[moderated]: Worst Call Ever and Congratulations from San Jose

[Jason Morrella]

Wow. I'd be lying if I didn't admit such a post is not somewhat upsetting and disappointing. It is. Those are strong words Jason.

Funny thing is you and I spoke a number of times during the event, and after the awards ceremony I came to thank you for your work volunteering. I would like to think that if I wondered such things about you or anyone else, that I would approach them, express my thoughts, and see if my assumptions were true before making them public. I would encourage you to do so in the future, it's a good way to get relevant information, maintain respectful relationships, and to ensure public statements you make have some conviction and accuracy behind them. I won't take the time to try to change your assumptions, I don't feel obligated to, and quite honestly don't have the time or the energy to. You do have the right to express yourself, and trust me, if at any point I found that many others share your distrust of me, I would step down as a Regional Director immediately and go back to teaching full time. I would have no problem with that and have way too much love for FIRST to ever stay in a position that in anyway casts doubt on the integrity of an event, volunteers, or teams.

But I will defend our referees and our teams. You do quite a disservice to our refs when you make statements like you have. If you want to question my integrity or honesty, fine. But questioning the honesty and integrity of people you either don't know or barely know? Posting your assumption on why refs made a call without being involved in their discussion or knowing what you are talking about? Implying any team has everything "given" to them or doesn't "appreciate" their mentors and sponsors? I could see such irresponsible assumptions being made by a rookie person in FIRST, but from a veteran FIRST alumni it does surprise me. You know very little about me, you know nothing about our refs or the process they went through to make that call, and you know nothing about Team 254 or any other team that you have not been a member of - you don't know how hard any teams work, how involved their students are, how much they volunteer and contribute to the FIRST community, and how much effort they put into building their program over the years.

I appreciate the comments by some in response to Jason's post, thank you for the nice thoughts. I am comfortable with the decision the referees made and know they went through the exact right process to get to that decision. I'm not sure what things have happened in the past for Jason to have reached the opinion he has of myself and 254, but I'm sure he has his reasons and is entitled to express himself.

Jason, you've been a committed volunteer and FIRST member for years. I've always enjoyed seeing you at events and hope you will continue to work with teams. If you do have doubts and problems with me, I do ask that you direct all your criticism towards me, I'll take it. But great volunteers such as our refs this past weekend and any teams (even 254) shouldn't have to have their commitment, their participation, and their accomplishments questioned or diminished because you associate them with me. That's not fair to them.

Regardless of your views of me, I wish you all the best in the future and hope you do very well in life. I hope your experiences in FIRST in some way help you reach whatever goals you may have.