Re: Alliance picking
I really like the idea of the serpentine draft. I think that would definitely "balance" the competition a bit.
But the way it is, you almost always end up with the two best alliances in the finals, which makes for a very exciting set of matches.
Who's to say that FIRST couldn't give it a try for one year? It's not like that hasn't been done before (2001). Speaking of which, that auto-seed system was a very unique idea. For those that are unfamiliar with it, the #1 seed was automatically paired with the #5 seed, #2 with #6, etc. It worked well because you had to draft 3 additional teams and there were no quarter finals. There may have been teams that would throw a match so that they could drop down into an auto-seed position, but I'm not sure how frequently it happened (if at all).
The only complaint (not really) with the current system I have is that I think the #1 vs. #8 match should not be the first match (I think it should be the last quarterfinal match). I say this because the #8 teams tend to be inexperienced (in terms of the finals) and may not have even been prepared to be a picker (no excuse if you're in the top 15). In the frantic hour between picking and playing, repairs and reinspection must happen, and things get overlooked. Maybe I'm just bitter because we swapped in a good battery and then swapped the battery we just took out back IN just before the match (d'oh!).  . Rest assured, that WILL NOT happen again!
Kev
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Team 71: 1999, 2000 (Driver), 2001-2002 (Driver, Animator) // Team 1064: 2003 (Co-founder, Coach), 2004 (Coach) // Team 1714: 2006-2007 (Mentor, Coach) Team 1675: 2005-2007 (Mentor, Coach), 2008 (Mentor), 2009-2017 (Mentor, Coach) FLL: '04 (Judge), '05 (Ref), '06 (Ref), '07 (Ref), '08 (Judge, Ref), '09 (Judge), '10 (Ref), '16 (Judge Advisor) // Ref: '05 (IN, IRI), '06 (IN, IRI), '07 (IN, IRI), '08 (WMR, Curie)
WI RPC: 2006 - 2016 // FRC Inspector: '07 (WI), '08 (WI, IL), '09 (WI, IL), '10 (WI, CMP), '11 (WI, IL, CMP), '12 (WI), '13 (Northern Lights) 2007 WI Woodie Flowers Award Finalist // 2011 Wisconsin Regional Outstanding Volunteer // 2011/2013 Midwest Regional Chairman's Award
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