[PhilBot]

For anyone who listened to openning ceremonies at Nationals this year, it was once again highlighted that the "G" in "GP" is all about not following the ugly "win at all costs" mentality of some sporting events. Yes we want to win, and support our teams, but NOT "at any cost".

Standing en-mass throughout an entire match, with COMPLETE disregard to anyone behind you, is simply put, un-gracious. I don't care how you want to justify it... "we've always done it... they do it at football matches... the people behind can stand up too... we're just showing team spirit". It's just egotistical.

You're basically saying... "for the next 2 1/2 minutes, our participation is more important than yours". It's starting to sound like the "I'm drunk and can be as obnoxious as I like" aspect of many sporting events.

It's also just like the guy who parks his car in the handicapped spot to return his videos. "It's just for a minute...."

The other problem of maintaining the existing "standing" staus quo is that it starts adversely effecting other FIRST events. For example, at nationals I was trying to watch our Middle School FLL team compete. Anyone who has watched a FLL match knows that it's hard at the best of times because of the small scale. Even with a big screen you can not get a feel for the play.

When it came time for one of our matches, a group of 20 or so adults stood up about 5 rows in front of us and stayed standing for the entire match. They even held up placards to add another 4 feet to their height. Needless to say, we couldn't see a thing, even when we also stood up. When a badged FIRST offical (who's view was obstructed) went down and asked them to sit, they replied "no, our team's playing".

OK, let's look at this for a moment. There were 4 FLL tems playing on the field at that moment, so the parents in question felt that the other 3 sets of supporters didn't deserve to see their teams play. They also felt that the supporter behind them in the wheelchair also should have been able to stand up to see, and that the FIRST official should just mind her own business.

It's also interesting that at a coach's meeting the following day, we were told that the judges were observing all aspects of team dynamics and that poor team (and supporter) behavior on the playing field, in the pits and stands were all factored into awards. Ungracious support behaviour can clearly impact a team's ability to win an award that depends on GP.

FIRST doesn't have to make a rule against something for it to be wrong.
It's already outlawed because it's UN-GP.

ps:

If you first reaction to my post is "Get over it, we're going to keep standing up for the full match.", then you've just proved my point.

Phil.