2014 Arkansas Regional

[robotlover77]

Sircedric4 your team is to be commended for the example of gracious professionalism you exhibited. As an impartial observer of the entire regional I am absolutely sickened by what transpired. There was a collective rumble that went through the crowd of non Arkansas spectators as the ultimate result was revealed. There is a large faction that saw this for what it was. The fact that the regional winner was determined after the match, based on foul point assessments, after a good deal of elapsed time, with the outcome ultimately favoring not one, but two home teams is suspect in and of itself. The fact that the driver of the team that won, 16, shares the same last name as both the Regional Director (Novak) and another member of the Arkansas Regional Planning Committee seems to me in and of itself a huge conflict of interest. Additionally, a judge was a senior engineer from Baxter, sponsor of the winning team. Considering the outcome I think it is highly suspect and at the very least deserves investigation by FIRST. Had it been a clear victory this would not be a consideration. Anyone that thinks this was a clear victory is either delusional or dishonest. I didn't have a dog in the race and came into this completely impartial. I am just a fan of FIRST and a believer in fair competition. This was a sad, sad day for FIRST.....