Michigan, be honest, how is the district model?

[IKE]

Originally Posted by pafwl

Brilliant responses...

Can you comment on the competitions themselves? Did you feel they were any less exciting or less satisfying because they were not as splashy or glitzy as the pre 2009 events run by FIRST?

One thing I found interesting, is in Michigan, we play in the light! What I mean by that is the field lighting is visually stunning, but makes for horrible pictures, tough scouting, tough pit conditions. I stopped in a Pittsburgh, and it felt like you were playing in a mine.

Another thing I like is that there seems to be a better spreading of awards from event to event. With the extra events, there are more awards period. This tends to recognize more teams (at least at the district level) which in my book is a really good thing.

I really like that the level of play tends to match the venue. What I mean by that is the Districts tend to have a certain level of play involved, MSC another, and World Championship an additional step up. this tends to match the venue size and the requirements to qualify to be a part of that venue.

Having a qualified Championship event like MSC is so neat. It sets a good bar for middle ground and new teams to strive for. You have to be roughly top 1/3 in the state to qualify for it. While 20-30 teams are pretty predictable, the other 40-30 slots have potential for turn-over which is a motivator/reward to a lot of middle teams. Playing qualifying matches with teams that have 2 events under their belts is awesome. Teams have had time to develop a skill set and can play an active role in the match. The mix is exciting as usually allianes are good enough to not be completely ruled out. At MSC there was 1 0pt. alliance during the entire event. Even a competitive regional like Midwest had 10 0pt. alliances in the first 20 matches. Newton had 4 0pt. alliances in the first 20 matches. 4!!! at the "World Championship" in 20 matches!!!! is 10% of alliances in what was arguably the deepest talent depth division at the championship.

Its not perfect, but I really really like this system, and with a few tweaks (most controlled by FIRST HQ), it would be really close to ideal.