[Marygrace]

I am not defensive, i promise you. Just curious to hear another point of you. You have valid points, I agree, some teams strive for Chairmans Award, then once they get it, they think that its over. I dont think that that makes the award corrupt, some teams need to rethink their priorities.

Of course there are always going to be some teams strving for their own gain. Its human nature, there is nothing we can do about that. And you know what? This is just another way FIRST emulates life. Short on time, money, and their are ppl in the world that do things for their personal gain, we just have to ask ourselves how we are going to respond to those people.

I apreciate the alternative point of you, makes ya think, how many teams truly do this for FIRST, science and technology, or just to get their own attention?

Not all teams fully understand the point of FIRST and its sad, they arent on Chief Delphi experiencing the full FIRST community. Maybe never hearing of this concept that is well known here on CD, Gracious Profesionalism. They get competitive.

For the teams that do only do it for their personal gain and then fade, its disappointing yes, but hopefully they have inspired someone a long the way. Whether during one of their exhibitions they inspire a child, or just a member on the team. Every person counts, even if the team does fade, they affected someone somehow, and it gives other teams a chance to step in.

Lets call it the Robotics Circle of Life. When one team "dies" another is "born". Continuing to inspire the nation, and soon to be the world.