Even though I though he was a tiny bit too harsh against 469, I completely agree with his intentions. The truth about FIRST is there are two ways to win matches:
A. Fairly
B. Unfairly
Under fairly, you can score more points than your opponent or prevent your opponent from scoring points (see below).
I think Andy Baker was correct in his judging of the line between defensive behavior (allowed by FIRST) and offensive behavior (Not allowed, or commended, by FIRST). In my opinion, any move that can cause serious mechanical or electrical faliure (to an otherwise perfectly functioning robot, which has its batteries charged
) is offensive. Las Guerrillas' extended "spear" used against Cooney (269) when they were hanging could have caused serious electrical or mechanical faliure. In a nutshell, charging (going back and revving up for a full speed knock or using an arm to "slap") is offensive but blocking (using a flat side of the robot and pushing the opponent) is defensive and perfectly okay. I know from personal experience how it feels to have serious electrical or mechanical faliure from charging (but lets not get into that
), and it is not a good feeling.
Andy Baker is probably the best ref in this respect, because he is fair and doesn't allow robots to play unfairly.
Kudos to you, Andy Baker.