[Jason Morrella]

After one day, I would be inclined to agree with you Joe - but I would suggest we reserve judgment for 2 reasons:

1. In some past years (like 2000 - which is similar scoring wise to this game) the game was played MUCH differently in the playoffs than in the qualifying matches. The playoffs at KSC & VCU might be played much differently and be more exciting than the Qualifying Matches, or maybe not - we shall see today.

2. The other 15 regionals all benefit and have the advantage of watching the matches of this first week. Teams have a chance to analyze what strategies work & don't, and have a chance to learn from the mistakes teams make while trying to learn the game. So just as in past years, I would expect to see the level of play and scores to increase over the next couple of weeks.

Even if it doesn't get more exciting in terms of "ready for prime time" - At least for the participants, the game always ends up being fun and exciting - as we all face the same challenge and appreciate/respect the engineering, strategy, and controller skill it takes to compete - especially head to head.

Good luck to all the playoff teams at KSC and VCU! Can't wait to see all the teams and bots at Buckeye next week!

JM