Music / Noise "Restrictions"

[Tom Bottiglieri]

this rule, though i understand where its coming from and what it is supposed to eliminate, kind of irratates me. If FIRST is trying to take away noise makers and loud noises out of teams in the stands, well, that just wouldnt be a good move. My team went to the UTC hartford regional last year. We didnt cheer, adn me and my friend just ended up walking around the place all day, not paying attention or having any fun. At Nat's everyone changed their minds and decided to cheer. I mean we wouldnt shut up or sit down. Every second when a match wasnt being played we would be up cheering, dancing, etc. I had more fun in Houston than ive had in years. This is all because of the cheering and making urself noticable to other teams. If FISRT were to eliminate this part of the comp, i know alot of teams would be very angry.

[Aidan F. Browne]

Originally Posted by ToMMan b182

If FISRT were to eliminate this part of the comp, i know alot of teams would be very angry.

Tom,

Cheering is awesome. FIRST wants you to cheer. They want you to be excited about your robot, your team, your friends and being involved.

There is however a line that in many people's minds has been crossed recently by teams with the use of noisemakers. There has been a trend where the word "spirit" had been morphed into "making noise". In an attempt to attract attention (including the attention of the judges granting the spirit award) teams have gotten louder than FIRST. That is bad.

In the pits, the need for teams and individuals to hear the announcer is VERY important so that the competition can procede safely and on schedule. In the competition area, the need for the audience to hear the play-by-play and explainations is VERY important -- especially in the year of an audience-friendlier-FIRST. There are many ways for a team to get their spirit noticed without making announcer-swamping noise.

So... bottom line... cheer like crazy -- practice your clapping and yelling and screaming -- make up cheers and cadences with your team... find creative ways to demonstrate your spirit... but please honor FIRST's desire and leave your noisemakers at home this year.

Also... just to make note of it... according to the dictionary...

Spirit, n.,

1. A particular mood or an emotional state characterized by vigor and animation: sang with spirit.
2. Strong loyalty or dedication: team spirit.

Aidan

[Aignam]

MOE sticks and noisemakers and noise and loudness and clappers and bullhorns and bells and whistles and so on and so forth are some of the defining elements of a FIRST competition, for me, anyways. This rule was made with nothing but good intentions, but I think it is just a tad bit ridiculous. I had no problem with hearing the announcer at the Chesapeake Regional, the New Jersey Regional, or Nationals.

There's no doubt in my mind that FIRST teams out there will "leave their noisemakers at home and honor FIRST's desire". I know FIRST teams will be able to show their spirit even through this rule. But I also think that perhaps this rule was overboard.

[Adam Y.]

MOE sticks and noisemakers and noise and loudness and clappers and bullhorns and bells and whistles and so on and so forth are some of the defining elements of a FIRST competition, for me, anyways. This rule was made with nothing but good intentions, but I think it is just a tad bit ridiculous. I had no problem with hearing the announcer at the Chesapeake Regional, the New Jersey Regional, or Nationals.

I have always felt that noisemakers are bordering on being obnoxious and tactless. They are distracting and sometimes I can not even hear people next to me. Even some sports orgainizations provide the same rule against using them. In fact, they provide a penalty for anyone that uses them. Whatever happened to clapping? I'm guessing that no one noticed this same rule last year.

[DUCKIE]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Whatever happened to clapping? I'm guessing that no one noticed this same rule last year.

Clapping still exists... but it gets tireing and dull after a while. As for the rules previously... (if i recall correctly) they were more to prevent damage to seating... some teams had jugs/poles that they would bang on the stands... leaving marks... and annoying the arena owners.

Originally Posted by Aignam

I know FIRST teams will be able to show their spirit even through this rule. But I also think that perhaps this rule was overboard.

I agree.

I know that MOE, and all FIRST teams will remain spirited at competitions... and some people will still bring them anyways... but the sticks have always been a part of our team... and i dont understand how we can be "rewarded" last year for out spirit/image and specifically be targeted in a rule the next year. I hate to use the word "targeted" but it is true... if someone mentions banging sticks... you think of MOE. I mean there was a huge thread about the stick-napping... and they had a quote about banging MOE sticks in the FIRST Booklets they handed out at competitions.

I understand the banning of the speaker-carts.. as some teams played some rather loud music, but I guess I just dont get the banning of noisemakers... they make FIRST what it is.

I would not write off MOE handing out ear-plugs either... because without all the noisemakers to distract you... it will probably make the FIRST speakers seem all the more loud. As for the sticks... I plan to carry my lucky set from 2001 with me. Even if i dont get to clap them because of this new rule.

[NateBot16]

Arg, we just finished building our cart with sound system in it. Last year we played our cart when going to the field (its easier to get people to move if they hear us coming) and while building. We mainly use our system during build season bc half of our machine tools are in the boiler room, and music makes it more tolorable. At the offical regionals we didn't play our system loud, but at the unoffical ones we let it go. Overall we respect all the teams in the pits and the announcements.

[Will Hanashiro]

last year at regional competetions, several teams had stereo systems... and they were usally asked to turn them off via. the PA. well these teams that had stereo systems turned them off, but eventually they would be booming their music again.

i'm predicting that PEOPLE WILL HAVE NOISEMAKERS in the stands this year... and even if they are asked to quit using them, they will resume using them after a while. even though this would violate "gracious professionalism," teams will still have noismakers in the stand. i feel that FIRST will really have to work hard in trying to enforce this rule, and after a while they may give up and allow them in the stands, and only in the stands.

personally, i feel that too much noise in the pits can get really annoying, but noisemaking in the stands adds another level of excitement and enjoyment for the viewers and operators. being a driver on my team, i really enjoyed it when people in the stands cheered as they called out our team number, and i'm sure other drivers/operators/human players/coaches also enjoyed being cheered for. as the cheering got louder, the excitement grew as well, and this is why i feel that noisemakers in the stands should be allowed (as long as they're kept with reason).

[miketwalker]

Well, I see some people are upset about not getting to use noisemakers. I really feel that if you want to get "Spirit" award or get noticed... do it yourself. That's one lesson I've learned from ComBBAT. Yes, I know the MOE clap, we all do... and yea, I will admit I will miss it. But... you still have hands. I know people can be drowned in our "Who dat BBAT? COMBBAT!" chant.. even though we have fewer people on our team than most teams have.

If your team really has the emotion and the spirit, you can be just as powerful without noisemakers. I know my team has, we've avoided the temptation to use noisemakers on many occasions... but you can still hear us cheering. I agree this will help the pit announcements. If teams want to cheer, they still can because that's not going to last too awful long. But with those speaker carts and such, those can cause quite a disruption.

I really hope to see that this will push teams to show their true spirit, and not need to use the assistance of noisemakers which make it easy. I know that after a competition I am on menthol-lyptus cough drops for a week.... but it's worth it. Bring out the true you, it'll be much better without the need for noisemakers

[richardp]

Ok so accourding to this new rule there is more to it than no MOE sticks accourding to al the otherstuff they banned and you cant do i would almost perfer the MOE sticks over this new rule. I mean no food @ all and no banners or saving seats for your team. I have decided i hate the rule as a whole more than the MOE sticks but none the less i hate MOEsticks.

[DarkAlex]

Personally I don't have any trouble with the noise level at all. Though my experience is limited, having only been to Ramp Riot and one other competition whose name I forget, I find that the DJs at these events tend to go out of their way to dig up one hit wonders from the 90s, so anything that will make those songs inaudible is welcome. (I'm just commenting on stick and other manual noisemakers)
Obviously the announcers should be respected and whenever they are heard the clapping of sticks, etc. should cease, which it pretty much does anyway.
I am not commenting on the sound carts because I have no experience with them, though they seem to me to be an insult to the DJs almost equal to the one that I have already used in this post if used unnecessarily during competitions.

[Jedi Padawan]

There are only a few "noisy items" that I personally find annoying which are in the list below.
1. Carts with sound systems (can't hear myself think)
2. Bullhorns and those little pressurized canisters(my ear is still ringing from the last one that went off...)
3. "Shrill" whistles (again the ringing)
4. this may sound surprising but the music after the first day tends to be really really loud and get to where I have to scream at a teammate two feet away in order to get a tool. (this by the way is the music FIRST puts on) maybe it's just me but I usually end up wearing ear protection anyway without the extra "noisemakers" which only add to the problem. (by the way I am a DJ of sorts when I'm off FIRST season)
For me at least if your banging drum sticks in a rythym that doesn't really bug me, I mean if your just trying to show your spirit in a way that won't leave everybody with ears ringing or headaches that doesn't bug me, It's only when the "noisemakers" get louder than all of FIRST's already loud things that it becomes a problem.

[Ben Mitchell]

Personally, I like the idea of being able to sit in the stands without having my ears bleed.

But some things should still be allowed - it is, after all, FIRST.

[Nick Mac]

I have to say that I am definitely against this rule. Being from a team thats about as loud as their shirts, we've always been high energy and fun. I have really noticed though that since the transition from last year's season to the post season, teams have asked for other teams to quiet down. I'm not really sure in what other way(s), can we show excitement and support for our team.

[Lil' Lavery]

Im fine with the noise restriction rule, but its the other section 10 rules that I HATE. No saving seats, no banners outside the pit, I assume that includes flags, no fundraising during the competition, no outside food or drink or candy... GRRRR....

[Kevin Sevcik]

<SOAPBOX>
The no outside food bit is actually pretty standard for a lot of venues. Usually you can thank Aramark or some other catering service for that. As for candy... well candy is dangerous when people unthinkingly throw it into the crowds.

And saving seats? First off, they're asking teams to clear the pits as much as possible, so most of your team should be in the stands. If you need a few extra seats in the stands, just leave a few open in the middle of your group, and social dynamics will save the seats for you. Besides, there's two options. Either there are enough seats for everyone and you shouldn't have to save them, or there aren't enough seats for everyone and you should let other people sit down since they might have a round coming up.

And banners... Sponsors shell out large amounts of money to put on regionals, and I think they earn the right to not have to compete with other banners for just team sponsors. If it's a banner for just your team, well you should have enough spirit to stand out without it. And flags tend to block the view of people behind you, or worse the video crew behind you. I work scoring at Lonestar and I've seen it happen and it's just silly.

Mostly, I'm saying all these rules do make sense if you calm down a bit and look at them. They're intended to make the competitions more venue and audience friendly so FIRST will have an easier time expanding. They're not arbitrary and certainly not an attempt to crush team spirit, cause what would the point of that be? FIRST knows spirit is vital to the competition. If they didn't, they might've enacted MUCH more restrictive rules.
</SOAPBOX>