**FIRST EMAIL**/2008 FRC Connecticut "Double Regional"

[Heretic121]

the only thing wrong *from what i've seen from video footage* is that it was just ONE regional not 2 in the same building... wasn't the old J&J like the "super" regionals of today???

/shrug please correct me if im wrong...

but regardless i will be there =D

[dtengineering]

I'm not familiar with the venue in Connecticut, but have had experience with the Toronto "Super Regional". I have to say that I really, really like it when GTR is a two-field super-regional, as there is no delay between matches... when you sit down in Hershey Centre to watch the finals on Saturday afternoon there is constant action all afternoon. Nothing against other regionals, but having the Chevy and Pontiac fields going one after the other is fabulous. And that is without mentioning the fact that there has been CONSTANT action for the previous two days, as well.

Because the playoffs run faster this way, the GTR organizers have adapted by allowing 12 teams to pick alliance partners, and then giving the top four alliances a "bye", ensuring that teams that would likely earn a spot in the playoffs at a smaller regional still get to play. I seem to recall that more than once an underdog #10 or #11 alliance has made a serious run for the championship.

And needless to say, because all the matches are in one arena, that arena gets PACKED and LOUD when the teams come up to watch.

I haven't tried a "double regional" (well, no one has, have we?) but feel that it would miss out on the intensity of the action one gets at GTR when it goes dual-field. While I realize the choice for a double regional over a super regional may be influenced by a number of factors such as venue layout, I would be very dissapointed if the driving factor were to simply be so that there would be some justification for doubling the number of the awards.

So my vote is pretty clearly in favour of the super regional concept when possible but it isn't like a double regional would be a bad thing... just perhaps not quite as intense. There is a reason that the super regional is called "super".

Jason

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

Because the playoffs run faster this way, the GTR organizers have adapted by allowing 12 teams to pick alliance partners, and then giving the top four alliances a "bye", ensuring that teams that would likely earn a spot in the playoffs at a smaller regional still get to play. I seem to recall that more than once an underdog #10 or #11 alliance has made a serious run for the championship.

Actually, in 2004, the first year of the Super Regional at GTR, there were 16 alliances in the eliminations rounds. In 2006, the second GTR Super Regional (2005 was a standard regional), it was scaled back to 12 alliances.

As for doubling up of awards, in 2004 and 2006 the following awards were doubled up: Imagery, GM Industrial Design, Motorola Quality, Spirit and Rookie All-Star.

[AcesPease]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

I'm not familiar with the venue in Connecticut, but have had experience with the Toronto "Super Regional".
Jason

Connecticut is ideal for this new double concept and not good for the super regional because it is a convention center not an arena. Connecticut has a large room like the pits in Atlanta with more floor space than an arena. Bleachers are set up around the field(s). The pits are in the same room right next to the field(s). It's easy to get on and off the field so you do not have to cue a long time in advance of your rounds. Having more than 40 teams (on a field) makes the bleachers extremely crowded, so the double field allows more bleacher space for more teams.

This sounds like a good experiment, right now most of the other North Eastern regionals are full.

[peace]

BE THERE !!!

[DanDon]

Or be square?

[Erin Rapacki]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Oh... wow... well... that's... umm... new. lol

So.. if I understand this correctly, it won't be a Super regional with teams meeting at the end from both fields on one field to decide a winner, but be two seperate events which just happen to be under the same roof?

Kind of like a mini Championship event setup... minus the finals at Einstein.

Wow... very intriguing.
I'm relieved I won't have to scout 70 teams at least in Hartford now. lol

Where does FIRST do revolutionary stuff?

IN DA CUTTT!!!!

I'm all for the Double Regional.


Now we just need cool names from Science history for the fields (maybe even from the Nutmeg state.)

It'll be nice if there is a "fun round" where the winners from both regionals play against eachother though... at the very end of the day on Saturday.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Erin Rapacki

It'll be nice if there is a "fun round" where the winners from both regionals play against eachother though... at the very end of the day on Saturday.

Maybe the bragging rights round(s) could be interleaved with awards ceremonies? Like they've tried on Einstein in recent years. A little robot action makes it easier to sit still for speeches.

[Ken Patton]

It would be a pretty cool experiment to designate one event the "tough" event and the other as the "laid back" event. Let teams make their choice, and see what they prefer...

It would be a way to see what the teams really want.

You'd get some of those teams who want to test themselves against the best, on the field named "grrrrr." And on the "kumbaya" field, you get the teams who are there to learn and have fun.

You'd have to respect the young team who goes up against the big boys, and you'd have to razz the experienced team who tries to be a ringer (pun intended) in the shallow end of the pool.

Ken

[Dan Richardson]

At what number of teams are they going to split to double regionals? Also what is the max number of teams? Sorry if I missed it.

[JohnBoucher]

Originally Posted by Stud Man Dan

At what number of teams are they going to split to double regionals? Also what is the max number of teams? Sorry if I missed it.

There are 70 slots. First has not announced how many it will take to do the double. Announcement in November.

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Stud Man Dan

At what number of teams are they going to split to double regionals? Also what is the max number of teams? Sorry if I missed it.

Though I am not sure of the exact number that the CT RPC has set forth, I can tell you that 70 is a key number. This is why reaching out to those beyond the scope of New England is so important. I'm not sure if they set out a max number either. I would assume that it would be 70 plus any spots that have been put aside.

Either way, this is a very important regional for the direction of competitions in the future. If this regional happens as planned, it is a big deal for EVERYONE...not just New Englanders.

I want to see the big guns out here! Midwest, West, South, New York region...I'm calling you all out! I've been flapping my gums for years about how New England is the big cheese of regions...come try to prove me wrong!

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Now we just need cool names from Science history for the fields (maybe even from the Nutmeg state.)

Samuel Colt Inventor and founder of the Colt firearm company; born in Hartford.
Charles Goodyear Inventor of vulcanized rubber; born in New Haven.
Mary Kies, The first woman to receive a US patent, received on May 15th, 1809 for a method of weaving straw with silk; from South Killingly.
Robert N. Hall, demonstrated the first semiconductor laser, and invented a type of magnetron commonly used in microwave ovens. He also contributed to the development of rectifiers for power transmission. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.
Edwin Herbert Land, born in Bridgeport, CT, was an American scientist and inventor. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, instant polaroid photography, and his retinex theory of color vision.
Kenneth Harry Olsen, born in Stratford, CT, is an American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957. In 1977, he infamously quipped, "there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home".

[Richard Wallace]

I vote for naming the fields after Hall and Land.

And there needs to be an Olsen Award, for the quote most likely to be ridiculed ten years later.
[Good luck to the Judges deciding who gets that one. ]

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by KathieK

Mary Kies, The first woman to receive a US patent, received on May 15th, 1809 for a method of weaving straw with silk; from South Killingly.

Derailing this thread, why would anyone want to make straw from silk? Just go cut some wheat and you'll have all the straw you need.