2009 Season Looking Forward

[Looking Forward]

First off, thank you to all those who read and followed the Looking Forward threads in 2008. It was a blast, and should hopefully continue to be a blast again in the future. Congratulations to all the scrimmage, regional, division, and FIRST champions. Even in a year full of parity, we saw some of the most successful machines ever, including our first ever team to win five medals for robot performance (1114).
That being said, what can be improved about the Looking Forward threads for the 2009 season?
What did you particularly like?
What did you dislike?
Are there any areas that need additional focus?

Thanks for reading (and hopefully enjoying)!
See you again in 2009,
Looking Forward

[Aren_Hill]

I really liked every part of the analysis, and i look forward to seeing it again next year. It was a really quick read gage of where your team currently lies and how your doing, it was also an honor being on your top 25 list for champs.

i don't really know what i'd ask you to change...

[EricH]

I'm with Aren on this.

Now, can we get one for IRI?

[synth3tk]

Offer a mailing list in conjunction with the threads on CD. I'd love to have those predictions in my inbox. Other than that, a thousand kudos, and keep up the good work!!!

[Molten]

I liked that you divided the regionals with huge font so that I could only read the regionals that I know about. Sorry, but it was a bit too wordy for me to read all of it. Not that I would make it shorter, I am just too lazy to read a lot that doesn't apply to me. One thing that I might change, would be to put a follow-up on the predictions stating where you were right and where you were wrong. Condensed of course. But I would find it interesting to see how accurate they are.

[Aren_Hill]

YES! YES! IRI! IRI!! that will be one insane prediction, i really wanna see what you'll say

[JesseK]

I liked how Looking Forward didn't jinx 1114 by selecting them to win it all. Great move.

[Alex Cormier]

Originally Posted by JesseK

I liked how Looking Forward didn't jinx 1114 by selecting them to win it all. Great move.

Kinda like the Sports Illustrated cover curse or the Madden video game curse?

[hoorayforpink]

Originally Posted by JesseK

I liked how Looking Forward didn't jinx 1114 by selecting them to win it all. Great move.

Ya, good thing Looking Forward didn't jinx them....

But on subject, I found all of Looking Forward's predictions and analysis interesting, to say the least. I thought it was amazing that such in depth analysis could be made by one group of people for most regionals plus every Championship division. I personally wouldn't change a thing and do things however you see fit.

[commodoredl]

Next year, it would be great if you could cover every regional; I know you missed a few this year.

Perhaps you could do the whole dark horse and sleeper thing for each week, not just the championship?

[Brad Voracek]

I came into this thread expecting predictions for the 2009 season...

One thing that may be interesting is if you included predictions for awards, if you have the resources it could be really interesting to see your predictions for design awards, or even chairmans. Maybe having them out a little sooner before each regional would be cool, but that's rather nit picky. Other than that I can't think of much that would work better, I liked the format and you generally fared pretty well with your predictions. I'm Looking Forward to next year

[SU 39]

Originally Posted by Molten

One thing that I might change, would be to put a follow-up on the predictions stating where you were right and where you were wrong. Condensed of course. But I would find it interesting to see how accurate they are.

Actually "Looking Forward" already does that. It's called the "Looking Back" threads...

I thought the whole idea was great. It was helpful in that I got a list of teams to look out for beforehand with the extremely credible information you have rather than the hearsay I had. I don't think there's anything that really can be changed to make it much better besides getting better information. But that's a little harder to control...or is it?

[Richard McClellan]

The Looking Forward analysis was awesome this year....I really think there needs to be more discussion like this. I was reading the Championship analysis out loud a few weeks ago and someone not familiar with FIRST overheard what I was saying and asked what sport I was reading about, which I think is an accomplishment. He was impressed with the depth of the analysis of all the teams, and thought it was a real sport, which is what FIRST needs to be seen as from the public point of view. Dean's homework this year of getting the message of FIRST to the public could really be accomplished by showing this kind of stuff to the public.

So, what if all of these Looking Forward posts were to find their way into the sports section of local newspapers? It could be a good move in that it really makes the general public more aware that robot competitions are actually sports. I mean, seriously, ESPN already airs poker tournaments and spelling bees as sports. The only hesitation I might have would be for FIRST to get lost in the mix with the other sports which have all of the trappings and negative aspects that FIRST is trying to avoid. But I think it would be a good thing. What do you think?

Actually implementing this would be difficult obviously since the media decides what goes where and putting a robotics competition with other sports would be pretty unprecedented, but should this be a goal to strive for?

[synth3tk]

Originally Posted by richardmcc2

So, what if all of these Looking Forward posts were to find their way into the sports section of local newspapers? It could be a good move in that it really makes the general public more aware that robot competitions are actually sports. I mean, seriously, ESPN already airs poker tournaments and spelling bees as sports. The only hesitation I might have would be for FIRST to get lost in the mix with the other sports which have all of the trappings and negative aspects that FIRST is trying to avoid. But I think it would be a good thing. What do you think?

I like the way you're thinking. And that's awesome news to hear about somebody thinking you're reading a "traditional" sports analysis. There would be a slight concern for the media's obsession with finding something bad or derogative in almost everything. But if we're all on the same page, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Originally Posted by richardmcc2

Actually implementing this would be difficult obviously since the media decides what goes where and putting a robotics competition with other sports would be pretty unprecedented, but should this be a goal to strive for?

Work it. Maybe ask them to do a poll or a test article, get the readers' repsonses. Then they'll most likely be pursuaded to either include or exclude the weekly feature.

[Billfred]

A request, on behalf of those of all who witnessed QF 2-5 and Finals 4 in the same event at Palmetto: Get more ears and eyes trained on the South*!

Otherwise, I found the coverage highly enjoyable. Keep it rolling.

*A little birdie reminded me that 148 was mentioned. I argue it doesn't count; everyone knows that Texas is its own country!