[Gdeaver]

It seams so many individuals on teams don't understand the goals of First. Any team that goes through build season and ships a robot has won the game. They just may not realize it until in a few years they are out facing the real world and using the life skills that First competitions teach. Think of your unfortunate classmates that are not involved in activities like First. The transition to adulthood and the real world can be very tough. As you found out this weekend hard work is not enough. Your best laid plans didn't work out as you thought. Hey, that's real life. The real skill that leads to success is learning to deal with failures and the never ceasing problems that will be thrown at you every day. From your post, it seams that your team did very well at dealing with the problems and showed a very respectable performance. You didn't win but, every one on your team should be feeling very good. How do you think the team that came in last in the rankings feels? They may feel down but, their participation this year has given them a little lesson in life. If your playing the First game, your winning big time. Pick the shoulders up and savor this weekend's experience.