did the judges shut their eyes to 902

[mjt902]

hi i'm from 902 (finished 3rd at cleveland) and i'm a little upset. we got the short end of every pairing and still had enough power to get ranked number 7 and the end of qualifying rounds.
secondly, did they not see us flip over 835 and save them in the first high score of the day (171 pts)??
third- 256 pts by our team is hardly a small event and was not noticed at all
lastly- even though we might have had a small, techincal advantage (the ref stepping on our opponents mat) they should not have replayed it (the rule about all posted scores being final)

but most importantly- even though we got screwed in every aspect of the game in cleveland, and still were able to push everything around, and ended up 3rd overall; it GOT US NOTHING. NO TRIP TO HOUSTON, NO KUDOS, NO RESPECT.

why do the judges even watch the matches if they don't care about the scores and huge plays?? i understand it being about gracious professionalism, but isn't it a little bit about a robot?? maybe a little??

anyway, i'm done venting... cheer me up and let me know what you think about our fate!!!

[Rook]

Just take comfort in the fact your team performed well. Much of FIRST comes down to luck. The best robot, best players, best strategy, ect, doesn't always win.

Just suck it in and get ready for next year.

[Tton]

Stop feeling sorry for yourself in the follwing things:

1) Team pairing because everyone doesnt get there ideal partners.

2) That they redid the match
- If they redid the match because a ref was on the mat and not ur stacker then you wouldnt even have had an autonomous mode.
- If you can only get a high score ounce then why are you complaining about not getting recongized you should have been able to do the around the same score anyways.

3) All teams are observed by everyone so don't pull this hidden/undiscovered talent talk.

Stop being gready you get to build a robot! Ya the trip to Texas is cool but just being able to build a robot should be enough for anyone.

Also more than one team can flip over a robot.

I'm sorry that you were disappointed but you need to learn how to just have fun and not worry to much about that stuff. Good job at your regional though, wish I was there.

See anyone at Rutgers!

[Mike Schroeder]

Originally posted by mjt902


but most importantly- even though we got screwed in every aspect of the game in cleveland, and still were able to push everything around, and ended up 3rd overall; it GOT US NOTHING. NO TRIP TO HOUSTON, NO KUDOS, NO RESPECT.

why do the judges even watch the matches if they don't care about the scores and huge plays?? i understand it being about gracious professionalism, but isn't it a little bit about a robot?? maybe a little??

I am gonna try and be a voice of reason, I first congratualte you, I think that your most important part of the competition is just being there, and also your team did really well. My Experienses show that just being there is "Kudos" enough for most people..
Last year, my team after our regional did not win an award or anything to be able to attend "The Championship" but we took a leap of faith and bought airline tickets anyway, FIRST graciously put us on the waiting list and we wound up knowing in 2 weeks notice that we were put on the list to attend "The Championships" so my advice to you is to have your team put on that waiting list... its early in the season and you might have a chance since the list shouldnt be that long.

Another Thing, The judges just cannot make an award for you because you did so well you must take all your accomplishments in stride, dont dwell on the fact that you didnt win any awards, this competition is to Inspire students to work towards engineering and such. As long as your team accomplished that then you should truly be proud by that fact

Originally posted by Tton
Stop feeling sorry for yourself in the follwing things:

1) Team pairing because everyone doesnt get there ideal partners.

- If you can only get a high score ounce then why are you complaining about not getting recongized you should have been able to do the around the same score anyways.

3) All teams are observed by everyone so don't pull this hidden/undiscovered talent talk.

Stop being gready you get to build a robot! Ya the trip to Texas is cool but just being able to build a robot should be enough for anyone.

Tton, Please do not lash out at people like that, mjt902 said that he was just venting, there is no reason to tell a Team to stop feeling sorry for yourself, while i believe winning isnt everything, i also belive to a certain extent that you spend 6.5 weeks buliding a robot, and you would like to see it do really well, and get some recognition. Every year i feel alittle heartbroken and always wonder if our team lived up to everyone expectations and lived up to the name we have made for our selfs in prior years. but in the end, just having fun and speaking to other teams with gracious proffesionalism is all that matters



Thanks Have a Nice Day !!!!!

[Cory]

Originally posted by mjt902
hi i'm from 902 (finished 3rd at cleveland) and i'm a little upset. we got the short end of every pairing and still had enough power to get ranked number 7 and the end of qualifying rounds.
secondly, did they not see us flip over 835 and save them in the first high score of the day (171 pts)??
third- 256 pts by our team is hardly a small event and was not noticed at all
lastly- even though we might have had a small, techincal advantage (the ref stepping on our opponents mat) they should not have replayed it (the rule about all posted scores being final)

but most importantly- even though we got screwed in every aspect of the game in cleveland, and still were able to push everything around, and ended up 3rd overall; it GOT US NOTHING. NO TRIP TO HOUSTON, NO KUDOS, NO RESPECT.

why do the judges even watch the matches if they don't care about the scores and huge plays?? i understand it being about gracious professionalism, but isn't it a little bit about a robot?? maybe a little??

anyway, i'm done venting... cheer me up and let me know what you think about our fate!!!

Every year this will happen to many teams robots in one way or another. I can say this has happened to my team at least twice. What you have to understand that this is not necessarily a game of who is the best, it is a game of luck to some extent. The top ranked team at any given competition may not be the best team, but they may be the luckiest team. As an example, we were very very lucky at Sacramento. Our first two matches we were tipped over almost imediately, and we still won, in fact, those two matches were two of our best the entire competition. We also had two matches full of horrible bad luck, and somehow we managed to stay in fourth place. We also had some bad luck in the quarter finals, but hey I *never* expected to get that far to start with.
Moral of the story: Its better to be lucky than good, and you have to take what cards life deals you.

Cory

[doomsdaytank]

Hello my name is Fady Kais and i am captain and drivers of the robohwaks team 902. we are excited that we placed 3rd and were happy to have gone that far i would also like to congratulate the winning alliance. we had fun and are sorry if we have upset anyone one any team and we are sorry if it looked like we wanted people to be sad for us we are ecstatic we made it that far. we will be going to grand rapids and hope to do just as well if not better. so thanks to all teams who understand and all teams who were able to make it to the buckeye regional.

[mjt902]

To fellw members of FIRST, we wish to express our sincere regrets that this was posted, and emphasize that for a short time, the message reflected the viewpoints of a sigle individual. Our team is in the second year of competition, and we may have spent too much time designing, building, and competing, and insufficient effort in character development and sportsmanship. Several of the lines in the original post were out of line and erroneous.

#1: "we got the short end of every pairing..."

I did not gratefully acknowledge our partner (1022) and oppponents (292 and 73) in match #89 in which our alliance achieved the highest score of the competition, 256, largely due to the scoring power of our partner, and the skill and efforts of our gracious opposition; who after the match came out and shook our hands and congratulated us. Thanks for the lesson in class and sportsmanship.

I should also have thanked team 883, who worked feverishly to get their machine functional and assist us in 2 of our final matches, in spite of performance difficulties throughout the competition. Our hats are off to them for their courage in seeing through the task of building a machine with a handful of students, one teacher, minimal budget and a single professional consultant. Your courage, heart, and determination were a true inspiration.

We also apologize to teams 835 (with whom we had a magnificent match) 94, 578, and 1204.

#2 "we got screwed in every aspect of the game"

Ending up 7th after rising 18 places by virtue of a good alliance and competitive opponents hardly qualifies as a tough break. In addition, team 47 was called "off the ramp" at the end of one quarter final match due to their arm touching the wrong part of the lexan was in our favor and the narrow margin of victorty got us into the semi-finals.
Finally, having the two fine partners (494 and 226) available for selection was the biggest break any team could ask for. We had a magnificent alliance. Our quarterfinal and semifinal matches were both exciting, well played, and win or lose, I was honored to play in them.

and#3 "...no kudos, no respect."

kudos are overrated and mean nothing in the end. The greatest honor is knowing that we were able to participate and contribute in the quality of the event. As for respect, I know our entire team sincerely hopes that we have not lost any as a result of the orignal post.

[Raul]

Originally posted by mjt902

... In addition, team 47 was called "off the ramp" at the end of one quarter final match due to their arm touching the wrong part of the lexan was in our favor and the narrow margin of victorty got us into the semi-finals.

Can you explain this? Are you saying that if your robot is completely off the wire mesh, but is touching the lexan wall of the ramp that it is considered to be touching the ramp and thus does not count for 25 points??

[Chris Hibner]

Raul,

They were touching the white band along the top of the lexan. You are not allowed to touch the top of the lexan and still be counted as fully on the HDPE.

By the way, I'm looking forward to seeing your robot up close next week. It should be a great competition.

Later,

Chris

[kane]

Heres my 2 cents:

I do first for myself, not for respect, not for kudos, not for regonition. I do it to come away with knowledge and to go out and have a little fun. Yes everything is done in a competition which when you examine human nature there are going to be some faults and missed calls but everyone has to deal with these at one point or another. Instead of comming away from this being pissed off come away with it knowing you learned something and knowing you had some fun. If you participate in first for regonition your doing it for all the wrong reasons, there is an underlying meaning to first beyond the education, beyond the gracious professionalism, the basis of first was to create an environment where people could have fun and enjoy themselves, so stop worring about the regonition and just have some fun.

[mjt902]

well guys, i feel really bad about spelling a few things wrong (i never proof read anything) like the words 'fellow' and 'single.' however, i would like to add that i did not come to the above apology and the realization that this subject needed one untill a day after the original post and did not have the guts to suck in my own bull crap and apologize until advised by a mentor.