Thanks to 383 the Brazilian Machine!!

[Ken Patton]

On behalf of team 65, the Huskie Brigade, I would like to thank teams 383 and 903 for inviting us in to such a great alliance at Motorola Midwest. This makes three years in a row as a finalist for us, and even though we "lost again" I am still smiling from ear to ear. You guys played strong the whole time, and the strategy discussions led by Tomas were organized and thorough, even in the chaos of not knowing who we were going to play until the last minute.

The Brazilian influence on our alliance was so cool – there was more hugging/smiling/shirt-trading than I have ever seen before! This was a great experience for us.

Thank you!

Also, congratulations to teams 71, 111, and 537 for putting on an offensive clinic during eliminations. IMHO you guys played the game the way it was supposed to be played and you deserved to win.

[Arefin Bari]

You guys did awesome at Midwest Regional Ken, you guys had one of the most effective robots at the regional. At the same time Brazilian machine had a very efficient machine. 903 filled in as a 3rd alliance to make the alliance a very good competitive alliance. It was fun to sit back at home and watch the friends compete. Only wish if I was there...

[Brian Lesser]

I just want to say congratulations to all three teams. You guys put out a lot of effort into the robot as well as the competition, and I was really impressed.

65 - great programming with Autonomous mode. Every single time (that I saw), you're robot was able to get to the automatic loading station.

383 - Great robot and great drivers to go along with it.

903 - Awsome job. Sorry if I cannot remember specifics at the moment. My memory is a bit blurry (I know it's hard to beleive, but I have short term memory at times :( )

No matter what, all three of you made a great and effective alliance. Keep up the good work, and we hope to see you at Nationals.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

65- You guys did great as usual. 383 and 903 were lucky to be with you. I know we were last year.

383- You guys were great friends to us. A time I will never forget.

903- Nice efficient machine. Could quickly and easily score. We were lucky to see you at both StL and MWR.

[Collin Fultz]

65 - great programming with Autonomous mode. Every single time (that I saw), you're robot was able to get to the automatic loading station.

Huskie Brigade takin it to the grocery store!

:p

[Chris Hibner]

65 - great programming with Autonomous mode. Every single time (that I saw), you're robot was able to get to the automatic loading station.

Thanks for the pub. We actually missed once in 10 attempts.

We were successful in our first attempt on the blue side, but we missed the first time from the red side. Since our arm is offset a little to the side of our robot, we don't exactly line it up the same from the the blue side as we do on the red side. We had to make a small parameter tweak for the red side. After that, we never missed.

Just wait until nationals: we plan to get the tetra and then cap it (then go back and get another if we have time). We also have a few other things we want to try. Should be good fun.

[Jack Jones]

Team 903 made my day when that capped 71's on-board stack. That was hilarious! :D Not verry effective, but hilarious.

[Ken Patton]

You guys did awesome at Midwest Regional Ken, you guys had one of the most effective robots at the regional. At the same time Brazilian machine had a very efficient machine. 903 filled in as a 3rd alliance to make the alliance a very good competitive alliance. It was fun to sit back at home and watch the friends compete. Only wish if I was there...

Just to set the record straight, we were the #3 team in the alliance. 903 played strong the whole weekend and as a result deserved to be picked ahead of us. They played a very effective combination of offense and defense.

[The Cyborg]

Thank you everybody for the congratulations, and I would also like to congratulate 71, 111, and 537 for winning the regional... "There is no stopping the BEAST" :p

Thank you to teams 383 and 903 for being a great alliance! And I would also love to personally thank a wonderful individual (I am terribly sorry that I do not know your name) on team 383 for graciously giving me one of their shirts with no strings attached (no pun intended). I have been feeling the need to give you something back since. So to that wonderful individual from team 383, If you can see this: IOU :) .

I would also love to congratulate team 903 for winning the Judge's Award! I hope your school isn't closing down like the announcer stated... That would be a terrible thing to happen to such a great robotics team!

I would also love to congratulate team 383 for winning the Autodesk visualization award! Awesome concept and animation! Break free from the cages of denial, gain knowledge, and fly into the path of imagination!

I would also love to thank and congratulate Chris Hibner, Mike, and Kevin for helping us win the Innovation in Controls award! You guys deserve most of the credit!

Lastly, as stated in another thread, I would personally love to thank Ken Patton for letting us successfully redesign the arm, you have been through a ton this regional, and me, and all of the team members, love to give you our thanks. :)

See you all next year! :)

Mary

[Tomas]

You guys played strong the whole time, and the strategy discussions led by Tomas were organized and thorough, even in the chaos of not knowing who we were going to play until the last minute.


Hi Ken, reading this, I had to say a few words... Never forget that my robot's belt was stucked in the second match against 45,269 and 706. You guys were really, really great, did an awesome job scoring even more tetras that we though possible, while seated before the quarterfinals... Remember? "Five times 3 is 15, would be awesome". You and Chris got it done!!!

Another thought I can't forget, when I said, "Ken, I think we can't beat them just doing tetras". I was wrong, talking about the semifinal matches... You guys did even better then I believed possible. Everything was perfect!

Every sigle minute that I lost friday's night, watching most part of the first day's matches, was rewarded with a great moment on saturday. As a team, we did it great, graciously and smiling! Everything was perfect during the pick up rounds, and we picked our best choices, doing exactly what I had in mind before. Thanks Manoel for that as well!

So, team 903 and team 65, in special these two special friends, Chris and Ken, thank you so much for the ICREDIBLE time we had. I'm coaching since 2001 and I can't remember the last time I had two such a great partners together, even in our winning alliances in 2001 and 2002.

I thrully hope I have the opportunity to join you again one day!!!

Many, many thanks again,

sincerely,

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Having team 383 present in the Midwest is special every year, but when they bring a truly awesome machine and couple it with some of the nicest people on the planet for a team, it just doesn't get any better. I hope you had a great time while in Chicago, and I hope to see you again next year.

[Tomas]

Having team 383 present in the Midwest is special every year, but when they bring a truly awesome machine and couple it with some of the nicest people on the planet for a team, it just doesn't get any better. I hope you had a great time while in Chicago, and I hope to see you again next year.


Thank you so much Al. As usual we had a great reception at Midwest, and in fact, every year I really feel special in FIRST competitions. Our second year in chicago is not a coincidence. We were there because it really push us hard! A final match against you guys and the Beast? What about that, a really champioship challenge! I remember saturday's morning, this year, talking with Andy Baker about the finals... I was just wondering... why don't you guys, the greatest robots every year, pick up each other? Well, 71 did it... Picked the best... Oh god, what can I do now?

Yes, yes, there was one thing I could do... pick some of the other amazing robots that are every year in Chicago, touch their hearts and make it the hardest fun ever!!! We were really, really close to get there, but much more important, we gave this students some of the greatest feelings in their lifes, something that I'm sure, every single kid that joined a FIRST team will never forget. I can see that in the eyes of each one of our students, that just can't quit, and are making our team even bigger every year.

Once again, congrats teams 71, 111 and 537. Special thanks to our very, very special alliance partners from 903 and 65.

There's also some teams that have to mention:

Special thanks to 107 and 648, you guys were awesome when our arm broke in the first two matches. Great robots and great friends, I'll never forget!

Special Thanks to team 45 and Andy Baker, great friend and great tips always! (Great concert as well!)

Team 81, 108, 525... well, so sorry for those I can't remember right now, but anyway, a special thanks to everyone for the great time we had!!!

That's what it's all about!!!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Tomas,
You are welcome anytime. I wish our home cities were closer together so we could see you more than once or twice a year. Brazil will have a bright future as your students grow and work in your country. I hope you had a chance to tour around while you were here. Maybe next year, you could extend your stay and make two regionals on two adjacent weekends. My best to all your students and adults, they are the best.

[Chris Fultz]

Tomas,
Maybe next year, you could extend your stay and make two regionals on two adjacent weekends. My best to all your students and adults, they are the best.

Tomas and Manoel -

Hopefully Boilermaker and Midwest will be 'back to back' again in 2006 - and you can do a double regional trip. I know that we could find places for your team members to stay in between events to help you with the cost. What a great experience that would be for everyone involved!

Keep it in mind as you plan for next season!

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Ya, You guys were great...i hope we will see you in the near future..and maybe even team up again....