Are awards given at random somewhat?

[Elgin Clock]

Eh, why not.. I'll go against the grain.

I voted "The awards weren't really random, but they didn't go to who I think deserved them."

This year, I was shocked to see that some teams did not get a technical, or even non-technical award at a regional. It's all a matter of perception, and this is biased on my end because I did not do an in depth study of every single robot and/or team at the regionals I attended as the judges did.

What robots I saw as the best candidate for an award, or the teams I saw best fit for an award may have been number 2 or 3 in line in the judges rulings, but they saw all the teams. I did not, so therefore, I can not accurately say if I would have chosen the teams that the judges chose over the teams I saw best fit for the awards presented. I can just say that "but they didn't go to who I think deserved them" with the information provided to me at the time.

In the end, I give credit to these judges who have a very difficult task ahead of them at every regional. I'm sure no teams will be mad that they did not win an award (less maybe regional champions where it is based on hard fights on the field and can sometimes go either way - proven many times this year alone).

w00t to the judges.