2006 Boilermaker red advantage?

[Ryan Dognaux]

I was on the red side counting balls on one of the corner goals during BMR.

This is the first that I've heard of complaints of balls being placed back into the field or in the human player area at BMR. The field crew on the red side was doing a great job from what I saw, and if a ball was shot at me (which happened I think maybe 2 or 3 times?) from the side of the field it was deposited back into the field. I believe one time one was shot over the corner of the player station, and we were instructed to place any ball shot over the player station into the human player ball stash.

I'm not saying it didn't happen maybe once or twice. Who knows, perhaps it did - we're all human and while we're trying to do a bunch of things at once, maybe a ball got placed where it shouldn't have been placed. Even if it did happen, I don't remember seeing a lot of matches being decided by 1 or 2 points at BMR.

The point is, if you see it happening, speak to the person who is doing it. We can't do a thing about it now, but you could have during the event.

[David Hoff]

Just like Brant and DJ I was volunteering on the blue side of the field Saturday. From everything I saw, every ball was placed correctly into the human player bin or back onto the field depending where it went out-of-bounds. It's unfortunate that this has become an issue the day after the event.

[dubious elise]

I'm going to second D.J. on this one. It was pretty tricky for volunteers to be retrieving balls so quickly - especially those that rolled out of the arena behind the blue side. With all of the people queued up and the countless folks behind the barrier simply watching the game, it was pretty common to see crew members weaving through the crowd after a stray ball or trying to get the attention of someone who had a ball fly into their lap.

After the first 12-15 matches though, I'd say that any advantage that may have existed was eliminated since fewer crew members were needed to organize the queueing positions and more were able to retrieve the balls.

[Alan Anderson]

I didn't intend for this to be a complaint, or even much of an issue. The red-side volunteers' theory seemed at least plausible, and I was just wondering what other people saw at the time.

I myself only saw a couple of matches from the blue end of the field, and I wasn't closely watching the placement of out-of-bounds balls. I could easily have missed seeing any being put in the bag, since most of the volunteers were good at being unobtrusive to the point of near-invisibility. I only noticed the ref at the corner dropping balls onto the field because he was in my direct line of sight to the action.

(I did think it odd that he had his back to the robots for several seconds each time he turned to motion for a ball to be thrown to him, but I don't want that observation to be construed as a post facto complaint either.)

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I did think it odd that he had his back to the robots for several seconds each time he turned to motion for a ball to be thrown to him, but I don't want that observation to be construed as a post facto complaint either.

I think you did or you wouldn't have posted it.

Anyway, there were two people in ref shirts at each corner - a referee and a scorekeeper. Even though the scorekeeper couldn't technically make calls, he was still supposed to watch for infractions along with the referee.

This means you usually had two people watching each corner goal during the matches. Even if a referee turned away for "several seconds" you still had one person watching the goals. I was a scorekeeper, and everytime a robot came even close to the goal I was ready to check for incursion penalties.

My point is, the job done by the referees and scorekeepers at Boilermaker Regional was top notch. I am fully willing to explain or answer to any claims or questions about the Boilermaker Regional.

[AmyPrib]

You don't know the intent of what Alan posted, so you can't really say you think you do after he posted that was NOT his intent.

I suggest this thread be closed.

There was no complaint that I see to begin with, he merely pointed out what HE saw and ASKED what others saw. If you want to interpret that as something else, go ahead. I know Alan, tell me I'm biased for being on his team, but don't think you know everyone's intent just because they posted a question. I could make mention of a few things I thought were odd that a ref did or didn't do, but due to how I see people getting jumped on, I just won't.

It's a moot point. But I sincerely thank all the volunteers and refs for an outstanding job at this year's regional.