FIRST's statement on Einstein

[Astrokid248]

Originally Posted by JTN

All I am going to say is that people need to be quiet about our so called "tainted win" and look at IRI and the 2013 season.

-JTN

As far as I'm concerned, you guys won, no taint. Bask in it, enjoy your time as world champs, and use it for recruiting and outreach. But the other three teams on Einstein didn't lose, FIRST did. I mean, why should we punish you guys when all's you did was seize the opportunity FIRST provided you? Any of us would've done the same, and Newton actually did, since 1717/469 were knocked out by comms in the semis same as we were on Einstein. FIRST was the real loser here, the real tainted player. If they want to recover, they'll have to make it so that every robot can always connect to any field, no matter how many packets of data go back and forth between robot and drive station.

Originally Posted by twetherbee

And while the FIRST community debates things like field issues, FIRST's handling of Einstein or a "tainted" win, there is a family in St. Louis who is making funeral arrangements for someone who was watching another type of game and was in the wrong place at the wrong time while the Einstein field issues kept tens of thousands of us all safe and sound inside the Edwards Jones Dome. Perspective is everything.

This perspective is definitely something everyone should see, but at the same point, they should have warned us ASAP about the tornado, during the match commentary. Natchez and his brother were in the 118 temporary pit, and recognized the tornado as soon as they heard it. They got as many teams as they could convince to leave off of the field and into a windowless area. The rest of the thousands of people had no such opportunity, and if that tornado had touched down by the dome instead of Busch Stadium, it could be a very different story. We were not safe inside the stadium itself, nor would we have been safe in the hallways. I think FIRST now has another change to start working on in the off-season, and that is disaster preparedness.