[Chris is me]

To be perfectly frank, this is one of several examples of the Championship event doing things at the direct expense of the team experience. I'll probably make a post in a few days (or minutes) summing them up, but in a lot of ways I'm quite disappointed with the way Championships was run and the way teams were treated. The Championship is full of excellent volunteers with extremely difficult jobs, but too often teams are treated with indifference or even hostility, and their concerns fall on completely deaf ears.

The experience on the Carver field was completely different. At the beginning of the elimination matches, we were all crowding at the edge of the pit trying to watch the matches. One of the volunteers noticed it and said, "You know you can watch your matches from the media area right?" With a huge smile on our faces it walked the 10 ft to watch our matches ring side. Everyone there made room for us right at the front. They also didn't mind my kids sitting while watching because it allowed for better viewing for those behind them.

This was not quite my experience on Carver. It took a (slightly) heated discussion for them to permit me to watch my alliance's final match of the season, because "the backup team isn't even on the field"... If it wasn't for a late change of heart I would have had to ask our opponents if I could stand in their pit area to view the match. I think it was just a case of one confused volunteer because another clarified I could be there. This is in stark contrast to 2013 and 2012 when anyone who was permitted on the floor could watch a match as long as they were far enough away from the field to not block the view for the audience. I understand if it can't be like 2012 / 2013 again but it shouldn't be this bad.