[Jay Trzaskos]

In 2007 FIRST implemented a broken randomizer for Qualification matches. Teams in the first few weeks of competition ended up playing the same teams 5+ times, sometimes being beat each time. They recognized the problem and attempted to fix it around week 3 or 4. Was it a good fix? Not really, but it was better than the original algorithm.

FIRST needs to learn from past mistakes, and just get rid of the broken ranking system now. Sincerely apologize to the teams that only competed in week 1 for the horrible ranking system and go back to Win-Loss ranking. If I were still competing I would much rather they fix the problem now, recreate the intent of the “Coopertition Award”, and have gotten the bad end of the deal in week 1. Especially when compared to having to listen to people complain about how "un-GP" a legitimate strategy is that only exists because of a broken system.

FIRST made a mistake, teams exploited it to the advantage of ALL teams involved. If they are going to keep the ranking system then don't take away the LEGITIMATE strategy of 6v0. But if FIRST wanted to take the game out of the game, they did an amazing job of it.