[Tom Line]

You know, I had typed a response to the folks claiming that the districts were the reason so many Michigan teams were in the finals, but then decided against it because my tone was less than... polite.

Playing matches helps. But those 85 matches the Chickens played amount to a total of 3 hours of driving time folks, broken up into 2 minute chunks. Having a practice robot FAR outweighs the perhaps 1.5 extra hours of match time any one of these teams got.

By far, I'd say big benefits to the Michigan teams were:
1. The bagging system. Having your robot in your facility to work on was HUGE.
2. A greatly reduced amount of luck involved in which teams went from Michigan. Teams had to basically do well in TWO regionals + State champs to go. A team that got lucky with seeding in one regional had very little chance of qualifying compared to years past.
3. Volunteering. It's amazing what you learn about what the judges are looking for when you are able to have volunteers that participate in the process.

Teams in Michigan got the opportunity to get far more involved in the system of FIRST this year. I think it was a great success.

The District events weren't cheaper just because of FIM. They were cheaper because they based themselves on the off-season models of volunteering and teams helping. We helped set up the field at Kettering, just because we were there and had the time.

I think the lower-cost events can be applied across the country without utilizing a FIM style district system, and be successful.