[Dillon Compton]

I disagree;

Alliance selection is RANDOM; all teams are in the same situation. Apparently you had bad luck, but, if your robot is in working order, why not delegate people to go verify and aid your alliance members in getting their robots drivable, at least; complaining on Chief Delphi will only help so much.

We all payed our hefty registration fees, and we all want the opportunity to play our matches; believe me, it sucks MUCH worse to be the team that missed a match then to be the team who is missing an alliance member.

This is another thread about the competitive aspect of FIRST; we've been seeing alot of these lately. I think a problem with FIRST is that it is all to easy to get caught up in the competion; we have been programmed with a win to drive from a very young age, and in moments of stress, dissapointment, and weakness we all slip- to use a hackneyed term, "Just remember that it does not matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game".

Perhaps this unfortunate alliance structure created some frusturation; you've raised this point in several threads now, so I can see that you must be upset- understandable, you guys had a great robot, and perhaps ranked worse due to these matches. That being said, does it really matter if you win? This whole experience, the entirety of what FIRST represents and promotes, is about inspiring individuals to make something more of themselves and creating a better world; when you consider this, our individual victories seem meaningless. People talk about gracious professionalism alot, and I think it has evolved beyond its' original meaning; no longer does this simply apply to graciously competiting, and being good sports. Gracious Professionalism means coming off the field after playing in a 3 v 1 match, finding the teams that screwed you by not showing up, and making sure that they can get into the next match; usually these teams are the rookies, the underfunded, and those without engineers or other professional help- so help them.

Come on everyone- let us forget our differences, our petty squabbles, and our losses and wins- let us focus on what really matters. Remember what we are here to accomplish- be we students or mentors, engineers or parents- we are here to be inspired or inspire, to teach, to support, to affect a change in ourselves, our peers, and the world; someones future will be affected by all that we do- whether we cure aids, invent a 100% "clean" energy source, or simply excite someone about something (be it robotics, art, science, or simply life ).

I keep saying this- we can do this, so what are we waiting for?

-Dillon Compton
Team 1394