FIRST Rule Changes

[Lil' Lavery]

Dick,

If loopers are so unfair, how is it that a 469 has been so much more wildly successful than all the others? Sure, 51 won Wayne Tech this weekend, but they never scored more than 16 points, had 67 on their alliance, and lost a match in the finals. Heck, the highest scoring match the Hot Wing Express had was when 51 didn't even get in position. Beyond that, they lost in the QFs in Kettering.
1731, 375, 422, 1024, and countless others attempted to play the same role 469 plays, but they haven't been met with nearly as much success and often abandon that role.

Simply put, Dick, it's not "loopers" that are "unfair" and cause blowouts, it's 469.

Or, rather, it's 469, 254, 217, 148, 1114, 67, 971, 359..... who cause blowouts.

And while you may cite your other sports analogies and "facts," I think these robots capable of blowouts are beneficial to FIRST. Parity may be exciting in sports. I love upsets (unless someone is upsetting the Washington Capitals, that is). But FRC isn't directly like professional sports.

These great robots are what has inspired me to stay involved with FIRST. Beyond that, even the greatest robots in FIRST are rarely so dominant that they aren't given extreme levels of competition (and great matches) at Championship (and IRI). Look at 71 in 2002 and 1114 in 2008. Despite their monster success at the regional level, they were tested to the limit at Championship.

The thing is, only a couple (if that) of elite level teams are at each regional/district event. You can't decide to change the game because one elite team teamed up with another elite team and won in convincing fashion.