I was going to avoid jumping into this thread, but I really can't resist it.


Sure, the refs are only human. Sure, it's a hard game to call. Sure it's very complex. Sure the refs are only volunteers, but maybe it's time that changed. IF a team is paying around 6k to go to a competition, they don't expect to be sent home and finished for the season because some random guy who decided to be helpful doesn't know his job. Here's my suggestion, and my opinion:

1. Refereeing a competition as high profile as this should not be left to volunteers. Period. When teams pay that much, work that hard, it's not too much to suggest that they'll actually play the game that they built the robot for.

2. The Blue Alliance should be given an invite to Atlanta, and both them and the red alliance should be offered a discount on their playing fees. If a team comes out that strong, that ready to win, and is denied because of the mistake of the organization, then it should be the job of the organization (FIRST) to fix the problem by any means necessary. Blue wasn't the only one who got shafted, the whole regional had the worst reffing I've seen at ANY competition over the years.

People might disagree with me on this, but I honestly don't care. What happened at SVR was blatantly unfair, and should be corrected, any means necessary.