Curie 2010!

[Cap'nCollin1986]

With the whole 'undefeated' thing (because i have no idea how to put a quote into a reply), if there is some way to get an upper hand in this division, it definitely wouldn't hurt!

By no means am i trying to take anything away from 469, cuz they're still amazing, but I'm just trying to say that they ARE beatable, and there will definitely be a lot of craziness going on in the Curie Division!

[sircedric4]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

No, they will complain that they got to go to 3 events each or that their "mentors build their robots"... I'll go back to mumbling in my corner now. Good luck 469/1114, you guys have a target the size of Texas on your backs.

I don't know about "mentors building their robots', but I do believe that going to 3 events gives the teams that can afford it a heck of an advantage. Of course, I look at it as a problem for my team to solve not a situation to deny those that can afford it. One year I hope to mentor a team that can afford more than just the local regional, but I recognize the onus is on us to raise those resources.

I also look every year to try and be the team that upsets the big boys with our little underdog robot. :-) We get better each year as me and my fellow mentor and the students learn more tricks about the games. This year we hit on the looper strategy, but didn't get the awesome implementation of 469 since we kill the potential energy to deflect the ball not use it to go straight in the goal. But that lesson learned is going in the bible for future years. :-)

I learn more each year from the teams that have been doing it 20 years, and hope one year that a team I am mentoring will at least be a somewhat known team like the big boys. We are inspired, as is the goal of FIRST, to try and better ourselves to compete at that level. We are looking forward to getting to play in Curie because it means we have a slight chance of playing with some of these awesome teams during qualifiers and get another chance to learn a few tricks.

Good game to all, we have a reasonable goal this year just to play on Saturday afternoon for qualifiers. If we can pull that off everything else is just gravy. :-)

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Cap'nCollin1986

I would like to insert Team 1986 into the mix! Youngest undefeated team in the United States (something 469 has not been able to do this year)!

Curie's gonna be real good!

You mean youngest team that went undefeated at their second event?

To go back to what Chris said before, I agree that teams shouldn't focus on seeding higher than them, but start strategizing on how to beat a 469/1114 alliance. Unless you play them all 10 qualification matches, you cannot control what they do. The best you can do is to attempt to maximize your seeding points and hope for the best. I think it would be wise to start thinking of ways to beat a 469/1114 alliance because its better to think of that stuff now than lunch time Saturday. After finishing pre-scouting, I hope to come up with an initial list of teams that can fulfill our strategy to pull off the upset. I think a 469/1114 alliance is likely, although I hope it doesn't happen (unless we are their 3rd partner).

A part of me wants to go against 469/1114. Going into the match, you have nothing to lose. No pressure, no expectations, nothing. All the pressure is on them. Just go into the match with a good strategy and hope the ball bounces your way.

[rotolomi]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Well someone has to be the third team.
Instead of dreading the potential alliance think of ways to impress them so they want you to be part of it!

that's how I feel! we'll never beat 'em, might as well try to join 'em

[Josh Fox]

Originally Posted by rotolomi

that's how I feel! we'll never beat 'em, might as well try to join 'em

As much as we'd all love to be playing with team 469/1114/111/other good teams Saturday afternoon, only 2 other teams get to do so.

I for one will be thinking of ways to beat them, and then if we are fortunate enough to play with any of them I won't have to worry about beating them anymore.

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

A part of me wants to go against 469/1114. Going into the match, you have nothing to lose. No pressure, no expectations, nothing. All the pressure is on them. Just go into the match with a good strategy and hope the ball bounces your way.

Unless of course you do have expectations. We were seen an 469's rival. They push better, we hang very reliably. They deflect better, we can deflect during gameplay. Our gameplay was generally equal, we may have been a bit better in that regard. There were expectations for us. And we were so close. And we lost. But now we're back for more.

Anyway, thought I'd insert a little anecdote. Just don't assume there won't be expectations when there probably will be anyway. This is the Championship.

[Racer26]

I highly doubt we'd see a 1114/469/2337 alliance, purely because 2337's main feature (the ability to suspend) is useless to 1114, since they hang from the vertical bar.

[Clinton Bolinger]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

I highly doubt we'd see a 1114/469/2337 alliance, purely because 2337's main feature (the ability to suspend) is useless to 1114, since they hang from the vertical bar.

We do provide a lot more to our alliance then just suspending. We are a mid fielder, score from mid, move balls to the offensive zone from the mid, play D in the mid, Divert balls from the mid, hang from the mid, and yes potentially suspend others from the mid.

However that doesn't mean we can't do these things from the offensive or defensive zones.

-Clinton-

[Zach O]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

I highly doubt we'd see a 1114/469/2337 alliance, purely because 2337's main feature (the ability to suspend) is useless to 1114, since they hang from the vertical bar.

Another reason why we won't see that alliance is because 2337, 469, and 1114 will all be too high up in the seeding for them to make it to the second round picks! (That's right, the nerds are coming to win! Graciously)

[Racer26]

I was by no means trying to minimize your other contributions to an alliance, however, I suspect 2337 is most likely to be picked for an alliance for that feature, which is of little use to a 1114/469 pair.

[XaulZan11]

Perhaps I'm my value of teams are incorrect, but I think that if 469/1114 pair up, they will be the favorites. You are not expected to beat them and thus you have no expectations. When you play them, you have to take advantage of any possible advantage you have and one is the proper pressure-free mindset.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Clinton Bolinger

However that doesn't mean we can't do these things from the offensive or defensive zones.

-Clinton-

Just out of Curiosity, can your machine transfer between zones? I know it's pretty tall, so I imagine you'd struggle a bit if you could...

[Zach O]

Originally Posted by thefro526

Just out of Curiosity, can your machine transfer between zones? I know it's pretty tall, so I imagine you'd struggle a bit if you could...

No, we cannot go between zones. We took out that capability so we could better play mid. Some advantages of this is that when we do play mid, we don't need to be cautious around the bumps/transitions. We can't even get up onto the bump, so there is no possibility of us flipping over.

[dcherba]

Team 3234 rookie year looks forward to competing and from the Michigan Championship knows that even the top seeded teams can be shutdown with smart play by the opposing alliance. Looking foward to learning more about picking partners for the elimination rounds.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Zach O

No, we cannot go between zones. We took out that capability so we could better play mid. Some advantages of this is that when we do play mid, we don't need to be cautious around the bumps/transitions. We can't even get up onto the bump, so there is no possibility of us flipping over.

Gotcha.

Also, can you hang on the near side of the tower? Does the ball return interfere with your hanging mechanism?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get a better feel for your machine.