Why does everyone hate this game so much?

[Brandon_L]

To all - I realize I exploded in the heat of the moment last night, and for that I apologize. I do not necessarily wish I did not say it though. It was real, and it was what I felt in the moment. Its the same reaction I saw all weekend throughout the event. Most of you both for and against my method of venting my frustrations seemed to agree with my points, at least.

I woke up this morning a little less heated, and filled out the survey for the event in a constructive manner.

The fact of the matter is, my students worked amazingly hard, harder then any group I've ever had before. We pretty much had an 8 week build season - Our intake wasn't working properly so we withheld it and continued the grind. All of the time and money we spent chasing perfection feels wasted, as we're out ~20 MAR points and probably wont get an invite because of a hastily thought up rule that came out literally the day before the event and probably wont exist next week. I hope everyone can understand that is where my frustration is coming from. I am proud of the rest of the team for how they handled the situation.

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

However, we can play this game like it is, with hopefully some continued improvements between now and the Championships.

To be blunt, not us. Out of all the teams in FRC, only a fraction get to attend champs. I agree, champs will be much better, but what about the rest of the teams? At this point, nothing more I or anyone else can do other then wait and see. We're probably done for the season, though.

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

There are many things stated by many people in this thread. There are many valid points and some crazy ones (from my point of view). However, I feel I need to respond to this one specifically. Neither VEX Robotics nor the REC Foundation (the actual company who operates and supports the VEX Robotics Competition and VEX IQ Challenge) have any intention of starting an FRC sized competition. The VEXpro product line was specifically designed to support the competitors in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Please do not read anything into the above statement. We are quite happy supporting the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition, and FIRST Robotics Competition and have no intention of changing that.

My statement was an unnecessary callout, and for that I do apologize.