Quote:
Originally Posted by aaeamdar
However, if this is really what we mean by "champions" and "losers", then explain to me, if you would, why this song is played [i]right after the final elimination round, when there is both a clear "champion" and "loser" (or regional winner and finalist, if you will). If we use this broader definition of champion and loser, then why not play this song, say, at the beginning of the competition, to celebrate all the teams that were able to build a robot and make it to the regional? Or at the end, to celebrate all the teams who stuck through to the end, regardless of whether they won or not?
The bottom line is this: the "champions" in the song are the regional/championship winners, and the "losers" are either (take your pick) everyone else, OR the finalists, and neither one of those choices is conducive to the argument that this song is anywhere near clicking with gracious professionalism.
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I see the tone you are talking about, but I still do not agree that it is taunting.
I will never forget this one experience. Back in 2005, we competed at IRI. It was only our drive team(Myself, Corey and Vishal). We adopted coaches and pit crew members from other teams(Jess Jank, Greg Needel, Jeremy Roberts). So as you can see, we were a small group and had little hopes of winning or even doing well. However, luck had it so we ended up with an alliance of 71, 1114 and us(25). We could not have asked for a better alliance and it was a pleasure competing with such high-profile teams since we were only students at that time. In the first QF match, a wire came lose somewhere in our arm system and none of us could figure out where! We all hunted the whole system, in and out and finally found a place where it was lose. Engineers from 71 and 1114 were in our robot hunting and doing their utmost best to fix it so we could compete. We won QF1-1. During the 3rd QF match, our arm broke and we clearly lost the match. It was not the only factor but it was a major factor. We weren't necessarily disappointed. In fact, we were very happy because we knew we did our best. Right after that match, Mr. Beatty came up to us and said "Don't worry about it guys. We did not lose. We broke. We're all still winners and this alliance could take any competition anyday."
This might come off as arrogance to you but it is the attitude of a winner. We did all that we could to put everything in our favor. We put forth the best strategy possible but the other alliance simply had better robots(I think it was 233s alliance). In times where our robot broke, everyone put forth their best to help us get it repaired. They knew there was only one person with technical knowledge(me) so they had to help. I remember 1114 letting us all borrow their tools since they brought their tool cart.
I guess what I am trying to say is you have to see winning as an attitude rather than a status. Queen is absolutely right in saying(even if it is in a taunting tone) "No time for losers". There really is no time for losers. Even in FIRST. In fact, it is against Gracious Professionalism to be a loser. The reason is if you were picked in an alliance and you did not do what you had to in order to win, then you let your alliance down. And this is harsh, but you are a loser. Now, of course, things happen and you are now always at your peak performance. That's okay and it's not what I mean.
Due to the nature of the competition(and life), you cannot predict that you are going to win every competition even if you have the best robot. In order to be a team that wins consistently, you have to have so many things in place every single year, year after year, it is incredible. Beyond that, these teams are also most likely to go start and mentor other teams. If you do not believe me, ask 111, 365, 71, 1114 etc. To win every year, you need strong engineering support, strong team leadership, active and inspired kids, funding, parental support, skillful communication, and so many more things. Now, if you look at that carefully, its anything in life. So, do you see what goes into being a "winner". I am not putting down any team that does not have this. But what I am saying is if a team is making the best out of its resources and is fortunate to have many things in place for them, then that's good. They are a winner too, just on a different scale.
In sports, FIRST, life, the winner usually is the team/alliance that has put forth the absolute best they possibly could. Winning has a lot of value. When you have struggled and gone through the "crap" of life, then winning does feel good. That's why a song like "We are the champions" means so much to some people. I do not want to define what a loser is because it is negative talk and I tend to stay away from that. But understand that "loser" is an attitude or even lack of an attitude(good attitude). It is easy to be a loser. Even if you have the support, you build an average of below average robot. Even if you have the man-power, you do not put any effort into starting and mentoring new teams. Being a winner requires a little courage and guts. It requires the team/person to step out and put work into building a good robot, starting new teams, and thinking about the game enough to win a regional/championship. Being a winner requires you to stick your head above the crowd and take a few eggs and tomatoes thrown at you. You could be the finalist and be the winner. The finalist is definitely not the losing team/alliance. They are winners because they have gone so far and probably put in a lot of effort into their robot and game.
If you are not open minded, you will fight every thought I said in this post. I really request that you be open-minded and see what we all are trying to say. I choose to fly with the winners and not hang out with the chickens. What about you?