[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by Richard

Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, Dave. What FIRST actually told me is that this is the way the algorithm is supposed to generate matches, and there is no means to vary the match-ups. So the intent seems to be that low numbered teams will alternate playing each other. I was told this is not a defect in the system; matches come out that way because that is the algorithm that FIRST specified.

Several people who have been recognized as sources of inspiration to the FIRST community have told me that this match generation system seems unfair, and I concur. I understand that these feelings will be communicated in a respectful manner to the appropriate people at FIRST, probably within the next few days.

On a related note, the scoring system worked flawlessly today at St. Louis -- no crashes, no restarts, no lost data, no delays. We finished about four minutes ahead of schedule, and the only (relatively minor) problems encountered were due to human error.

From Richard's post in this thread, it seems that FIRST has spec'd out an algorithm that places similarly numbered teams in matches together. I suppose it could be an attempt to even the playing field for rookies. Sorry to spread around your post Richard, but this is an interesting and, I think, rather unfortunate change in direction.

We'll be against 291 for two entire regionals...




EDIT: Well, I think Richard's information is correct, based on the ten's of posts on here, from every regional, saying that they're paired up with the same people throughout. The question is, is there anything good about it, and if not, should we do anything to change it? Can we even change it?