[Chris Hibner]

I really believe FIRST gave us this game in an effort to show us the error of our ways. We complained so much about last year having no competition that they went overboard with the interaction hoping that someone will break down and say, "this stinks that our robots are breaking down all of the time, I would rather have the all-for-one game back." With the addition of this latest ruling, it's like they're trying to break us down or something.

I love the head-to-head competition and as much as it's going to stink to have everyone's robot broken down all of the time, I would still rather have this game than last year's. However, I think FIRST needs to find a happy medium like the 2000 game.

With that being said, I really think we need to have a few days to make replacement parts and even improved parts. The problem with this is that teams can make parts for the entire time between competitions and bring them to the competitions and FIRST has no way (outside of "gracious professionalism") to know that those parts were made during the allotted time.

Suggested Compromise

How about this suggestion: Previously, FIRST made us ship robots by a certain time on Tuesday following a competition, and we needed to show verification that the robot was shipped on time. Why not give every team a separate "parts crate" that needs to be shipped by the deadline on Tuesday? All of the replacement parts and spare parts must be shipped in this crate and you must show verification that the crate was shipped on time.

With this suggestion, no parts can be brought to the competition (with the exception of off-the-shelf gears, bearings, or stock) - the only parts that a team can use is the ones from the "parts crate". When the competition ends, the teams must ship the robots but they are allowed to take home the parts crate, make parts until Tuesday, and then ship the crate by the deadline.

I think this is a workable compromise. In order to keep down the cost of shipping and the added hassle of the extra box, FIRST should limit the size. In fact, why not say it has to be one of those green boxes that the kit of parts comes in?