Is FRC truly competitive?

[Ninja_Bait]

Originally Posted by ebarker

FIRST is about the mission of FIRST, not the institution of FIRST
This is a concept that is lost on a lot of people, including the occassional judge. Dean and Woodie have been clear on this issue, both in their public announcements and in the direct conversations I've had with them.

Sorry, I did mean that and not the self-serving institution version. I need to stop posting things when I'm tired because I keep saying things poorly. Shall we say that FRC is about IRST instead? Dropping the F out of FIRST makes the grammar a little easier.

Unfortunately, I seem to be in contention with the general consensus here, which is that FRC is competitive (for a variety of reasons). I wonder if by saying that we treat FRC competitively instead of cooperatively, we detract from the message of FIRST. I thought we were supposed to be culture-changers, proving that "competition" can and should be more about what we do for each other than what we get for ourselves, and that the award is not as important as the process. Even if you went in wanting to win the competition, you should walk away prouder of what you've done than what you've won.

Maybe I'm just buying into the preachiness of FIRST too much. I'm sorry, but I feel that FRC is meant to be more than a competitive nerd fight, and that we shouldn't let it shift its focus in that direction.