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Originally Posted by Koko Ed
We go through this every year.
The old gaurd complains about how impersonal and rude and cuthroat FIRST is becomming and they proclaim. THIS IS THE END OF FIRST!
Yes there is much stress and drama present here this season with folks complaining about refs and rules and such. But it's not like people didn't complain other seasons as well.
Not everyone is going to buy into what the program is selling. Not everyone is going to want inspiration over winning. Not everyone is going to be graciously professional.
Still somehow FIRST remains a great community and a great tool for inspiring our youth, in spite of all of this. That FIRST can survive all of this strife is a true testiment to it's greatness.
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A couple of further thoughts.
FIRST is no longer a program. It's an institution. The selfish acts of a few misguided individuals cannot destroy it. Hell it can't even dilute it.
Think about it: Look at professional baseball. They got labor strife, steroid scandals and economic imbalance and yet people still love the game and still go watch it.
Look at the United States. It has rampant crime and poverty, failing public school systems , an ever growing budget deficit and a supposed divide between the left and the right. And yet I dare anyone to say it's still not a great country.
This is what FIRST has become. It has taken on a life of it's own and the only thing that can kill it is a catastrophic event that would bring the end to everything (like a meteor striking the earth) or outright indifference from every participating member. Maybe in 1992 when it was starting out FIRST was touch and go but every year it has grown bigger and stronger. It may not be sweeping the nation but it's embedded in the landscape of it's conscience and it's never ever going to leave.