The Year of the Tie

[Alex Dinsmoor]

After playing through three competitions, I have noticed one thing about the scores; the unusual amount of ties this year. In my past three years in FIRST I have not come across a game that resulted in this amount of ties. Is it because of the low scores, or just the level of competitiveness of the game?

Have anyone else noticed this, or is it just me.

Also, what team has racked up the most ties this year?

[Chris is me]

I think it's neither. There are a few factors:

1. Simple scoring: Hanging is equal to 2 balls. In previous years, a Supercell is 7.5 balls, a hurdle + lap is 5 laps (and not everyone can hurdle), and a row of 6 is 4 points more than a dual lift.

2. Less independent scoring: In 2008, each alliance partner independently scored at will, while in 2010, that is much less the case. Subtle differences in alliances are a lot harder to show off.

3. Scarcity of game pieces and ability to score them: Only a few robots on an alliance can score, and there are 12 balls for everyone to use total, as opposed to 120 or so in 2009.

Thus ties are pretty common.




2791 has 3 ties on the book, and 3 more in eliminations. 1714 has 5 total I think.

[ohhiitskelly1o3]

i agree. there have been so many ties in Breakaway. at the florida regional, my team, 103, along with our alliance partners had i think it was 4 or 5 ties in the quarter finals alone! i looked on the blue alliance for the ties but because we tied the first 4 times of what was suppsoed to be only three matches, they just eliminated those and only kept the ones where we didnt tie. it was so suspensful!

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by ohhiitskelly1o3

i agree. there have been so many ties in Breakaway. at the florida regional, my team, 103, along with our alliance partners had i think it was 4 or 5 ties in the quarter finals alone! i looked on the blue alliance for the ties but because we tied the first 4 times of what was suppsoed to be only three matches, they just eliminated those and only kept the ones where we didnt tie. it was so suspensful!

Yes, that was rediculous!

Cass

[WJF2011]

we have 6 ties see signature

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by WJF2011

we have 6 ties see signature

Were they in a row?!??!?!

Cass

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by Dancin103

Were they in a row?!??!?!

Cass

Click on the signature banner and you will se the team's tba page. They all occured in qualification and the longest streak was 3 matches, the others were stand alone.

[Phoenix Spud]

I agree. At GSR, there was a 4 match finals, it reminded me a little of the semi-finals from GSR in 2008, since at least 1 team participated in both ties. (Note, the tie from 2008 GSR had a similar tie at Battlecry) I think it added to the excitement. I know the rest of my team was shocked at the energy at inside the arena. According to them, it was more than the biggest sporting event in our state! To experience that as their first FIRST competition was amazing. I can honestly say, that I don't think any of them will ever forget that excitement.

[AnibaS]

I think our team is the only team (one of the only teams) without ANY ties so far...

[Nawaid Ladak]

you really can't calculate this because most Ties are taken out of the system during elimination rounds. For example. The 18-18 Tie that occured in match 1 of the Finals at the Michigan State Championships is nowhere to be found on the FIRST website.

The tie for Quarterfinal 3, Match 1 at the Florida Regional is nowhere to be found (Not on FRC website or TBA), Though this might be available with a bit of digging. (FMS Tweets or FRC Spy)

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Phoenix Spud

I agree. At GSR, there was a 4 match finals, it reminded me a little of the semi-finals from GSR in 2008, since at least 1 team participated in both ties. (Note, the tie from 2008 GSR had a similar tie at Battlecry) I think it added to the excitement. I know the rest of my team was shocked at the energy at inside the arena. According to them, it was more than the biggest sporting event in our state! To experience that as their first FIRST competition was amazing. I can honestly say, that I don't think any of them will ever forget that excitement.

That was similiar to what happened at the Michigan State Championships. There ended up being 4 matches, with 1 tie (18-18!), and I must say that there was more energy in that arena than any sporting event I have been to.

Although the most exciting matches I have watched were the finals of Detroit this year. Everyone at that event were on the edges of their seats during those three final matches. Unfortunately there were no ties :/

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

you really can't calculate this because most Ties are taken out of the system during elimination rounds. For example. The 18-18 Tie that occured in match 1 of the Finals at the Michigan State Championships is nowhere to be found on the FIRST website.

The tie for Quarterfinal 3, Match 1 at the Florida Regional is nowhere to be found (Not on FRC website or TBA), Though this might be available with a bit of digging. (FMS Tweets or FRC Spy)

That's the problem that my team has experienced also. Even though we show 8 ties during qualification rounds, we actually have 2 ties under our elimination record that aren't shown.

What's interesting is that TBA shows the MSC finals tie, but not others from various events...

[Zach O]

Although I do contribute the low scoring matches to the low number of balls and ability to get the scare balls, I think it creates a more enjoyable/exciting match! How many matches last year were TRUELY exciting? Generally, the matches were low scoring and boring, exciting, but only in the last 20 seconds, or a complete blowout. So even though there are more ties in this years game, I'd rather have more ties, with low scoring more exciting matches then less ties and high scoring boring games.

[Nawaid Ladak]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

That's the problem that my team has experienced also. Even though we show 8 ties during qualification rounds, we actually have 2 ties under our elimination record that aren't shown.

What's interesting is that TBA shows the MSC finals tie, but not others from various events...

Im guessing because that was a huge event with a large enough audience, the staff at TBA was able to confirm the information given to them by many individuals and edited the information to add that in to their site.

[Basel A]

I agree there are certainly more ties this year, but I think that came along with the "scoring system people can understand." This year, you can usually see the balls individually getting into the goals, whereas last year, it was usually pretty difficult to gauge how many balls were being scored.

Also, as scores go up (as they have been, at least in MI), there must statistically be less ties. That 18-18 tie was quite the exception, though.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Zach O

Although I do contribute the low scoring matches to the low number of balls and ability to get the scare balls, I think it creates a more enjoyable/exciting match! How many matches last year were TRUELY exciting? Generally, the matches were low scoring and boring, exciting, but only in the last 20 seconds, or a complete blowout. So even though there are more ties in this years game, I'd rather have more ties, with low scoring more exciting matches then less ties and high scoring boring games.

There were a lot of really exciting matches last year, IMO. Most matches were great in the last 20 seconds, but there were still a lot of really great qualifying matches too. While last year was still good, I agree that I like this year's low-scoring matches better, despite the ties. Actually, the ties were almost more exciting than the 26-1 victories