301 points! and could have done more

[tcjinaz]

Originally Posted by Libby K

Winning or becoming a regional finalist get you medals (of differing colors) and high-fives from the judges and refs. What more do you want?

I'm in a class so I can elaborate on your question later, but bribing teams to play matches in a different way than normal competition at any other regional has played out, just seems shady to me.

Ms Kamen, you have pushed me over the edge. Despite your heritage, you don't "Get It" yet. You need some time in the real world.

It is about the money. In FIRST, it is about the fund raising, the scholarships, the equipment, the practice areas, the trips to less than local events and to St. Louis. The Falcons and the Coconuts, above all else, are superb marketing organizations. "No Bucks, No Buck Rogers." They sell themselves and their product with energy and enthusiasm, which gets the funding that enables them to exert extraordinary engineering and competitive efforts. There are teams around with deeper pockets, but they don't sell themselves to themselves at the level that these teams do.

Steve Sanghi did not bribe anyone. He threw down challenges to all of the teams at the Arizona Regional, with meaningful rewards attached. It works, it's the real world, he does it at Microchip all the time (personal bias admission; I've worked for Microchip for 12 years). I will also note that "Steve & Maria Sanghi" are personal sponsors of Arizona FIRST, and I suspect also contribute significantly to the United Way charity known as "The Employees of Microchip", both sources of significant funding to many Arizona FIRST teams. (and much to my surprise, the Midnight Mechanics from San Diego, and probably others I know not of

We're trying to emulate the real world; the sports aspect is convenient way of engaging young people with something that's physical, immediate and exciting on levels other than the intellectual (see spelling bees). But, this pure, on-field competition aspect cannot and must not dominate our analysis of the game. Even the Olympics have given up on the "Noble Amateur Athlete" concept; the last dinosaur is the NCAA (how do those college student afford those elaborate tattoos...).

The teams in the Arizona Regional Finals acted perfectly in line with the real world. They endeavored to act in their own best interests. Those interests lined up such that a "6/0" strategy in the second final match was the best to maximize everyone's return on investment. It very nearly worked out best for all; one more just OK cycle by 60/1726/3785 and they all profited by a total of $3000.

Regards,
Tim Jordan

PS: Plasma, don't take my lack of mentioning you personally. You were a perfect fit in that alliance, and earned your trip to St. Louis. We still owe you from 2011. PURPLE!