[Ameya]

After last year's game, I was glad to see a return to the 2v2 format from 2000, including the rules for determining the qualifiying points from a match (winners get 3x losers' score).

I was a bit worried when I saw the first qualifying match at Rutgers (two 2-goal robots rushed to the center, grabbed goals, and then slowly spun in circles fighting over the center goal), but this kind of match turned out to be the exception. Most of the matches were very exciting to watch, especially the close high-scoring matches (like our 52-50 victory in the qualifying rounds at UTC).

I felt that this year's game left more room for strategy than last year (since last year's lack of opponents led to fewer variables). There was also more pre-determined strategy than in the 2000 season, since we knew our alliance partner and opponents before each match. This allowed us to come up with brilliant (if sometimes unsuccessful) strategies such as the 'play dead' strategy we used once against two ball-handlers (it would have worked perfectly if our robots had worked perfectly, but they didn't).

I am looking forward to seeing what F.I.R.S.T. will come up with for us next year.