Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

[Adam Y.]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

All right, none of that, Karthik. The only reason there aren't more homeless people in Canada is that they've all frozen to death.

EDITED TO ADD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_Canada

I think he was making fun of my choice of words more than actually suggesting the competition be moved to Canada.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

I think he was making fun of my choice of words more than actually suggesting the competition be moved to Canada.

I don't know -- once you let these Canadians win ONE world championship they get all giddy with power. Next thing you know, they'll be taking over most of the North American Arctic, and winning curling world championships. (Martin vs. Howard was SUCH a cool match up...)

[Bcliff358]

The security at the doors were pretty nice people. If you didn't make it blatantly clear that you were bringing food or drinks in, then they wouldn't do anything. After all they are just following orders.

One thing I did not enjoy were the numerous awards given out in between matches on Einstein. I think that the excitement from the matches was kind of lost. And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by Bcliff358

The security at the doors were pretty nice people. If you didn't make it blatantly clear that you were bringing food or drinks in, then they wouldn't do anything. After all they are just following orders.

One thing I did not enjoy were the numerous awards given out in between matches on Einstein. I think that the excitement from the matches was kind of lost. And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

Not fair to who? I haven't seen a single team that was on Einstein complain about this and they all had equal time to work on their robots.

I personally like the awards between matches although I think they should do 1 or 2 less between each match and save some for the finals, if they run out of breaks just tack them on the end.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Bcliff358

One thing I did not enjoy were the numerous awards given out in between matches on Einstein. I think that the excitement from the matches was kind of lost. And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

FIRST used to save the awards till after all the matches. So in between matches we would have long periods of waiting, numerous time outs, and a bored crowd. Then we would have an awards ceremony that went on and on. It is a much better use of time to present a few awards while the robots are cooling off between matches. (Teams get 20 minutes or more between qualifying matches; why should things be different in the eliminations?)

I also liked the switch this year, at both regionals and the Championship, to running all of the elimination matches in succession, then cycling through them all again, rather than trying to do all QF-1 matches, then QF-2, etc. (anyway, that's how I remember it being done in previous years).

Especially for those of us sitting in the stands a long time, streamlining the competition makes it more interesting, and we're less likely to fall asleep or cause trouble. (Paper airplanes, anyone?)

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by KarenH

FIRST used to save the awards till after all the matches. So in between matches we would have long periods of waiting, numerous time outs, and a bored crowd. Then we would have an awards ceremony that went on and on. It is a much better use of time to present a few awards while the robots are cooling off between matches. (Teams get 20 minutes or more between qualifying matches; why should things be different in the eliminations?)

I just want to back up what Karen has said. Those of us that have been around long enough to remember the days at EPCOT where the awards ceremony was a single three-and-a-half-hour-long event never, ever, ever want to go back to that structure. Interleaving the final matches on Einstein with a few awards has been a much better solution, albeit slightly painful at times.

-dave


.

[NEMOQueuer]

I agree with those who felt the CA got downplayed by putting it first. I also understand that we want everyone to stay until it is announced. So my solution would be to tie the CA and the final match together either just before or just after the final match.

[David Doerr]

Originally Posted by Bcliff358

And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

Aaaaaarrrrg - I wish we had had more time to fix our arm during the finals - just 5 more minutes...

[NEMOQueuer]

Originally Posted by Bcliff358 View Post
And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

And they still called time outs. I agree to the point that they will never really need to use an alternate team with all that time between matches.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by dlavery

I just want to back up what Karen has said. Those of us that have been around long enough to remember the days at EPCOT where the awards ceremony was a single three-and-a-half-hour-long event never, ever, ever want to go back to that structure. Interleaving the final matches on Einstein with a few awards has been a much better solution, albeit slightly painful at times.

-dave


.

I thoroughly agree with Dave. Sitting out in the sun on Einstein for another 2-3 hours after the conclusion of matches was absolutely brutal. People got bored, stopped paying attention, started water fights, throwing beach balls around, etc.

[Liz Smith]

Originally Posted by NEMOQueuer

I agree with those who felt the CA got downplayed by putting it first. I also understand that we want everyone to stay until it is announced. So my solution would be to tie the CA and the final match together either just before or just after the final match.

I liked when the CA was announced. At first it took me by surprise, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If you're not going to do it last, you should do it first. It made sense that it was presented with the top awards for the FLL and FTC programs as well. Also, I thought it was nice that the team was then given a seat on stage.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by NEMOQueuer

Originally Posted by Bcliff358 View Post
And i don't really think that it's that fair to give the einstein teams that much time in between matches to work on their robots. Its like a 20 minute time out.

And they still called time outs. I agree to the point that they will never really need to use an alternate team with all that time between matches.

I guess I just don't understand what the objection is here. What exactly is unfair?

Even with the speeches, award presentations, and alternating division matches, the time between consecutive matches for any of the alliances that make it to the Einstein field is still considerably less than that experienced by every other team during the qualification matches. They have a shorter period between their matches to affect repairs, they can not return to their pits for parts or supplies, and (new this year) they are forced to work on their robots via flashlight in a darkened arena. So can someone please explain where they are getting an advantage?

Given the situation, if we have to choose between granting an extra three minutes to an Einstein-bound team to repair their damaged robot and then let them participate as a full competitor, or have the International FRC Championship be decided by having a damaged robot fail to make it to the field because we could not wait for them to complete a repair, I will always choose the former option.

-dave



.

[Ryan Foley]

Announce the Woodie Flowers Award winner on Saturday. It is one of the top honors in FIRST, and deserves to be with the other top honors during the Saturday awards. Yes, it will add more time, but only what, 10 minutes?

Also, a better alternation between awards and matches would be nice. This year, the first 2 hours of awards only had 2 matches played, with the remaining matches all in the last hour. Some of those matches probably could have been earlier, helping to add some more excitement by not having 50 minutes of awards/ speeches.

[pythagoras]

Originally Posted by Ryan Foley

Announce the Woodie Flowers Award winner on Saturday. It is one of the top honors in FIRST, and deserves to be with the other top honors during the Saturday awards. Yes, it will add more time, but only what, 10 minutes?

Also, a better alternation between awards and matches would be nice. This year, the first 2 hours of awards only had 2 matches played, with the remaining matches all in the last hour. Some of those matches probably could have been earlier, helping to add some more excitement by not having 50 minutes of awards/ speeches.

those awards would probably be better placed between final matches, thats when they are needed the most considering we only have time to swap out batteries with the time that they give us.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Ryan Foley

Announce the Woodie Flowers Award winner on Saturday. It is one of the top honors in FIRST, and deserves to be with the other top honors during the Saturday awards.

Counterpoint: announcing the WFA winner on Friday gives him or her an entire day to be greeted and congratulated by everyone else at the event.