On "graciously" accepting

[Koko Ed]

A lavish gift basket would do nicely.

[KenWittlief]

how bout " I am disinclined to acquiesce to your proposition".

Now that I think about it, you are being gracious when you do something you DONT want to do - so saying that your team graciously accepts is actually an insult - its like saying "we dont want to be your alliance, but in the interest of GP...."

[Dan Petrovic]

Maybe you could do a super double negative.

"Team XXXX does not not not not not not not not accept"

That might be a bit confusing though...

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by InfernoX14

Maybe you could do a super double negative.

"Team XXXX does not not not not not not not not accept"

That might be a bit confusing though...

But a double positive would be a real insult: Yeah, right.

[Rombus]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

Maybe you should fork out the tens-of-thousands of dollars it takes for the team to get the chance to accept an alliance. You could then be annoyed that they didn't even bother to mention it.

"ZERO" (think any base you want)

:Sigh: No one can take a joke any more. My main point was that if every team did what that a few teams did during alliance selection, then it starts getting a bit silly, a bit like some of the suggestions in this thread... "Gitrdone" lol. But this is my opinion; I'm more than willing to get flamed for it.
But tell me this, What about those teams who DON'T get that chance to say those magic words of "We accept"?? Are our sponsors any less special then those who do get the chance? is any sponsor really going to make a hill of bens about not getting mentioned during alliance selection if other teams aren’t mentioning there sponsors?

[JudyVandy]

Can't a team be...'honored to accept'?

[eugenebrooks]

Originally Posted by Emily Pease

I know that "gracious professionalism" is a huge part of FIRST, but I was just wondering if anyone knows when or how the "graciously accepting" (in the alliance selection ceremony) started.

I actually think that calling oneself "gracious" is itself ungracious, and it would be better if, when called to join an alliance, the team captain said: "Team [000] humbly accepts team [000]'s gracious offer."

Just getting caught up in semantics...

In the Silicon Valley regional, we were invited to join an alliance by
team 668, the Apes of Wrath, who were seeded higher than us in the
top 8. We did not have to accept because we were in the
top 8 ourselves, we could have formed an independent alliance.
We knew that 668's robot was broken and torn apart in the pits,
the gears in their ball shooter having been stripped. We graciously
accepted the invitation to their alliance, helped them repair their robot
by helping glue and pinning nylon gears on their shafts, and then went
all the way to finalist for the Silicon Valley Regional.

I watched students on team 668 assembling their ball shooter with
just minutes to go before being called up for the finals, their hands
shaking, and it was a sight to behold!

This is "graciously accepting" and defines Gracious Professionalism
as far as I am concerned. We were proud to have done it, and everyone
on the alliance was happy with the result.

In the end, it was a broken wheel on our robot that wounded the alliance
in the third finals match. The eventual winner of SVR, an alliance led
by team 254, gave us their unused 6 minute timeout to complete the
wheel repair, giving us time to bolt on a caster in order to play the
final match of the regional.

So, when teams "graciously accept" an invitation to an alliance
in the finals, this is what we are talking about. Lets not lose
our focus by worrying about the semantics...

Notwithstanding the opinion of the Grammar Curmudgeon, of course...

Eugene

[KenWittlief]

yeah, when you accept an alliance offer, and you would rather not, then you ARE being gracious

but as soon as you say "we graciously accept" then any and all grace on your part just vaporized.

thats the point. You cant be gracious if you make of point of making sure everyone knows how gracious you are.

[ScoutingNerd175]

::looks around:: well, I guess if I really have to I might as well.
Think about it. We are just better of that teams don't tell us how they really feel. How would you feel if the team came up and was like "Team XXX accepts because if we turn you down we don't get to play the finals but we were really hoping for team YYY" That would be worse.
Again, it's tradition, and I'm fond of it.
Still, though, it's fun to think of what you can say.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by ScoutingNerd175

::looks around:: well, I guess if I really have to I might as well.
Think about it. We are just better of that teams don't tell us how they really feel. How would you feel if the team came up and was like "Team XXX accepts because if we turn you down we don't get to play the finals but we were really hoping for team YYY" That would be worse.
Again, it's tradition, and I'm fond of it.
Still, though, it's fun to think of what you can say.

You are absolutely right there are all kinds of things that go on in the back ground that don't get said. It's just fun to let the mind wander with these types of threads and see how scary and weird we CD posters are. Also with any luck the kids who are nervous on the field during picks will chuckle thinking about this thread and maybe throw out a good one-liner.

Also, meow, I think meow I figured out meow to accept in another comical way. Meow I've decided to call it the "Super Troopers". MEOW!

[JudyVandy]

Perhaps what some of these folks mean to say is that they 'gratefully' accept?

"...as soon as you say "we graciously accept" then any and all grace on your part just vaporized."


Ken's comment is right on the money!

[J_Horning]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Students... when you are picking a team or accepting a pick, have some creativity. Tell your mother hello. Give a shout out to your entire team. Give us a 'lil John "Yeeeaaaah!" Sing a little song. Recite a brief poem. Tell a tasteful, quick joke.

This would be neat to see. You can still have some fun while being gracious.

Keep in mind, you are representing your team, of course.

Andy B.

We were fourth at West Michigan. We were there because we had AWESOME alliances throughout the qualifying matches. We wokrd very well as a defender, sometimes shooter and an excellent driver. When we chose team 70 as a partner, the young girl replied with a giant smile "Team 70 graciously denies". What's up with that? Semantics do matter when you are actually slapping a team in the face. At least she might have said "regretfully declines" OR "reserves the right to choose our our partner." WHOA! Then Team 494 (same high school as Team 70) did the same thing.

Team 808 would like to thank a ton of teams for the great partnerships in WMR. And to 573 and 515 who accepted our request to join us in the tournament, thanks for actually being happy about it!!!!

[J Flex 188]

I would not exactly equate being declined for an alliance partner the same as being slapped in the face. The smile on the alliance representative's part may have been due to nervousness or the sheepish feeling that she felt for having to go up there and decline your offer in the first place. Take it from her perspective, it is quite a bit to go up there and say something to the entire arena full of people, when a decision that you may or may not have had to make will influence the rest of your team's performance at this regional or when you hear a couple hundred different voices shouting out different team numbers. (As an aside, that is the other biggest beef I have with the process. When a team representative does not know who to pick next and this is evident to the crowd, a chorus of voices shout out a bunch of different team numbers. Theres nothing wrong with supporting you team, I just find it aggravating. It's hard enough to go consciously up there without a list.)

Semantics may appear to matter in the heat of the moment, but if I were to call them out all the time, I could just as easily have said the same about "actually being happy with it". Its just a smile, just a gesture. She did not say something ridiculous or outrageous, simply declined your offer, much in the same way as I am sure your team would if you felt that the team asking for your help would not be suited to your robot.

Originally Posted by J_Horning

We were fourth at West Michigan. We were there because we had AWESOME alliances throughout the qualifying matches. We wokrd very well as a defender, sometimes shooter and an excellent driver. When we chose team 70 as a partner, the young girl replied with a giant smile "Team 70 graciously denies". What's up with that? Semantics do matter when you are actually slapping a team in the face. At least she might have said "regretfully declines" OR "reserves the right to choose our our partner." WHOA! Then Team 494 (same high school as Team 70) did the same thing.

Team 808 would like to thank a ton of teams for the great partnerships in WMR. And to 573 and 515 who accepted our request to join us in the tournament, thanks for actually being happy about it!!!!

[KenWittlief]

maybe she was smiling because she was thrilled to death that a higher seeded team chose them over everyone else

but they still have earned the right to pick their own alliance if they are in the top 8, and that was their preference?

Its the greatest feeling when you are on the top of the world for 15 seconds PLUS you have options and choices!

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by J_Horning

We were fourth at West Michigan. We were there because we had AWESOME alliances throughout the qualifying matches. We wokrd very well as a defender, sometimes shooter and an excellent driver. When we chose team 70 as a partner, the young girl replied with a giant smile "Team 70 graciously denies". What's up with that? Semantics do matter when you are actually slapping a team in the face. At least she might have said "regretfully declines" OR "reserves the right to choose our our partner." WHOA! Then Team 494 (same high school as Team 70) did the same thing.

Team 808 would like to thank a ton of teams for the great partnerships in WMR. And to 573 and 515 who accepted our request to join us in the tournament, thanks for actually being happy about it!!!!

I too found her actions a little bit strange until I thought them over a little bit. Looking back on her smile, it seemed like one more of uncomfortableness than of happiness. No one likes turning down alliance requests because everyone can sympathize with the person being turned down. I also think that she had meant to say decline instead of deny.

I must warn mentors though, be careful what you wish for. I told our student that went out for selections not to graciously accept. Thus, he went out and said "Yeah dude!" :shakes head: