[Red2486]

Originally Posted by tindleroot

That is an interesting point. However, I don't think FIRST is going to choose "under-the-radar" teams specifically since this will prevent the Chairman's "powerhouses" from ever entering the hall of fame. However, FIRST may look less and less at how well-known teams are.

Obviously, Chairman's is given to "model teams" for outreach, program growth and sustainability, etc, but I wonder if FIRST used to consider the strength of a team's robot performance as well. It's a little bit surprising that many, many hall of fame teams are also perrenial contenders for Einstein, considering the outreach portion of Chairman's seems to be the most important (not trying to knock powerhouse teams here, but if Chairman's and robots are truly independent then you would expect the hall of fame to contain a large range of robot-skilled teams).

I think that you are missing the connection here that does exist between the robot and Chairman's (though I don't think it is discussed in the judging room). Teams that are Champiomship level for the robot are excellent teams, and excellent teams tend to, in many cases, breed excellence is all areas. It has a lot to do with team culture. Additionally, the "better" a team is at Chairman's, the better their resources tend to be. If you are doing HOF level outreach, your chances of getting good funding, mentors, etc., go way up.