"We Are the Champions" and GP?

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by aaeamdar

Waitaminute.... the song is exactly that: an aural representation of FIRST. It's not an aural representation of the entirety of FIRST, but everything we do, including the songs we play at our competitions, represents FIRST in some way, however small.

You extrapolate from one to infinity in the influence any song might have on FIRSTers, and you may want to reconsider this, seeing how it's one of the most baseless arguments one can make. If the song has a negative influence that outweighs the positive benefit by any amount, it should be removed and we should find something better.

Tradition is also one of the lamest excuses for inexcusable behavior. Bad things don't get better just because you do them over and over again. In 1776, we broke tradition into teensy little pieces, because a group of people got together and realized that the tradition was no good.

What exactly is your response to the hypothetical I raised, which almost directly quotes from the song? I don't hear anything meaningful.

My response is saying that the song wasn't written to go perfectly with the ideals of FIRST (it couldn't have been...). And what negative influence does it have? What I am saying is that we don't see people who are acting in a rude and non-GP manner because this song is played at the competitions.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear on this, but when I say "aural representation" I mean that it was written to be the song of FIRST. If someone asked what FIRST was about, you play this song for them. The songs are there for entertainment. They are there to make things a bit more fun, nothing more. Of course, they are appropriate songs because it is open to the public and families often bring their young children. Sometimes there are occasional matches without background music and they tend to seem quite boring without that music.

And I'm not saying that tradition justifies playing this song despite the so-called negative influence it can have. I'm saying tradition justifies why we play or would want to play the song.

I have a problem with what you're doing. You asked for what we thought about this "issue" and when we give our opinions you attack us for it. I tried being diplomatic but your incessant attacks have tempted me to turn the other cheek.

Edit: You are also completely overlooking the rest of the song. After reading the lyrics, the song is about the struggle these "champions" have gone through to reach that point. You can't say that designing, building, and testing a robot in a 6 week time period with weight, size, cost, and part limitations isn't a challenge or a struggle. Not to mention all the matches these champions have to go through and the tough opponents they have to defeat.

The song uses that "no time for losers" line a total of two times. There are two whole verses about how hard it was to reach the top.

So yes, this song is an appropriate song to be played after the elimination rounds.