[BHS_STopping]

Well, I'm not really at leisure to say much about this year, considering that I'm a rookie, but I can definitely compliment (and critique, constructively) FIRST for their 2006 game.

The Good:

Variety of Regoinals and Teams.
I'm really glad to see all of the different teams at this year's game. It's really fun to meet new people and make new friends, and I commend FIRST for their outreach and their inspirational morals that help raise awareness toward students of all ages and backgrounds. The regoinals also introduce teams to people of different nationalities, and I think that it's cool to here about regionals overseas and in Canada and the teams that are there.

The Rules.
The rule book was very cleverly thought out, and it left little ambiguouty towards any rule. It was easy to understand, and even after skimming through it for an afternoon, I was able to understand the game much better.

The Refs, MCs, and Volunteers.
I am really happy to see all of the people that are willing to help promote the FIRST message, including the referees who volunteer their time to help out and the MCs who really liven the atmosphere of the competition. Also, major kudos to all of the people behind the scenes who help make all of this possible.

Edit: How could I forget the game? This is way more exciting than any professional sport, and this game had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end!

The Bad

Automatic Scoring.
I really haven't anything to say that hasn't already been said, but I can just say that the auto-scoring could use a little tweeking, considering the errors that some teams had encountered during many deciding matches.

Another thing that sort of grinds my gears is the venue personel. At Davis, we had our banner up in the stands so that we could have a definite place to met after a match. But on the second day of the competition, some personel at the venue decided to move our banner without telling our team. It ended up some 50-odd feet away in an area with filled seats. We were even evicted from our seats because "judges needed to have a higher view to see the matches". But the seats remained empty, and were eventually filled with a gathering crowd of late-arriving spectators. We had to settle for the nosebleed section, waaaay up there in the stands. And trust me, trying to scout robots the size of ants doesn't make our scouting job any easier.