John -- some good statements -- I agree with you 100%.
FIRST does not owe anyone an apology for anything I have read in this thread.
1) The tipping issue was legal based on the fact that the referees did not call it. Thats the way it works -- it is their opinion at the moment it happens that counts -- not yours days later. Even if you produce a videotape "proving" your point that you were flipped, it doesn't matter -- the refs made their call from what they saw at the moment -- suck it up and move on.
2) The light issue warranted a minor match penalty, which the team was probably given. You may not like the rule, but it has been the rule since Jan 4th. Suggest a change for next year.
3) The video selection board is more for the audience than for the alliance captains. You make it sound like picking an alliance partner is like throwing a dart at the list of eligible teams and taking whatever you get. In reality, 2 1/2 days go into the alliance partner picking process. An hour before the end of qualification rounds, any top-16 team that doesn't have an ordered list of 24 potential alliance partners is putting themselves in jeopardy -- many teams do not prepare such a list, which means they do their picking based on their impressions of who is "good". It is you're responsibility to have your team in their heads as one of the desirable teams. Also, each alliance captain should keep track of the picks themselves as they happen -- this is not the first time there has been a problem with the selection screen, and it will not be the last.
If you are so hell bent on an apology being made, perhaps your team should apologize to itself for not doing a much better job at selling yourself to your competitors Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Or, perhaps, as a team mentor, you should apologize to your students for setting such a bad example of Gracious Professionalism yourself. It is your duty as a mentor to teach and show your students the true meanings of FIRST, including sportsmanship, humility and positive attitude. It is very disappointing to lose or not be selected when you feel you should be -- there is a word for that though: life -- and, as Dean explained to you, it is not fair.
Lastly, I think you have the direction of the apology backwards. I think that you as an individual owe FIRST an apology for publicly slandering them with your claim of incompetence. The claim is so ludicrous that it didn't even deserve a response here. The reason I responded is in an attempt to reverse the negative energy that is winding its way through this year's competition.
FIRST is changing as it grows. Many feel that it is losing the awesomeness of the experience. This seems to be somewhat true. However, the reason for that has nothing to do with the handful of people running the organization in Manchester. It has
everything to due with the attitudes of 20,000 participants across the country.
Well thats my 45 cents -- and Mike -- before you respond, if you respond, take a deep breath, think about why we all do this, take a step back, and go re-read your original post.
Aidan
