Meeting Length

[Petey]

Originally Posted by Anchi

our school got mad when we asked for some money to enter. i dont see them complainign about the 40 kids on basketball teams per highschool. each member casts them $1440, football players cost them $739 each. they needa get their head outa their a** and realize we are more important that some meatheads. the district spends 21million a year on sports, five us a few k.....

Nice attitude.
"Some meatheads".

This is exactly the kind of cliqueish nerdyness that, if it continues to prevail, will eventually bring FIRST down.

Our school gives us very little money. Do not forget that FIRST is a new institution. FIRST has not the cachet nor the background nor the alumni of school sports. These things will come in time. Schools will come to realize the importance of FIRST. I share your frustration.

But to scoff at sports players and call them "some meatheads"? That's just B.S. Do not believe that FIRST prepares you as a well rounded person. FIRST, for all its qualities, skimps heavily on the need for physical fitness. The human player role, with the exception of last year's game and games like it, is that of a glorified switch. Even last years game could hardly be considered physically active. And what did we see? Complaints that now basketball stars were going to overrun FIRST. Frankly, I'd like to see more of that, and I'd like to see more FIRSTers overrunning basketball teams. Last year, my brother and I were two of only three kids on our FIRST team who played a school sports. We both played football. The other kid ran track.

This is absurd. This is the attitude that brings FIRST down, and is my single greatest dislike about FIRST and the FIRST community. I am seeing this attitude in action on my team. Some people on the team are very cliqueish. When one my friends--a girl who is president of the senior class, popular, etc--showed up at a meeting to see if she'd like to join, one of my teammates went up to her face and sneered "What are you doing here?". My friend hasn't been back to a meeting since. Our team is going to have about 8 people next year, because some people on the team are so determinedly exclusive. This post is an exclusive post--rather, it showcases the inherently exclusive attitude of the poster--and I think it perfectly demonstrates a problem in the FIRST community.

--Petey