[Paul Copioli]

I usually do not reply to these sorts of threads (I try to stay in the technical or strategy forums as much as possible), but since my team was specifically mentioned I think I should clear things up.

First and foremost: team 217 always picks teams based on the ranking we give them Friday night and Saturday morning ... always. We use a numerical based system that counts their scoring ability and defensive ability.

Second, we were not the pickers, 469 picked us. We probably would have picked them or 27 if we were the number 1 seed (we were 3).

Third, team 440 was number 16 on our list ... number 16! They should have been long gone before we had a chance to pick them. We should have only been able to get the 23rd or 24th ranked team. We considered them a gift. They consistently did 10 laps in the eliminations and did 11 twice. We didn't want them to play defense because we wanted their points. They were in no way a pity pick. They were picked based on their ranking alone.

As for comments regarding team 1718 I can only say this: I know many of the mentors and some of the students on this team. I have even personally given them a tour of FANUC Robotics. I have a great deal of respect for this team and the mentors and students I know. The attitudes of fuzzy1718 are, to my knowledge, not the prevailing attitude on 1718. Anyway, I just thought I should clear things up.