The Stereotyping of Successful Teams

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Ivan Malik

The concept of "sustained excellence" partnered with the concept of "you can do it too, if you set your mind to it" flat out doesn't work. If every team is sustaining excellence then what is excellent? You can't have a system where every team is awesome because then awesome would be average. This is a sign of a broken or soon to be broken system.

What statements like these look like to people not on top is a carrot on a stick. IMHO this is why you see the team bashing. This is why you see the stereotyping. When teams are told or assume that the play fields are level, and they can see the carrot and the stick. This image sinks in even further when you see the same teams beating the crap out of you year after year and they are the ones selling you the carrot. It doesn't matter how these teams beat you, with what resources they did it with, etc. Rather it's the repeated spanking that is the issue. For a system to look equal there needs to be turnover in what teams get success. This doesn't mean that the same teams always win everything, but rather the same teams are always within grasp of wining. You don't see much turnover in the FRC. Rather you see the same regional powerhouses again and again beating their opponents. The FRC needs more streaky teams to be healthy, not more powerhouses. Powerhouses are great for exposure, they draw a lot of attention. Powerhouses are not great at changing culture. Why? Because one team is a source of inspiration for other teams, but 1000 teams is inspiration for an entire country. Yes I understand that there isn't just one team to rule them all, but regionally there are usually a handful that do. Considering how few teams actually get to see outside their region, the same effect is felt by them.

I'm going to take a whack at this post to prove you wrong.

Case in point - MAR and NJ/PA in general.

25, 56, 103, 365 used to be giants. On some level, they still are, but not to the extent that they used to be.

Latest couple seasons- teams are rising to the challenge of ranking with and above these teams. Examples: 1676, 1640, 341 (yes these guys weren't always top dog on the field like they are now), 2590, 2607, 2016, 11, 1403, 1218.

If you think teams aren't improving and rising above their competition, then you aren't analyzing the full playing field.

Saying that teams aren't inspired by the powerhouses to knock them out is just false.

Other areas of interest- California, New England teams (mostly CT and Boston area), Texas, Hawaii even. CANADALAND

Take a look at 973, 1323, 696, 1538, etc... These are all products of teams looking at perennial powerhouses and wanting to rise above them. Many of these teams have done so. What's cool is that it pushes teams like 254 even more.

Soon, the current or new generation of elite teams and powerhouses will give rise to an even newer generation of elite teams.

The culture of MAR is changing, the culture of FiM is definitely changing. Everyone outside of FiM can see the improvement in team quality. Soon, some of those teams will learn to rise about current and former powerhouses.

I'm fine with people posting their opinions, but please do your research when you post things like this.