[archiver]

Posted by Daniel.

Coach on team #483, BORG, from Berkeley High School and NASA Ames & UC Berkeley.

Posted on 4/10/2000 3:14 PM MST


In Reply to: re: overlooked posted by Patrick Seeney on 4/10/2000 1:29 PM MST:



First I'd like to congradulate all those in the finals and the award winners. You guys were all amazing.

However, there were quite a handfull of amazing robots that didn't make the final cut. The problem, as I see it, is that the whole event is growing too fast to realize how things are going to be before they come upon us. However I think we can learn from this. There was an easily noticeable flaw in the alliance selection process this year, which mainly showed its face in the lack of breadth in partner selection. Now I'm definitely not saying that those picked weren't deserving. They were. Mainly I'm referring to all those teams that didn't get picked for the finals and would have easily given some of the best alliances a run for their money.

I remember hearing this in past years, but I think each year the effect is magnified by the shear quantity of rookie teams. This year it got a little too big to be ignored. Not only was this visible in the alliance selection but also I noticed something missing in the pits. I saw no judges. Maybe they made it around to the bulk of the teams but I for one was in my pit for the entire event except during matches and never once saw a judge walk by to look at the robot. If this was the case in my pit I can't imagine it would be any different for all the other teams in the pit corners. Maybe it's a lack of staff, maybe it's a lack of process. Whatever it is there's definitely a lack of something.

Finally, the finals. I think the finals are definitely the pinnacle of the event. Definitely worth watching. However, they were run just as ordinary matches. I was completely unable to follow who was in and who was out and I surely missed many exciting matches. Matches that I would be able to LEARN from. I think seeing what designs were effective this year is one of the key educational things this competition has to offer. When you can't see more than three finals matches, the finals loose a lot of their excitement. Did you notice how empty the stands were during the very final match? Not to mention Einstein was the hardest arenas to watch matches from.

Lastly I'm noticing how harsh I'm sounding towards FIRST. I don't mean that. I think FIRST does a great job with what they're given. They, just as us, need to learn from their mistakes however. This is where I'm coming from. The event this year was great and the game was my favorite yet. So FIRST? I'm not bashing you. You guys rock.

Thanks for another great experience, everyone!

-Daniel

PS -- Loved the adjectives from all those picked for finals. They should distribute a tape of that ceremony to all those taking their SATII - Writing test.