As a long time participant in FIRST, I can assure you that 99% of the stuff people do is genuine and sincere.
sure there are those who will do stuff for the pat on the back, but for the most part (read: 99% of the time) true FIRSTers do it [the right thing] because they're infected with the FIRST spirit
.
you'll notice this when people are giving their opponents a hand before the next match, and when lending classmate batteries (or just whole classmates!) to other teams who are having trouble...
I'm not knocking you down for calling it as you see it (in fact: kudos for doing so!), but I think that if you stick with it you'll come to see that in FIRST, the unbelievable is true: people are actually selfishly helping other people!
regarding the whole parade/fashion show thing: yeah making a name for yourself is a big part of FIRST, as it is in many other sports. I see nothing wrong with this when it's done tastefully.
regarding professionalism: that's just up to you. being professional is a decision you can make. and frankly professional teams are those who command the most respect from me. seeing a team perform like a formula 1 (or NASCAR for you americans..
) pit crew is always an inspiring site. it's up to you (and your team) to decide you want to strive for this, and if you want to you could try and spread this goal (being professional) throughout your regional.
again, kudos.
-Leav