Thoughts on CoOpertition

[Tom Line]

The Coopertition system this year was not solely there to reduce blowout scores.

Remember: FIRST is aiming to make this a game that is easier to watch. In that vein, shiny flashy offense and slam dunks are a whole lot more interesting than well-coached defensive teams.

The scoring system encouraged teams to SCORE. Either for themselves, or for the other team.

The really, really shocking part of that is just how many teams seemed to have absolutely no idea how to play the game. Even at championships there was a stunning number of teams that were STILL playing defense. It hurt both their own seeding score, their teammate's, and the other alliance. In point of fact, very few of the third picks I saw at the championships were picked for defensive reasons. They were picked as another scoring robot to complement the other teams.

I guess I've slid more into game strategy than coopertition. I'll get back on track.

In 2008, FIRST made all sorts of rules to try to promote scoring. It was a total nightmare. This year they got a bit more clever: rather than trying to punish 'bad' behavior, they tried to reward the good behavior.

It mostly worked.

There is a very simple very easy way to get rid of the 6v0 issues we saw this year. Have the losing team get THEIR score, and not the winning team's score. Now, the losing team has a reason to score for themselves. The winning team, if it's a blowout, still has motivation to help the other team.

That's my solution.

I can handle playing two different games. Professional teams do it all the time, depending on their opponent.