2011 Lesson Learned: The Negative

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

My team was denied a place to sit twice by two different teams.

I don't believe I have ever tried to sit in the stands at an FRC event when I haven't had some parent or kid tell me I had to move -- stretching back to the 2005 Portland tournament when I nearly got into a shoving match with a parent who was trying to order my 12-year-old son to move. It is BY FAR the worst part of going to an FRC tournament, and I have no idea what to do about it. (Unless you happen to go to an old-school event where the music is so loud your ears bleed. That's worse. Fortunately, either my hearing has degraded or the music isn't played as loud as it used to be. )

I've only ever had this problem at one VRC/FVC/FTC event, and that was in Atlanta in 2008 when a home school group camped out in the first two rows and didn't move for two straight days -- making sure to leave coats, backpacks, and other stuff in unused seats to make sure no one else took "their" seats. Other than that, small robot crowds just aren't as obnoxious.