch up in the second match.
2. Something goes terribly wrong in the first match and you are playing 2 v. 1. (Have you ever heard the saying 'Live to fight another day'?) You can descore to keep it close so you may win the second match.
3. You win big in the first match (my rule is at least 60 points) and you try to mathematically eliminate the other teams chance to catch up. The risky thing about this strategy is that if the other team realizes that you are trying to descore, they can score for you to keep them in the game (Game 2 of our semi-final match against 111, 292, and 548). This strategy makes it so your team does not have to worry about fighting on the hill at the end.
4. Number 3 is important, because if a robot does break and must be used in later rounds, the descoring strategy keeps you in the game. This happened to us in our Final round at Great Lakes. 322 broke its drivetrain in our tough semi-final match. Team 27 and us went in the 1st round of the finals to get a high score. We were going to use the descoring strategy in the second round in order to keep us competitive in what we knew was going to be a 2 v. 1 scenario. Unfortunately, we just couldn't pull it off.
I did not make the rules, but I am trying to keep my team competitve within the rules given.
I would like to apologize to anyone who thinks this strategy to be against gracious professionalism and unsportsmanlike, but I simply do not agree. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I take sportsmanship and gracious professionalism very seriously. I think the descoring strategy is a legitimate strategy that should be considered by all teams competing in the elimination rounds.
-Paul
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