[Bill Gold]

My team will do ABSOLUTELY nothing illegal this year. We will also try our best to help any team in need. I also believe that it is unhealthy (from a team viewpoint) to nonchalantly talk about...

1.) The possible ways to break rules (spare parts between competitions, etc.)
2.) Refusing to help another team in need just because you might think they could "take your place at Nats"

First of all... I'm flabergasted when I see people from teams complaining about not being able to machine parts between Regional events. I have a few questions. Why can't you machine spare parts in the 6 week build period? My team is a relatively low budget team ($12,000 is an over-estimate), and we are making spare parts. I saw a team's yearbook page from last year... their budget was $80,000+. I think I've asked this before, but I'll ask it again. Can someone from a team with a budget of over $30,000 tell me what happens with all that money? I just can't see how any team with that much money couldn't build spare parts. If anyone should be complaining, it oughta be all of the rookie/low budget teams who either couldn't afford or didn't realize that spare parts are going to be necessary with a rule like this. They're the ones getting screwed by this rule.

Secondly... I sincerely hope no one here is going to refuse to help a team in need of assistance. There is no reward greater than to recieve a "thank you" and know that you helped another team compete. By helping a broken team, you help brighten the experience of that team. Think about how you'd feel if you needed assistance from another team.

I'm kinda tired right now.. so I'll re-read this post tomorrow to see if I came off like a jerk.

But I think that's my $0.02