[moderated] Sportsmanship!

[Cory]

"That dude" happens to be Andy Baker. Sure, just because he has attained near god status doesnt mean that he is almighty and all knowing (Yes, that was Andy that disabled the wrong team during the finals ), but I can guarentee you that he knows the rules better than 90% of the people who post on Chief Delphi, or attended the Portland regional.

If you dont like Andy's call, Im sure he will be happy to talk to you privately and explain why the call was made. For anyone who is upset just because they got "screwed", grow up. It's called life, and it aint fair, no matter how hard you try.

Anyone who comes around here and tries to diss the ref's isnt going to be too popular. I can't think of many things I hate more than people who crap on those who take time out of their lives, for what? Not for their own benefit, that's for sure.

Next time you see someone walking around in a striped shirt, take the time to thank them for their hard work. Dont worry, they wont bite you!

Cory

[edit] a situation from the 2003 Cal Games just came to me, and I think it's perfect.

My team, along with team 256 (thanks for picking us!), and team 254 made it all the way to the finals. When we got to the finals, we and 254 ran the first round, because 256 was broken and trying to fix their bot. We lost (I think?) this round, and moved to the second. Since 256 was still broken, we went again and won (Or was it the other way around?) For the third and final match, we were all set to go with us and 254 again, since 256 was broken. According to the rules (and as Mark Leon said during one match today) if a team breaks down, they do not have to play during the eliminations matches. However, certain individuals complained to the referrees and we had to take our robot off the field, resulting in the opposing alliance having a 2-1 advantage, and us losing.

The moral of the story is, while both us, 254, and most importantly 256 were denied a chance to win (In the case of portland, the same thing occurred, but the call was good) we had to deal with it like the adults we claim to be. Sure, we knew that we were right, and we shouldve been on the field, but complaining and arguing would have done nothing except to make us look bad to everyone at the event (Like booing the ref's today). We didn't even care about winning really, but we felt especially bad for 256, who had played well all day, then broken down during the finals. They were upset that we had to lose that way, and also thought that they had let us down, which was totally untrue, since they brought us into the finals. When everything was all said and done with, our teams were just as proud of the way that we had handled the situation as if we had won. Sure, it sucked, but we knew we did the right thing.

Wow, that was long.