QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!

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Posted by Andy Grady at 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST


Other on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro Inc..



Hi all, I have just returned from nats and I am exhausted, just like just about everyone else. This weekend brought alot of good experiences to many, so with that in mind here is the question of the week...

Question 4/9/01: What was the most memorable moment of this years national competition?

With this I regret to inform you that this will be my last question of the week that I shall post. If anyone else would like to take over the question, feel free, and have fun.

cya,
Andy Grady

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Posted by colleen - T190 at 04/09/2001 4:08 PM EST


Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science and WPI.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



Things aren't as bad as they seem
Things are never as good as they can get
There are the best of times
and the worst of times
It's amazing what some small ideas and a little work can bring

But most of all-- trying to remember that it only is a game.. after an intense 6 weeks and 6 years in the competition.. you come to expect things to be a certain way.. but some people just don't work the same way.. and they aren't necessarily ready to learn it.. it's all a part of this "all on the same team" concept... what's right and enough for some is not always correct and good enough for others.. compromise is key and sometimes you just have to accomplish less than you know you are capable of and accept it..

But it is only a game.. and hopefully one again next year where at least your own fate can be a bit more dependant on your own abilities..

Congrats to all...

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Posted by Deej- T190 at 04/09/2001 4:13 PM EST


Engineer on team #190, Gompeii, from Mass Academy and WPI.


In Reply to: The experience is memorable
Posted by colleen - T190 on 04/09/2001 4:08 PM EST:



Well Said.....There are a lot of teams out there who had to comprimise when they knew that they could do more to affect the outcome of the match. We all have to sit back and remember that this is supposed to be a learning experience, and for myself, I too learned that even though sometimes I knew we could do something better than others, we had to comprimise to give another team the chance to learn something about themselves. 6 weeks gone by too fast, 6 years gone way too fast, heres to 6 more of each.....

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Posted by Andy Grady at 04/09/2001 7:11 PM EST


Other on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro Inc..


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



I would have to say the moment that will stick out in my mind this year would probably have to be one round I saw at the Galileo field. This round I believe won best play of the day, and was probably the most amazing desplay of fun and excitement I have ever seen in FIRST. First of all I appologize for not knowing the numbers of the teams involved, and if anyone knows please let it be known because these teams really knew how to take a rough situation and really make the most out of it and most importantly be great sports about it. Also if anyone happens to have video of this round let me know. Here is a brief summarization of the round...

The round started off innocent enough as a team crossed the bridge to the other side of the field. As the ramp tipped it jumped off its pivot. With the other 3 teams on the other side of the field one team grabbed hold of one goal and another team attempted to reset the ramp. The team had little success in resetting and the one team that did make it across the field decided to try to drive over the ramp in an attempt to knock it back onto its pivot. After a couple of tries this team got a huge running start and flew up the ramp at full speed and went airborne!!! (with a huge roar from the croud may I add) The robot slammed down to the field, the ramp (still off its pivot) switched directions and now all 4 robots were on the same side of the field. Well these guys did not want to give in so one by one they attempted to climb the ramp in what turned out to be one of the most massive traffic jams of 3 robots on the ramp I saw this year. They rammed into each other and pushed and moved and eventually the ramp swithed directions once again and all 3 teams decended to the other side of the field. All the while, the team with the goal starts spinning around with the goal wildly in the center of the field on the other side in an attempt to get more crowd reaction, and as time ran out, one of the 3 robots who made it to the other side of the field got to the endzone. The crowd and the members of the 4 teams on the field went absolutley nuts! The final score of the round...20 points, but by far it was the most amazing display of fun and excitement at a competition I have ever seen in my 7 years of FIRST...now thats what FIRST is all about. Great job to those teams involved for taking a grim situation and making the best out of it for everyone!
Cya,
Andy Grady

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Posted by Nate Smith at 04/10/2001 1:35 AM EST


Other on team #66, Frostbite, from Willow Run High School and GM Powertrain.


In Reply to: The most amazing match I ever witnessed!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 7:11 PM EST:



: I would have to say the moment that will stick out in my mind this year would probably have to be one round I saw at the Galileo field. This round I believe won best play of the day, and was probably the most amazing desplay of fun and excitement I have ever seen in FIRST. First of all I appologize for not knowing the numbers of the teams involved, and if anyone knows please let it be known because these teams really knew how to take a rough situation and really make the most out of it and most importantly be great sports about it. Also if anyone happens to have video of this round let me know. Here is a brief summarization of the round...

: The round started off innocent enough as a team crossed the bridge to the other side of the field. As the ramp tipped it jumped off its pivot. With the other 3 teams on the other side of the field one team grabbed hold of one goal and another team attempted to reset the ramp. The team had little success in resetting and the one team that did make it across the field decided to try to drive over the ramp in an attempt to knock it back onto its pivot. After a couple of tries this team got a huge running start and flew up the ramp at full speed and went airborne!!! (with a huge roar from the croud may I add) The robot slammed down to the field, the ramp (still off its pivot) switched directions and now all 4 robots were on the same side of the field. Well these guys did not want to give in so one by one they attempted to climb the ramp in what turned out to be one of the most massive traffic jams of 3 robots on the ramp I saw this year. They rammed into each other and pushed and moved and eventually the ramp swithed directions once again and all 3 teams decended to the other side of the field. All the while, the team with the goal starts spinning around with the goal wildly in the center of the field on the other side in an attempt to get more crowd reaction, and as time ran out, one of the 3 robots who made it to the other side of the field got to the endzone. The crowd and the members of the 4 teams on the field went absolutley nuts! The final score of the round...20 points, but by far it was the most amazing display of fun and excitement at a competition I have ever seen in my 7 years of FIRST...now thats what FIRST is all about. Great job to those teams involved for taking a grim situation and making the best out of it for everyone!
: Cya,
: Andy Grady

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Posted by soap108 at 04/14/2001 7:40 PM EST


Engineer on team #108, SigmaC@T, from Dillard & Taravella HS and Motorola.


In Reply to: The most amazing match I ever witnessed!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 7:11 PM EST:



You may have described Galileo 119 :

Team 498 10 0:00
Team 113 10
Team 81 10
Team 492 10

Odds are we digitized it...we'll post it as soon as we get the chance...

KA - 108

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Posted by Andrew Rudolph at 04/15/2001 10:09 PM EST


Student on team #168, Charger-Lightning Robotics, from North Miami Beach/Michael Krop Senior High School and NASA Kennedy Space Center/Cordis/HPE Automation.


In Reply to: Re: The most amazing match I ever witnessed!
Posted by soap108 on 04/14/2001 7:40 PM EST:



: You may have described Galileo 119 :

: Team 498 10 0:00
: Team 113 10
: Team 81 10
: Team 492 10

: Odds are we digitized it...we'll post it as soon as we get the chance...

: KA - 108


Thats what we voted for on with our ballot i heard it was crazy.

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Posted by Matt Ryan at 04/10/2001 6:16 AM EST


Student on team #69, HYPER, from Quincy Public Schools and Gillette.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



I would have to say the match where my team's robot drove to the endzone with TWO other robots ON TOP of it is the most memorable moment. That was REALLY COOL.

: Hi all, I have just returned from nats and I am exhausted, just like just about everyone else. This weekend brought alot of good experiences to many, so with that in mind here is the question of the week...

: Question 4/9/01: What was the most memorable moment of this years national competition?

: With this I regret to inform you that this will be my last question of the week that I shall post. If anyone else would like to take over the question, feel free, and have fun.

: cya,
: Andy Grady

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Posted by j at 04/10/2001 1:53 PM EST


Student on team #173, RAGE, from Rockville High and United Technologies Research Center.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



: Hi all, I have just returned from nats and I am exhausted, just like just about everyone else. This weekend brought alot of good experiences to many, so with that in mind here is the question of the week...

: Question 4/9/01: What was the most memorable moment of this years national competition?

: With this I regret to inform you that this will be my last question of the week that I shall post. If anyone else would like to take over the question, feel free, and have fun.

: cya,
: Andy Grady

The most memorable moment for me was getting back to the pits after our last qualification match. That one match caused us to jump up 30 seedings (we were still 50th, but that was pretty impressive). Everybody was going nuts, even a few people from other teams. Those are the times that really make you understand that FIRST is more than worth while as a learning experience and for fun, definately for fun.

Um... I'd be willing to take a shot at doing the question of the week if a few others wanted to share the job...

j

always remember: "Mickey Mouse is the lost Greek god of misdirection and confusion... Stupid mouse..."

don't ask where I get these quotes from

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Posted by ChrisH at 04/10/2001 3:08 PM EST


Engineer on team #330, Beach 'Bots, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA JPL, J & F Machine, Raytheon, et al.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



I can think of two:

We had one match where everything went wrong. We were supposed to balance the goals and while the near goal was being filled a small ball got loose and lodged under the bridge. We had kept a limbo bot (sorry I don't recall the number) on the near side to deal with this potential problem and reset the bridge. For some reason, they were unable to do either.

So we dropped our ball handling "tusks" and swept out the ball, something we'd never tried before. Then we reset the bridge, something we had done, but last time we did it we broke the machine in the process. Sweeping operation successful we now charge over the bridge and get the other goal while the limbobot gets hung up on the 4x4.

We successfully grab the goal and get up close to the center of the bridge. We balance, we think, but just before we hit the button the bridge starts to sag. A quick over correction sends the bridge back the other way. Before we can recover the clock runs out. All that trouble because of one silly small ball.

But our guys hung in there and kept playing and working for that multiplier, it would have been easy to quit early. I was proud of them.

The other was when team 660 King-Drew won the Rookie All-Star award. I knew who it was when they mentioned the wide range of support including from a certain source. They were one of the teams we mentored. It was almost as good as getting it ourselves, but then we haven't been rookies for a long time.

Chris Husmann, PE
Team 330 the Beach'Bots

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Posted by Erin at 04/10/2001 3:49 PM EST


Other on team #65, Huskie Brigade, from Pontiac Northern High School and GM Powertrain.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



crying pre-recieving chairman's finalist award, and then actually getting it.

erin


p.s. ANTON, JOSH AND RILEY coming to our pit to show off their robot's spinning capabilities was quite cool too.

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Posted by Stephen Riley at 04/10/2001 7:27 PM EST


Engineer on team #419, RAMBOTS, from Wentworth Institute of Technology and sponsors? what are they?.


In Reply to: Re: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Erin on 04/10/2001 3:49 PM EST:



WOOHOO! i actually got mentioned in a post for doing something good for once :)

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Posted by Anton Abaya at 04/11/2001 11:58 PM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and If only we had free donuts....


In Reply to: Re: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Stephen Riley on 04/10/2001 7:27 PM EST:



: WOOHOO! i actually got mentioned in a post for doing something good for once :)

turns out that ninny was with NECN.com

check out their website...riley and i were seen on it! :)

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Posted by Joe Johnson at 04/10/2001 4:03 PM EST


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



All I can say is that I was exhausted after the cermony was over. I hugged a lot of folks... ...I cried a lot.

For some reason, this year I felt little of the "wait until next year" type emotion and more of the "it was a good thing while it lasted" type emotion.

It was a tough year in more ways than I care to think about yet alone recount here.

In the end, I am proud of our team, our kids, our drivers, our coaches, our machine, and my small part in bringing them to the point they were at at the Nationals.

A tough year, but a good one in the end.

Here's to 2001.

Joe J.

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Posted by Anton Abaya at 04/10/2001 5:46 PM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and If only we had free donuts....


In Reply to: I cried and cried again
Posted by Joe Johnson on 04/10/2001 4:03 PM EST:



: Here's to 2001.

: Joe J.

Here's to the guy I looked up to this entire season... as well as the guy that we all aspire to be like.

To Joe, the dew drinking robot god.

-anton

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Posted by Matt Leese at 04/10/2001 6:47 PM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: I cried and cried again
Posted by Joe Johnson on 04/10/2001 4:03 PM EST:



I think this year has been a tough one for all of us. I'm sure some of us had it worse than others. Starting a team I managed to watch it almost fall apart many many times. There were times I was afraid to check my email for yet another problem cropping up. Somehow he pulled through it all and did better than I could ever imagine.

Saturday night, after nationals were over, I remember thinking two things: Starting and running a team was the hardest thing I've ever done. It also was the best thing I've ever done.

This year, I think I've done my part in making the world a better place. Actually, I think we all have. So I think the most memorable part of nationals for me was realizing exactly what I (along with help from others) had accomplished.

Matt

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Posted by Lora Knepper at 04/10/2001 10:53 PM EST


Other on team #177, Bobcat Robotics - Adoptee, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.


In Reply to: I cried and cried again
Posted by Joe Johnson on 04/10/2001 4:03 PM EST:



It was right around when Disney started playing the closing video when I found I couldn't fight the tears back anymore. When I thought of how much FIRST has given me and has gotten me through in the past 4 years I got pretty emotional.

That whole night I saw the past 4 years flash by - and just how close I had come to not being able to see my friends for even just one day. Joe Ross was the last of the ones not on 168 (the team I stayed with) that I saw, and walking back to the hotel that night was really really tough.

As Joe J said, there didn't seem to be the feeling for me that next year was around the corner - but more like this season was far too short.

I'm not sure why it was like that this year -- perhaps b/c I am a senior and a lot of things are ending this year -- but I will be back next year -- so beware!

~ lora

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Posted by Bill Beatty at 04/14/2001 3:46 PM EST


Other on team #71, Team Hammond, from Team Hammond.


In Reply to: I cried and cried again
Posted by Joe Johnson on 04/10/2001 4:03 PM EST:



Joe

Surely fatigue has clouded your head. Let's see......

NER
Quarter finalist runner up
Other awards?

NYR
Winner regional champ
Spirit award
Leadership in control award
Machine and team members live network TV

GLR
Quarterfinalist
Leadership in control award

Nationals
Division 6th seed
Division finalist
Chairman's award finalist


Tough year??? Hmmmmmm.....

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Posted by Joe Johnson at 04/14/2001 4:06 PM EST


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Dr, Joe's Tough Year?
Posted by Bill Beatty on 04/14/2001 3:46 PM EST:



Bill,

The toughness of the year has nothing to do with how we
finished. In fact, we have had a GREAT year measured
by any objective standard based only on outcomes.

The process this year was tougher than ever.

As I am sure many folks reading this know only too
well, it takes a lot of energy to keep a large
volunteer organization running. This year it took more
energy than ever.

I don't really what to rehash it here, but trust me, it
was a tough year for Chief Delphi.

Balancing home, work, and FIRST is not an easy task.

I am not saying it wasn't worth it, just that it was hard.


Joe J.

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Posted by Anton Abaya at 04/10/2001 5:40 PM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and If only we had free donuts....


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



: Question 4/9/01: What was the most memorable moment of this years national competition?

The most memorable moment was definitely our goodbye scene at the Boston Airport. All the kids came up to me and we all had a big group hug. I heard many "please dont leave the team" words, and even more "thanks anton, thanks a whole lot."

I did this for them, I started a team for them, and now I must leave as my baby has grown up.

Till next year? Ha... let's not even go there yet.

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Posted by Tom at 04/11/2001 1:21 AM EST


Other on team #419 from Umass.


In Reply to: GoodBye All.
Posted by Anton Abaya on 04/10/2001 5:40 PM EST:



What was the most memorable moment of this years national competition???

sitting in the hotel room...talking to my friends ....
419 reborn .....new and improved.....

great work guys....Anton ....419 is because of you and wouldn't exist without you.....

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Posted by Mike Corliss at 04/11/2001 9:02 PM EST


Student on team #419, Rambots, from BC High and :(.


In Reply to: GoodBye All.
Posted by Anton Abaya on 04/10/2001 5:40 PM EST:



I love you anton

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Posted by Tom at 04/13/2001 12:53 AM EST


Other on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and NYPRO.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



As I read the most memorable moments of the year from various people from around the F.I.R.S.T. world I started to think of my own most memorable. Lotaas of great things have happened this year.

1.) I got to be an onfield coach for my team and I had a blast.

2.) I was on the winning alliance at the UTC Regional -It was amazing (126,501,177,69,&175)

3.) I was in a great alliance in Fla. and had great experiences at the nationals.

But my most memorable moment of the year was watching one of my Best Friends walk away with the national championship. It was simply amazing what they accomplish with what they are given. Tom great job and congratulations to the rest of your team (125) and the rest of your alliance.

Tom
Team 126
Clinton/Nypro
Gael Force

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Posted by Pamela at 04/13/2001 8:45 PM EST


Student on team #166, Techno Insanity, from Merrimack High School and Texas Instruments.


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!
Posted by Andy Grady on 04/09/2001 3:48 PM EST:



My most memorable moment of this years competition in Florida was after it was all said and done, sitting at the award ceremonies and watching the 10 year first videos and thinking how this is most of my teams last year together. All the seniors and I got together in a big group hug and cried about missing eachother and all the wonderful memories we have had together. Hearing the seniors talk about their plans for college was so sadding, yet happy because almost every single one of them plans on participating in FIRST at some level with their new colleges!
Pamela 166