[dsmoker]

This whole thread has become a little troubling to me. While I certainly don't want our team to win any award based solely on our demographics or budget, I do think it's important for the judge's to know this information so they can see how we use our resources and how important the team is to our inner-city school. Let's face it, our little, low budget team will never be able to compete with the titans of FIRST for certain awards. But I know for a fact that one of the reasons we were given the Daimler Chrysler Team Spirit Award last year was to recognize the extraordinary dedication of our student team members, most of whom walk, ride bicycles or take public transportation to attend team meetings. And I don't see any problem with the FIRST judges recognizing that our students have to do more than many others just to participate.

That being said, our team filled out TIMS fully. And put what awards we felt we were qualified for this year. There's nothing wrong with a little honest salesmanship. And in the end, the judges will decide whether a given team is deserving of an award or not, no matter what their TIMS page says.