Quote:
Originally posted by CaseyG668
I've been in FIRST for three years, since the start of my team in 2001. I won't say I've seen it all, I don't think anyone can. The past two years, our team went to SVR and Nationals last year (which was absolutely fantastic!), and I've always had a wonderful time, and come back to this "reality" thing grinning and cheerful.
This year, though, seems to be a little different. Maybe it's just the game that's got me jaded; it doesn't seem to inspire as much goodwill between teams as the past two games have, and I don't really like that there's so little strategizing you can really do ahead of time - the rule of thumb for this game seems to be whoever can knock the most boxes from the ramp onto their side generally wins. Maybe it's all the stuff that happened during the six weeks, with the motor specs coming so terribly late, trying to create a whole new drive train, not to mention normal team dynamics. But my own little theory is that over the years, the fundamental ideals of FIRST, the teamwork and gracous professionalism, the learning, wonder and excitement of this opportunity, they've lessened to a degree where it's stopped being fun for some people.
Today at SVR, I was watching a match that my team was playing in. A robot on the other alliance flipped our partner, and while our two team's spectators gasped and tried to make sure the robot was alright, the team who's robot had flipped our partners' started yelling and cheering even louder. Now, I don't know *why* they were cheering, maybe it was for something their partner had done. But I was completely disgusted with their behavior.
I've heard from other people their stories of the loss of gracious professionalism, horror stories that make you wonder how they could have happened in a place like this. Others have spoken of the "gentlemen's agreements" that have been going on this year, their experiences with the lack of GP. Guess I've added myself to their ranks. I just wish I could say I was the last one.
- Casey Greene
<Casey668>
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I agree 100%. The entire tone seemed different this year, and last year as well.
I think FIRST is being "geared down" to rookies, and the average person - as a result, it's losing a lot of the inventiveness and professionalism that made it great.
The emphasis is now definitely on "Gracious" and not "Professionalism."
This was all predicted in 2001: "The End of Elegance" in FIRST
I think FIRST has hit or is beginning to hit its apogee, and will slowly burn itself down to a managable level.
FIRST doesn't need to recruit more teams. FIRST needs to keep teams around for 2+ years, and let teams become more experianced. I'd rather see 30 good teams with innovative robots at a regional, than 60 teams that are clueless.
I also have an inclination to believe that some of the people in the upper echelons of FIRST might have lost sight of what this program was about.
It's not about including everyone: inclusion will be the death of this program.
It's about setting us apart in a good way.