[Browzilla]

See, I rather took it at face value, with the logic that a first-year team is rookie, anything over would have to be veteran, yes?

Apparently not the case. Or TIMS is broken!

EDIT: Another way I kind of see this not making sense is that the second section is "Veteran teams who did compete at the 2008 FIRST Championship." That kind of seems to nullify the whole longest-wait qualification. Since, obviously, one could not both compete at the 08 Champs and be a Vet, I think.


EDIT EDIT:
"There's a little bit of a glitch in that some teams who should be allowed to register for the 2009 Championship (veteran, didn't attend in 2008) haven't been properly authorized to do so in the TIMS system. (This won't affect everyone—they're looking into who's been missed.) Give FIRST a call at (603) 666-3906 or (800) 871-8326, and they'll set it up for you."

I found this digging through another seemingly unrelated thread.
I think, assuming veteran is taken at face value, that might solve the problem!