[Andy Baker]

I think that what Bastoni and the Plymouth team is doing is absolutely great.

Mike's passion for inspiring students about math and science is unrivaled. He won the Woodie Flowers award in '98, the same year that team 23 won the Chairman's award.

One thing that Mike always lobbied for was the opportunity for letting us play with our robots more... that's why team 23 created "Rumble at the Rock".

It seemed to me that he and his team enjoyed the competition side of FIRST more than the robot building portion. He even wanted FIRST to have the same game and robots for multiple years so that teams would not have to make new robots every year.

Since he and team 23 were more focused on the competition side of FIRST, and less on building a new robot every year, Battlebots is a natural fit for him and his team.

For me and team 45, we like FIRST. We love the fact that we have 9 robots lined up at the entrance to our shop (one robot is gone). Of course, we enjoy the competition, but most of us would not do this if we didn't have to make a new machine every year... that is what makes FIRST great.

For Bastoni and all other people who do Battlebots, more power to 'em. Although I envy the publicity they are getting, I'll stay a fan and just cheer from my couch.

I think that this country is plenty big enough for multiple robotic competition organizations. As people are very different, so are these competitions. Each competition can attract its type of people.

Andy B.