Is this fair?

[BoyWithCape195]

I agree the situation that you had to deal with was not a pleasant one at all and I would be very upset if it happened to me, but going to the extent of saying that you will lose because of FIRST is uncalled for. You have matches scheduled on Saturday where you can show your team and your robots ability. While you may not be able to be one of the top eight "picking teams" you can still be easily be picked by any of them. If you go out onto the field tomorrow and you show that you have what it takes to win, there is no reason that you will not be in the elimination rounds.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

I'm sorry that this happened to you.

Is it fair? No, but life seldom is fair.

Blaming FIRST or the officials is not the answer though. You have the oppertunity here to show that no matter what they throw at you, you will prevail (true first spirit). Show them what teamwork and FIRST is about. If I were you, I'd go to that inspector and tell him it's all OK (I'll bet he feels worse about this than you do).

Mistakes happen. It's how we react to them and what we learn from them that shows what type of people we are.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

I'm sorry that this happened to you.

Is it fair? No, but life seldom is fair.

Blaming FIRST or the officials is not the answer though. You have the oppertunity here to show that no matter what they throw at you, you will prevail (true first spirit). Show them what teamwork and FIRST is about. If I were you, I'd go to that inspector and tell him it's all OK (I'll bet he feels worse about this than you do).

Mistakes happen. It's how we react to them and what we learn from them that shows what type of people we are.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

I'm sorry that this happened to you.

Is it fair? No, but life seldom is fair.

Blaming FIRST or the officials is not the answer though. You have the oppertunity here to show that no matter what they throw at you, you will prevail (true first spirit). Show them what teamwork and FIRST is about. If I were you, I'd go to that inspector and tell him it's all OK (I'll bet he feels worse about this than you do).

"No matter what" [FIRST] "throws at you, you will prevail"?

This isn't Survivor: Florida. It's FIRST. If an organization is flawed in such a manner that it unintentionally yet continuously throws up roadblocks to random teams, roadblocks which keep the teams from getting the most out of the experience they paid for, then that organization must look themselves in the mirror and find out what's wrong. Sometimes, students and mentors must take a stand and help that organization open their eyes to the larger problem at hand.

I feel very bad for the volunteer inspector who forgot to sign the stickers, but the fact he didn't even know it was required indicates a much larger failure of the system. Teams pay far too much money and are far too busy dealing with their own internal matters for anyone to expect them to know all the "behind the scenes" rules and monitor the performance of the regional staff on hand. Teams rightfully expect that all training and communication has been effectively conducted prior to the event, and that the staff is effectively qualified to run the event smoothly.

While it's natural to look at each disappointing incident as its own little monster and tell the kids affected don't worry about it, you won't have to deal with that monster again, how many of these "isolated" events are we going to have to witness before we begin to believe there is a larger problem the FIRST community is facing? I think years of teams sitting back and "going with the flow" have actually let FIRST settle into an undeserved comfort zone, leading us to this point in time where the pot is finally boiling over and we all must find a way to clean up the spills together.

The FIRST spirit isn't about ignoring systemic problems and hoping they'll go away. The FIRST spirit is built upon a foundation of problem solving. Let's identify and help solve the problems this organization is facing, not sweep them under the carpet. Thank you to this student who voiced his concern over this problem in such a respectful manner. I will offer the same advice to you that so many others have - stay positive and find ways to make the most out of your situation (perhaps help verify that other teams who've been inspected at future events have signed stickers). However, in addition to this, I offer you the hope that one day soon FIRST mentors will join together and actively seek to work with FIRST to solve the problems we observe instead of simply looking past them.

The word of the day is "communication", kids. Everyone, let's help spread the word.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

The FIRST spirit isn't about ignoring systemic problems and hoping they'll go away.

The word of the day is "communication", kids. Everyone, let's help spread the word.

The one thing I want to point out about this is that while I agree FIRST has some things to fix, I dont see this as a "systematic problem". We didnt hear about any other teams who had this issue... so either the inspector was flustered by the late inspection and didnt know, or he didnt hand out any other stickers at the event, or others werent caught, or others caught the issue... etc etc.

Either way, I agree with the "communication" statement, but communication is communication, its not venting, yelling, being upset, or acting un-GP. Its frustrating to miss a match, but more and more this year people want to throw blame, and they want to throw it at FIRST. Lets remember this isnt about the robots, its about how the students are inspired by their mentors. Students dont work one on one with volunteers or FIRST officials, and while the competition is the "jazz" of program, its not the heart. The heart is your team and how you deal with things. Our team didnt get picked for the first time ever in regionals this year... you know what they did? they cheared on other teams and got excited that they had time to practice for Boston. Its not about the competition, and while it can be frustrating, we all need to take a deep breath and figure out how we can fix these things if they really bother us that much, instead of blaming the system.

*gets off soapbox*

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

Lets remember this isnt about the robots, its about how the students are inspired by their mentors. Students dont work one on one with volunteers or FIRST officials, and while the competition is the "jazz" of program, its not the heart. The heart is your team and how you deal with things.

Kim,
I agree completely with what you say here. However, we cannot throw "inspiration" in front of problems whenever they arise. GP is a great thing, but it cannot be used as a defense or a reason for everything.

This situation is very unfortunate, and should NOT have occured. It is right to be upset about it...but you have to move on and "get back up on that horse" so to speak. Good luck.

[Shyguynate64]

All I have to say is that at least this didnt happen in one of the final matches that actually count. You guys still have the chance to do good. Like others have said already, just because you dont have a high standing, doesn't mean that you wont get picked, we've all seen it happen before.

The trick to getting through life is to learn to roll with the punches.

[PinionTwister]

It is unfortunate that problems like this occurs in FIRST. I don't blame the officials or the inspectors - they are volunteers. What I blame is common sense - we have GP to cover everything but we (as a FIRST community) do not have common sense when these issues arise.

FIRST is about building robots. FIRST is about working with teammates. FIRST is about learning. FIRST is about working with mentors. FIRST is a great experience.

Should we really throw all of that away because a sticker was not properly signed before being placed on the robot? Is the schedule SO important that we can't take 5 minutes to find the answer?

If the issue is safety related I cannot agree more - remove the robot from competition. If it is not safety related then let common sense take over and make a judgement call (what the referre should do).

Lastly, I checked section 3 of the competition manual relating to inspection. It clearly states that the robot needs to be inspected. It says nothing about a "signed" sticker before we can go on the field.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Shyguynate64

All I have to say is that at least this didnt happen in one of the final matches that actually count. You guys still have the chance to do good. Like others have said already, just because you dont have a high standing, doesn't mean that you wont get picked, we've all seen it happen before.

The trick to getting through life is to learn to roll with the punches.

Originally Posted by PinionTwister

Should we really throw all of that away because a sticker was not properly signed before being placed on the robot? Is the schedule SO important that we can't take 5 minutes to find the answer?

If the issue is safety related I cannot agree more - remove the robot from competition. If it is not safety related then let common sense take over and make a judgement call (what the referre should do).

Lastly, I checked section 3 of the competition manual relating to inspection. It clearly states that the robot needs to be inspected. It says nothing about a "signed" sticker before we can go on the field.

Please note that this thread is from last year (2007), not this year.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Shyguynate64

All I have to say is that at least this didnt happen in one of the final matches that actually count. You guys still have the chance to do good. Like others have said already, just because you dont have a high standing, doesn't mean that you wont get picked, we've all seen it happen before.

The trick to getting through life is to learn to roll with the punches.

Why did you resurrect last years thread?

Can the mods close this?

[Shyguynate64]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Why did you resurrect last years thread?

Can the mods close this?

Wow I didn't even realize lol... Silly small dates...