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Intentionally damaging/destroying robots is never going to play a role in FIRST for the following reasons:
1. Safety: some of these bots (mine included) ARE actually completely student built. We like to say that we did a damned good job, but sticking a radial saw on a classroom robot cannot be considered good practice, never. Also, an enclosed field will not happen; it is too expensive and separates the robots from the spectators - that isn't a good thing.
2. FIRST has enough problems procuring replacement parts as it is. In a game whose objective it is to maim other robots, the repair expenses would be astronomical.
3. If they did it now, everyone would call FIRST BattleBots imitators. And they would be right.
Also, saying that FIRST should be more lax on rules is just nonsensical. If anything, they need to come up with a strict set of rules and ENFORCE them rather than changing them weekly. That whole rotating light affair set my team back for critical days, before finding out at our first regional that it was just fine upside down. Moreover, my team came up with designs that utilized wedges early in the season, but we dismissed them as illegal and immoral. We were ultimately beaten by one - all because of inconsistent rulings and gray areas.
Is that the message we want to send? Every other successful sport has a clearly defined set of rules that are followed. And as it is I consider FIRST much more successful than BattleBots - it has touched far more lives already than BB ever will.
Lastly, gracious professionalism does exist - if you cannot find it in your sponsor or workplace, then find a new one. You hear about the Enrons and Worldcoms in the news every day, but you don't hear about the thousands of honorable, respectable businesses that keep our economy running. Believe me, they exist.
If you want to crash robots, then go get involved with BattleBots and stop complaining about FIRST. If not, stop complaining anyway.
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