Portland was most likely just as rough as other regionals. I believe that the reason it's more rough is due to the time factor. With short scoring periods, a simple 10 seconds of time for a reliable top goal shooter is enough to seal a game. Therefore teams are realizing that they need to have active and constant defense, otherwise the other team can win without contest.

As to robots being damaged, we personally experienced this in the finals. Our bot had flipped (the first and only time it flipped) near the other team's ramp, and they were going to try and climb their ramp, However, the only way that they could do that was to move our bot. However, their choice of moving methods wasn't the nicest. (they repeatedly ramed us, not pushed) The result of this was a breaking of two welds, and a shearing of multiple bolts. I now point out that this was while we were ON THE GROUND.

I'm not complaining about the amount of contact, I actually like how it requires us to design stronger bots. FIRST is giving us more challenges every year, and it seems that this is one of those.