This year we need instant replay

[Ashley Christine]

I dont really think that a replay would be needed. We have refs to make calls, and if they didnt see something happen or didnt know the rules, well... I guess it happens. No one is perfect.

Plus, if you had replay... it would deffinately draw out the events, think about how many teams would want to argue calls. I think it would cause a bunch of trouble to be able to change a call.

I say just give the refs a break, they are doing the best that they can, and I know I appreciate it.

Replay/video isnt a BAD idea, its just not a GOOD idea for FIRST.

[Wayne C.]

FIRST does have instant replay. Its called the off season.

We all come out to play again and have fun. The stiff regulations of the official season are relaxed.

Ramp Riot did it perfectly this past weekend- like Outback- "No Rules- Just Right"

WC

[petek]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

FIRST does have instant replay. Its called the off season.

We all come out to play again and have fun. The stiff regulations of the official season are relaxed.

Ramp Riot did it perfectly this past weekend- like Outback- "No Rules- Just Right"

WC

Speaking as a RR ref, thank you Wayne! I think you may have pointed out one area which FIRST can address: too many rules. At RR, the focus was on throwing penalties only where people's and robots' safety was at stake. If this was FIRST's prime directive to the refs, I think most of the calls for instant replay would go away.

Refereeing Triple Play was hard work. So much happens so fast all over the field, it is easy for the refs to miss things. I know there were a couple of times that tetras broke or were descored in front of me that I didn't see until it was too late to know for sure how it happened, because I was watching to see if the human players were touching the robots, or there was heavy robot contact distracting me. My hat's off to everyone who volunteered to ref this year!

Slightly off-topic, but as an off-season ref (PARC and RR), I have a couple of peeves with FIRST's rule-making:
- There are a number of penalty rules for Triple Play which could be relaxed or eliminated without much effect on the game (does it really matter if the human player is touching their tetras during autonomous play?).
- Releasing the rules as a "work in progress", with many interpretations and revisions throughout the season seems to create a lot of confusion.
- Leaving obviously contentious issues poorly-defined, such as for robot tipping. These should be clearly defined so that the refs are clear as to what is acceptable and what is not.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by petek

Speaking as a RR ref, thank you Wayne! I think you may have pointed out one area which FIRST can address: too many rules. At RR, the focus was on throwing penalties only where people's and robots' safety was at stake. If this was FIRST's prime directive to the refs, I think most of the calls for instant replay would go away.

Refereeing Triple Play was hard work. So much happens so fast all over the field, it is easy for the refs to miss things. I know there were a couple of times that tetras broke or were descored in front of me that I didn't see until it was too late to know for sure how it happened, because I was watching to see if the human players were touching the robots, or there was heavy robot contact distracting me. My hat's off to everyone who volunteered to ref this year!

I hope I was able to convey that when I gave feedback on 2005 and it is better for 2006, from a ref perspective. We don't LIKE to make these calls, but we call 'em as we see them. With 10 people watching things, most things get seen.

For all the reason posted above, I concur in the NO vote.

Wetzel

[Mike Schroeder]

Actually what we need, is for teams, and the people on the teams, to get their kit and their rule books, and in six weeks build a robot that, PLAYS THE GAME, not plays defense, or offense, or outfense or any fense for that matter, just plays the game,

Then, after six weeks, we need, teams to cool off, they just worked hard, take a break, for a week or...3

After you hibernate, Its time for the weird part to start, you go to a competition and compete, you play the game, with the robot you built to play the game, and you try hard, stir in luck and (now this is that weird part i was talking about starts) you take what is given to you, good, or bad, take Forest Gump for example he stepped in a big pile of *stuff* and said, well *stuff* happens

There is my little rant

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

There is my little rant

"Big Mike"/Little Rant?

Isn't that one of those oxymoron thingies?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

Actually what we need, is for teams, and the people on the teams, to get their kit and their rule books, and in six weeks build a robot that, PLAYS THE GAME, not plays defense, or offense, or outfense or any fense for that matter, just plays the game,

Reminds me of "The Maltese Cat" by Rudyard Kipling. Several times in the story, The Cat says something to the effect of "We play the game." The other team lost because they were not playing The Game. So, let's make instant replay unnecessary by playing the game and not defense or offense or anything that violates a rule or results in a ref huddle. If the 1 team does something illegal, it's more likely to get caught if 4 -5 robots are just playing the game. Play the game. Avoid breaking rules if possible (and it's always possible). Refs have an easier time and can make better calls. Instant replay is unnecessary.

[Wetzel]

Offense and defense are two parts of a game. If you are trying to score points you are on offense. Good solid play also requires some defense.

You can't have a game without them.

Wetzel

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

Offense and defense are two parts of a game. If you are trying to score points you are on offense. Good solid play also requires some defense.

You can't have a game without them.

So what were they doing for the 2001 FRC?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Billfred

So what were they doing for the 2001 FRC?

In a backhanded sort of way, you might consider E-stopping out* a form of defence....

*For those who don't know, the 2001 game was 4-on-0, where the object was to score as much as possible. Scoring multipliers were applied if your alliance ended the match early by pressing all four E-stop buttons. This is also the reason why every set of FIRST rules since that year has included something to the effect of "The E-Stop buttons are intended for remote shut down during a match in the event of safety hazards and will not otherwise affect match scoring or duration."