[Travis Hoffman]

I like the On Deck idea; however, I question why alliance captains aren't permitted to pick from a list of the On Deck teams instead of having the highest ranked team force fed to them. If an alliance robot breaks, I don't believe it would cause much, if any, additional confusion or delay for a FIRST official to present a list of teams to an alliance captain (a list they'll have generated per the existing rule, anyway) and have him/her select a team from the list. Those who didn't prepare such a detailed pick list could simply choose the top ranked On Deck team as is already the rule without any additional delay.

There is a reason teams spend so much time scouting - it's so they can determine which high ranked teams are deserving of their position and which were in those high spots due more to good fortune than anything else. It's also so they can identify teams whose robots and strategies best complement what they like to do during a match, some of whom may be at the bottom of the rankings due solely to bad luck and would be ineligible for selection under the current rule. I'm sure the scout crews for many picking teams will create pick lists that are detailed enough to include their most desired On Deck teams - why not reward the hard work of those teams by letting them choose whom they want? In addition, this would let these better-prepared alliances contact their preferred On Deck selections and guarantee they won't be packing up their robot before the end of the eliminations - with the current system, can FIRST guarantee that scenario won't happen? How much of a delay would that cause if it did? I'd be more enthusiastic about keeping my robot out and in top running condition if an alliance captain came to me and told me they wanted us to be their On Deck team instead of having to wait around with the rest of the "scrap heap", waiting to be salvaged by a team who may not even like what they're getting.

By allowing teams to pre-determine who they want their On Deck partners to be, matching the On Deck team's robot and strategy to those of the existing alliance, I think FIRST would give all elimination alliances a better chance at achieving success while facing adversity, and they would improve the quality and excitement of the elimination rounds.