Video Review Needs to Happen Now

[bdaroz]

Another possible data point for you all....

It may not be necessary to re-watch an entire 2 1/2 minute match to determine if an error occurred.

At our off-season event we had a situation where in the last ~15s of our first quarterfinals match our alliance damaged 2 defenses (2 bots nearly simultaneously) and breached before barely making it to the batter. Prior to crossings, the lights on the defenses both indicated one crossing had been completed, but prior to end of match (when they all went off) only one had been scored as damaged. The failure to score the 2nd crossing and breech was the difference between a win and a loss.

We had no replay (or webcast) in place but we sent our student to the ref to object, to no avail. All in all it took almost 3 minutes between quarterfinals matches to have the discussion and return to the queue.

When we reviewed match video later, we only needed to review the final ~30s of the match, enough to see the lights on the defense prior to the crossing and that two crossings occurred, confirming the scoring error.

To those that say we should focus on the positive of the game, and not emphasize winning or losing, I offer this observation. Coming out of the match we lost, the mentors of all three alliance teams attempted to do just that. In fact the closest to success we had was pointing out that we get to play an extra match as a result (knowing we'd win against this alliance). However, until you stand there with ~15-20 students who all know they took a loss due to a clear error, it's difficult to understand the severe lack of "inspiration" that results.

(To be clear, I hold no ill-will or resentment of the refs at the event -- I strongly believe they did their level best within the rules FIRST laid out, and it was a fun competition overall. Also, these options are mine, and I do not speak for my team.)