What we learned from week 1

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by Storcky

Did this ever get a penalty from G14?

Not that I'm aware, but a) they didn't always specify which rules were being used for penalties, and b) I wasn't always paying close attention by that point. Given some of the other non-calls, I wouldn't be surprised if "no" is the correct answer to your question.

[2789_B_Garcia]

Originally Posted by Jaxom

Pool noodles, pvc, and duck tape are among the materials that can be easily obtained and used to block full-court shooters.

Some of us on 2789 are still in awe/laughing about how crazy the idea was, how fast it was put up and taken down, and that it worked, lol

Needless to say, we learned A LOT from Bomb Squad at this regional!

[mandrews281]

Originally Posted by Wing

1.) Scheduling gods exist when there are 65 teams at a regional.
2) Being a consistent shooter is something that's not being seen much, but a lot of teams can do it if they use their resources wisely.
3) Defense is not being played, but when it is, there is a severe impact on an alliance's offense when.
4) A 50 point dumper is not enough to offset an alliance with 2 good scorers that have 10 point hangs.

Some of the more controversial stuff:

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Wing

4) Referees are NOT calling the 10 point hang properly. I have videos of this, but in our Quarterfinals match 1-2 Team 1772 was not hung up properly, but they got the points, which ended up being the deciding factor and sending our quarterfinals to a 3rd match.

I wondered about that too. I was right behind the judges and it sure looked like the front right wheel was down and he was checking the front left, but I wasn't the one crawling around on the floor, the ref was. One other interesting thing I noticed with 1772 was in the semis they were red, and their robot was an inch or more off the ground, but on the blue pyramid it was barely off the ground (like a paper width). So the robot could have been off the ground. Teams: allow for field variations -- they do exist.

Originally Posted by Wing

5) G30 exists, referees. Referees are not calling G30, and it's been affecting outcomes of matches! Our Quarterfinals match 1-3, 1772 infracted G30 5 different times, yet it was not called once. We tied that match 70-70, but because the referees instead called us for our human player putting a foot outside of the white line, we ended up losing 70-71, despite numerous infractions of G30 by 1772.

I understand the referees can't see everything, but 5 blatant infractions of G30 shouldn't go unnoticed, and everytime a climb is suspicious, DO THE PAPER TEST!

The toughest thing I had to do this afternoon was to help keep the students calm and explain to them the situation and about us getting unlucky. Toughest thing I have had to say.

I'll post another thread about this issue with some videos to make sure that any referees on CD can be prepared.

While I agree that G30 wasn't called as much as I thought I saw, there were also a lot of close calls and I'd prefer the refs erred on the side of NOT giving the foul especially for the little ticky-tacky stuff. I also miss the replay on ties. We once lost a quarter final 0-2-3. It really screwed up the schedule; but it was like a final with the immediate match turn-around.

[bcharbonneau]

A ref at the Hub City Regional told our team that G30 did not apply unless you were climbing. Hopefully this will be discussed.

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by bcharbonneau

A ref at the Hub City Regional told our team that G30 did not apply unless you were climbing. Hopefully this will be discussed.

Then that ref was objectively wrong.

[Dr Theta]

After having watched a fair bit of footage from week 1 I would not be surprised if we saw the "Scorched Earth" Alliance selection strategy in one of the championship divisions this year. There is a sufficient level of competence within the overall field this year (and with the added addition of the Wild Card I can only assume that the depth of the championship field will be that much better), that when coupled with the large divisions at the Championship it will not be surprising to see favorites within a division looking up at a couple other teams with a better draw.

I also believe that alliance selection strategy will be crucial to success at any event this year. I would not be surprised to see a 6 7 or 8 seed win in many events depending on the relative drop off in the field. Dominant robots can still control regionals ala 1986 and 610, but at events with a solid but not dominant top tier upsets may be more prevalent.

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Dr Theta

After having watched a fair bit of footage from week 1 I would not be surprised if we saw the "Scorched Earth" Alliance selection strategy in one of the championship divisions this year. There is a sufficient level of competence within the overall field this year (and with the added addition of the Wild Card I can only assume that the depth of the championship field will be that much better), that when coupled with the large divisions at the Championship it will not be surprising to see favorites within a division looking up at a couple other teams with a better draw.

I also believe that alliance selection strategy will be crucial to success at any event this year. I would not be surprised to see a 6 7 or 8 seed win in many events depending on the relative drop off in the field. Dominant robots can still control regionals ala 1986 and 610, but at events with a solid but not dominant top tier upsets may be more prevalent.

By "Scorched Earth" do you mean a less desirable #1 seed picking other captains with their first pick, expecting them to say no, and preventing them from then choosing each other?

[Dr Theta]

Originally Posted by Alpha Beta

By "Scorched Earth" do you mean a less desirable #1 seed picking other captains with their first pick, expecting them to say no, and preventing them from then choosing each other?

That is correct similar to Newton in 2006. (No offense intended to the number one seed of that division, it was a smart strategy but according to the stats they may not have even been top 16)