Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Johnson
Let me say this about that...
First, both 217 and 67 have 2 World Championships from Atlanta behind them. While most teams in Michigan would consider a chance to win the Michigan State Championship as the chance of a lifetime, I think that these two particular teams are more focused on what it will take to get their 3rd World Champion under their belt rather than winning another MSC. There is a 1 in 4 chance of being in the same division in Atlanta. If you are going to explore the weaknesses of 469 how many shots do you get? Not too many. Do you wait to test your plan for Einstein? I think you take your chances where and when they come. If I were a team ranked above 469 at the MSC, I think you might decide to try your Einstein strategy in Ypsilanti.
Second, I don't accept that the competition will be tougher on any stage in Atlanta save Einstein. I believe that the competition in Ypsilanti was head and shoulders above the divisions in Atlanta. I am not saying that there will be no great teams added to the mix in Atlanta but I AM saying that from top to bottom, the competition in Atlanta will not be as strong as what I just saw at MSC. It was a real showcase.
The why is a complex mix of the quality of the teachers, sponsors, mentors, the new district/state championship format, etc...
Joe J.
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If you had the Thunderchickens or HOT in mind when you made this thread, I completely understand where you're coming from. Of course, if you're at the level of either of them, you know that eventually you'll probably have to get past Las Guerrillas to win big.
I was under the impression that you meant this idea could be applied to any team that ended up seeding at the top. My memory is fuzzy on this, but I believe that in round ten or eleven, HOT was at something like fourth and the Thunderchickens weren't even seeded in the top ten. It wasn't clear that either of those two teams would be in this situation. This screwy ranking system certainly added some entropy to the rankings. (And please don't flame me, 1918 was in no way undeserving, etc.)
Unless you're either 67 or 217, however, I still think my original point is valid. If you are one of those two, however, then I'm definitely with you on the concept of intentionally playing against 469 to prepare yourselves.
Perhaps I'm not as familiar with the Championships as you are, but my thinking when I made that point was that in Atlanta, both alliances' second picks will be better, allowing you to devote a better robot to shutting down 469's loop. I'll defer to your experience and accept that MSC will be tougher competition than the divisions. In light of that, again I'd agree that it's a good reason to at least consider not picking 469.
So basically, working under the same set of assumptions you started with, I'd completely agree with everything you said.
On a different note, it turned out that not having 469 was hardly "sacrificing" the State Championship. Of course it took some amazing play from some amazing teams, but I guess it means that not having the magical 469 fairy was not the kiss of death.