As a sidenote, I would like to say that I was not taking issue with the discussion of biased referees in general. I know that that is potentially an issue, and welcome general discussion of if it exists and how to stop it.
What I did take issue with was the specific pointing of fingers at a specific referee, specific team and specific regional. Without knowing all of the facts, randomly accusing specific people who you do not know is unacceptable to me. Even if the claims are unfounded, many take them at face value, and it is potentially very damaging to the reputation of the individual, team and even the regional.
Now, onto the happier part of my post. I was not actually supposed to be at this regional – I was told on Tuesday that they were desperately in need of a lead queuer. As I had filled that position at Waterloo last year, they asked me if I could come out, and I jumped at the chance, and I’m glad I did.
Congratulations to Teams 1114, 2056 and 2185. The way you won may not have been how you would have liked, but the level of skill you showed in finals match 3 and all throughout the eliminations leaves no doubt in my mind that you deserved the win. The level of class, dedication and effort you showed was at the level I always have seen for your teams - above and beyond.
1114 – I was completely blown away by your Chairman’s presentation when I saw it on Thursday night. Everyone who put effort into that should be incredibly proud of themselves, and know that you truly deserved this award. The things you have done for the FIRST community are unparalleled. Those of you who haven’t watched their episodes of Degrassi are really missing out!
Thanks to “my” team, 2505. With the incredible mentors you have, it’s only a matter of time before you become a new Canadian superpower.
188/610/1305 – Congrats on a hard fought finals. Thank you to Shawn for your post earlier – you have a tremendous amount of class, and I am proud to have worked with you in the past and hopefully again soon!
To my queuing team: never did I think we would be capable of running ahead of time on a (mostly) 6 minute match schedule, but we did! You all were fantastic, and I appreciate everything you did so much. I hope to work with you again in the future.
Thanks to Jess Breadner for all of your help at lunch on Saturday, and for bringing me my fruit.
Fraser Allan was an amazing head referee with a thorough knowledge of the rules – many times I saw him after a match go running over to the scorer’s table to go through the manual to confirm that the referees made the right call.
There were ups and downs throughout the weekend, but I am still glad I made the decision to trek up from London to make it, and I hope to be back next year.