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Originally Posted by J Flex 188
If I may, the above might not necessarily be true as well. In Pittsburgh 2004, I witnessed first hand the kind of damage, but the kind of spirit that a FIRST competition can provide. Delphi Elite (48) was battling Simbotics (1114) for the top portion underneath the bar, and through it all, 48 somehow managed to drive on top of 1114 and completely bend their telescoping arm. They had to carry Simon off the field with his arm extended. I remember thinking, wow, if I was 1114, I'd be incredibly upset right now, and complain about 48's tactics. Yet I remember it clearly, walking towards my pits after a match, seeing a throng of simbot AND delphi elite personnel in the simbotics pit working feverishly on their robot.
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Jeff is correct. The incident he describes really describes gracious professionalism in a nutshell. 48 battled us tooth and nail in that match. Yes, they did a lot of damage to our arm, in fact our arm was never the same again. Was I upset at them? Not in the slightest. They played aggressively on the field, they played to win. I'm never going to fault a team for that. They chose the best strategy to stop us. I applaud them for that. But off the field, the competition ended, and the co-operation began. They came over to us, and graciously helped us fix all the damage.
That's what gracious professionalism is all about. Compete as hard as you can on the field, co-operate as hard as you can off the field.