A Corrupt FIRST?

[EricH]

There's a spotlight from Koko Ed that says, in part,

Remember: In FIRST you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you and your associates in the court of public opinion.

(emphasis mine)

Is there individuality? Yes. But if one member of a group is acting really badly--or really nice--that behavior reflects on the entire group if that member is showing that he or she is part of that group. Disclaimer or no, it will reflect at least to some extent. There have been times on CD that I have seen someone have to try to mend damage caused by someone else on their team, because they know that if somebody doesn't present the other side, the team will gain a reputation that they don't want to have.

Reputations, particularly team reputations, are tough to build and very easy to destroy.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by EricH

There's a spotlight from Koko Ed that says, in part, (emphasis mine)

Is there individuality? Yes. But if one member of a group is acting really badly--or really nice--that behavior reflects on the entire group if that member is showing that he or she is part of that group. Disclaimer or no, it will reflect at least to some extent. There have been times on CD that I have seen someone have to try to mend damage caused by someone else on their team, because they know that if somebody doesn't present the other side, the team will gain a reputation that they don't want to have.

Reputations, particularly team reputations, are tough to build and very easy to destroy.

When someone on a team does something wrong they don't say "Uh oh! Jimmy was rude to that judge. They say" Check out that kid on (insert team name here) acting nasty to that judge. People identify you by your affiliation first and foremost. One thing we always tell our kids if you are planning on doing something stupid while wearing our team shirt do us a favor and remove it and withdraw from the team because not only are you disrespecting our team and our long and illustrious history and the hard work of the members who worked so hard and so long to build this team's reputation but you are also disrespecting Wilson Magnet High School, Xerox Corporation, Rochester, New York and own family and friends.
So if you are going to pop off about something as volatile as this make sure you have your facts straight so you are not just sullying more than just your own reputation.

[czeke]

I seem to recall, several years ago, at the Wisconsin Regional, there was a team from Muskegon, here, and they barely had enough mouney to pay for their entry fee, much less for transportation and hotel. Their team was small, say abour 6 or 8 students. I spoke to their adult coach, and he told me that they couldn't generate enough local, financial support, for the team. I'm not certain, if this was your team, or not, or even if they survived to compete again. It's very unfortunate, when you can't even get minimum financial support ( or even volunteer mentor support ) for your team. I know the old adage, " If you can move, you can compete ", but as we all know, if all you can do, " is move " you'll be competing to stay out of last place.