[KenWittlief]

I see a lot of posts in this thread that dont seem to be addressing the core issue of the FIRST competition itself (in the manner it is structured), not being fair to all teams.

Some people are saying if we try to make rules that will level the playing field, that some teams or mentors will take advantage of them, and find ways around the rules to win (starting new teams each year so they are always rookies....)

the problem isnt that FIRST mentors and sponsors are cheating, that they want to win at all costs, the problem is the way the competition itself is structured is not fair to all teams. If a sponsor wants to bend the rules to win, they can do so now.

Some people are saying if we make FIRST fair (level the playing field) then it will be boreing, there will be no competition. I think the opposite is true. What we have now is like the New York Yankees playing hardball against little league and Tball teams. No matter how hard those 8 year old kids try, they do not have a chance at winning the world series, because the matches are way out of balance. Its very boring to watch an extreemly mismatched contest.

In the world of sailing they have what is called one design boats. Every boat is exactly the same. You are not allowed to customize your boat or to buy special parts for it. At the world finals every team gets a brand new boat. The only difference on the water is the skill and drive of the skipper and his crew. That is what I call a fair and very exciting sporting event. The races are usually very close and dramatic.

I dont think we can change FIRST so that every team is only matched against other teams that are exactly the same, with any sort of measureable parameters, but we could find ways to ensure the 'little league' teams are not playing against the major leaguers, and that the 12 foot Sunfish sailboats not racing against the 80 foot America's Cup yatchs.