2004 Championship Eligibility Criteria!!!

[Mr. Van]

Here's how I see things:

I'm glad that the current system gives preference to teams that haven't been in the longest time.

I don't like the "qualifying points" system at all.

FIRST has a problem - two "winning" structures. We know that it is very possible to build a winning machine without doing a whole lot of inspiring, and it is possible to inspire without building a winning machine.

What is happening is that FIRST is trying to reward the winners of both structures while allowing as many teams to participate at the "national event" as possible. Of course, those who believe one structure is more important than the other are disappointed in the current system.

Until FIRST says something like "We are rewarding the teams that INSPIRE and we don't care about how well your robot performs on the field." or "This is a COMPETITION and we will reward only those teams who's robots win on the field." We will have this problem.

Personally (OK, DISCLAIMER: statistically, my opinion is shared by a finite number of people both on my team and off - I just don't know who they are - and I probably haven't met them) I fall on the side where competition is fun, but not the be-all and end-all of the event. I don't really care who wins or not. FIRST is not very much about how your robot performs on the field. It is the effect your team has on everyone around them.

Howzat?

-Mr. Van
Robo-Dox, 599