[Lil' Lavery]

I fail to see the problem with regional rivalries in FIRST. It adds a little fun, some new friends, and a little bit more excitement to the season. Midwest, vs. East Coast, North-east vs. South-east, etc. are all going to exist anyway, why not give them names? If you've ever been to an event like IRI, you'd know it's true. During the 2005 IRI finals, the audience (mainly midwestern) rallied behind the 33, 233, 868 alliance, which included 2 midwestern teams, while the other alliance had none 2 Californians (330, 980) and a Mid-Atlantic team (56). Paul Copioli (the MC) was even saying comments along the lines of "are we gonna let the coastal teams win in the midwest?" etc. Also note the East v. [mid]West dodgeball game at IRI 2006.
There are plenty of "who is the best state in FIRST" discussion on Chief Delphi, in FIRST chat rooms, etc. The rivalry definately exists. By forming regional groupings, it's not going to be a harmful thing in any way, but rather help continue the fun trend. These rivalries arn't harming anyone. You don't see teams declining picks because they are being picked by a team from another region. Plenty of teams want to prove they can beat Beatty, but they arn't gonna decline Beatty picking them.
These groups also serve as another way for teams and individuals to unify and work with eachother. Once again, I will demonstrate with IRI, and the "NERD invasion" of IRI in 2006. While 126 and 40 were the only North-Eastern teams competing at IRI, plenty of members from other NE teams came and helped out with them.