Einstein Consolation Match

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Should FIRST have a consolation match between the losing alliances on Einstein?
For instance, this year the match would be 173, 1902 and 1319 vs 330, 910, and 1270. 2006 would have been 503, 451 and 1139 vs 177, 1126 and 201.

Your thoughts?

[Corey Balint]

I was thinking about this the other day too Jeff, and for some odd reason I knew you would post it as soon as you guys lost.
I think it would be a good idea. Definitely. But, FIRST will say that it is a waste of time, and will only delay the closing of the event.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Well, I don't think there's a need for a consolation match. There's no award for "3rd place," among other reasons such as delays.

$.02

[Rich Ross]

It's not about the robots. A champion and runner up are necessary, but if anything, they should put the honorable mentions for chairmans back in before they add a consolation match

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Budda648

Well, I don't think there's a need for a consolation match. There's no award for "3rd place," among other reasons such as delays.

$.02

I have to disagree with you (partly). I agree that their shouldn't be a consolation match. We lost and that's that. There doesn't seem to be a real point to having the consolation match between the two alliances

However, I have to disagree with you in the fact that there is no prize for third place. Yes, there is no trophy or medal, but my team has gained much more than all that.

When we went back to school, everyone knew how well we had done and nobody cared that we didn't get another big trophy. We got to claim that we were national seminfinalists, winners of our division and the awards that we received were beyond any trophy. More people are interested and aware of FIRST and news stations are becoming more and more interested in our team.

Yes, there is no trophy for third or fourth in the semifinals, but frankly I don't care. We have won so much already, a consolation match isn't necessary.

Quick shout out to our partners 173 and 1902, y'all were awesome!
(1902, give the pig a kiss for me!!)

We hope to see everyone again next year at nationals!

[Kris Verdeyen]

Of course, if you do play a consolation match, you'll end up with a third place and fourth place alliance.

Unless... the third place alliance wasn't beaten by the runners-up. Then you'll have to play for what's called a "true second" - where the (would be) runner up plays the (supposed) third place finishers to discover, once and for all eternity, which alliance was truly the second best.

On second thought, the thing doesn't get over until almost 7:00 as it is.

[David Brinza]

Two things here:

Is third place all that important? To me, saying you're a Division Champ sounds more impressive.

Doesn't FIRST already have enough problems trying to complete the Championship according to their schedule? If you watched the Championship on NASA TV this year, the broadcast from Atlanta ended at 6:30pm. That's a half-hour after everything (like the Chairman's Award presentation) was supposed to be done. At the time the broadcast ended, the second Einstein final match had not even started. The Chairman's award winner wasn't announced until after 7 pm. Not only does that affect the NASA TV viewers, but also the wrap party (there's enough discussion about that already).

I cannot see putting more of the FIRST Championship platter, especially "broccoli" (3rd place).

[Nawaid Ladak]

A third place match for the regionals would be fine, and maybe the divisions itself, but making it on the big stage i don't really think so.

The final four doesn't have a 3rd place match

hey, maybe even change the format of elimination to a double elimination type setup, that would be something different altogether

[Corey Balint]

If you did it for regionals and divisions, why wouldn't you do it on Einstein. It would be stupid to do regionals and divisions then not Einstein, where it "matters" the most.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

However, I have to disagree with you in the fact that there is no prize for third place. Yes, there is no trophy or medal, but my team has gained much more than all that.

When we went back to school, everyone knew how well we had done and nobody cared that we didn't get another big trophy. We got to claim that we were national seminfinalists, winners of our division and the awards that we received were beyond any trophy. More people are interested and aware of FIRST and news stations are becoming more and more interested in our team.

Yes, there is no trophy for third or fourth in the semifinals, but frankly I don't care. We have won so much already, a consolation match isn't necessary.

That is exactly the right attitude to have! Your robot may have come in third place, but you have a first-place outlook on the competition!

-dave

[Chris Fultz]

Leave it as is, and let both alliances believe they were third place.

adding matches could put the finals at risk - a field element breaks, the scoring goes down, etc. etc.

yes, it would be exciting to watch, or play, but it is best as is.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

I have to disagree with you (partly). I agree that their shouldn't be a consolation match. We lost and that's that. There doesn't seem to be a real point to having the consolation match between the two alliances

However, I have to disagree with you in the fact that there is no prize for third place. Yes, there is no trophy or medal, but my team has gained much more than all that.

When we went back to school, everyone knew how well we had done and nobody cared that we didn't get another big trophy. We got to claim that we were national seminfinalists, winners of our division and the awards that we received were beyond any trophy. More people are interested and aware of FIRST and news stations are becoming more and more interested in our team.

Yes, there is no trophy for third or fourth in the semifinals, but frankly I don't care. We have won so much already, a consolation match isn't necessary.

Quick shout out to our partners 173 and 1902, y'all were awesome!
(1902, give the pig a kiss for me!!)

We hope to see everyone again next year at nationals!

Nice outlook and I agree wholeheartedly. What I meant was that there was no hardware. There's always a "reward" to competing in FIRST, but not always an "award."

[Cartwright]

I think that it would be alright. It would make it more interesting, and it gives losers one more chance to prove themselves.

[EricH]

There already is a consolation match. It's called the offseason. Teams gather together to compete again. All you have to do is get the six Einstein semi-finalists to the same event. At some point, make sure they are on the same alliances and run the match. (Possibly even during a field break.)

I really don't think it's all that important. I'd rather end the event on time. (Even if that means that "on time" is scheduled later.)

[Squirrel Lord]

Maybe a consolation match is unneccessary, but what about a few rounds of play.
These would serve to fill up the time between the finals matches, not to rank the Semifinalists. These would also be highly competitive and wonderful examples of gameplay.