[Phil 33]

I can remember three years ago, when I first joined robotics, we were at our first regional, the first one I had ever been to. The team sitting in front of us decided to bring several band members along with them, and for the ENTIRE day of competition, they stood 2 rows in front of us banging mercilessly on these huge drums. After several hours of this, almost everyone in the area was getting annoyed. If you ask me, this didn't add anything to the spirit of the competition, it took away from it. Now, because of half a dozen kids banging drums all day, the hundreds of people sitting around them grew tired of it, got head aches, and couldn't enjoy the competition for themselves.

I have no problem with the idea of noise makers, but lets keep it reasonable. Use them when YOUR team is up, or when a team is receiving an award. Don't just bang on drums all day for the heck of it. In fact, no instrments or sound systems should be allowed (thats a rule now). If you want to blow little horns or kazoo's, I don't care. Just don't sit in the stands and play your trumpet. Do whats REASONABLE, but some people just don't know where to draw the line.