[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Steve Wherry

Team 229 had to win the Long Island Regional or they would lose funding from a major sponsor. They were extremely classy in handling this situation, but how many other teams might be in the same situation? The impact of a match can be critical. Therefore, team members get upset because sponsors want results, and funding can depend on it.

As more teams have existed for more years, expectations increase, and the need to "Just Win Baby" increases. This is not a good thing, but again it is human nature. Everyone, as already stated needs to take a deep breath and think about why we all do this. If the answer is to win, then you need to take another deep breath and a huge step back.

Putting this kind of pressure on teams (win or die) certainly raises the anxiety level for the team members. I doubt the referees ever consider that a missed call can mean a team loses it's major sponsor. For teams in this situation, unfortunately, it's not just a game.

However, some teams do lose major sponsors yet continue to participate (Bomb Squad, for sure). A major sponsor that requires teams to win regionals or the Championship for continued support doesn't seem to "get FIRST". FIRST is not supposed to be "Just Win, Baby", but maybe that's just where it's going. I would hope that teams confronted with that kind of expectation from a sponsor would try to remind the sponsor what FIRST is really about.