[Joe Johnson]

This ruling has hit me about as hard as any I have ever had from FIRST. Since I read it at lunch I have been moping around like a whipped dog...

To my mind, this ruling together with several others means the End of Elegance in FIRST.

The Football references. Dragging is okay. Grabbing is okay. Fork lifting is okay. And now, even after I take a hit, I have to rely on overworked staff at a regional or go without.

It is depressing to think that a battlebot wannabe will essentially be able to take out whomever they want with little recourse for the wounded machine/team ("Hey, I was just trying to score! Read the rules, it said expect to be hit, FIRST event compared it to FOOTBALL, ever heard of the Monsters of the Midway? etc. etc.").

I was willing to take the chance of a single bad event when I thought that I could have a CHANCE at fixing whatever mangling took place.

Now I see little hope for this. We are spending our creative juices thinking about what we can take off our machine to make weight for more armor.


Believe it or not, this rule has me seriously considering having someone ready to run onto the field at a moments notice in order to get the match stopped in the event of our machine getting too badly damaged. Better to take the DQ than to risk missing the Championship Event because your robot is being damaged beyond repair on the field.

I am not putting it too strongly when I say that I HATE THIS RULING.

Joe J.