[Al Skierkiewicz]

I need to weigh in here as a participant, team member and volunteer at the Midwest Regional. The position of referee is a very hard and subjective position in a competition where there is a rule book the size of a small town yellow pages. What you see from the stands and what you see from a webcast is nothing compared to the vantage point you would have on the floor next to the field. I spent some time behind the field during this regional, some time behind a players station in the stands and some time high up with my team and I can tell you there is a vastly different view of the game from those three positions. The aggressive play rule comes from the discussion on this forum and others following last year's season. It has been discussed at length and the referees trained to know the difference between aggressive defense and aggressive play aimed at damage only. Anyone in this competition for more than a year knows that robots will sustain damage, have parts ripped off, break drive parts etc. When an aggressive robot leaves the field and it is littered with parts, that has crossed the line. During one such match in Chicago, the referees collected a double handful of broken parts from the field.
At the start of this season, I wasn't sure that this would turn into an exciting game, but it has. I didn't think aggressive play would be an issue with a populated field (6 robots and nine goals) but there are robots out there that can and will drive hard enough to inflict serious and fatal damage on another robot. Pushing doesn't create damage but serves just as well in a defensive mode as ramming but there is a significant difference that only those up close may be able to determine.
Now, having been at two regionals back to back, and seeing the same people volunteering at both, I can tell you they are very tired. (I am exhausted) Do you know of any officials that will ref for two full days? Does any official receive the full immersion form of training that our refs do? As each match goes by, they get better and better. By finals on Saturday afternoon I think you have the best staff you can get.
I guess I am trying to say (in a Ken Leung, long post kind of way) that it is too easy to make a judgment call from the stands and be wrong. Making a judgment call on a webcast video should be like pro wrestling, for entertainment purposes only.

I can tell you we have the utmost respect for the teams we played. The finals matches with 107, 79, 648 were some of the toughest I have ever seen and they are the greatest competitors, playing the game well with a wonderful strategy that almost won. I would be happy to be in an alliance with any of them.