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Posted by Mike Dubreuil.

Student on team #175, Buzz, from Enrico Fermi High School and UTC/Hamilton Sundstrand.

Posted on 8/24/2000 9:33 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: Battlebots posted by Janna on 8/23/2000 4:32 PM MST:



Janna,
$@#$@#$@#$@#$@# I believe that you are correct in saying that we don’t need violence- I think it would be easier to fit into most TV networks with it, but that’s just my opinion. There is one network that I mention at the bottom of my message that would be perfect for our current format.
$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#Did anyone see last night’s Battlebots? It was for the most part, exactly what we want! They started off by simply going over the rules. They explained what the field was like and what scoring opportunities the robots had. Then they talked about the robots. They explained the major types of weapons using pretty technical jargon. The announcers didn’t say that combustion engines could only have X amount of fuel, but that is insignificant to most people viewing a game. Just as saying that all robots in FIRST have 60 amp fuses- doesn’t matter to the layperson. Then the announcers told about robots to look out for. Just as someone had posted about how the announcers should know the robots- they did. When a robot was being destroyed in the arena the announcers actually knew that a speed controller had fallen off the robot. I thought that was pretty impressive.
$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#Last night I realized who would be able to make all of our dreams possible. We are their biggest event, why not their next mini-series- Disney. They have their very own TV channel; and it’s free now. Disney could make tapes of the regionals and show them a couple days after they happen so they have time to edit them. “Tuesday check out the action from the NASA Ames FIRST Regional… Then on Thursday sparks fly as FIRST gets it on at the UTC New England Regional.” Then they would finish by showing the final rounds at nationals “LIVE from EPCOT it’s FIRST Nationals Baby!” This would be most excellent. Anybody else think Dean should rattle Disney’s cage for this one?
  - Mike



: : $@#$@#$@#$@#$@#Next year FIRST needs to, at least, make the game more violent. Or the producers will go to Battlebots once again.

: Hi,

: I don't think that's necessarily true...if you look at the show in context, it shows on Comedy Central. After South Park. I think that by placing the show after South Park they're appealing to people who do like violence, and that works for Comedy Central and all. But Comedy Central isn't the only station FIRST competitions can air on. The atmosphere of the current competition certainly could make it on the major networks...not everything on there is violent. They even show like four hours of *golf*, the most nonviolent sport I can think of at this time on major networks, and since they keep airing it, people must not have a problem with the lack of violence there. (And FIRST is *so* much more fun than golf, anyway.) So I'll agree with you by saying that more violence does appeal to some people, but I don't think that makes FIRST's future on TV hopeless by any means.

: Janna