Language at Championships

[AndyB]

FIRST is an amazing program which does so much for the world today. We are seen as decent kids with amazing futures. Please lay off on the unnecessary language.

Overall, I must agree, the 2006 FIRST Championships were awesome (as usual). However, I couldn't help but notice more and more people calling things "gay", and using vulgar language so often, it seemed to have been obsessive. Your teachers, parents, mentors, and FIRST all hold you responsible for your actions.

Not only does it make you look bad, but it makes your team look bad, it makes your town look bad, it makes FIRST look bad. Also, in an event featuring over a dozen countries, what kind of image are you leaving of yours?

[sciencenerd]

I couldn't agree more with this. Really, this isn't in the spirit of the competition. This behavior is not gracious or professional at all. As a representative of everything listed in the previous post, I would hope the bright kids of FIRST would have the sense refrain from this kind of behavior, as it is offensive and in most cases uncalled-for.

I understand (although I wasn't able to be there, unfortunately) that the Championships can be very tiring. However, this is no excuse for letting your manners slip.

[Starke]

i agree 100%. the language seemed to be better in years past. i hope that this also applies to some of the songs that were played at championship. i found some of them had foul language and were offensive.

[deficite]

I remember going down the hallway (I called the "stinky hall", everybody probably knows which one I'm talking about) to the arena during quarterfinals and hearing this team just yelling obscene words. It was extremely unprofessional. I've heard a lot of other things that really disappointed me this year as well, but not NEARLY as bad as the f-words coming out of their mouths.

Even language aside, I noticed a lot of people not really being very sportsman-like nor FIRST-like. I've seen people get so upset that they bust their safety glasses into pieces on the floor and yell at their other team members.

I'll close up saying that I was disappointed when I heard all the people laughing when the speech announcing the Chairman's Award was taking place. I thought it was very unprofessional and childish to say the least. I'd like to see any of the people laughing at the speaker (over something as silly as just having a running nose, which is what it sounded like) stand up in front of an international event and make a speech.

[Storcky]

I also agree. the behavior of some teams and members wasn't that great either. I would like to post an apology to team 772 for the behavior of our chaperone when you were saving seats for Einstein. it was not gracious or professional. Sorry

[LightWaves1636]

One of the greatest things about FIRST that I absolutely loved that I learned this year as a rookie is all the gracious professionalism. So, yeah, I completely agree that at FIRST, actions and words should be done carefully. Nothing wrong with light critzism but rude remarks are just quite simply rude.

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by Storcky

I also agree. the behavior of some teams and members wasn't that great either. I would like to post an apology to team 772 for the behavior of our chaperone when you were saving seats for Einstein. it was not gracious or professional. Sorry

I'd like to second this apology. I'm pretty sure Storcky has the team number right; if not, whatever team it was will know we mean them. Myself and another student apologized in person when we were there, but it can't possibly hurt to reiterate. (We eventually gave our seats and the three we were saving to allow a little more room, and we went to sit with our friends from Buzz (thanks for temporarily adopting us guys, we appreciated it ))

I know saving seats isn't legal by the rulebook, but that is no call for anyone to be ungracious or unprofessional towards a team that saved seats, since there is never an excuse for it. I won't post the exact details of our chaparone's squabble with 772, mostly because I'm thoroughly embarrassed. It was very un-FIRST-like, and I hope I never see it again, especially from my own team. When my teammate and I apologized, the mentors from 772 assured us they didn't hold us accountable and were all-around very tolerant and mature about it. I was impressed and even more embarrassed by comparison. I hope they won't hold our team in a bad light because of that.

[Denz]

Don't worry about it guys, it wasn't a problem at all. I was actually embarrassed about how the chaperon on our side handled it, as well as her son. Without going into too much detail, I think that it's great that the teams themselves feel this sort of gracious professionalism toward each other, and it's a shame that the chaperones don't quite understand the mutual respect we share (on our side, it was a parent who just tagged along with the team).

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by Denz

Don't worry about it guys, it wasn't a problem at all. I was actually embarrassed about how the chaperon on our side handled it, as well as her son. Without going into too much detail, I think that it's great that the teams themselves feel this sort of gracious professionalism toward each other, and it's a shame that the chaperones don't quite understand the mutual respect we share (on our side, it was a parent who just tagged along with the team).

That's the exact situation on our team as well (even the fact that her son was contributing to the problem). I'm just glad there are no hard feelings, and I feel a good bit better now.

[379Robocat]

In our pit area where I spent most of my time I hadn't thought that this was a big issue. I don't recall ever hearing any swearing or for a fact no one being mad and yelling. But one thing from being an ex-team member and as a driver are the coaches. I have on many instances been driving and have overheard team mentors on the field swearing and yelling at the drivers and/or refs. I think that's where we need to start is on the adults. If we get the adults to crack down on the swearing and anger management then they can work on their students. I know the drivers would be in more control and more cool and calm if the mentors weren't screaming in their ear. The kids lose site of what FIRST is about when they are competing because the mentors are about winning and robot driving. I have seen in once case where a mentor was screaming soooo much at a kid the the kid started to cry. That's one reason why I would like to see all student/college mentors on the field rather then adults. They can relate to them better as they know them better. Another thing I noticed are the National Chairmans award winners. Myself and another adult had walked through the hall of fame and no one that was at their display was friendly.No one said hi or do you have any questions, they just looked at you like they were better then you. If you listen to some of the members in their pit area you could be amazed at what you hear. These are supposed to be National Chairmans award winners. They are supposed to be setting an example for other teams in FIRST. These are just some of my thought from the past.

[Tetraman]

Originally Posted by 379Robocat

They are supposed to be setting an example for other teams in FIRST.

There are two types of team members and mentors:

Those who want to be FIRST.
Those who want to be first.

Those who want to be FIRST are and do exactly what FIRST represents and do and act the same as well. Those who want to be first, do what being first represents: being the top, being the king, doing what it takes and not careing too much for their surroundings. To some, competition is a driving force and if a trophy is not in their hands or a trophy is in their hands, FIRST suffers a loss for Gratious Professionalism......or do we? Possibly the greatest evidence of FIRST, is the teams that show the winning teams how to be FIRST.

[aallen88]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

There are two types of team members and mentors:

Those who want to be FIRST.
Those who want to be first.

I completely and utterly agree with everything you just said.

[Robyn Needel]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

There are two types of team members and mentors:

Those who want to be FIRST.
Those who want to be first.

Those who want to be FIRST are and do exactly what FIRST represents and do and act the same as well. Those who want to be first, do what being first represents: being the top, being the king, doing what it takes and not careing too much for their surroundings. To some, competition is a driving force and if a trophy is not in their hands or a trophy is in their hands, FIRST suffers a loss for Gratious Professionalism......or do we? Possibly the greatest evidence of FIRST, is the teams that show the winning teams how to be FIRST.

You are SO right here - we have sponsored Little League baseball for many years in our community. In some years, we have had terrible situations with coaches (not often, thankfully) and parents browbeating kids over their performance, because they see the trophy as the accomplishment - and you can guess how those kids acted toward each other and their opposing teams! In other years, coaches have banned parents and kids who act ungraciously both on and off the field, and regardless of whether they came out on top, everyone had a great time.

On our team, we make sure that the students and mentors understand and agree that FIRST principles are the most important and that people are watching and listening to us all the time. We want to win - who doesn't? - but not at the cost of our personal character and gracious professionalism.

[Ethulin]

Well, I knew I was going to be a dissenting view as soon as I opened the thread, oh well.

The fact is that as a frequent user of language (I use it almost every day in fact) there is a simple rule I go by: know your audience. If you know that your audience is comfortable with a certain level of what some people consider "vulgarity" then it is my stern belief that there is no issue with it. The fact is language is used as a communication tool, if expletives are part of that communication then I really feel that people should lay off the "language police".

As for GP: Degrading another team is in NO WAY IN THE SPIRIT OF FIRST. Whether it is using expletives, swear words, or fine Shakespearean sonnets the fact is that being an jerk is being a jerk, no matter how you look at it.

Now for the media: It is another strong belief of mine that you should always put your best foot forward. Meaning that if I was doing a sponsorship presentation I would speak differently then if I was hanging out with my friends. The same goes for the media. Portray FIRST in the best light possible, if this would require you to tone down your language then you need to due so in the interest of the FIRST community at large.

The most common mistake new stand up comics make is that they don't know their audience. They do not know the comfort level of who they are speaking to, and therefore put off their audience. The same goes for any communication, vocal or otherwise.

Hopefully we all speak here to be understood, not just to run our mouths .

If you wish to respond to the content of this post I greatly appreciate it, I love other views; but remember, use your words for communication, not degradation.

[Tetraman]

Originally Posted by deficite

Even language aside, I noticed a lot of people not really being very sportsman-like nor FIRST-like. I've seen people get so upset that they bust their safety glasses into pieces on the floor and yell at their other team members.

You'll see less sportsmanship and a little less FIRST-like things at Nationals. Thats why I love Regionals. They are only competitive once the elimination matches begin. It's very relaxed and teams get to know teams better. Relations and FIRST fun is seen more often at a Regional. Getting mad at a regional is stupid and everyone knows it. But Nationals are a lot more competitive because thats where the big awards and big noteability comes from. If I had a FIRST team, the only time we'd go to Nationals is if we won a regional, and intead attend as many regionals as we could.