Negotiating for Alliance Selections During the Championship

[GuyM142]

Hey everyone,
As you know alliance selection is scheduled to Saturday morning.
We were wondering how teams will be able to talk with each other about the selections if the matches end by 6:30 and the pits close by 7:00.
Last year teams had time to do that during the last qualification matches of the third day, but I think It'll be hard to do that on Saturday's morning.

Do you think that teams will start negotiating during the second day?
How would you look at this issue from an alliance captain perspective and as a picked team perspective?

Thank you.

[T^2]

All the powerhouse teams will be having powerhouses dinners with each other in the powerhouse restaurants, probably.

[hardcopi]

Those kind of conversations will go throughout the day on Friday. I am guessing we will have a data meeting after Thursday to go over that days events and teams to watch, then a more comprehensive one on Friday.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by T^2

All the powerhouse teams will be having powerhouses dinners with each other in the powerhouse restaurants, probably.

All the Powerhouse teams with their Powerhouse robots will be eating their Powerhouse dinners in their Powerhouse restaurants while discussing their Powerhouse lives with their Powerhouse families.
Afterward they might take some Powerhouse showers in their Powerhouse towering towers.

Am I the only one that hates the term "Powerhouse Team"? It implies there's something fundamentally different about them than the rest of FRC teams. It also promotes hero worship. I'm personally not a fan, but that's just me.

In terms of the actual dynamics of Friday night strategy, it's going to be very different. Many alliances will form Friday night, and teams will have to accurately predict Alliance selections if they're not one of the top couple teams.
I'm personally very excited for this new dynamic. It's going to be fun

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

Am I the only one that hates the term "Powerhouse Team"? It implies there's something fundamentally different about them than the rest of FRC teams. It also promotes hero worship. I'm personally not a fan, but that's just me.

They are some teams that operate on a different level than everybody else. What else would you call them? I am not whining but they also have different resources. They have characteristics to be admired, I wouldn't go so far to promote hero worship.

[Carolyn_Grace]

What Makes a Powerhouse thread here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ght=powerhouse

[NoahTappen]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

What Makes a Powerhouse thread here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ght=powerhouse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EYyu_GuqM This might help show what it takes to ignite a 'Powerhouse'

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

They are some teams that operate on a different level than everybody else. What else would you call them? I am not whining but they also have different resources. They have characteristics to be admired, I wouldn't go so far to promote hero worship.

I agree this shouldn't always be seen as a whiny statement. This statement doesn't mean that the team has more money or a better facility or better machining sponsors. Sometimes it just means that they have an experienced group of people that excel at analyzing a game and are able to help their students understand how to best play it.

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

All the Powerhouse teams with their Powerhouse robots will be eating their Powerhouse dinners in their Powerhouse restaurants while discussing their Powerhouse lives with their Powerhouse families.
Afterward they might take some Powerhouse showers in their Powerhouse towering towers.

sounds like you're a little powerhouse sour...

In all seriousness though, team-worship in FRC can ruin a strong team by encouraging them to pick based on a hype train. That isn't to say a team with a reputation can't deserve that reputation, but picks based on hype aren't always the best. Pick based on your analysis of each team, and make decisions based on your understanding of their robot, your robot, and how your robots would function in the context of all the other robots. Successful alliances aren't formed based on hype.

More on-topic, though, I'd expect teams to be talking to each other most of friday afternoon. It's actually a really good time for it, too- it's before the scouting meetings, and offers a few matches to watch your potential partners more closely.

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

Am I the only one that hates the term "Powerhouse Team"? It implies there's something fundamentally different about them than the rest of FRC teams. It also promotes hero worship. I'm personally not a fan, but that's just me.

You're right that it distorts perceptions of teams and those teams don't always judge other teams accurately. Look at how we were judged on Curie in 2013. And I think Citrus Circuits illustrates, at least in part, how a team can do better with more focus. Until this year we used shipping containers and a shared classroom for our workshop, yet facilities did not limit really us in the end. Now we're getting better resources and that will make our efforts more productive. We've had some lucky opportunities, but we haven't let them pass us by (let's start with our qualifying schedule in 2013.) The most important task we have is sharing with other teams and programs so they can get better too.

In no way am I defending the tag, but only telling one story of how a team, now program, has become more successful.

And as for hero worship, too much is not good, but Dean did want to emulate the sporting culture to promote STEM--to make heroes of engineers and scientists. And we're getting some of that now. It's the nature of sports. Think of Babe Ruth! Interestingly the most visible mentors are not the standard white males, and that probably helps bring a wider diversity into the STEM fields.

[Abhishek R]

Originally Posted by T^2

All the powerhouse teams will be having powerhouses dinners with each other in the powerhouse restaurants, probably.

Let me know what kind of cuisine these "powerhouse" teams like so our team can get in on the latest alliance selection news.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Abhishek R

Let me know what kind of cuisine these "powerhouse" teams like so our team can get in on the latest alliance selection news.

Corndogs and cheesecake.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Corndogs and cheesecake.

I wish they'd serve those in the volunteer lounge. Better yet, bring platters full out to the field.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

I wish they'd serve those in the volunteer lounge. Better yet, bring platters full out to the field.

MAR Champs had cheesecake in the volunteer lounge, judge's room, and mentor lounge.

[Chinmay]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Corndogs and cheesecake.

this really needs to go on the spotlight