why I don't like this year's game

[Travis Hoffman]

Also, the lack of defense solidifies that this game is a RACE - the object is to go faster than the other guy to score more - not slow down and block to make the other guy score less.

Visions of 2005 dancing in my head.

If I were an alliance containing 2-3 extremely successful and dominant bots representing some of the "Hendrick Motorsports" teams of FIRST, I'd certainly love for the relative Dave Blaneys of the robot world to believe in the all-encompassing mantra expressed above. It would make Hendrick teams' domination that much easier.

It is the responsibility of each alliance to evaluate their offensive capabilities relative to that of their opponent before each match. If an alliance of Blaneys determines they do not have the mix of offensive skills needed to overcome the skills of the Hendrick teams in a straight-up race, then they have an obligation not only to themselves but to the AUDIENCE to investigate appropriate, creative, and legal means of slowing down the scoring of the opposing alliance. Effectively employing at least one of your bots toward interrupting the best-laid plans of the zippy and efficient opposition may just let you balance the scoring enough to where luck and other factors may swing the result into your alliance's favor.

Blind faith in the perseverance of "the little alliance that could" in 2008 will often result in the blind waking up at the end of the journey and finding that the high-speed bullet train lapped you 20 times and arrived two hours previous to you, precisely because they were left to travel on a different track with absolutely no unexpected delays.

Sometimes you gotta throw a cow onto the tracks to slow 'em down. I do recognize and appreciate the much wider selection of cows offered by the GDC to teams this year than in recent seasons.

Defense isn't dead....it's just been reincarnated....as a cow of a different color.....