[sanddrag]

I believe the one of the first history making instances of this type of action was in 2004 at the Arizona regional by the 696, 80, 498 alliance. It was before the last match of finals. We were facing 330 and their partners. We knew we didn't stand a chance. Then robots start coming on the field. 330 isn't thier. "330, calling team 330." Minutes pass "330 your robot needs to be on the field or you will be disqualified" We knew they didn't have a chance with only 1 robot on the field. 330 was the star of the alliance. We could legally win a regional in accordance with the rules. Then all of a sudden Courtney from 330 comes running up to me like she had just seen her life flash before her eyes. She tells me their robot controller is broken and they need more time. Even if I wanted to win the regional, and get big sponsors and have everlasting success as a team, when I saw her face there was absolutely no way we could say no even if we had otherwise wanted to. We knew we would lose and lose we did. But we knew that even though the rules and the referees gave us the choice to deny them the chance to play, it wasn't even an option for us to consider. We would lose fairly over winning unfairly any day.