Team Numbering System?

[Ian Curtis]

Well, there's no 1337 either...

When did they start not giving out numbers with meaning?

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

When did they start not giving out numbers with meaning?

Doesn't assigning a number to a FIRST team give it meaning? I don't know about you, but I'm always excited to see my team number pop up in random places.

[MrBamboo]

My team is a rookie team this year and we are #1888. If you look at the NASA grant to rookie teams under "Program Growth Awards" they are all #1700-1900s.

[TimCraig]

Originally Posted by phrontist

Wait... 666 wasn't given out?! I can't believe FIRST would cave to some nonsensical relgious superstition like that.

Me either. And a quick scan of the list of teams quickly shows a couple of numbers were assigned that have "meaning".

[Greg Marra]

1337 or 1984 would be fun team numbers to have.

[Kyle Fenton]

I know that some numbers are re-used, over the years. For example team 4 is a 2004 rookie. Rookies that year were in the 1200 and 1300 range.

There are a couple of other examples.

The number system does baffle me from time to time. There are almost teams in the 2000 range, and there are only 1130 teams registered. I highly doubt that 45% of teams signed up and dropped out.

[slickguy2007]

When we were rookies, I remember we had a choice of what number we wanted to be. FIRST gave us a choice between team numbers 1306, 1313, or 1403. They actually told us later on that we could pick our own number (between a range) if we wanted, of course we would have to make sure we didn't pick an already existing number. We liked 1403, it had a nice ring to it.


GO 1403!!!

[Doug G]

Originally Posted by Kyle Fenton

The number system does baffle me from time to time. There are almost teams in the 2000 range, and there are only 1130 teams registered. I highly doubt that 45% of teams signed up and dropped out.

I think that number of teams that have dropped out over the past 10-14 years could be around 30-35%, some are just taking a year off. I also remember that when you registered back in 2000 (our first year), you were assigned a # even if you hadn't paid. So some of the numbers may have been assigned but never actually used. Also there was a odd/even debacle in 2002/3 to get to Nationals, I heard there were a few teams that re-registered as rookies to get a new number hoping it would make them eligible for Nats (I can't imagine that many teams actually doing that - but I heard it did happen.)

[663.keith]

Originally Posted by phrontist

Wait... 666 wasn't given out?! I can't believe FIRST would cave to some nonsensical relgious superstition like that.

I am glad that FIRST did not give out team number 666. I am a member of team 663, and we happen to be a Christian school. If we told the school board that we would be competing as team 666, I know that they would not have given us a chance of competing. I believe that FIRST would not give out team 666 in order to avoid a possibly terrible situation.

[Allison]

teams that are formed of more than one high school then split to form new teams are generally given a team number from the year that the team first became involved in FIRST not the year they formed their own team. This allows for less confusion on which teams are real rookies.

[Mike Martus]

A little more history here.

I was at a FIRST workshop in the summer of 1997 in Manchester and was having a discussion with Lori ( now Lori Ragas ) a very in the know right hand of FIRST staff person. One of the issues was the "Numbering system" for teams. My argument was that team recognition, team uniforms and other team stuff that was now appearing at the FIRST competitions was very expensive to change each year.

The only rational FIRST had for new numbers each year was to have an accurate number of teams competing in the competition. Heated debate only lasted a few seconds and the rest is history.

Trivia: What was Chief Delphi's team number in our first year 1996?

And better yet how is that number really 47?

[Mike]

What about Judaism, where 666 is considered a holy number?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_...st_(numerology)

The number 666 is considered a mystical and holy number. 6 represents the six directions (up, down, north, south, east, west). Six is considered God's number (see Names of God in Judaism) since it is the numeric value of Vav. It also refers to creation, since the world was created in 6 days.

I also remember reading something where it said that the "Mark of the Beast" was not 666. The number 666 was an incorrect translation from some Hebrew Scriptures.

[663.keith]

Originally Posted by Mike

What about Judaism, where 666 is considered a holy number?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_...st_(numerology)


I also remember reading something where it said that the "Mark of the Beast" was not 666. The number 666 was an incorrect translation from some Hebrew Scriptures.

I maintain my remark that it was a precaution, just like limiting the maximum velocity to 10ft/sec for a projectile in the 2004 game. Many teams could have made a perfect contraption that latched on to the bar, just in the same way many teams would have liked to be team 666. FIRST as an organization is not one to openly present situations which could cause harm.

[Ryan Foley]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

A few questions admist all of this number switching:

1. If a team exists, and then dies (theres no easy way of saying it) then resurfaces again, does it still have rookie status/eligibility?
2. And if a team splits does one or both of the halfs have any rookie status?
3. Theres no way of getting a new number without not competing for a season, is there?(not that I want to go through all the paperwork)

I'm just speculating that questions 2 and 3 are Noes, but some clarification may help.

1) depends on the team. When 350 came back in 2004, we asked to keep our old number, which FIRST allowed, and granted 2nd year status (as far as KOP type). However I believe under certain circumstances FIRST will also let a "back from the dead" team get a rookie number/ status.

dont know about 2 or 3

[John Gutmann]

I know my team did split up long ago, but I don't know about the rookie status. Our team is named Greater Rochester Robotics (GRR) when we were multiple high schools but now we are just one but the name and number remains.