Sitting down during matches

[meaubry]

A few years back (probably more like 10) I was very upset when my team all continued to stand during a match and blocked my view. I shouted at them to "sit down", and I still recall the looks of shock and anger from my own engineers and students. They thought that I obviously wasn't supporting the team, and it caused alot of bad feelings between them and I.
I was sitting behind my team, and next to another team - and I thought "how rude" - they are ignoring everyone else in order to justify their endeavor to show "team spirit and support".
I really understood the rationale they had communicated to me - but I still didn't agree with what they were using as justification.
I understand standing during introductions, but not DURING the match.
I discussed this afterwards with some of the engineers and students, but I do not think we ever came to an agreement as to what the proper thing to do was. Good Luck solving this one.

[EricH]

This has been a problem for years, as Don noted. I have a simple solution:

Any team that stands in the way of other teams' scouts during their own matches doesn't get scouted. Doesn't matter how good they are, they just get a note: "Couldn't see the robot for the team." If they're standing in front of enough top 8 seeds, they won't get picked. Simple, right?

OK, so that's over the top. But I do want to remind teams that like to stand throughout the entire match that there are more than likely scouts behind you who can't see your robot while you are standing! And if there's a single group of people who you want to see your robot, it's the scouts. Without a designated scouting area (which no regional has, to my knowledge), the scouts sit with their teams. Should a team stand through the match, the scouts behind said team just plain can't see. Odds are, they also can't stand up easily due to scouting devices such as laptops, paper sans clipboards, PDAs, gear they are using as writing surfaces, etc. Think about it.

I have no problem with standing during announcements, exciting plays, any time when no action is occurring, awards, or individuals moving around. Once again, those are not a problem. However, if you're going to stand through your matches, please find a) the designated cheering areas, if any or b) a place up high at the back or side so that others can see. That way, the scouts, photographers, little kids, and people who don't want to (or can't) stand up.

I would like to note, I worked on the floor at the L.A. regional. I was the retriever for most of what came over the audience-side field border. If I wasn't doing anything, I was sitting down on my rear as close to the stands as possible. I was deliberately trying to keep myself out of the line of sight of the judges, scouts, photographers, and people like that who need a clear shot at the field but can't be on the floor next to the field, yet I still needed to be available to block almost anything that came my way. Why? Because I was a scout during my HS years, and I know they don't like blocked vision. I know the judges (right above me, in the stands) don't appreciate it either. Same for the shutterbugs.

My point? If there is robot action happening on the field, sit down even if it is your team so that others can enjoy watching too. (Exceptions if it's an exciting dump/massive score shift/stuff like that--but please sit down once it's over as a courtesy.)

[Mr MOE]

I know that MOE has been a "stand up and cheer team" many times. Generally, we do what others have mentioned, stand and cheer during intros and sit down during the match. If something great happens on the field, we might do an "unplanned stand." It doesn't have to be positive either. Last year, our bot, DynaMOE, tipped over a few times over the course of the season. I have video of some of our team members standing up suddenly when that happened. [Blocked the video of the field, too] People are human and will do these things.

I totally agree that standing during a match blocks others' view and should not happen. I also realize that when teams go to events, they gather team groupies that support the team, but are not team members. We try to educate team members on what we expect, but usually do not have the opportunity to train parents, family members, etc.

So, I agree that we all should sit down. As has been suggested here, if teams do stand, let's try to politely, but sternly let them know why it is important for everyone that we are all sitting during a match.

Thanks for starting the thread. Just don't get me started about saving seats!

[Zyik]

I've done both, meaning yelling "sit down" and politely talking to a team. In Lunacy I had 973's scouts count the number of balls scored and those in the trailer at the end of a match, so any time someone stands up could be a serious problem to the accuracy of the data. I only resort to the yelling if it's not the first time I've had to ask someone to sit down, I'm not perfect, I get frustrated.

The teams that yell and scream are a different issue entirely. It doesn't interfere with data, and while a little annoying if they're yelling while their own team isn't on the field, still understandable for the Spirit Award. I hope I'm not the only one who wishes that there isn't an award for who can lose their voice first though.

[soccerchapo12]

maybe the team should have a place for them to stand and cheer for their team just like in regionals this could keep people moving and showing thier support! this also helps too see your team up close
this means there would be a place to stand but also allow the other team to watch form the stands and also the only teams that can be there are those who are on the floor ready to play. this could make everyone happy.

[BigWhiteYeti]

No way, people! If a team wants to be on its feet going nuts for their matches, then let them! As a driver, I love it when teams get loud. Nobody can truly get in to a match while sitting down. Matches need more energy, not less. Scouts can take the upper seats if they don't want to be bothered. Stand up and go nuts, lunatics!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by BigWhiteYeti

No way, people! If a team wants to be on its feet going nuts for their matches, then let them! As a driver, I love it when teams get loud. Nobody can truly get in to a match while sitting down. Matches need more energy, not less. Scouts can take the upper seats if they don't want to be bothered. Stand up and go nuts, lunatics!

Excuse me, but I can't see from the upper seats if the people below me are standing up. I also don't give a hoot about the volume, long as it isn't hurting my ears. Nothing says you can't be loud sitting down.

You may have meant "Scouts can take the lower seats", which would work much better.

And, like I said, if you want to be on your feet during the matches, do it off to one side or in the back. Unless, of course, you don't care about being picked for the eliminations because you can't be scouted.

[Zyik]

Originally Posted by BigWhiteYeti

No way, people! If a team wants to be on its feet going nuts for their matches, then let them! As a driver, I love it when teams get loud. Nobody can truly get in to a match while sitting down. Matches need more energy, not less. Scouts can take the upper seats if they don't want to be bothered. Stand up and go nuts, lunatics!

You've obviously never been a field scout. Scouts can't sit near the top and still see over the standing folks. It doesn't work like that. If you want to cheer, you go do that. Yes, I'll agree that the pure energy of a match is what makes it so intense, but I'd like accurate data for the pick list if it's the same to you.

I think all scouts should work on getting a designated scouting section, front and center. Limit the number of scouts able to sit down there per team as well.

[Akash Rastogi]

We are a literal stand up team that also scouts in the same place we sit. When we stand during our matches we ask the people behind us if they are ok with it or if they have scouters. Accordingly, we either sit or move. We generally sit high up so we don't block the view of teams or spectators, rarely anyone speaks up if they have a problem with it, which we try to avoid in the first place.

If in the future anyone has a problem seeing or has scouts, tell us and we gladly sit down for your viewing and scouting pleasure.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Zyik

I think all scouts should work on getting a designated scouting section, front and center. Limit the number of scouts able to sit down there per team as well.

At Kettering they had an upper rim for Scouting only. It was fantastic. Each team was allowed either 2 or 3 scout passes. We had our robot scouts up there, and our HP scouts standing in the stands. Kettering was a small enough venue that if you stood, you only blocked your own team for the most part.

[Zyik]

Originally Posted by IKE

At Kettering they had an upper rim for Scouting only. It was fantastic. Each team was allowed either 2 or 3 scout passes. We had our robot scouts up there, and our HP scouts standing in the stands. Kettering was a small enough venue that if you stood, you only blocked your own team for the most part.

That would be nice. Just give me 7* passes and I'll be extremely happy.

*1 scout per robot and one for the laptop data

[Paul Copioli]

We are one of those stand during our match teams. On Saturday we moved to the back of the stands as we were clearly irritating people.

In my opinion, standing during your match is like standing for the last strike of a ball game (sometimes the same duration) or standing on a key play. the problem is that you are one of only 6 teams that are truly interested in giving a boost of excitement for that period of time. We usually sit in the back at most of our events. We are now even having our scouts sit in a different place from the team. We tried this in Atlanta and it worked.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

We are one of those stand during our match teams. On Saturday we moved to the back of the stands as we were clearly irritating people.

In my opinion, standing during your match is like standing for the last strike of a ball game (sometimes the same duration) or standing on a key play. the problem is that you are one of only 6 teams that are truly interested in giving a boost of excitement for that period of time. We usually sit in the back at most of our events. We are now even having our scouts sit in a different place from the team. We tried this in Atlanta and it worked.

Another thing I have our scouts do if there is a team standing in front of us, is to just move for the duration of the match and sit in the stairs. We understand why teams stand up so we make the effort to let them do what they do year after year.

Btw Paul, did Dustin from 816 make you do pushups after a match? lol

[Herodotus]

Our team has always stood during intros and sat during the match, and will of course stand to cheer if something particularly exciting happens, but we've always thought it was quite rude to stand during the whole match. The drive team can't see that you are all standing and cheering anyways, not like during the introductions. So my personal opinion is that teams should sit during their match itself, unless they are absolutely certain they are not blocking anyone.

[flyingcrayons]

I would like to think 1089 is a stand up team... we try to stand whenever possible... at the two regionals we went to, standing up was not an issue, as we were towards the back... we were even able to hold signs on top of our heads... so either we werent blocking anyone, or people at NJ and Philly are exeptionaly nice and not hot tempered... at atlanta, we tried to stand, but we soon realized that we were blocking ppl behind us... how did we figure this out? the team in front of us stood up

we were good sports, and kept our energy level generally high sitting down... one thing that i saw that irked me was the fact that a couple scouters from our team moved to a seperate part to get a better view... when we went there, a team in front of us stood up... i had little problem, as all i had to do was stand up and scout, rather than sit, a minor inconvenience. the think that made me mad was (and i hate to call these people out) that two women sitting behind us (not from any team in particular, im pretty sure they were general audience) started yelling at us (scouters) to sit down. We acquiesced, but that match was a loss to us scouting wise... the strange thing is, the women had no problem with the much larger group of people standing up 5 or so rows ahead of us...so again, i hate calling these two women out, but i found that a tad bit rude...