Teams missing matches, something must be done

[Nuttyman54]

One thing I will never forget this year is Team 114 comming over to us before our match with them and asking how it was going. It was not going well. The entire left side of our drivetrain was not working (sprocket problems). They were on the floor with us looking at the problem. About 5 minutes before the match we told them we could attempt a quick fix to get it back out, but we couldn't guarantee it would survive the match. Their response: Skip the match if you have to, but fix it right the first time.

I agree with others in this thread that having a backup robot/ kitbot (akin to the strechers one year). I also agree that it is not fair to the alliance partners. But you CANNOT assume or expect everyone to have a working robot. They may have gotten slammed in the last match and have to unbend their frame. They may have gotten some magic smoke out of their processor. Whatever the reason, things break, and it tends to be at the worst possible time, and you can't necessarily hold the team responsible.