Hey now... one catchy soundbyte echoes in my head: "
life's not fair, and neither is FIRST." I'm saying this even though it was
my team that suffered because of some other people's errors. We're going to put up with a lot of crap from a lot of idiots in the
real world; frankly, I'm just greatful to have experienced FIRST, where idiots and crap are at a
minimum.
Having cleared that up, I can say confidently that team 888 had an
overall pleasant, positive experience at the Pittsburgh Regional, despite the frustrations. To any individuals who made our acquaintances, please understand the team's frustration and try to look at it from
our point of view--you were there too. The situation simply outraged us. This does not excuse our team's rants, but perhaps the rest of the FIRST world could
borrow a little bit of perspective.
To tell you the truth, on Thursday, we felt that a few other teams were
absurdly aggressive towards us,
both in and outside of the arena. We were even subjected to repeated "speed screenings" because "other teams reported" that our shooter violated a velocity regulation. After three intermittent screenings,
absolutely no breach of regulation was found. We were suspicious and a bit insulted,
but we beared it.
I feel it's also important to
acknowledge that there were
individuals that were
notably courteous and pure-intentionedly helpful to us as well.
most importantly:
I'm ready to put all of this behind me so that I am completely unburdened to look forward to the Chesapeake Regional. I can only ask and hope that everyone else feels similarly. After all, each day is fresh with no mistakes in it [yet]. 
