[Kevin Sevcik]

Oooooookay...

First, to the hue and cry about FIRST asking for demographic information and providing it to judges. As noted in passing in a few replies, many many many of these judges are from current or future regional and team sponsors. It's entirely possible that they're interested in the demographics of what they're funding. I realize that this info is theoretically available from FIRST... If any of you ever bothered filling it out. I'm quite confident that FIRST HQ was asking teams for this information many many years ago. I'm also pretty sure teams weren't bothering to fill it out because it didn't seem to matter. Now they're trying to entice you into it by saying it's for the judges, and you're still not filling it out.

Second, yes judges are going to look at this information and possibly use it to inform their decisions. A typical award panel is a composed of a handful of judges that have to make a ridiculously difficult decision between 30-60 teams in one maybe two days. And this isn't a science fair. You don't have nice neat objective categories to grade teams on to make your decision. My point being, the judges are desperate for any and all information they can get in the shortest time possible. If you don't provide that demographic info, they'll quite possibly rehash it with you and waste time doing so. If you don't give them those essay response as a launching point for their questions, they'll waste time asking you just what they heck you've been doing the last few months. And etc. Judging time is extremely limited even with the typical strategy of surveying the field, shortlisting the strongest candidates, and interviewing those at length. Basically, giving the judges more info is a good thing. And honestly, some of those data do make a difference. As pointed out above, a team with less support obviously has to work harder than a team with more support to achieve the same level of technical brilliance. I'm not saying that the judges sort teams by increasing budgets and then find the poorest team with a passable robot. But it is going to make some small difference in the awards process. You know, much like everything you tell the judges makes a difference in the awards process. If we're honestly railing against circumstances and situations affecting the judges, then we really should just start handing out the "Most lego league teams started" award followed by the "Most extensive use of CNC'd parts on a robot" award.

Which brings me to my main point. I have to say this is one of the most disillusioning and disheartening threads I've come across on CD in quite a while. Considering that some people in this thread used to make me feel inadequate and selfish for wanting to win a competition or two, I'm just a bit appalled. (Though a few are still managing to prod my inferiority complex.) In particular, the statement "Nothing is perfect, even the judges." really saddened me. Whether intended or not, I read this as "The judges have given awards to the wrong teams." Which is either ludicrous or reprehensible. Either you assume the judges are acting in good faith and selecting a team that most deserves the in their opinion, or you assume that they're not acting in good faith.... The former leaves no option for them to be wrong. Since when has anyone had a wrong opinion? The latter.... well I really don't want to contemplate the day when that's bandied about here on CD.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree with Kim. Winning awards is fun, but I'd much rather leave my students with something a little more useful than a piece of plastic. A genuine interest in engineering, science, writing, marketing, journalism, and the confidence to pursue that interest..... That's a heck of a lot more useful than some $6000+ paperweight. Real professionals love their jobs because they love what they do. Anyone walking into an interview with a FIRST trophy and asking if they could get a few more of these if they did a good job.... Well they're not going to get far. I mean, the triangular prism is usually pretty sharp, but that only really works till security shows up.