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reminder
It will be intersting to see how many teams sign up for three Regionals tomorrow.
Keep in mind, as many have pointed out in some other threads - there are not only 58 spots left. More than half of the regionals hold a few spots (2-5 on average) for late registering rookie teams, and will typically open some of these spots at the end of registration if they are unused. I know this has been done the past couple years.
two other things to keep in mind:
*every year a few teams decide they aren't prepared enough (not enough fundraising, support, resources, etc...) and withdraw towars the end of November.
*remember that the ideal number of teams for any event, if one "assumes" there will be an even number of teams in each match (say 4 or 6) is a multiple of 4 or 6. So if you see events with "odd" capacity numbers, odds are there are a few spots to be added.
So while the 58 currently open spots may fill, or come close, tomorrow - there will probably still be 50 or more spots opening in the next few weeks.
I'd say FIRST did a good job of predicting growth and started the exact right number of events for 2004. All teams who wanted to go to two events were able (which to me is the best indicator if they don't have enough regionals), and I would guess that less than 58 teams will go to three Regionals (they've never had that many go to three in the past, so if that holds, there is no need for additional events this year).
I would agree with Greg that FIRST will probably need 2 or 3 more regionals next year. Based on their almost right on prediction this year, I'd bet they are planning 2 or 3 more already for next year and the year after.
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