Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Jones
Right - only there's 64 teams that qualified, not just 6 -- dude!
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How is this a bad thing? If nothing else it will show some of the newer students that FRC isnt about winning or loosing but about learning from each other. Add into that, my team didnt qualify for states, does it bother me that the top 3 East teams and the top 3 West teams want to have a friendly competition? Not at all. It gives me something to shoot for next year. You know, working with a small team in inner city Flint means that we have very little hope of ever playing on Einstein, to our kids (most of whom have never even been Championship) this could be their Einstein, this could be their goal. And you know, if giving the kids who can't afford to go all over the country to compete a goal is a bad thing, then that is just too bad.
As for the mentor match, it is just plain fun. Remember, all fun and no play stinks. Plus, this gives the coaches a chance to put their money where their mouth is, realize that the students have a hard job. Yes the focus needs to be on students, but I would rather see the students cheering on mentors than listening to some boring old politician (or school rep) babble on about something that they have ZERO interest in. (FIRST is important blah blah blah you are the future blah blah blah - Politician [school name] has a wonderful engineering program blah blah blah we support FIRST because we believe it is the future blah blah blah -School Rep These are in case you ever wondered what students hear during opening ceremonies) Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the support of these groups but talking for like 10 minutes is just plain irritating. Especially when they say the same thing time after time. But I digress.
Yes 64 teams qualified but the top 6 are the top 6. Nothing you say can or will change that, nor should it. Having seen many of these teams over the years I can tell you that the teams talking about this are not doing it for their egos. They are doing it because it could be fun to watch and to be in.