[CJV648]

I'm afraid I'm with Corey on this one. I get at least as much kick out of watching the kids at competition as I do watching the bots. In my observation the kids who are participants (i.e. helped build/design a bot) get pretty excited when their team is playing and are likely to be standing--not every team, but most teams. In a typical match only a few teams are standing (i.e. match participants), but throughout the day most of the kids get excited at some point and stand. Just like members of a high school basketball team.

IMHO the difference between this and most other spectator events is that the bulk of the participants are in the stands and not on the field. The kid who wired the robot or programmed the controls is as much of a participant as the driver and in my opinion has earned your forbearance for 2:15 if she stands to watch her creation perform. I believe FIRST cherishes her joy in participation in science and technology. This is the distinction that tempers my annoyance about having my view obstructed by the team that is playing. It's just like sitting behind the bench at a basketball game. I agree that it is unfortunate that the nature of the competition and the venues does not permit most of the team members to be on the sidelines of the field where they are not obstructing the view of nonparticipants, but I think letting the kids stand and cheer is a tradition in many competitions and in most competitions team members on the sidelines are not required to sit thoughout the game.

BTW my brother in law and sister in law (previously unfamiliar with FIRST and my benchmark for what outsiders think) thought it was "priceless" the way it was at MWR.