2004 Nats??

[Marc P.]

Personally, I think Houston. Before I get chewed out, consider this:


Epcot is becoming too small... I remember last year, trying to find seats in the small bleachers behind any divisional field (besides Einstein, which was sweltering hot anyway). I remember a space only the size of the pits to contain the pits. While some would call it "cozy," I think it limits the growth potential of the largest competition FIRST currently has. I feel with a venue as large and spacious as Reliant Park, there is much more room for growth. With that much space avaliable, maybe next year there could be 5 divisions, with 400 teams able to qualify. At the rate FIRST is growing, there will be well over 1000+ teams very soon, and if only 300 are allowed to advance, it becomes farther and farther away for teams. Inside Reliant Stadium, many more fields can easily be built with room to spare, and in the Astrodome, the pits can be expanded exponentially. Just because a shoe doesn't fit now does not mean it won't be grown into. I think it just needs a chance to find out what FIRST is and what it's about before spirit can develop. The walk from pits to fields can be overcome in many different ways, from splitting the fields and pits (2 divisions with associated pits in one place, the other 2 in the other), or signing waivers allowing golf carts to move teams around. All in all I enjoyed Houston a lot more this year than Epcot last year. I am curious to see what others think though, so we'll see what happens.