Play to win

[Ricky Q.]

Play to win or don't play at all, but if you lose take it graciously. Enough Said.

[disturbedislife]

my team, 1288, was betrayed by our allies... i wont give their name or team number, but i will say that they wound up taking one of the lowest places of the st. louis regional... so it actually does pay to be strong, like our team was, and fight until the end, because the back stabbing allies will fall through in their own weaknesses. we wound up taking the 16 spot, and got medals for being in quarter finals, and got a lovely trophy for being the highest seeding rookie team. and that felt pretty good. especially since we were betrayed and all.

[Stina236]

whoa... i understand everybody's frustration about this.. i mean who doesn't like to win? but let's remember.. we should still be forgiving of these other teams who just don't play up to their potential... perhaps they had a momentary lapse is judgement... or maybe they were just buckling under the pressure.. whatever it was- be easy on them and give them a "friendly" reminder about why it feels so darn good to win!!!!

[KenWittlief]

people are not complaining about teams that didnt play up to their potential - they are talking about teams who deliberately lost their own match to help their opponent (who was a friend of theirs) for whatever reason

and dragging down their alliance partner with them in the process

[Ryan Albright]

hmm i didnt want to get in this discussion but i just love to put my 2 cents in

FIRST brings everyone closer and we make friends like said earlier 79 and 233 are really good friends and its obvious. but to throw a match to help a team, i can see it but it shows no character. We thought about it once this year when we were by ourselves and we were goign against our friends we thoguht about it and even talked about it with them but we decided that shows no character and we played to win. And now that i look throught the thread and start seeing other peoples thoughts i think helping another team and throwing a match is stupid. I mean you never know you might throw a match and take down your teammate but what if you need them next year what if they are picking a alliance and you want them to pick you, do you think they will want to pick you....i dont think so. Thats like if Roger Clemens played against the yankees and he decided to loose on perpose, do you think he will have a job the next morning i think not. thats what pete rose was kicked out of baseball for taking bets against his own team.

So guys lets play to win

thats my two cents

[chellyzee93]

Yet another place in FIRST where we have a chance to experiance the real world. Here we are able to see that not everyone plays by the rules and yes it may work to their advantage. You can most certainly win while playing against teams who do this even though it may be harder to do. You need to decide whether you'd rather take the easy win, or show the world what you made of- win or lose. It all is a question of your priorities-we all know those of FIRST.

Maybe we can really change the culture, show our businesses and world leaders the meaning of integrity,quality, and gracious professionalism.

Where do your priorities lie?