Michigan Off Season Event! The Big Bang! hosted by TnT 280 and The Taylor SportpleX

[TNT280Staff]

We are happy to announce that we are hosting an Off Season Event at the Taylor SportsPleX located at 13333 Telegraph Rd, Taylor, MI 48180!

It will be the weekend prior to IRI for teams looking to practice for that event. with a cost of $250.00, save $50.00 if registered prior to May 31st.


http://i.imgur.com/Ak9DoDv.jpg

For more info contact
Joseph Horth
jwhorth@gmail.com

As teams register we will add them here as well.

68
2620

[headlight]

Am I correct in assuming this event will take place at the Taylor Sportsplex located at 13333 Telegraph Rd, Taylor, MI 48180 ?

[TNT280Staff]

Yes it is.

[IKE]

2 fields or 1?

[TNT280Staff]

As of right now we have 1 field. Our intention is to give teams who maybe haven't experienced a playoff scenario yet to do so.

[TNT280Staff]

Attached is the registration form for our event. Please email this form filled out to Joseph Horth at jwhorth@gmail.com

[TNT280Staff]

Just a few short weeks to save $50 dollars! Practice before IRI!

[Jim Schaddelee]

Is there a list of the teams that have already signed up? Not that it is that important, more for curiosity.

[TNT280Staff]

68
2620
123
3175
3604
2337


Here's an updated list of those who registered thus far!

[TNT280Staff]

We were also wondering what fun things you'd like to see at our event? such as mentor matches or any other fun things

[Adisai1]

We were also wondering what fun things you'd like to see at our event? such as mentor matches or any other fun things

Is it possible to have matches from the couch division as well?

[TNT280Staff]

Is it possible to have matches from the couch division as well?

Not quite sure what that means, sorry!

[marccenter]

Dear TnT,

Do you know how many matches there will be for each team?

Regards,

[TNT280Staff]

We're looking to do 8 matches per team, not sure what the total amount played will be off hand. (Colorado Regional had 48 teams and played 82 Matches with each team playing 11 matches so it'll be less than 82)

[GaryVoshol]

We're looking to do 8 matches per team, not sure what the total amount played will be off hand. (Colorado Regional had 48 teams and played 82 Matches with each team playing 11 matches so it'll be less than 82)

Formula is [teams] * [matches per team] / 6
(round up)

[Clinton Bolinger]

Can we get a team list update?

Thanks,
Clinton

[rtfgnow]

Can we get a team list update?

Thanks,
Clinton
I second this.

[Joe J.]

Is there an agenda out so we can start planning our transportation? And a team list...

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

[TNT280Staff]

So sorry for our tardiness, our apologies we are learning

The Agenda is:
The BIG BANG! 2016
Thursday July 7th
3:00pm Initial Setup (Volunteers and immediate non-field staff)
3:30pm Field Arrival and Setup (Teams may choose to come and help out, food will be provided)
4:00pm Team-Pit setup
10:00pm Pits Close
Practices matches will run until 10pm once the field is setup

Friday July 8th
9:00am Opening ceremonies
9:30am Qualification Matches
1:30pm Lunch (Concessions will be available to teams and spectators at the SportsPleX and a document with surrounding food establishments will be provided at the competition, volunteers will be provided food all weekend)
10:00pm Pits Close
Proceeding lunch qualification matches will resume

Saturday July 9th
9:00am Opening Ceremonies
9:30am Remaining qualification matches will be played
Immediately proceeding the last qualification match will be Alliance Selection followed by Lunch
After the Elimination Matches conclude the award ceremonies will begin
Field tear down will happen after award ceremonies
A complete schedule will be provided at the competition.


Paid Team List:
68
226
247
815
313
862
3604
1025
1250
2337
2620
3175
3656
5090
4390
1076
1481
280
2832
3656
5050
3547
123
5530

WE STILL HAVE OPENINGS AND WOULD LOVE TO FILL THEM, TELL YOUR FRIENDS, HELP US MAKE THIS EVENT A GREAT ONE!

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

snip

3656 is on your team list twice.
Are they taking two robots, or is this a typo?

[Joe J.]

What time do pits open Friday and Saturday morning?

[TNT280Staff]

Typo on the 3656. It's actually 3604 that has entered 2 bots.
Pits will open at 8am Friday and Saturday

[Nyxyxylyth]

It's actually 3604 that has entered 2 bots.

What do we call them now? Goon Squad Squared? DoublePlusGoon?

[TNT280Staff]

I think they are going with a simple A and B

[rstrawsi]

Kinda like the names...but is it really "Too Many Goons?" Keeping it simple is probably better though.

[jaunvie]

Are there any rule changes, or field changes we should know about?

[rstrawsi]

I believe the rules and field are the same as they were for the regular season.

[GaryVoshol]

I believe the rules and field are the same as they were for the regular season.

Can't be - there's no portcullis, unless FiM is going against FIRST's directive to not use it.

[TNT280Staff]

We will have a meeting with the teams to decide what to use (of existing defenses) to use in place of the portcullis. How did MARC handle it Gary?

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

We will have a meeting with the teams to decide what to use (of existing defenses) to use in place of the portcullis. How did MARC handle it Gary?

I can tell you from being there that MARC had static defenses the whole event. They picked the four defenses (one from each defense group) in the best shape and used them the entire event.

[JDemaray]

The MARC did adopt a static defense set and the defenses were the same for both red and blue. The thinking for this can be outlined as follows:
1. Less down time between matches keeping the cycle for the event smoother. (It did accomplish this)
2. Since Monroe Public High School Gym is not air conditioned (yet) the safety of the field reset with respect to the potential temperature was considered. The gym while getting toasty never did become beyond toleration as additional fans were purchased for the event and made for a good flow through of air.
3. Since the MARC is an off-season event many teams use it to train new drivers. Providing a consistent field would help new drivers develop over the course of the event and not have to change strategy but be concerned with skill enhancement.


Jeff Demaray
1528 MTR Mentor
MARC Organizing Committee
http://monroecountymarc.wix.com/marc
Email jeffdemaray@yahoo.com

[TNT280Staff]

Here is the updated agenda and team roster.

[angelah]

I would like to congratulate TnT on an amazing first year for The Big Bang! Thank you for a wonderful opportunity to introduce our younger students to FIRST in the off-season and a chance to play the game again. This event had some of the best volunteers you'll find, was well-run, and was in about the best facility we've ever played in.

For those who didn't attend, you really missed out: we got to play "night Stronghold" under the lights. So many people scrambled to make the event continue on Saturday after a sudden storm Friday night took out power in the area. I know it was a headache for those running the event, but it was an awesome way to play matches!

Team VIRUS 3547 would like to thank 1250 Gator-Bots and 280 TnT for inviting us to play with you despite the fact that we were running new drivers every few matches. :eek:

It was great to get to know some teams we haven't been able to spend a lot of time with before - 4390 ATA Coregears and 815 Advanced Power just to name two, you both have great students and it was a pleasure working with you guys.

[rstrawsi]

The Goon Squad would also like to congratulate TnT (Team 280) on a FANTASTIC and successful Big Bang off season event! For a 1st year event and having to deal with a power outage due to a pretty severe storm that went through the area, the event didn't miss a beat. The Taylor Sports Plex was a great facility to host the event with more then ample room than most of us are used to. Thanks to all the volunteers - you ran a great event! This was a great opportunity for us (we had 2 teams) and all the other teams to have students try some things they normally would not (I'm pretty sure everyone was rotating drive teams).

I will echo 3547's comments about playing Stronghold under the lights (due to the power outage), it was a cool new spin on the game. I know many of us would had a problem to finished playing under the lights.

Once again CONGRATS to Team 280 - TnT - on a your inaugural Big Bang event...we had a 'BLAST' this year and enjoyed getting know some teams we didn't during the competition season. We look forward to playing again next year!

[JohnTu]

Here are some cool pictures of the field in the dark. Excellent job by our host 280 TnT for continuing the competition with power outage.

- John

[JohnTu]

Here's a video playlist of the Big Bang elimination matches:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjO_hJ-NRFduy4SXZ2qKPvJZIT_cMR4XB
Quarter final match #5 between alliance #1 and #8 was missed as we got distracted and forgot to push the record button.

Team 226 Hammerheads would like to thank our alliance partner Team 1481 The Riveters for giving us a great run all the way to the finals. The two tower captures during our semifinals were outstanding.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 5050, 3604, and 815!

We also thank team 280 TnT for hosting a wonderful event under adverse weather conditions and power outages!

- John

[TNT280Staff]

We would like to thank all those who participated and were so very patient with the challenges we faced. We had the best of the best in our corner during this event, thanks Tom Nader for absolutely everything. Thank you Ellen Green our FTA, you never missed a beat and kept everything with the field running so smoothly that we never fell more than 30 minutes behind and finished both days a little ahead of schedule. A huge thanks to the DADARA board members for stepping in to volunteer, Ellen Pfaflin and Bob Koehl your expertise was invaluable. We'd also like to thank our Mayor Rick Sollars, Cassandra Harris from the SportsPlex, Jeff Dobek our Parks and Rec Director. We couldn't have pulled this event off without our Principal Jackie Lancina and her husband Mike, and School board member Deb Stellini, Parents Mike & Trish Mansfield and let's not forget the man behind the cone, our announcer Russ Harris. We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves, and that next year is an even bigger bang!

[TNT280Staff]

Any pictures of the event you'd be willing to share would be greatly appreciated, please email them to joseph.horth@taylorschools.net, We would like to use them for a photo collage and possibly a website. Thanks

[JohnTu]

Any pictures of the event you'd be willing to share would be greatly appreciated, please email them to joseph.horth@taylorschools.net, We would like to use them for a photo collage and possibly a website. Thanks

Here are the Flickr photos from 226 https://www.flickr.com/photos/hammerhead226/albums/72157670983797285
There are some pretty cool in-the-dark shots.

- John