**FIRST EMAIL**/Game Pieces Available

[Akash Rastogi]

[sarcasm]SWEET! 4 WHOLE BALLS! YES![/sarcasm]

Well, remember this isn't FIRST's fault entirely. They did not know of Wal Mart's intentions.

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

[sarcasm]SWEET! 4 WHOLE BALLS! YES![/sarcasm]

Are you kidding? It's like... 4 times the fun!

[cabbagekid2]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

[sarcasm]SWEET! 4 WHOLE BALLS! YES![/sarcasm]

Well, remember this isn't FIRST's fault entirely. They did not know of Wal Mart's intentions.

They didn't know of Walmrt's intentions, but you'd think that...FIRST SHOULD BE THE ONE TO LET Walmart know of THEIR intentions to use a ball which is distributed soley by Walmart. Or even check with the manufactuer to see the status of the product.

*sigh* sorry, had to rant

[kgzak]

We found 5 of them at our walmart. Now we have 2 of each ball.

[likeapolygraph]

I think that more than likely you will be dealing with broken orbit balls on the field anyways so you might as well try working with your robot with broken ones as well as unbroken ones...otherwise if you don't want them breaking then just try not to break them. Many of the ones that our team acquired were already broken anyways but we bought as many as we could because we decided not to wait until they were completely unavailable. We decided to deal with broken ones as they come.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by cabbagekid2

They didn't know of Walmrt's intentions, but you'd think that...FIRST SHOULD BE THE ONE TO LET Walmart know of THEIR intentions to use a ball which is distributed soley by Walmart. Or even check with the manufactuer to see the status of the product.

*sigh* sorry, had to rant

Can you please show us proof that they did not?

The economy has been changing a bit the last couple months.

[Richard Wallace]

Years ago I probably would have been disturbed all this whining about the shortage of game pieces available for purchase.

Several years of working with inspirational FIRSTers have given me an insight that precludes being disturbed by the whiners. The insight? I KNOW that for every person whining about gamepieces on CD, there are several others out there in the workshops, building GUS Balls, right now.

There are many thousands of FIRSTers who rise to challenges by finding ways to move forward. You can be one of them, or you can whine and make excuses. The choice is yours.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Richard

I KNOW that for every person whining about gamepieces on CD, there are several others out there in the workshops, building GUS Balls, right now.

There are many shining moments that stand out for me during my time as a FIRSTer. The GUS Ball development and white paper that happened so quickly is right there at the top, shining like a star.

[907eyci]

this could be a good fund raising chance here... by the balls and resell them... i no some one is going to do it just when

[keen101]

we will probably just make 20 of our own.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2187?

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=71591

[comphappy]

Originally Posted by keen101

we will probably just make 20 of our own.

Takes a long time just so you know, we have been working most of the day on our 20. We have most of the strips made, but no balls actually woven yet.
We had some issue with the rivets cracking the lexan, so dont pop the rivet all the way, just enough that it is tight, and the cut it off.

[Coach Norm]

Originally Posted by Richard

There are many thousands of FIRSTers who rise to challenges by finding ways to move forward. You can be one of them, or you can whine and make excuses. The choice is yours.

Richard,
Thank you for posting and providing the gentle nudge some need to get back focused on what FIRST is about. Do engineers set around complaining about what they do not have? I think not.

In my previous career at my school, I coached athletics for 17 years and heard many times people complain about what the other teams had. It is not hard to look around and identify situations that seem unfair. New teams are at a disadvantage since they do not have the knowledge and experience of veteran teams. Some veteran teams do not have the resources other teams have. Teams are losing sponsorships due to economic times as well as losing mentors due lose of jobs.

Let's focus on what we have and what we can do with what we have.

Never in my coaching career or college athletic career have I experienced what I have in the past year. Generosity, encouragement, help and outright transparency in what makes other teams successful. Where else can you find that?

I reminded by FIRST Mission Statement:

Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

Does complaining about not having Orbit Balls fit with FIRST's Mission statement?

(I know step off my soapbox.)

[Mike Soukup]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Well, remember this isn't FIRST's fault entirely. They did not know of Wal Mart's intentions.

Really? When you're going to cause 2000 teams to want to buy 10-20 or more balls each, you'd better be sure that the only supplier of these balls is actually going to keep supplying them and will have a large enough quantity. As cabbagekid2 said, FIRST should have told the manufacturer and supplier what was going to happen. The small chance of potential damage caused by a leak is worth the huge pain that teams are facing now. How is a team supposed to design, build, and test a robot capable of holding 20 balls if they only have 4?

This is a pretty large 'oops' by FIRST.

[Katie_UPS]

Originally Posted by Mike Soukup

Really? When you're going to cause 2000 teams to want to buy 10-20 or more balls each, you'd better be sure that the only supplier of these balls is actually going to keep supplying them and will have a large enough quantity. As cabbagekid2 said, FIRST should have told the manufacturer and supplier what was going to happen. The small chance of potential damage caused by a leak is worth the huge pain that teams are facing now. How is a team supposed to design, build, and test a robot capable of holding 20 balls if they only have 4?

This is a pretty large 'oops' by FIRST.

Originally Posted by Kyle

Its great they are selling the balls now, but only 3?! I don't thing that anyone can properly build and design with only 3 of any game piece. But its better then nothing..

Originally Posted by cabbagekid2

They didn't know of Walmrt's intentions, but you'd think that...FIRST SHOULD BE THE ONE TO LET Walmart know of THEIR intentions to use a ball which is distributed soley by Walmart. Or even check with the manufactuer to see the status of the product.

*sigh* sorry, had to rant

You know, last year's game peice was pretty much unobtainable last year, and I think having one was enough. For '07, having more than two was plenty. As long as you can do a basic test, you shouldn't complain.

As I've heard in the other threads, the orbit balls were on clearance for months. Which means BLIP Toys has prolly stopped making them for even longer. Which means FIRST would've have to give a warning about a year in advanced to prepare the two suppliers.

[chaoticprout]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

You know, last year's game peice was pretty much unobtainable last year, and I think having one was enough. For '07, having more than two was plenty. As long as you can do a basic test, you shouldn't complain.

As I've heard in the other threads, the orbit balls were on clearance for months. Which means BLIP Toys has prolly stopped making them for even longer. Which means FIRST would've have to give a warning about a year in advanced to prepare the two suppliers.

There's a vast difference between a 40" game piece that you can only use one of at a time (with 4 on the field) vs. smaller balls that you need to test containers and feeding mechanisms with (with 120+ on the field).

Not even close to the same.