[The Lucas]

Originally Posted by nskerven

I don't care how you say it, what 469 built and how they use it is 100% AGAINST Gracious Profesionalism. You want to win, fine; but don't go running up the score 26-1. Also, there is NO WAY they are lifting regardless of how you try and qualify their "lift."

Originally Posted by Squeakypig

O, and seriously, let's face it, we weren't winning that match-up lol.
(for reference 313, 2851, 314 vs 217, 469, 2960)

Is it weird that after it was 16-1 our team started cheering for the opposing alliance to break a record? lol

I disagree with basically everything in your post.

First: running up the score. Let's put this 26-1 blowout in context. It was a semi final match not a qualifier. The whole arena (including some opponents as quoted above) is cheering for them to put up a high score. Would you stop after 10 goals and have your whole alliance do nothing for the rest of the match? I think that would "show up" the losing alliance more than continued scoring. 469, 217, and 2960 put their full effort into engineering their bots to score and that's what their comp teams should put their full effort into scoring on the field. Who wants to see bots out on the field that aren't trying? When I think of running up the score in sports I think of taking unnecessary risks to embarrass your opponent while you are ahead and can just easily win. Personally, if I'm going to lose to an alliance, there is comfort in the fact that you are losing to the best.

National and regional high score is a goal that teams should strive for. It is a measure of your success and it gets everyone excited about robotics. When they announce a high score the arena goes crazy and that is not just the teams that got the high score. Isnt FIRST supposed to make robotics exciting?

Second: quality of their "lift": I am not sure exactly what you mean by this argument, but I am guessing you mean that they are expanding without elevating. <G30> allows them to expand to their finale config while touching their tower. It makes no mention (even in a blue box) of attempting to elevate. Would it make you feel better if 469 re-engineered their bot to make it to elevate at the last second? (even if it makes them "run up the score" more?) I'm sure if they had another 10 lbs to work with, their robot would also do that. Do you have the same feelings about Team 51 that elevates and redirects balls?

Third: interpreting Gracious Professionalism. One thing I don't like about these forums is all the posters that interpret Gracious Professionalism to argue with each other. It takes a good concept and makes it cliché or even negative. This being said I will refrain from interpreting Gracious Professionalism myself but I will propose a rule for everyone's consideration:

Rule: To interpret Gracious Professionalism on these forums, you must spell it correctly in your post.