I agree that FIRST will have to do something in the near future to accomodate the growing number of teams nationwide & at nationals.
In theory, I love the idea of growing the number of teams that compete at Nats by making Einstein larger, but this has its own problems. Before returning to Nats for the first time in 5 years, adults on the team told me that the national competition wasn't as fun as the regionals. I was skeptical because it was a blast in '96, but unfortunately they were right. The regionals this year and '96 Nats were more fun because they were more intimate. At these competitions, all the teams actually stuck around and watched the elims. When the DJ played good songs people got out of their seats and danced; I even danced on the park benches in '96. Contrast that with Nats now where the only teams watching the elims are those in them, probably because it's nearly impossible to see anything from the stands. I spent most of the competition in the Archimedes stands and I rarely saw people get up to dance.
I'm not saying that Nats is too big, just that something has to be done to make Nats feel like a smaller competition. I think divisions was an attempt at doing this, but something has to be done to the venue itself in order to completely fix the problems. It's fine to have 500+ teams there, just as long as FIRST does something to address this issue.
Mike, who didn't like the 5 minute walk from the pits & Archimedes to the washroom
