[Steve W]

Even though this thread is degrading somewhat I will respond. As stated by Dean and the one and only JVN, nothings fair. That being said, I don't believe that any 1st year team expects to be as good as the "powerhouses". The great thing about FIRST is that people try. It is a growing experience. Yes even for us older, notice I did not say more mature, mentors. With the wealth of knowledge that is floating around in FIRST, teams will grow quickly. BUT there is no substitute for experience. We all hopefully learn from our mistakes. To say that we can't use our past to improve out future is silly. Second year teams are not rookies so why would you want to take away a large portion of their learning curve. Also remember that every 4 years every team is new except for the mentors and sometimes even then.

Back to the thread question. I find it interesting that 18 % of the teams that responded say that it is OK to cheat. That is why we need these rules. There are probably many more out there saying or doing what is definitely against the rules. Yes to be the best we must push the limits but to deliberately break the rules is another issue. I know that as you step into a grey area things are no longer black and white but just different shades of grey. That is what we all must be very careful of.