Cheering, standing ovations, and required team actions during matches and awards

[arabsponsor]

I applaud your team for standing and cheering for all teams during the award ceremony. Like your team, team 538 has not always showed what I consider good sportsmanship. My first year, the team wanted to leave before the award ceremony because they didn't think we would get anything and they didn't care about those who did. I quickly explained that we would stay and they would treat the teams that won with respect and cheer for them. In fact the team ended up winning a Judges award that year. Think about how it would have looked to FIRST if we were not even there to accept the award. And I can tell you, each team member appreciated the applause and cheering they received when picking up the award.

Many times people feel that life is not always fair and sometimes feel overlooked when it comes to awards, promotions, and accolades. But we have to remember we don't always know what the other person has done to receive what we feel should be ours. The winner may have taken that one extra step needed to get the recognition. That person deserves your applause for a job well done.

I know that at all FIRST competitions, team 538, will stand and applaud every team during the award ceremony. They deserve the applause for a job well done. Team 538 apologizes to you if you disagree but we love cheering for everyone in FIRST.

[Kevin Sevcik]

So I still stick by my stance waaaay earlier in this thread that people should just think about the other people around them, whether they're standing or sitting. I figured I'd relate something that happened at LSR, though.

I was sitting with my girlfriend near the top of the stands, and a match just ended. A pair of students in front of us were standing up because they had a robot in the match and it was fairly exciting. Then they kept standing. And kept standing. Presumably waiting for scores. Then the next match started and they were STILL standing, not even interested in the match. Finally we ask them to sit down, and a few people behind us ask them to sit down. And the respond with "Okay!" in a tone conveying that we were horribly inconveniencing them.

This is where the strife between the sitters and the standers comes from. Inconsiderate people on both sides just make it a very contentious issue for those of us that just want to have a good time without annoying everyone around us.