[Assassin Shadow]

Ok, let me start at square one...

First off, from what I read in your post, you're not a rookie team. Therefore you should have known that the sticker needed to be signed (the same as every other year), so you truly have no one to blame except yourselves.

Secondly...

To blame FIRST as a group and then to plead to them is contradictory. Remember that FIRST is not just the volunteers, refs, judges, and various others that make it possible for this competition to exist. It also includes the assorted teams and thier mentors, because when it comes right down to it, all of us are volunteers and this massive world-wide competition depends on all of us working together in that spirit of "gracious professionalism" that Woodie Flowers is always talking about.

Third...

Placing blame in the first place...
hmmmm.......
gracious professionalism.....
hmmmm.......

ok, I'll leave that one be...
I think that you can figure that one out yourself...

Fourth...

Always remember that tomorrow is another day. Even if you aren't one of the seed teams, you could still be picked as an alliance partner. You just have to show that your robot is dependable and that your drive team is capable.

That means that instead of complaining, you need find a "creative solution to the problem" (hey look! another Woodie Flowers quote!).

If it's too late to fix the problem, then there's nothing you can do anyway! So move on!

And finally Fifth...

To answer your question (the title of this thread)...

Yep...it's fair...utterly and completly fair...

The ref's call is final...the head ref's call is just short of holy writ...

That's how it works in FIRST, but you should know that already because you're not a rookie team.

But to end on a happy note...always remember that you're never the only one with problems, you were simply removed from one match (and that problem was rectified), some teams missed several matches or made it to the match only to have thier robot sit completly still...

So you're not alone, we all deal with it, so suck it up!