It's obvious that the original poster has a chip on his shoulder, and more than his share of jealousy. I think that several cool heads in this thread have already sufficiently responded to this, but there's one point that still needs to be addressed.
It's no secret that well-funded teams tend to perform better (though this isn't always the case). 71, 111, and 254 (among others... those are the teams that come to mind at the moment) all have a vast amount of resources available to them, and they make full use of them. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. You could accuse them of being like the Yankees of FIRST, of buying victories, but if the kids are being inspired, what's the big deal? Nonetheless, this still troubles me:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ducttapejason
Congratulations to your team, and i hope that you continue to challenge yourselves and the rest of the FIRST community. You are up on a pedestal for a reason, quit looking down at everyone. Reach down and grab others to bring them up as well.
|
Team 254 won the National Chairman's Award last year. This makes them the ONE team in the whole country that best exemplifies the ideals of FIRST. This award cannot be bought. You can get a huge grant and a whole room full of engineers, but that alone will earn you nothing in the eyes of the judges. How did 254 earn this honor, and how do they continue to deserve it? By reaching down from their "pedestal" of success and experience to help those who haven't been as fortunate in collecting resources. They've started teams in Alaska and Hawaii, and they've mentored several other teams. They are helping to start Utah's first team this year. They mentor FLL teams, support an FLL tournament, and do other community outreach. And, as I'm sure you've seen at any event they attend, they bring a machine shop trailer to help other teams fix their robots, which has saved our team and countless others in competition. If you're still in doubt, you can read their
2004 Chairman's submission. If you must, be jealous of their success. We all wish we could have as many trophies as them. However, don't let your jealousy drive you to discount how they have inspired students and advanced the ideals of FIRST.