[Jeff Waegelin]

There is a definite increase in concentration of teams in the Midwest. Just look at the metro Detroit area. There are over 30 teams all in a very small area. While California has the most teams, Michigan has more per-capita than any other state. The difference is obvious, when you have 3 teams in one school district, and there can easily be 5 teams within 10 miles of your home.

I would also agree with the tendency of Midwest teams to be more concerned about robot appearance. We don't focus on that to the point of hurting performance, but we like our robots to look as good as they play.

Finally, the Midwest teams seem to form an informal association, too. When you see the same teams at two or three different regionals, you get to know the names well. There's so many teams and events in the Midwest that the teams here tend to stick together, often picking alliance partners from within their ranks. There's no formal organization (yet), but there is a definite grouping of the Midwest teams.