disaster in israel regional

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by MikePres

Sorry, but you are wrong. there was a fight between 2672's crowd and security. Our mentor was at the field at the time and tried to take pictures for future reference and he got punched by someone for no reason.

My team (3088) was part of the alliance that lost by a coin toss. yes, we were frustrated but i'm proud of my teammates for not losing their calm and not joining the mess that want there. Moreover, we talked to the great FIRST Israel staff and asked for their apology (even though we did nothing) and thanked them for all they did for us on those 3 days.

I'm proud of my teammates for playing fair all along, no matter if we were 50th in the 2nd day or 2nd in the 3rd day. We didn't join the "Misgav Rebellion" and kept our cool all the time, although a lot of bad things happend to us.
- 3076 ate our food, stole our drink cans, put their stickers all over our belongings, even though we told them not to. they even had the courage to ask us to take them to our alliance. GOD!
- A detonator was thrown into our pit and exploded after the event and some of our students were hurt. I hope that FIRST Israel will find the responsible and punish them as needed. Who brings firecrackers to a robotics event?!
- Our medallions were taken by another team (probably). When we came to take our medallions we found out that somebody already took them. What the hell?!
- As Jon said, the Coopertition award was not handed out, and we understand why. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be ours...

Other highlights:
- 44 penalty in one game(!) (not ours)
- Our bot failed at almost every system we built so we cut down the whole thing and were left only with an unworking kicker, brilliant autonomous and strategies. We finished 2nd and we didn't even try to lose. As i mentioned we got to the semi's with 2672 and 3065. We picked them for strategic reasons, knowing only their bots, we didn't care who were the crews. it's a shame it ended that way...
- We respected the request of 1690 and 2630 not to pick them so they could be with each other. we are humans after all and this game is not only strategy for us, even though that could have been the most dangerous alliance ever. it's a shame how many teams tried to convince us to break that partnership just to make the life of others easier. it's a shame imo that 2672 did break that alliance in the end...
- We cheered for almost every team that was on the field, no matter on which side it was.

I hope that FIRST will di their HW for next year...

BTW:
Michelle Graf <3 (best MC in the world )

Wow... I'm not sure I've ever seen or heard of an FRC event (official, or offseason) with more problems and disregard for the values that make FRC what it is. I'm sure that there were many teams at the Israeli Regional that "get FIRST" and I'm sure they were appalled at some of what was going on.

Hopefully FIRST Israel gets the problems worked out for next year. It seems like from the sound of one of the earlier posts the Israeli Military is involved with FRC there. Perhaps they can give FIRST Israel clearance to use the system from US/Canada Regionals as is.

[Tottanka]

Originally Posted by MikePres

- 3076 ate our food, stole our drink cans, put their stickers all over our belongings, even though we told them not to. they even had the courage to ask us to take them to our alliance. GOD!

- A detonator was thrown into our pit and exploded after the event and some of our students were hurt. I hope that FIRST Israel will find the responsible and punish them as needed. Who brings firecrackers to a robotics event?!

- Our medallions were taken by another team (probably). When we came to take our medallions we found out that somebody already took them. What the hell?!

- As Jon said, the Coopertition award was not handed out, and we understand why. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be ours...



- We respected the request of 1690 and 2630 not to pick them so they could be with each other. we are humans after all and this game is not only strategy for us, even though that could have been the most dangerous alliance ever. it's a shame how many teams tried to convince us to break that partnership just to make the life of others easier. it's a shame imo that 2672 did break that alliance in the end...
)

just a comment about those things.

- Breaking a strong alliance is a tactic well known to FIRST and it has been used by very GP teams in previous years. It's a part of the competition, and just in the same way that you are "ashamed" someone didn't let them unite, i can say that there are people who are "ashamed" that teams decline invitations. If 1690 agreed, they might have won, who knows.

- Don't be so sure that this award should have been yours. It's not GP to say and even think so in my opinion. It's just an award and if you think you deserve it, it's far more important. If the Judges were so sure that this award belong to a team, that team would have received it.

- Call FIRST and ask for medallions. They will be provided, you fully deserve them.

- The firecracker issue has nothing to do with FIRST. You may go and tell the police about the incident. if you please.

- Who is 3076, and how the hell did they eat your food? and how are you sure it was them. The fact that they put some stickers around your pit and in it doesnt mean they ate your food. Do not be so quick to blame others.

[Tottanka]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

Wow... I'm not sure I've ever seen or heard of an FRC event (official, or offseason) with more problems and disregard for the values that make FRC what it is. I'm sure that there were many teams at the Israeli Regional that "get FIRST" and I'm sure they were appalled at some of what was going on.

Hopefully FIRST Israel gets the problems worked out for next year. It seems like from the sound of one of the earlier posts the Israeli Military is involved with FRC there. Perhaps they can give FIRST Israel clearance to use the system from US/Canada Regionals as is.

All this problems were caused by less than 5 teams, and it will be taken care of, be assured.

There is, however, no way that the army will let us use those systems.

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by Tottanka

- Don't be so sure that this award should have been yours. It's not GP to say and even think so in my opinion. It's just an award and if you think you deserve it, it's far more important. If the Judges were so sure that this award belong to a team, that team would have received it.

According to the results posted on FIRSTs website, team 3088 was the team that *should* have received the Coopertition(TM) Award. This award is to be awarded to the team that receives the most Coopertition Points.

I suspect that it was not awarded due to the abnormally low number of matches played.

I disagree that it is "un-GP" to claim that one deserved a merit based award such as this, when the person making that claim did GENUINELY meet the requirements for the award.

[aharon]

Hi all,

Yes, it was a disaster.
Yes, it was heart-braking for most (except for 2630, maybe... ).
Yes, it was extremely "unfair".
Yes, a few (way fewer than what the general impression is on this thread) lost their calm and did not behave up to the FIRST spirit.

B - U - T :

I watched the young students, parents and mentors, mainly on our team, and observed -

99.9% of the thousands of participants of the 55 teams (largest regional outside North America) had the fun of their lives - even when crying their hearts out (which my daughter did when we lost the semifinals).
The kids were true heroes, struggling to the very end (mostly - to the bitter end), never losing hope, never complaining, always striving to overcome the enormous difficulties (way beyond their ability to control), using the long breaks to keep improving their robot (!), demonstrating what Vince Lombardi really meant by: "...my teams never lose, it's just that sometimes they run out of time before they win...".
All this happened while really co-operating, giving a hand to each other: our own experiences - volunteers from our team worked for hours to help alleviate the comm problems - instead of sleeping or fixing their own robot, while on the receiving end, when our team's Classmate broke, one of the Californian teams (1836 - God bless them ) offered us their own computer until ours was fixed!
I felt very proud when, after a game that was reset numerous times, including the "food incident", then waiting for an hour and a half for decisions, hearing that another team had been eliminated by the judges, the young students of our team immediately petitioned to pardon the other team, although our team was the one hurt at this incident, and although the other team was one of the strongest of this regional - the kids saying: "we don't want to win this way - we want to beat them on the field, lose on the field or team with them - but fair and square".
And, finally - after losing the semifinals in the most heartbreaking way (apart for the other semifinal coin-toss ), when our team's robot remained the single active robot of the alliance, trying to stop 2630's fearsome scoring-machine single-handed (literally) from setting a new scoring record, the kids stood up and gave their field team a standing ovation...

Sorry - what was that again about "FIRST cannot succeed in Israel"? Guess I misread one of the posts here...

Thumbs up for e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e in the Israel regional, be very proud of what you achieved this year, tomorrow's another day - and we'll be back for 2011: next year we won't run out of time before winning...

[Tottanka]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

According to the results posted on FIRSTs website, team 3088 was the team that *should* have received the Coopertition(TM) Award. This award is to be awarded to the team that receives the most Coopertition Points.

I suspect that it was not awarded due to the abnormally low number of matches played.

I disagree that it is "un-GP" to claim that one deserved a merit based award such as this, when the person making that claim did GENUINELY meet the requirements for the award.

In this case i have been wrong, and take my words back. They do deserve this award and should contact FIRST in order to receive it.

[Racer26]

Also, to the person several posts back commenting on a Turkish team attending the Israeli Regional, this is not at all surprising. The Israel regional is geographically the closest regional to them by a factor of several thousand miles.

[Tottanka]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

Also, to the person several posts back commenting on a Turkish team attending the Israeli Regional, this is not at all surprising. The Israel regional is geographically the closest regional to them by a factor of several thousand miles.

i think he was referring tho the political incidents between those countries, and the fact that it didn't stop them from coming.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Tottanka

i think he was referring tho the political incidents between those countries, and the fact that it didn't stop them from coming.

And the fact that it didn't stop them from coming.

Sorry, I just wanted to repeat that because it is one of the most important things that this thread demonstrates. Despite regional tensions, despite everything, this event STILL helped to increase awareness of other cultures. I don't care if that isn't a stated goal of FIRST (I think it should be if it isn't) but that is a nobel accomplishment if I ever saw one.

[JaneYoung]

I made a comment about a Turkish team competing at the regional and I wasn't making any political comments. I was commenting on the wonder of it.

(Not everything has to be about the politics, all the time. Sometimes, it can just be about the incredible opportunities presented.)

Jane

[Racer26]

Ah, yes, FRC joins the masses. I didnt realize there was political unrest between Turkey and Israel.

Reminds me of a statement I either heard, or made years ago.

FIRST is among the only places where you can find a GM and FORD logo on the SAME piece of machinery.

EDIT: It was me, in my 2nd year of FRC (2004). I was in Grade 10 (a Sophomore) at the time. Here's the link: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=26363

[aharon]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

And the fact that it didn't stop them from coming.

Sorry, I just wanted to repeat that because it is one of the most important things that this thread demonstrates. Despite regional tensions, despite everything, this event STILL helped to increase awareness of other cultures. I don't care if that isn't a stated goal of FIRST (I think it should be if it isn't) but that is a nobel accomplishment if I ever saw one.

You've hit the nail directly on it's head, and there's more:

Even though surrounded by a hostile Arab region, the Israel regional boasts quite a few Arab-Israeli teams, some of which did very well and even won one of the trophies. In fact, a day earlier, an Arab-Israeli team won the FLL regional and is flying to Atlanta to represent the FLL Israel regional!

FIRST does bring people together

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

Ah, yes, FRC joins the masses. I didnt realize there was political unrest between Turkey and Israel.

Reminds me of a statement I either heard, or made years ago.

FIRST is among the only places where you can find a GM and FORD logo on the SAME piece of machinery.

Haha, same goes for Raytheon and BAE Systems.

I also agree with Jared that I don't know what to say. I'm mad that it happened and yet I can see it happening when you have those restrictions on you and the many races attending. I would recommend that you guys get together and have a huge off season tournament so you can compete against each other in a form of a regional format. You could possibly talk to teams about having them give back whatever awards were given out and get those that weren't so you can truly crown some Israeli champions. Like Jane said, lets get some positive action going after this and work to fix the problems so it won't happen again. Maybe several teams can get together with their robots to find a way to run a match using 2.4GHZ to start ironing out the comm problems and have programming workshops to help out with the daunting task of coding robots.

Good luck guys and whatever you do, do it with the principles of FIRST in mind!

[Akash Rastogi]

I know this would be a touchy issue- but does anyone know if FIRST is considering a refund/compensation?

It is an awful lot of money for up to 3 matches.

[Karibou]

All that I can really say is that I'm impressed. I'm impressed with some of the actions taken by some teams that CLEARLY did not fall under the umbrella of Gracious Professionalism. I'm impressed with the teams who handled the event with cool heads, and left the event still smiling. Next year, when the regional WILL run smoothly, you can bet that those teams will be the leaders and will be the ones to get the most out of it. Hopefully, the rookie teams who did not have an enjoyable event will be completely awed by the experience of a fully-functional, 8-to-10-matches-per-team regional. As for the teams who decided to ignore all of the values and ideals of FIRST, well, let's hope that they've realized that the competitions are ONLY what YOU make them to be. If you put out a bad attitude, you will receive a bad attitude.

Thank you to all of the mentors and students who attended the event for your views, accounts, and input, even the ones whose posts have been interpreted as either borderline or flat-out rude (I think that we all know how hard it is to be civil when we're upset, frustrated, and disappointed).

Also, I have a question that may have been asked (I read the first half of this thread last night while working on my homework), but I don't think it was: did the controls system work last year? Was the same radio frequency used? If both are true, how much of a drastic change has the field electronics system gone through?