Future First Championship News

[who716]

I dont like this at all:
1. being in CT we can't even afford to go to st. louis, so yes detroit is slightly closer to us, but is it close enough to really make a difference in cost. probably not.

2. if we do go to championship in detroit, chances are ill never be able to see 148, 118, possibly even 254 at an event.

3. championship is best out of the best. would basketball have an east coast championship playoff and a separate westcoast playoff. declaring two champions.... absolutely not then the questions is going to arise who is truly the best robot in the WORLD the west coast team or the east coast team. from a fan's perspective who has no knowledge of first what are they going to think of this?

2012 the last year we went to championship was one of the best event of my life, not because of the location, but because we were able to walk around see teams from all over the world, and how their teams differ from ours. And the fact we were able to be nationally ranked among the top team in the world.

finally they are concerned about getting more teams to go, but do all the teams deserve to go. Yes it would be great for the students to gain the experience but would the championship then be the best of the best, do all 32 nfl teams make it to the playoffs no.

so im not sure how i feel about this seems like a 2nd mistake.

[PayneTrain]

People asking why we don't add an intermediary level of comeptition between R/SCMP and WCMP must not be raising money for their team's registration fees.

I could see a Super Regional/World Championship setup working if World Champs goes down to a 150 team event in the summer, like a super IRI, and FIRST works out a deal with a sponsor (or broadcaster?) to eliminate registration fees. Take all 16 Super Regional Winners, all 4 Championship Chairman's Award Finalists, the top 120 teams not in these categories, and the last 10 go to something like top 10 rookies or HoF teams.

[James1902]

Originally Posted by lynca

The hate and anger needs to slow down in this thread. Think constructive not destructive criticism.

I suppose that's fair. It just feels like this MASSIVE CHANGE to a thing we all love dearly has been dropped on our heads like an anvil and a few of us needed to vent.

Trying to be constructive: I feel that a better move that would achieve the stated goals of this change (more access to better events, bigger FIRST events in more cities, etc.) would be to add intermediary levels between regionals and the championships (many people mentioned district champs as that level). This gives more people more access to quality events but still keeps the prestige and inspiration of a Championship.

[smistthegreat]

Originally Posted by Hallry

I would much rather have gone the Super Regional --> World Championship route...

So this plan was published in 2011. What has changed since then to make FIRST drastically alter the competition structure?

[CalTran]

FIRST is 80% of why I even have friends around the country and internationally, and now if I want to see them I'd have to set aside 2 weekends plus whatever else I'm mentoring and volunteering for? Good grief.
On top of this, you only become the best of the half of whatever first deems you the best of. I don't like the split, I don't like the doubling down on awards, and I don't like how much of a hassle this will be.

At what point do they announce which championship you get to go to? A lot of teams, mine included, set aside plans in the fall on where we would stay, how much it'll cost, and how we're going to get to the Championships. Now that we potentially have to create 2 separate plans, one possibly costing more, would be such a pain.

At the very least, since one "Championship" is a week ahead of the other, what're the chances they could bring the winning alliance from that one to the one after for a crowning match?

[Justin Montois]

I can't describe how disappointing this announcement is.

Based on the geographic assignments outlined in the FAQ section, basically I won't be at a World Championship with the incredible teams on the West Coast and Midwest / Mountain Region ever again.

FIRST claims they are doing this to give more kids "the Championship experience." What is the Championship experience exactly?

For me, it's seeing the best robots and learning from those teams from all over the World. That's it.

Now I won't see half of the best teams and instead will see more average teams. I'm sorry but that ruins the Championship event for me.

2 Different sets of World Champions that never play each other? Multiple Chairman's Award? I agree with Adam. Lets just call every event a World Championship and be done with it.

In other news, everyone leaves with one of these!

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

So....

Inaugural Vex Pro Competition in 2017?!?

Yuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppp

[Akash Rastogi]

I'm not just upset, I'm disappointed. Things were looking so good for a while. Frank was my hero because it sounded like he was on the same page as us. Why did this change happen out of nowhere?

So disappointed. There is no energy like the energy at World Champs.

[jman4747]

Noooooo! Atlanta mayor/GA governor why? Fingers crossed for 2019

[Pauline Tasci]

I love how all of us came together and are trashing how bad this decision actually is.
Hopefully, FIRST realizes the same.

[scooty199]

Originally Posted by pwnageNick

This is also almost guaranteed to conflict the VEX World Championship nearly every year from now on unless VEX bends over backwards to not conflict, which they already went out of their way to do this year with only one FIRST Championship event.

Exactly. And because I mentor teams in both programs, I can't feasibly take off two weeks of work for these events. Having to pick one or the other isn't fun.

[zachrobo1]

Originally Posted by BigJ

I get what you're saying but FRC is supposed to be the competitive level of FIRST.

I guess teams should be looking forward to more Recycle Rush type games if this attitude is what the GDC and FIRST staff have in mind for FRC now.

Who says this model wouldn't be competitive? By no means do I think its the best choice moving forward, but on here it certainly feels like people are mostly concerned with the fact that there wouldn't be a definite winner for the entire competition.

Yes, it will suck that their won't be an absolute champion, but inside these events, the competition still exists.

[The_ShamWOW88]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'm really surprised the FIRST apologists aren't out in force on this one.

Or are even they disillusioned by this?

I'm not an apologist by any stretch but I typically give FIRST the benefit of the doubt in most of their changes. I wasn't a fan of the change away from the W-L-T format but I gave it a chance.

This....this...however....this doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever (and everything I feel is my opinion and only mine, not of my team, etc. and so forth).

Maybe they can explain better how they think this helps teams who can't afford to go to Worlds as it sits now? My team was awarded a wild-card spot this year and we weren't going to make it based off of merit so it would have been nice to go again (haven't been since 2004, none of our students have ever been). But guess what, we couldn't come up with the funding or time last minute to find it.

How does adding a second Worlds change this? If they wanted to make a different, why didn't they put one closer to the East Coast and one closer to the West. Granted, the logistics to host one probably lowers the number of areas willing to do so but having two both in the CST zone doesn't help the problem.

All I see that it does is dilute the meaning behind winning a World Championship, Woodie Flowers award, or Chairman's Award, etc. I'm trying real hard to stay empowered and motivated to continue inspiring my students which is a HUGE part of FIRST but I don't know how many times I have to say it, its FRC (FIRST Robotics COMPETITION). They might as well change it to FRE (FIRST Robotics Event), at least that would be a more apt description.

[JesseK]

I seriously doubt the people making the argument for some kind of Champs logistical change get on ChiefDelphi at all. I'm talking about TIMS contacts who give the FRC Teams email an earful (eyeful?) about cost/etc. I hear stories directly from local teams trying to solve the problem of getting to champs, and I know for a fact I've never seen their team # on CD. I'm sure they're emailing FIRST directly trying to get info, resources, tips, etc.

As-is FRC Champs is a logistical nightmare. Let's say the DC region went to districts, and district champs were this coming weekend. How are the district champs winners getting to St. Louis? Certainly not flying at $600 per ticket (that doesn't get us there until 3pm...). Everyone's on a bus for 15 hours at that point.

If that makes me an apologist in some eyes, well ok then. To me, the only thing we can do is take what we see/experience and make a logical, thought-out argument for/against something like this or for other similar changes.

It seems like splitting up Champs is a logical next step for FIRST in general. Personally I think it makes more sense to split up Champs by program rather than geographic location, but that's my FRC-centric 0.02.

If we go with a sports metaphor, this announcement is more like AFC/NFC Champs, and IRI is the Super Bowl. Now if only we could get ESPN covering IFI ( :: ducks and covers :: ). Though I will really miss seeing the West Coast and MI powerhouses at the same event . Given that vacation is already scarce, I doubt I could attend both events as a volunteer at one of them and a team at the other.

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

People asking why we don't add an intermediary level of comeptition between R/SCMP and WCMP must not be raising money for their team's registration fees.

MSC was supposed to be free for teams. FIRST HQ made FiM charge second event fees. If the funding is there, there's no reason FIRST couldn't make that intermediary level free (or at least just a minimal registration fee).

[Botwoon]

lol west coast