A lot of references have been made to professional sports. I think if this thread needs to compare FRC to a sport, it should be more like high-school sports. The school I went to has a football dynasty. Other schools around the country are known for certain sports. That's sort of how I see the successful FRC teams. They have the mentors (coaches), recruit the students (players), and have facilities and support. Some teams are going to be oriented toward building the best robot they can and will have a great plan and team to do so. I also see the point of since we build a new robot every year; there are good years and not so good ones.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is there are teams that will always be competitive and teams that struggle to get something on the field.
My $0.02
