2013 Buckeye Regional

[eddie12390]

Regarding the quality of the event, I was personally extremely disappointed with a few things in comparison to the event that we have attended in Pittsburgh for the past few years. To start off the event, we ran into a lot of issues with our pit. When we attempted to fit through the door provided for loading in, our pit setup was about a half of an inch too wide to fit through. We were initially told by the security guard stationed at the entrance that we could take our pit through the loading dock and that it would not be an issue. When we arrived at the loading dock, we were berated and yelled at by two of the security guards for a few minutes about how we were in the wrong place and that we had no right to bring our pit down there. Although I realize that they may have not wanted us to use the loading dock, there was no reason at all to be so rude especially when we had just been told by another security guard that it would just fine if we brought our pit in through the loading dock.

As a whole, the staff/volunteers were excellent except for a few people who really had an adverse effect on the overall quality. As multiple people have stated, the head ref was easily one of the rudest people that I have EVER met at any robotics related event. We were not allowed to ask for any clarification on rules and there were multiple instances where it had seemed that he had yet to even read the rule book himself. On Thursday, the announcer insulted our team by saying that teams from Pittsburgh "were not welcome" and then shunned immediately after the match once again for our home location. These were not the only rude comments that we had heard throughout the day and in my opinion the insults that he made went way overboard. It's a shame that a few individuals left such a negative mark on the event for us but it does not seem likely that we will be returning next year.

On a more positive note, I'd like to thank 1507 and 706 for allowing us to be on their Alliance. I'm sorry that our shooter wasn't working correctly, we hadn't had any issues with prior jams and the points that were missing because of our Autonomous not functioning were a clear issue. We really do appreciate you giving us the chance to be on your Alliance and we hope to have the pleasure of being at the same event as you in the future. Congratulations to the winning Alliance of 639, 2252, and 2834. You guys were amazing and all deserve to be in St. Louis. We'd also like to congratulate 1629 on winning Engineering Inspiration and 2016 on winning the Chairman's award. The excellence shone by both of your teams was clear and there was no question in anyone's mind that you guys deserved the awards that you had received.