[Vincent Chan]

Doug--

I think a sport with a ball would be rather boring to watch; if you'd like that, you could go play 'bot soccer. While I agree that FIRST's game is rather confusing as far as scoring this year, I certainly think that it is a blast to watch. Yes, it is true that you cannot keep track of all the robots at any given moment, but focusing on the robots that are doing the most action-oriented activities gives plenty for people to watch. A game with simpler scoring rules would make for a much more viewer-friendly competition. Also, to make the game more audience-friendly, the kickoff animation or something akin to it could be shown to those watching the competition, and the details could be left for the announcer to cover as they arise during matches.

Consider football: scoring and rules are not clear (just survey a bunch of girls in your classes), yet if it holds someone's attention for just a quarter or two, they begin to understand the rules. Same idea here. As matches go on, more and more details are explained to the audience by the announcer. The basics, however, should be explained prior to the first match to clarify the game, as it changes year to year.

As far as descoring and collusions, I agree with JAlpert. The concept of descoring and on-field collusions is a valid strategy and completely fair; HOWEVER, I find off-field collusions made prior to the match not in the spirit of FIRST.