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Unread 04-01-2004, 15:07
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JVN JVN is offline
@JohnVNeun
AKA: John Vielkind-Neun
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Re: Most Competitive Regional

I've given this a lot more thought...
In terms of pre-season, how does one rate the competitiveness of a regional, without knowing what the game/robots will be like?

Well... past experiences obviously... But, what specifically?

In my case, it has to do with the teams attending, and how many of them I think of as "competitive". The regionals with the most competitive teams, will be the toughest.

Which of course brings up another question... in the pre-season how do I define this?

I've given this a LOT of thought, and here is what I've come up with.
A team is "pre-season competitive" in my mind if... I'm scared of the robot they will design, and what they will come up with.

This is based on a lot of things for me...
I've been around this competition for a few years, and I've been described as a "Student of the game" so I've seen my fair share of robots (from all over the nation, not just New England). If a team has consistently put out impressive robots, that scare the bejesus out of me, obviously I'm going to consider them a competitive team.

Cmon guys... you know what I'm talking about.
If you don't understand, look at the Wildstang robots from... ummm...
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. get it yet?

Do the same for the Technokats.
Do the same for Chief Delphi.
Do the same for BBS.
Do the same for Beatty.
Do the same for BUZZ.

Understand yet?

These are the teams I'm talking about. The ones who go out, build an amazing machine, and kick some butt... EVERY YEAR.

Some teams in the country are good... but in my mind, they still aren't quite to this level yet. There are TONS of teams who pull out great robots... but how many do it every single stinkin' year?

So... where is the greatest concentration of these teams?
Midwest. Just look down the team lists for some of those regionals...

Here's another exercise...
This is only for those people who have seen a lot of robots, and a lot of teams over the years... (not the ones who have spent their entire life attending only one regional, and don't pay attention to the "international" scene).

Name your top 10 teams in the nation.
See any one regional heavy in those teams?

I do.

John

Disclaimer: This is obviously a very opinionated subject. I just posted my opinion, and examples to help others understand where I'm coming from. Obviously... there is no "right" answer to this. The only way we can quantitatively argue this is AFTER the regionals have ended. But until then, it sure makes for something good to think about while we wait for kickoff...
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In the interest of full disclosure: I work for VEX Robotics a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI) Crown Supplier & Proud Supporter of FIRST