New FIRST competition structure in Michigan

[SusanMeyer]

Originally Posted by Jim Zondag

Anyone who thinks that the status quo is fine, and that nothing needs to be changed; you are wrong. No one from FIRST had a solution, so some very dedicated people here devised one.

I am surprised that people in Michigan would be surprised that this would upset so many people. I am also surprised more people do not recognize teams all over the country are in funding trouble and need things to be cheaper, not just teams in Michigan. If this was being done in other states I am sure Michigan teams would be very upset and feel it was not fair, especially with the economic issues you point out. It seems clear that part of the problem is that no one at FIRST has a solution as you point out and it seems clear that giving a huge financial discount to some teams and not the rest is very unfair. I feel bad for the Michigan teams who seem to be defensive and feeling like they have to circle the wagons and defend a policy that does not deserve to be defended. People from FIRST should be defending this policy, not leaving it to teams in Michigan to defend it. FIRST should be creating policies to help all teams, not that benefit a select group of teams who seem to have more influence then other states.