Ideas to move in the direction of making FIRST competitions 'fair'

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

... In FIRST, that "one thing that matters" is not winning, but it is the I in FIRST, inspiration. How a team inspires its students - either by winning, trying as hard as they could, or any other means, is moot, as long as the end product is inspiration.

that was true in the past, but for the last several years winning a regional also meant you could go to the championship. For some teams, if you dont win, you cant go.

Many teams take the stance that building a great competitive robot, and trying your best to win, is the way to inspire the students. How inspired will you be if you build a great robot, and play excellent matches, and your team still does not place well, if you dont make it to the playoff matches, if you dont get to attend the championship for 3 or 4 years?

How inspired will you be if you see teams that have machines that are not as good as yours, or teams that dont drive and play the game as well as you, place higher, and get chosen to go on, when you are left behind?

If things are too far out of skew, then students will learn a different lesson than the one we want to teach. Work hard, do your best, but then its a toss up whether or not you will reach your goal?!

If you goto Vegas and play Blackjack, or the Black/red on the roulette wheel, your odds are just under 50:50. Would you play if you knew the cards were stacked against you, or the wheel was rigged, if you knew the casino was not playing fair?

Likewise, what are we teaching students on teams that dont try hard, teams that build poor machines, but they end up with 6 or 7 super alliances, and win most of their matches, and place in the top 8? Hey that was easy!

Originally Posted by InfernoX14

....A team is how the members want to make it. If the team has the enthusiasm and work ethic to be successful, then they will. ...

that is what Im hoping we can moved towards. If the competiton was fair, if all teams had an even chance of winning if they work hard and are creative, then your statement would be correct.

But as it is now, you can have a great team, build an outstanding machine within the capabilites of your team and sponsor, and still have a very poor chance of winning a regional, going on to the championship, and winning there. Your team can play extreemly well in every match, and still lose every single time.

Im starting to think the imbalance, the unfairness, has been ingrained in FIRST for so long that many people cannot even see it, cannot recognize that its there, and that it exists on several levels.