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5 points I make..(and a little excess)
Posted by colleen, Student on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro.
Posted on 3/29/99 8:11 PM MST
yet again, i post a message..
Regardless of whether you are pro or con for this tri-alliance deal, it seems like in the end, all this is doing nothing more but taking the actual competition out of it all.
1. no one wants to see the 'good' teams lose and the 'bad' ones come out on top, but the truth of the matter is, no one can be considered 'good' or 'bad' until they prove through the competition..
2. everyone wants to see 'fair' battles, no powerhouse alliances.. well, anyone ever hear of david vs. goliath.. everyone is defeatable, keep that in mind
3. everyone wants to see who they think are good win, and not have them upset by two teams who bring new meaning to teamwork and that 'hard-won victories are the sweetest of all.'... sometimes you may not think someone has what it takes.. but they've really got more than you do..
4. no one wants to let fate or luck have a play in the competition. breakdowns and mishaps are part of what makes FIRST challenging, learning to handle what comes.. that's part of building alliances this year, making it work no matter what, no replacing robots when you feel like it..
5. no one wants to lose, but like everything, someone has to and someone's going to, it's the inevitable factor of this little thing we call 'competition'.. just because you don't like who loses or wins doesn't mean the process isn't fair..
basically.. competition is what attracts people, but soon everyone will have this down to the point where no one loses.. no matter what, this is still a competition, with opposition, winners, losers, dogs, and cheaters.. it'll never be fair.. but it's only a game.. so they say.. 'it's only a game.'
my main reason for arguing against tri-alliances: we played in the UTC New England and can proudly say our well-researched alliance of us and team #19 bell atlantic/greenwich hs took home gold. however, it was not easy.. with mechanical and control failures by both our teams, we played 10 matches during the elimination rounds. we were the 5th rank, and during the first quarterfinal, or alliance had problems, and if we had that third alliance partner, we probably would have put them in right then, but we didn't.. two teams became won and with broken/malfunctioning robots in many of the matches, we made it through to the end, and relying only on each other we won.. if that third team had come in, there's a good chance we wouldn't have made it so far, just because we knew we had to make it with what we had; it wasn't easy but we met the challenge the competition placed before us, win it all with one partner, no swtiching, no trading- their problems are now yours and vice verus.. i am so glad we stuck with team #19 and wish them the best of luck at the nationals.. they are a good team, may they compete..
and may we all realize the competition, no matter how you change it, will never be fair in someone's eyes somewhere, because someone will always lose.. if everyone could go back home and say 'hey, we're national champions' of course they'd get more support, recognition, promotion.. but that's not the point, we all go into this winners, but few come out 'technically' winners.. but that's what attracts new kids, new teams.. in terms of sports..practice everyday after school doesn't attract players, the games do- the big plays, the districts, the front page photos is what gets them hooked.. or at least the chance at that pulls them in.. let's not let FIRST lose it's attracting qualities in the process
ok.. i've said enough (but please don't think i'll be quiet for long :-)
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