* The game piece (boulders) was ridiculously expensive and changed quite a bit after moderate use. 2006 poof balls remain the best foam game piece we have been given.
* This was a really onerous field to build at home.
* Refs had a tough job this year, just as in 2014. There were many missed calls and missed crossings, and lots of judgement calls around physical contact. All season, we had opponents keeping >6 balls in their driver station, and there were never enough refs to check behind the glass more than once a match.
* No parity whatsoever in division or match schedule strength at the Championship.
* FIRST's website is worse now than it was a year ago this time.
* The Championship is too long and drawn out. It is asking too much for teams to wake up at 5-6 AM and leave the venue at 7-8 PM for 4 days in a row. There's a reason why half the mentors and students on my team have gotten sick after returning several years running.
* It would have been nice to have wooden goals scattered throughout the divisions, since dialing in shooters seemed to be the most common use-case for the (centralized) practice fields.
* I thought the scoring display was really confusing all season long.
* I did not think that the 8 division Einstein format was great this year. I would have loved to see 4 alliances that were deeper/stronger instead.
* This was the last unified FIRST World Championship
Some may call it an obsession and they may be right, but I call it a huge learning experience. - Elgin Clock [more] 
05-04-2016, 10:47 AM
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