Which region is the best?

[Duke461]

Alright Chief Delphi, it's time to debate: What region is the number one FRC region? By this I mean competition, outreach, awards, everything. Where's the "powerhouse" zone? Inspired by this thread (thanks jane!) http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=93295
Here are the regions, split by the official uscensus regions (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/us_regdiv.pdf)
West (california, oregon, etc.)
South (Texas, Georgia, etc.)
Northeast (Pennsylvania, New York, etc.) + Pacific (alaska & hawaii) since the NE has the smallest region
Midwest (Indiana, Michigan, etc.)
Personally my vote goes to the Midwest (no bias there......), but the Midwest does have a surplus of world championships
Let the debating begin! Be careful not to bash on other teams, this a peaceful discussion

[Alan Anderson]

Midwest has Michigan, Team Hammond, and Andy Baker. Game over.

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Midwest has Michigan, Team Hammond, and Andy Baker. Game over.

that was fast

[Tetraman]

Northeast has Rochester, Xerox, 191, 229, 340, 1511, 1126, 174, 175, 176, 177 and 178, the Finger Lakes Regional and RIT.

A good enough close second.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Midwest has Michigan, Team Hammond, and Andy Baker. Game over.

Michigan is a region of it's own these days and no one else is allowed to come play. I don't think we should count them as part of a greater "midwest" anymore. If we count them as their own region, they win hands-down.

In my opinion, without "talent-density" of Michigan the rest of the midwest is about the same as anywhere else with a handful of powerhouses.

-John

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by JVN

Michigan is a region of it's own these days and no one else is allowed to come play. I don't think we should count them as part of a greater "midwest" anymore. If we count them as their own region, they win hands-down.

In my opinion, without "talent-density" of Michigan the rest of the midwest is about the same as anywhere else with a handful of powerhouses.

-John

As a Michigander I think that MI has a great top tier of teams but it tapers off very quickly. I believe that the density is to blame for that, 172 teams in a smallish state with a terrible economy means that resources are thin all around.

As for "best" region I have to ask for clarification of best. NE has the best defense around. The midwest has the scoring power houses. The West has some of the best machined robots out there. I'm not familiar enough with teams down south to say what they have. (Aside from Florida)

Also, who gets Canada?

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

As a Michigander I think that MI has a great top tier of teams but it tapers off very quickly. I believe that the density is to blame for that, 172 teams in a smallish state with a terrible economy means that resources are thin all around.

As for "best" region I have to ask for clarification of best. NE has the best defense around. The midwest has the scoring power houses. The West has some of the best machined robots out there. I'm not familiar enough with teams down south to say what they have. (Aside from Florida)

Also, who gets Canada?

I consider the Ontario teams part of the Midwest but obviously they are their own entity.

[Duke461]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Also, who gets Canada?

Good Point. All International teams are now considered the international region.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Duke461

Good Point. All International teams are now considered the international region.

Why?

[Taylor]

For further discussion, here's a list of states by # of teams (FRC only).
I have not compiled any data for teams outside the United States.
As I was doing this, it occurred to me that Mark McLeod has probably already done this, with charts and graphs.

1. CA - 175
2. MI - 171
3. TX - 144
4. MN - 131
5. NY - 127
6. WA - 82
7. VA - 68
8. NJ - 64
9. FL - 56
10. MA - 53
11. MO - 52
12. OH, OK, PA - 48
13. IL - 43
14. CT - 42
15. AZ - 40
16. GA, NC - 36
17. CO, IN, OR - 35
18. MD - 34
19. HI, NH - 32
20. WI - 31
21. SC - 25
22. LA - 24
23. KS - 19
24. UT - 18
25. TN - 16
26. DC, KY - 14
27. ID - 13
28. NV - 11
29. AL, MS - 10
30. ME - 8
31. WY - 7
32. MT - 6
33. RI, WV - 5
34. AR, IA, ND, VT - 3
35. AK, DE, NM, PR - 2

NE, SD - 0 teams


Key:
0 Black
1-10 Brown
11-20 Red
21-30 Orange
31-40 Yellow
41-50 Green
51-60 Blue
61-70 Violet
71-80 White
81-90 Gray
91-100 Pink
100+ Gold

Edit: It is my hope that this gives us a more holistic picture of the spread of FRC teams. Before we start assigning "good" "better" and "best" it'd be a good idea to determine what exactly we mean as "region" and whether it is classified by pure geography or by team saturation.

[Duke461]

Originally Posted by Taylor

It is my hope that this gives us a more holistic picture of the spread of FRC teams. Before we start assigning "good" "better" and "best" it'd be a good idea to determine what exactly we mean as "region" and whether it is classified by pure geography or by team saturation.

Well, I think we can keep the regions how they are, but instead, look at it percentage-wise.
So for instance, lets say 10 solid teams are in region x, and 1 team that is the best in the history of FIRST is in region y. Percentage wise, you could argue that that region Y is better, or vice versa. So i guess, look at it that way
Remember, its 90% opinion, 10% educated observation.

[Duke461]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Why?

Why not? Proposals are greatly appreciated

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Duke461

Why not? Proposals are greatly appreciated

Actually it kind of makes as much sense to group teams from Canada, Israel, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, the UK, etc. together as it does to include Hawaii and Alaska in the Northeast.

Its an arbitrary grouping with arbitrary criteria, so go for it! I'm adding any future teams from the Moon, Mars, or the Asteroid belt to the International grouping, though. Team #94543 "Luna Incorporated and Tranquility Base Secondary" is going to ROCK. (Except for the fact they will fail tech inspection because they didn't have enough room to paint their team number on their bumper.)

I will suggest, however, that teams in the "overseas" group have some additional logistical challenges that teams in the United States and Canada don't have (I'm not sure to what degree Mexican teams are affected, but NAFTA provisions should make things a bit easier than for non-NAFTA countries.)

So when considering a team's overall awesomeness, I'd give a lot of the overseas teams at least a 10% head start just for getting their robot through customs (at least three times... KoP in, robot out, robot back home), dealing with shipping delays and expenses, and then getting the whole team to a competition.

Oh, yeah... they have to put up with all those silly imperial part sizes and specifications, too.

Jason

[cpeister]

Although Michigan may have the best teams, the Niagara region of Canada has several powerhouses as well. Regionals with 1114 and 2056 together are all I have experienced (except for Waterloo in '09), but needless to say they consistently make a near unstoppable alliance.

[roystur44]

With 175 teams it looks like its time for a California State Championship tournament.