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Originally posted by rees2001
As for the 2 awards that do get you to the Championship, they are exactly what FIRST is promoting. Chairmans & Engineering Inspiration are great awards that can't just be given to anybody. This keeps teams from getting an award at a regional sponsored by their team's sponsor just so they can go to the Championship. Nobody likes to see a team win an award they don't deserve just to qualify them.
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Those are the FIRST awards that really matter and are the ones you should strive for. Yes the "smaller" awards like Motorola Quality award, Spirit, and others mean something but in the overall scheme of things its these two awards that mean something. For the past two years, I don't think any team that won championship actually also won the Chairman's Award too. You could have the worst season ever and still win Chairmans because you are deemed the best representative of FIRST ideas and values, a model for other teams. Just read the criteria for all the awards and you'll find that Chairmans and Engineering Inspiration are the top two.
Quote:
Originally posted by Andy Grady
To those people who are critical of the auto entry of 1992 teams, take a minute to think about exactly how long you have been in FIRST, then think about how hard it can be to keep comming back with enthusiasm as you get older and more tired. When you have been in the competition for 10, 11, 12 years, it gets harder and harder to find the strength to compete every year...these 6 teams still manage to do it, year in and year out.
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Its nothing to be biased about. Just look through the competition listing of teams particpating and look at all the gaps inbetween team numbers, especially the lower digits. They deserve to go. Its hard to keep on coming up with the money to keep on going, especially with today's economy.
But for tha past two years, its been a quick fix to the problem of Championship elgibility. This is a result of their two years of going through the engineering design process. Is it perfect? Maybe not. But like was the 2 v. 2 perfect in 2000, not really the best method, but they fixed it for the 2002 and last year. But believe me, if FIRST had it their way, we'd all would be allowed to go but there simply isn't a venue big enough for all of us. Just look at the 2002 Championships..... we pretty much maxed out that Disney parking lot!