Posted by Jeff Waegelin at 03/12/2001 9:33 AM EST
Student on team #201, Visteon FEDS, from Rochester High School and Visteon Automotive Systems.
In Reply to: 2001 Not a Great Spectator Sport?
Posted by Lora Knepper on 03/11/2001 2:59 PM EST:
I fully agree with every single one of you. This competition really doesn't have the same spark without all the head-to-head competiton. At West Michigan, I was assigned to videotape all the matches. (And I mean ALL the matches) After the first few hours, the matches became increasingly boring. By Saturday morning, I couldn't stand to tape or even watch another match. They had just become so repetitive. Either the teams were a poor match for each other, or a team like #71 used their standard (but high-scoring) plan. It just wasn't as fun to watch.
I would like to say the elims are completely different, but in all reality, they get just as boring. The first few were extremely exciting, but the alliances quickly found a set pattern and stuck to it. The worst part was the fact that you just didn't know who won until two minutes after the match. There's no instant gratification from knowing you beat the other team; you have to wait for the score to be tabulated, and by then much of the excitement has died down.
Jeff, the exhausted video guy
: One thing I got by watching the VCU on the internet and being at the UTC is when your team is not on the field, this game is suddenly VERY boring to watch. (In most cases...I'm sure when 71 posted that astronomical score, it was a great match to watch regardless of your team affiliation) There were several of us in the Tigerbolt chatroom discussing the regional as it was played, and the overwhelming feeling seemed to be boredom. I'm not entirely sure if that was from the lower score posted by some less experienced teams, or the nature of the game, but I do know that when I was at UTC, when I didn't have my team, or a friend's team on the field, I wasn't nearly as interested in watching as I have been in the past.
: Soooo...in short, I think this tends to be an interesting game to play, but a rather boring spectator sport...but of course, feel free to post different
)
: ~ lora