Call Inconsistencies Between Regionals

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Lostmage333

Well, of course there will be inconsistencies. Refs are people too, remember?

I think they're still doing a great job. Of course they will miss calls every now and then, or they'll interpret rules differently from regional to regional, but give them a break... they're volunteering their time to help us.

In general, I feel that the refs this year are wonderful.

I'm sorry, but when teams are paying between $4,000-6,000 to attend an event, the excuse that "referees are just volunteers, give them a break" holds no water.

$6,000 is a lot of money. At the very least, it should guarantee teams that they will receive a consistent gameplay experience from event to event. It may not be about the robots, but it sure isn't inspiring to see poor refereeing altering the way the game is played.

We are the customers of FIRST. It seems to me people forget this. We are paying for a service, and if that service is lacking, we have every right to ask for it to be restored to an acceptable level.

Far too many see FIRST as god's gift to man, and not the teams as a gift to FIRST.