2005 IRI Thank you's and Congrats

[Kyle Love]

I would like to thank all of you who actually knew who I was. I was amazed that people just knew who I was! :ahh:

heres my thank you's now:

Everyone involved : Thanks, for once again, a GREAT IRI! Still raising the bar for off-season comps!

All teams : Thanks for keeping play somewhat clean and not doing silly stuff that really wasn't needed.

234 Cyber Blue : Thanks for doing majority of the set up and fixing the tetras. You guys are great!

Amanda Morrison : Thanks for planning and running IRI, Your a beast.

David Kelly Thanks for setting up the computer systems.

Josh Hambright Thanks for doing the webcam, and more of the computer system work.

Chris Fultz Thanks for being "the corner block" of IRI, your the man!

Libby Ritchie Even through the crap you've went through the past few months you still made IRI awesome!

Andy Baker Thanks for beign the guy that everyone "loved to hate" aka the Head ref, also thanks for being on the board.

Ref crew Thanks for being correct and always backing your decisions, you guys were awesome!

Wildstang Thanks for the great HP comp.

Paul Copioli Thanks for stepping in and being our drive coach for two rounds, kept us out of trouble a few times.

[Goober!!!]

Yes thank you alls i had a blast cant wait till next years IRI!!! :D :D :D

[Ben Lauer]

My thanks:
Andy Baker and the ref crew- Thank you for allowing me to help you all be a referee, I had a great time and I hope to do it again.

Amanda Morrison - I am sorry, but the chicken dance is just too complicated. I had a great time and I can't wait for my two cheesecakes, and in return I'll give you that ride.

Brandon M, Clark G, Chris N, Ricky Q, Katie R, Jess (?), Aaron L, Arefin B, Jeremy R, Greg N, Gary D, Collin F, April D, David K, DJ F, Molly M, Josh H, Jackie (?), and whoever else I forgot - You are awesome. Thats it.

Chris F, Libby R, Scott R, Steve W - Awesome job with another IRI.

and just because amanda morrison is hillarous, and will probably beat me for this.... http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=28086286&context=photostream&size=l

[Josh Hambright]

Okay normaly people put this disclaimer at the bottom but i'm doing it up top because i am extremely tired and will surely forget people, so thank you anyways even if i forget you, everyone there rocked my socks off and made for a great IRI.

Andy Baker: Thank you for letting me ref and for always putting up with me and letting me stay involved in any way i can.

Libby And Scott: You guys rock, we couldn't have done it without your hard work.

Chris Fultz: What can i say, your THE man, your work is never ended and you are amazing to watch in action as you make everything happen!

Amanda and David: My partners in crime as the goto folks for getting things done, thank you guys for making everything so much fun and for helping me rock out indianafirst.org

Brandon Martus: Thank you for help with IRI-Live and keeping me laughing and bringing Jackie cuz she rocks!

Colin Fultz: Great job yet again, keep it up!

Flo and Team 461: You guys did amazing, you make it hard to not cheer for your guys when i have to stay impartial, but a little part of me was right there cheering along with you guys, you were amazing!

Ken Patton: Thanks for always being around to crack a few jokes with! You and your team was a pleasure to watch! i loved your autonomous!!

Paul: Red card man, seriously your DQ'ed for bad jokes and giving the refs a hard time...Great job on the MC'ing as always! thanks for being such a good sport.

Dan Green: Mr FIRST does it yet again! Great job!

Molly: Thanks for the great job running the scoring system, i know it sucks but you somehow have the ability to make it work!

Clark Gilbert: Thanks for the tunes!

Ben Lauer: I hate you, so much, thanks for the ride and the laughs!

Team 233: Pink, yes, awesome, finaly got to see your robot in person, and it was everything i imagined and more! Absolutely amazing!

Sean, Jeff, Amy, Stu, Ben, Kevin, Dan, and Andy: What an amaziing crew of REFS to work with, I look forward to working with you guys again!

All the High School Refs for the Mentor Rounds: You guys did great, keep it up, i hope to see you folks at regionals reffing next year!

Jerry Budd: The best field manager in FIRST, PERIOD!

Dave Flowerday: Thank you so much for doing the webcast, i really appreciate it alot!

Aaron: Great job keeping all the field reset guys doing their jobs!

Tytus and Arefin and Ed: Great job most of the time keeping things running on our side of the field:P Sorry if i had to yell at you guys, but you guys did a great job

The Field Reseters and Quers: Great job, you guys were one of the best crews i saw in action all year!

All the CD'ers i met and all the ones i just hadn't seen in awhile (to many to list): It was great meeting everyone and always good for a laugh when nobody knew who i was until i said "yeah i'm josh, i mean oneangrydwarf" and then seeing the looks on your faces as you made the connection...Bharat Nain special thanks to you for help with the CMU cam calibration numbers!

Karthik: your even more fun in person then i expected. We are the best hecklers of talent shows EVER!

Amanda: Even if you forget me sometimes the slumber party never stops!

John V and Tony: Thank you for coming to our rescue and helping diagnose problems with the field and controls!

Chris Noble and the Nobles: Always a pleasure to be at an event with this family, you guys rock!

Everyone else , seriously, i know this is way to long already but i could make it like 4 times as long if i wrote everyone who helped me or the event and that deserves thanks, i wish i could name everyone individualy, but really everyone in attendance from the janitors of lawrence north to the guys from ifi and all the WFA winners in attendance, everyone made it amazing! Thank you everyone.

[Jack Jones]

Thanks from Friends of 1213 to all of the above for all you did to make IRI-2005 a huge success.

Thanks to 573, 27, and 469 for lending us human players. A special thanks to Melissa (573), you were awesome!! ; so was scorekeeper Molly (461) who operated our boom in the turn-around-round.

Great big thanks to all our alliance partners for giving it your best. Thanks to 48, 830, 217, 1501, 101, and 1529 for helping us finish the way we'd envisioned every match would go - well planned - well executed - :cool:

Congrats to everyone who had the good fortune to attend IRI-2005 !!!

[Ryan Dognaux]

Another IRI has come and gone. I'd like to thank the host teams - 234, 45, 393, 1024. You guys put on another great event. Thanks to the sponsors, judges, parents, mentors, teachers, teams, and volunteers who made this event what it was.

And on a more personal note, some individual thanks/shouts:

- Chris Fultz, Paul Copioli, Dan Green, Collin Fultz - Thank you for giving me some time to MC. I had a blast doing it. :]

- The scoretable: Clark, David, Josh, Brandon and everyone else back there. You did a great job.

- Dave Flowerday + Wildstang, Jason Hoff + Cyber Blue: Excellent webcast and video coverage.

- Andy Baker, Stu Bloom, Dan Swando and all the other refs whose names have escaped me for the moment. I love the card system, FIRST needs to get onboard with something along those lines.

Thanks Elise, Aaron, DJ, Katie, Arefin, Tytus, Lisa, Daniel, Berry and all the others that I may be forgetting. You're all awesome and give me another reason to come to the IRI.

Can't wait for IRI 2006 :]

[Corey Balint]

Too many people to thank. And after a 12 hour drive this may be rough.

Well here it goes.. Thanks to everyone who took the time to help set this event up and make it run soo smoothly.

And a huge thanks to Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts. Without these guys stepping in and acting as our mentors for the weekend, we could not have done so well. They dedicated themselves to our team the whole entire weekend, helping us strategize, scout, and just getting our names out there. I really cannot say enough about what they did for us. Not only did they act as our mentors, but they gave us a hell of a fun time as well. Ive got soo much more to say, but i still can't think straight.

Jess Jank as well for being our saturday pit crew.
Kyle45 for helping us with tools and just everything over the weekend.
Paul Copioli for putting up with my incessant Artest-ness.
Karthik and team 1114 for taking a chance on a group of New Jersey kids and being able to carry us into the Semi's.
Team 71 for being great partners and a huge help when our arm went down in the quarterfinals. Without your help, we wouldve dropped out and not had a chance to work with you so long.
Team 56 for taking our robot out to Indiana in their trailer and just being great friends the whole weekend.

When my brain comes back to me, ill put down some more.

[dubious elise]

Wowie, where to begin...
Arefin - not only were you great entertainment, but you also had Neha's phone number (much appreciated, though I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet!)
Tytus, Aaron, and Bharat - great fun finally meeting you all in person, I expect to be seeing more of y'all in the future
71 and 469 - providing all of us with great stacking entertainment as we tested the new radios
Paul Copioli - great job with "Oconomowoc" and "Dziatkiewicz". If you ever have to do it again, they are similar to "o-kah-no-mo-wok" and "ja-kay-vitch"
Andy Baker - you were so patient with Ricky, I am so amazed and I wish I had your incredible patience!
Ryan - I forgive you for going to see the Killers without me ;) thanks for the laughs, you did an excellent job as an announcer!
The Referee Crew - Josh and Sean especially, thanks for always reminding us human players to stay in the boxes
Team 45 - just for always being around for ... well, facepaint, crazy Kyle antics, creative photography, etc. Austin (rAWr? We Pwned You?) and Greg, I hope to see you next year as refs at BMR. Kyle, I hope to see you next without a cape and a wig, but we'll see about that...
The Spirit Leader from 233 - Congratulations on your award, and of course, your win! I'm so sorry I never even asked you for your name, but I had a great time chatting with you before we played. Hope to see you next year at the Championships and IRI!

and last but certainly not the least, Ricky - you were an amazing coach and Eric and Kevin and I couldn't have asked for a better leader. I know I probably yelled your name out frustration at least as many times as you tried to call me to find out where I was before a match, but don't worry, I did learn a great deal more from you than you think. Like after what almost happened at BMR, I was never late again ;)

[Bharat Nain]

Important: This is in no particular order

Team 56: Thank you very much for helping us with the hotel room, and transporting our robot. Anthony, Meyers, Mike(303, but on 56 for the weekend) - was absolutely great fun hanging out with you guys. Congratulations on the Finalist award - this goes to 330 and 980 also.

Jeremy Roberts and Greg Needel: I just let both of you stay in our hotel room for thursday night because you did not have any other place but not join our team - jeez. Anyway, there is absolutely no way we could have seeded 3rd at the end of day one without you. We owe our success to you. Thanks for all the help and you will always be considered a part of team 25 for your dedication this weekend.

Jess Jankowitsch: Thanks a ton for being our pit crew and battery girl at on saturday. The help was invaluable and you are loved.

Paul Copioli: You pronounced my name right. Thanks for the "Your future is so bright you gotta wear shades" honor. It was really thoughtful of you guys.

Our alliance: Team 1114 and 71. When our finger started having that "super weird" problem I thought we were doomed but you all really stepped up and we figured it out just in time for our next match. Thanks for giving us such a great opportunity to compete against some of the finest teams in the nation with some of the finest teams in the nation.

Winning alliance: You guys truly had a very strong robots and an excellent strategy. Great play and good luck.

Corey Balint: If you did not have the desire to go this post would be invalid and this past weekend would be extremely boring and what not. Good going - you're a great driver.

Wayne Cokeley: Thanks a lot for trusting us and letting us go to this event even though we are coming back with the robot in 2 pieces.

Kyle from 45: Thanks for taking care of us while we were there and assisting us in anything we needed.

The IRI crew: This for for all of you who put in time to put together event - AN AWESOME JOB. I don't want to mention names because I am afraid I will forget someone but we all know who you are and thanks for putting all this together. If it wasnt for you guys I would not have had the most awesome weekend ever.

Neil Parikh: Scout head of our team who put together some scouting data for us. Thanks.

Ashley: You were not physically present there but thanks to my cell phone metally you were. Thanks for making the event fun even though you were not directly present.

My friends: Jess, Arefin, Corey, Vishal, Mike(303), Meyers, Anthony, Kyle, Amanda Morrison, Andy Baker, Katie Reynolds, Elise, Barry, Mike(florida, 1604?), Karthik, DJ, JVN, Jeremy, Greg, Josh, Lisa Perez, and omg.. I can't think of names right now but I will add as I remember. Extremely sorry if I forgot you.

Overall the event was a total blast and probably on of the best weekends in my whole entire life.

p.s.you owe me a cell phone battery ashley..lol jk

[Meyerman]

id like to thank...
25 for heading out to Indiana with us, it was some good times in the cars, truck stops, and hotel rooms.

Corey balint for getting me to eat my first ever fried frog leg

all the folks that had something to do with running and competing in IRI

the people in the Hilton hotel that made our beds and and clean up our mess

the nice hooters waitress that served us on Thursday during that crazy storm

and of coarse to our alliance partners 330 and 980 you guys were awsome teams to work with too bad we couldn't take home the big win.

congrats to 33 233 and i think 868 you guys were awsome, that was an awsome finals round.

[Jeremy Roberts]

Cory and Bharat,

I just got home to Atlanta a few minutes ago. I had blast working with you guys this weekend. When I got to IRI I would have never guessed that I would have the opportunity to work with such a great team of students. From the first day you made both Greg and I feel like part of the team. Thanks for the opportunity to drive your robot in the mentor match. Greg and I pale in comparison to your driving abilities...but we won :D . (Oh and thanks to Amanda for her awesome human player skills :p )

I hope you guys get your arm fixed and take home the gold at your next off season event. Maybe I'll make my way up to one of the regionals you guys attend next year. Until then...later.

[Jverdon]

I want to thank Team 494 and Team 16 In are last match of the day our arm broke off a weld from the gear. They where nice enough to help us get aour arm fixed and ready to go but unfortunitly we were not picked to join any alliances.

We want to thank all the teams at IRI this was a great expierce for us, we learned alot of new things and met alot of new people. This year when we return to Lone Star we will be able to share with the other southern teams about our experiences and hopefully a few of them will join us there next summer.

Thank You, and See You at NATS
Joel
Team Fusion 364
(The Mississippi Team)

[FusionDude364]

Wow...IRI was amazing...
Thank you to all the host teams, all of the work and time you put into the event was very well spent. We had a great time there and would like to say thank you to everyone who made IRI such a great experience. A big thanks to Andy Baker for supporting our team in any way he could. Thanks to the Bomb Squad and the Martians for helping us when we had the problem with our arm, it was much apprieciated. Thanks to Paul Copioli who did find out that we were from Mississippi not Missouri, which was very humorous. IRI was my final trip with Team Fusion as a student, and I cannot think of a better way to end an already amazing life experience. Hopefully IRI will become an annual event for Team Fusion, and thanks for letting us come out and compete one last time this year with some of the greatest teams in FIRST.

[Chris Fultz]

I wasn’t involved with the first IRI way back when, but I went to the 2001 event as a spectator and that was one of my first FIRST experiences. Later that year, Andy asked if 234 and 393 would like to help, and move the event to Indianapolis. We said “yes”, and then Lawrence North said “yes”. Looking back, those have been a very important ‘yeses’ for Indiana robotics.

Each year the IRI has grown in teams participating and in the level of play. If it was a regional, it would be one of the toughest and one of the biggest. At the same time, we strive to keep the small event atmosphere and help everyone have fun while competing.

There are some special things that, in my mind, make the IRI the IRI. Talent show. DSATK. Human player game. Team dinner. Donuts and milk. Student MC’s and referees and field crew. Tetrettes (no where else but the IRI). Senior recognition. Scholarships. Mentor Driver Round. Volunteers from all over the place.

And, my two favorite things. Backpacks for 2nd graders. 75 2nd graders will get off to a better start in school next month due to your generosity. One team brought 7. One of the judges brought one. And the charity auction. The money raised far exceeded anyones expectations. Again, a group of children will have a better day because of you.

All of this happens because there are so many great people who volunteer to help plan and lead this event. Everything happens because so many people want it to happen. There is always risk in naming names, but here I go….

Andy Baker – kept things moving. Field shipments, volunteer recruiting, team coordination, referees, judges, and more and more. We were emailing while he was on the beach…

Mark Koors, for getting power to every pit, and along with Andy B, providing an IRI scholarship. And lots more.

Libby Ritchie – was working on this from her hospital bed. We kept giving her options to back away for a year, but she never took the hint. The booklets, press releases, team signs, recruiting, and lots more.

Amanda Morrison, David Kelly, Josh Hambright, Collin Fultz, Brandon Martus, Jerry Budd, Clark Gilbert, Molly Menges – the web site for registration and scholarships, the auction, the talent show, the scoring, the webcast (with Dave Flowerday’s help, I understand), managing the field, the music. If we asked, they did it.

Paul Copioli and Dan Green – the dynamic duo on the mics. Keeping everything moving, interesting, and light hearted. And, willing to share the mic time so that we can develop more announcer and MC talent to support FIRST events.

Tony Norman and JVN – IFI was there, to support the VEX and the IRI tournament, and to present their scholarship. They chose the IRI to test out some new radio controls and had special practice times late at night and early in the morning.

The huge number of volunteers – amazing that people are willing to come so far to work the IRI. You are all awesome.

Wildstang for the Human Player game.

ThunderChickens for serving us all breakfast.

Waterjet Cutting for the awesome sign.

447 and Ivy Tech and everyone who helped with the VEX tournament.

58 teams willing to come to Indy in July!

The parent crew from team 234 – hospitality rooms, lunches, dinner for 900, host homes for visiting students, field crew, registration, auction, field build and teardown, and lots more. What an awesome group of parents.

The parent crew from 393 – manning the shirt table, helping with dinner, helping with the field build and teardown, and more. Another awesome group of parents.

LNHS – Jeff, Jeff and Karen – whatever we asked for, they delivered. The gyms, the auditorium, sound systems, internet access, concessions, power, the kitchen and refrigerators. And Air Conditioning.

461 for storing the carpet, delivering it, and helping set up and take down everything.

Allison Transmission and Rolls-Royce – for providing scholarships to students and lots of other support to the event.

Team 234 – Scott Ritchie and Steve Wherry and the whole Cyber Blue team – they were everywhere – field set-up and take down, video, moving tables, field reset, tetra repair. Whatever was needed got done. It is great to be a part of this team.

This is probably my longest post ever. Likely I forgot someone real important.

Thanks everyone for an awesome event. :)

Chris Fultz

[Kyle Love]

449 and Ivy Tech and everyone who helped with the VEX tournament

I believe Chris means team 447 Team Roboto from Anderson, IN. ;)

[Arefin Bari]

I just got back home. Its very late at night, but I do want to post in this thread before I crash.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who was at IRI for a GREAT weekend. I was warm welcomed by Chris Fultz when I reached the school Thursday night. The journey started off with the tornado, but it was Very cool.

Thanks to team 45, 234, and 393 crew who made IRI 2005 possible. Special thanks to the parents of IRI who was there to support throughout the whole way

I would like to thank all the mentors who welcomed me to stay with them and working with them. It was a great pleasure.

Thank you Brandon Martus, David Kelly, Ben L., Josh, Karthik and the crew.

Amanda Morrison - Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. I hope that the gift I gave you shows even a bit of appreciation. That was one of the most valuable thing that I kept for a long time.

Thanks for Paul and Dan for keeping it going for two days.

The more and more I see these two mentors in person, the more they amaze me. Andy Baker and John V. Neun. Thanks for all you have done.

There are two particular people that I would like to thank... Ryan Dognaux and Tytus Gerrish, who made this trip possible for me. Ryan let me stay over his house (even though I wasn't there all 3 days), also volunteered to give me rides everywhere I wanted to Go. Tytus has been there for me all the time. He was the one who got me into this and I thank him for that. It was a great weekend.

Thanks to team 116. It was a dream that came true. I was standing right by Dave Lavery trying to dry off their robot. They welcomed me warmly to help them dry off their robot. (Heidi took bunch of pictures of me, I am scared)

I would also like to thank Team 716. Team 716's arm was broken, also the lifter was bent. It was a challenge for me and 716's pit members to come up with a solution. It took us 1 good hour to get the materials, modify the claw and in time that robot was out on the field capping.

Finally, my friends, It was a great time hanging out with you guys (specially team 25, team 56 and Jess Jank who let me stay with them). I would like to point everyone out but the list would be so long. You know exactly who you are for making this weekend one of the most memorable weekend for me.

-Arefin

[Mike Martus]

The IRI continues to be the model for all off season events. The quality of the competition and quality organization of the event is second to none.

There are so many persons to thank, I think I will refer to the previous posts as they cover the thank you list very well. So many people putting forth their skills and expertise its awesome.

So from Team 47 - Chief Delphi a special thanks to team 818 and Team 111 for selecting us as their alliance partner.

Is it to early to sign up for the 2006 IRI????

[Lisa Perez]

Thank you to the IRI crew for another extremely enjoyable competition! You all did an awesome job making sure that the matches went smoothly and that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as possible.

Thanks to all of the mentors who've been there to help me and/or 573 out. To Mr. Kempf and Mr. Charlton, our own mentors - thanks for being there to teach us throughout the year. To Mr. Martus - your help when we were having trouble with the electronics is much appreciated.

To all the competing teams - it was a great and graciously professional competition!

To my friends - you guys keep me going, and have always been my stronghold through everything. Thanks for supporting me through thick and thin the whole time. You know who you are.

[Amanda Morrison]

At so many points this weekend, I had to tell people to 'hang on' or 'be right back' or something similar where I had something to tear me away. Although it couldn't be helped, I wish I could have spent more time with some of the friends I rarely get to see. For me, the best thing about the IRI are the people, and I felt like I didn't get a lot of 'face time' with as many people as I would have liked. For that, I apologize.

Andy Baker, Chris Fultz, and Libby Ritchie - Thanks for all that you do, and letting me get involved even more this year. Chris, thanks for being a great guidance this weekend.

Paul Copioli - Always a fun MC, and thanks for the compliments about my human player skills. However, all gratitude for that was lost during the mentors round when I drove.

Dan Green - I look forward to more events with you as an announcer... the best in the Midwest. Although again, like Paul, the comments about my robot driving skills were NOT exactly appreciated. :)

Josh Hambright, David Kelly, Brandon Martus, and Molly Menges - Thanks for keeping the scoring table going - the event went over really well thanks to your efforts.

Jerry Budd - A great field manager... although you missed my talent show to clean the field! (That's dedication, folks.)

Collin Fultz - I probably owe you the biggest thanks. You're the one that really made the talent show a 'show'. You're a great announcer, and kept the crowd going. I can't thank you enough for everything this weekend.

Clark Gilbert - The best DJ ever. I seriously rocked out all weekend long.

234 Parent Crew - Thanks so much for your tireless efforts! From working with the volunteer room to the silent auction, you were amazing!

Jeff Maberto - Thanks for all your help with the talent show... you and your crew really made it happen. I couldn't have asked for a better help. I'm still sorry about the curtain, though...

Tony Norman and JVN - Thanks to Tony for being my arm driver... we rocked out, I don't care what Copioli and Lavery say. Thanks for the IFI support this weekend, for letting us be your test site, and for your generous scholarship donation.

Ken Patton, Libby Ritchie, JVN, Tony Norman, Paul Copioli, Raul Olivera, and Dave Lavery - Thanks for being a great group of judges for the talent show, and keeping the audience laughing with your antics. You guys are a great bunch.

Arefin Bari - Thanks for your wonderful gift, it means a lot to me. Don't worry about it, though - mentors do it for the rewards, not the awards.

Beth Sweet and Tiffany Gach - 'Twinkie' and 'Bambi' were great in the talent show. Thanks for helping out Collin and I, and really making this a great success.

Teams 25, 48, and 1646 (especially Travis Hoffman and Bharat Nain) - Thanks for letting me be a part of your drive teams this weekend. Out of my three matches (my first times on the field during a match!) I won two, and lost one (by one point). I couldn't have had a better time, and I'm glad that I could help you guys out.

Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts - You guys did a great job stepping up with Team 25, and it obviously paid off in the end. You're both great volunteers and do a lot for the FIRST community... it's always good to see you guys.

Thanks to the Society of Women Engineers, Ball State University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Girls, Inc. of Indianapolis, and the Robot Chicks Union for helping to make the College Fair a success.

And most of all... it was great to see everyone this weekend (here's a short list):
jessjank, Mike Martus, Brandon Martus, Jeremy Roberts, Greg Needel, David Kelly, Molly Menges, DJ Fluck, the Gilbert brothers, Jerry Budd, Gary Dillard, April Dillard, Chris Fultz, Andy Baker, the Ritchie Family, Dave and Sean Lavery, Heidi Foster, Koko Ed Patterson, Dave Scheck, Dave Flowerday, Mike Soukup (Happy Birthday, and I'm sorry about the chocolate cake... I still feel bad), Dan Green, Raul Olivera, Tony Norman, JVN, Ken Patton, Chris Hibner, 'The Stevie', Greg McCoy, Kyle Love, Paul Copioli, Katie Reynolds, Aaron Lussier, Ernie Pacsai, Beth Sweet, Tiffany Gach, Jeff Maberto, Amy Przybylinski, Karthik Kanagasabapathy (the fact that I got cheered for saying your name correctly was amazing!), Chris Byam, the Nobles, the Kelso family (It was great to finally meet all of you!), Ben Lauer, Jason Kixmiller, David Bowker, Jennifer Baldwin, Carolyn Percifield, Steve Florence, Matt Auter, Ric and Courtney Roberts, Chris Husmann, Arefin Bari, Tytus Gerrish, Lisa Perez, Kevin Kolodziej, Josh Hambright, Ryan Dognaux, Barry Bohnsack, and everyone else that was there... all of you made it a weekend to remember. Thank you! :)

/edit: LUIS ENRIQUE QUINONES, I DIDN'T INCLUDE YOU IN THIS LIST BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE WITH TWO Q'S IN THEIR NAME.

[ChrisH]

Team 330 would like to thank 45, 234, and 393 for putting on an event that was worth travelling 1700 miles for!

When we were in Atlanta there were lots of great robots and teams that we didn't get to play with. They were in other divisions and were eliminated before the Finals. IRI gave us a chance to play with legendary teams and we thank you all for showing up! You are a big part of what made this competition great. Choosing alliance partners seemed to to be even more difficult at IRI than in Atlanta because there were so many good picks!

A big thanks to Team 503 for pointing out a huge potential problem with the robot we hadn't noticed. They could have just let us find out the hardway ... but they didn't. That was a very sportsman-like thing to do, and we made sure the Judges heard about it.

It was great to be playing on the same side as 980 for once and to work with Team 56 again. We did better than the last time, but there is still room for improvement.

Special thanks also to 33, 233 and 868. Those were three very exciting and clean matches. It was great to play with you guys and we look forward to doing so again in the future. This was the sort of play we came to IRI for and you delivered.

Finally thanks to the Refs and especially Andy. They were very patient with us as we worked to figure out what to do should a certain controversial situation repeat itself. Reffing is a difficult job and we would have chaos with out them.

ChrisH

[AmyPrib]

Well, I can't say much more thanks than everyone else has already expressed..... but..

Thanks Andy for allowing me to Ref my first event... I've done my fair share of complaining about ref calls, but I actually went out there and put myself in their shoes to see what it's like. It can be tough at times, but it was a lot of fun if you're prepared. You might see me reffing in the future.. :D

Thanks to everyone at the scoring table - you made it look like there were no problems!! Cuz.. there... were none.. yeah.. .

Thanks to Amanda and Lavery for the entertainment - with a little more focus, will, and practice, Amanda might be able to hang.

Thanks to everyone who provided scholarships, and congratulations to those who received them...

Thanks to the volunteers of course, for their continuous hard work on and off the field.

Thanks to the coordinating teams for putting on such an awesome event year after year. It's amazing that teams travel so far just to be included in this off-season event.

Thanks to the announcer's and MC's - it wouldn't be quite as fun without you.. Paul - next time review and practice those names. :)

Thanks to the judges who gave their time to be involved.
Thanks for the VEX tournament.. I only saw bits and pieces, but what an amazing group of robots - some built in a day or less.
Thanks to all the teams who traveled from near and far to create such a great environment.
Thanks to 217 for the breakfast...
Thanks to all those involved in the talent show - some very cool acts, some very talented kids, and some very wacky judges.
Oh, and by the way, congratulations to the winners and all those who made it into the final rounds... With the caliber of teams at IRI, you definitely deserved to be there....
Hope to see you all in 2006!

[Courtneyteam330]

Hey I just wanted to say congrats to 33, 233, 868 for winning IRI! You guys were an awesome alliance and we were honored to be even playing on the same field as you guys. Best of luck in the future!! :)

980 and 56: We had sooooooo much fun with you guys! Thanks for being part of our alliance!

Team 503: Thanks for coming out and supporting us through our matches!!! I know my team and I had a great time with you guys and we really appreciate and love your team! See at the LA Regional next year right? ;)

Thank you also to all the wonderful volunteers and event coordinators who made IRI possible. IRI was an amazing event and I really appreciate all the hard work you do!!!

-Courtney Roberts
330 Captain

[Chris Hibner]

Obviously I want to give a big thanks to the organizers of the event - as always it was the best competition of the year.

A big congratulaions goes out to the winning alliance of 33, 233, and 868.

Another big congratulations should go out to the runner-up alliance of 330, 980, and 56 - what an amazing competition - the finals were a great show.

Here are some more personal "thank-you's":

David Kelly - a VERY BIG THANKS for the rides to/from the airport

Amanda Morrison - Thanks for organizing and running the talent show. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time. It's also safe to say that I always have a great time hanging out with you.

Jeff Maberto - thanks for the help with the DSK show. We (the roadies, that is) couldn't have done it without you.

Tony N. and Andy B. - dinner. very nice.

Ken Patton - for letting me be on his great team. I REALLY appreciate the opportunity. I also really appreciate him giving me the opportunity to drive in the mentors' round - that was great fun.

IHOP - for bringing us good luck. We're going to ask for sponsorship money next year.

Dave Flowerday - Thanks for the mic's and stands. We would have had trouble setting up the DSK show without your help.

Mark Koors - for getting the PA equipment for the DSK show.

Ernie Pacsai, Andy Baker, Brandon Martus, and Dave Scheck - the show was great and I had a blast (being a roadie, that is). What was up with them introducing judges while we were checking if everything was on? :)

Teams 16, 25, 56, 116, 222, 233, 330, 364, 378, 716, 888, 980, 1108, 1114, 1305, and 1507 - for making the long trek to the IRI. It's teams like you that make the IRI so special

I would also like to give a big thanks to all of the people for hanging out and making it such a great time.

Thanks to everyone that participated for making this the best competition ever!!

[Masterfork]

thank you to 33 and 868 for there great allaince
and thanks 330 and there alliance cause that was the hardest final matches i ever played and i liked the competition between us

and thank you to all who helped with the IRI

Also i would like to thank 234 for letting our team stay with them it made our trip alot more fun and less stressful

and this was a really great event and we will try to come back next year probably

[rufu5]

I just want to think the IRI planning committee for letting us run the first ever open to the public VEX tournament at the IRI this year. Thanks Andy
Baker, Libby Ritchie, Chris Fultz, and everyone else who made IRI possible.

Thanks David Kelly and Josh Hambright for all your help with the IndianaFirst website and the press releases.

I also want to thank ALL the teams who participated, esp the ones who came from out of state, and the ones who built their robots the day of the tournament. Thanks a ton to John Wanniger from team 22 "bots 4 life" from WI for getting us all the match scheduling software we needed.

I want to give a GIANT thanks to Tony Norman from IFI for making the VEX tournament possible, and being our celebrity field starter. I also want to give a BIG thanks to Dave Lavery for hanging out with us and starting our finals matches.

And of course, I want to think the RoboEducators, because without them none of this would have been possible. Thanks Dan Ward, Marci Cochran, Luke Ward, Ken Berry, Steve Bardonner, and everyone else working with the RoboEducators.

I also want to thank everyone else who worked behind the scenes, built robots, came and watched the matches, cheered on our central Indiana vex champions, and made this a GREAT success.

[Kyle Love]

<forgot to thank some people earlier>

Thanks to Rufus Cochran, Marci Cochran, Dan Ward, Luke Ward, Steve Bardonner and Tony Norman for putting on a great VEX tourney at IRI. I hope theres one next year!

[Ashley Christine]

I was not able to make it to IRI. And was very sad.

First and foremost I want to thank Bharat for answering the phone at 2am thursday night and talking to me until 5am. I was having a bad day... and then my parens told me I couldnt go, so from Indiana he helped cheer me up!

I want to thank Bharat and Corey for calling me the night they got there, to see how I was doing and find out if I was going. Sorry I couldnt make it guys! I missed you.

I want to thank -- Bharat, Jess Jank, Corey, Mike(303), Meyers, Arefin, Barry, Vishal, Anthony and whoever else stayed with Bharat/Corey-- for talking to me everynight till the late hours of the morning on speakerphone about anything and everything. It made it like I was there only not. You guys are the absolute greatest!

I want to say sorry for killing Bharats cellphone battery. lol. I AM SORRY BHARAT! I think I killed Coreys too... sorry. lol

Thats okay tho, because my cordless phones died multiple times. So we are all even.

I want to thank Koko Ed for offering to bring me. Its a shame we couldnt make plans sooner, but its okay that things did not work out. Thank you for the thought though, and maybe we can do Wonderland! =) lol.

I also want to thank Wildstangs for the webcast... I slept in too late and missed most the matches.. and was busy on friday... but, it made my weekend that much better to at least see quarters, semi's and finals. =) [25 should have won! =P]

So thanks again Corey and Bharat for letting everyone use your cellular devices to keep in contact with me! I hope I didnt use too much of my own long distance to call you guys!

Love yah all!!

[Andy Baker]

This is a great event, and many people deserve much credit. Personally, I enjoy IRI more than all other events of the season. My only regrets are that I get so busy to spend time with friends who attend.

My thanks go out to:

Chris Fultz, for your overall leadership of IRI, coolness, wisdom, and ability to deal with my pickiness.

Libby Ritchie, Scott Ritchie, for your grace under pressure, your friendship, and the attention to detail to make IRI what it is.

Mark Koors, for giving power to all of the pits, for getting equipment for the talent show, and for leading the field packing on Saturday. Also, thank you for the wonderful friendship and partnership.

Amanda Morrison, for taking on a leadership role and paying attention to many IRI details, especially in managing the talent show, silent auction, indianafirst.org website, and college fair tables.

Josh Hambright, for managing the indianafirst.org website, working through scoring system issues, and serving as a referee.

Stu Bloom, Kevin K, Ben Lauer, Amy Przybylinski, Sean Schuff, Jeff Schunn, Dan Swando, for rounding out the best referee crew ever. Thank you for your hard work, your attention to detail, your class, your patience with me, and your ability to listen to the teams.

Steve Wherry, for your "above and beyond the call of duty" actions of registering teams and accounting for the event, all during the same time that you and your wife were having your first baby.

David Kelly, for managing the indianafirst.org website and working through scoring system issues.

Rufus Cochran & Scotty from team 447, for leading the effort to make Vex a great event. You did an outstanding job of developing the game & field, and providing a fair tournament for the competing teams.

Dan Ward & Marci Cochran, for instigating the Vex movement in Indiana and empowering Rufus and Scotty to do great things for the IRI Vex competition.

Dean, Eddie, Lars, Slash & Ozzy... you guys rock!

Dan Green & Paul Copioli, the best announcing duo in FIRST, for keeping the crowd pumped, well-informed, and creating an electric atmosphere.

Jeff Maberto & Jeff Smith, for helping with every facility issue imaginable at Lawrence North

Joe Turckes & Team Ford FIRST, for keeping a FIRST field in the Midwest and allowing our competition to use it.

Scott LaBundy & BAX Global, for shipping the FIRST field from Michigan to Indiana and back, along with other shipping help you gave to our event.

Tony Norman, for taking the time out of a busy schedule to attend IRI.

JVN, for bringing Tony, for listening to me, for helping to keep Amanda sane, for buying the quilt, and for continuing to be a friend.

Jerry Budd, for being the best field manager I've ever worked with. Not one match needed a re-start or a replay.

Molly Menges, for your dedication in keeping the scoring system working throughout the tournament, and for your patience with my mistakes.

Steve Florence, for coordinating the effort of 461 and 1646 to help IRI with tarps and volunteers.

Brandon Martus, for helping with the indianafirst.org issues, and for scoring help during the IRI, and for being B.Slash's roadie.

Ken Patton, for being the best "sounding board" for my questions, and for bringing sense to a touchy situation.

Dave Flowerday, for the equipment on Friday night and for the ability to provide a webcast of IRI.

Collin Fultz, for helping to coordinate the awards, for doing an good job as field announcer, and for doing an even better job as the talent show m/c.

Clark Gilbert, for rocking the house as the IRI DJ.

Attending teams, for making the effort to attend, for having patience with the match schedules and picky referees, and for helping IRI contribute to our Indianapolis community through your generosity.

TechnoKats, for helping with field setup & teardown, pit electrical setup & teardown, building the awards, and representing our team well at the event

Team 234 students, for doing field setup & teardown, pit setup & teardown, resetting the field, video recording the event, tetra repair, and countless other tasks.

Team 234 parents, for providing Friday night food, caring for the Crew and Judges, for helping with field setup & teardown, for managing the silent auction, and for many other tasks

Team 393 parents & students, for helping setup and teardown the field and pits, for assembling the awards, for helping to sell t-shirts and provide dinner on Friday.

Mike Trapp & Waterjet Cutting of Indiana, for providing award tetra clovers, for working with Stu Bloom and providing an outstanding sign for the Hague Road entrance... waterjetted for free... and congrats on winning the Vex challenge. (pssst... if anyone wants waterjet work done in Indianapolis, Mike provides great service and pricing)

Judges for taking the time to listen to every team at IRI, for making great choices as award winners, and for taking time out of busy schedules to serve as judges.

Dave, Nancy & Kristen Kelso for spending a summer "vacation" at IRI, serving as judges (Dave and Kristen) and field queing (Nancy).

Talent show acts, for having the guts to get up in front of your peers and perform. Good job to all. Start working on your acts for next year.

Aaron Lussier, Tytus Gerrish, Arefin Bari, Gary Dillard, April Dillard, & Ed Patterson, for travelling from far, far away to attend IRI and help as field resetters.

Joe Lambie, Jeff Mathis and Katie Reynolds, for keeping up the tradition of having team 93 members helping make IRI a great event, in serving as volunteers.

Entire team 93, for helping clean and pack the field after the awards ceremony was over (they've done this for many years).

Bharat Nain for trying to figure out our CMUcam calibration issues.

Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts, for coming in and helping team 25 do so well.

Teams 1114 and 1305, for crossing the Canadian border and venture into our Hoosier state to compete at IRI... this gave us the great opportunity in having Dominic & Kristen sing both anthems at opening ceremonies.

Wildstang crew, for providing an exciting Human Player competition.

... and everyone else who helped make this event spectacular.

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

[Mike Schroeder]

Even though I was MIA at IRI this year, I have a few people to thank, well only 2, Greg and Jermey for helping out my team, when it should have been me being there, because i ended up bailing out relativly last minute, and screwed everyone up, so thanks to them for comming to 25's aid

[Dave Flowerday]

Well, I'm sure if I tried to make a list of individuals I'd miss quite a few, so I'll just keep it simple:

Thanks so much to everyone who helped out in making IRI the success that it is. Some of the people involved are very visible and well-known, and others are discreet and behind-the-scenes. Regardless of which group you may fall into, please know that we appreciate your effort. You all put on one amazing event, and I think even FIRST could learn a thing or two from you. The fact that IRI rivals some of the best regionals in the country and manages to do it on what I imagine is a small fraction of their budget is truly amazing.

[Karthik]

On behalf of Team 1114, I'd like to thank the IRI planning committee and all the teams who attended for providing such a warm reception for your friends from the north. Not for a single moment did we ever feel like outsiders.

To Team 71, we've wanted to work with you guys since Atlanta. I'm glad we finally had the opportunity. I can't wait until we try it again.

Team 25 & Honourary members -- Considering the small group that you brought, it was amazing how many obstacles you were able to overcome.

Team 1305 -- To me, your team is the epitome of class. That's for taking the plunge into the states with us. Let's do it again sometime. See you in Wonderland.

To everyone involved in the Radio Test -- Thanks for turning what should have been a monotonous task into an hour of pure hilarity.

Overall, IRI was just a fantastic time. To those who've never attended, you have to try it. There's just something about the atmosphere that is unparalleled. I can't really explain it, I think it needs to be experienced.

See all of you next year, eh? :)

[Koko Ed]

I had some serious fun in Indy (though I haven't gotten lost so much since I've been in Boston. A much easier city to get lost in).
It was great seeing all those FIRSTers and catching up with them particularly Arefin, Tytus and Jane. You guys were great. Also the guys on 25 and 56 (I hope the shaving cream incident blew over. Just remember in FIRST it's always fun til somebody gets billed ;) ).
Thanks to the vent organizers for the event and putting up with me I promise to be more attentive next year (if I don't end up driving all the way to Louisville :rolleyes: ).

[Travis Hoffman]

I would like to echo everything that's already been said about the IRI and the people who help make it one of the best experiences of my robotics year. This event is absolutely wonderful, and it is by far the best bang for your buck you can possibly obtain at a FIRST-related competition. In my experience, your organization, preparation, and execution of every minute detail is rivaled only by the Canadians at the Greater Toronto Regional. The level of volunteer support at these two competitions is just phenomenal, and it is no coincidence that these two events are my favorites.

A few specific thank you's:

FIRST of all, thank you so much to Paul, Scott, and Dan - the three Team 48 students who worked so hard before the trip to upgrade our robot and serve with me as the Delphi E.L.I.T.E. contingent at the event. This was really a "rogue" event for our group - we financed, prepared for, and traveled to the event on our own. Competing as part of a four-person crew instead of the usual 30 or so really was an eye-opening experience. These three kids did an outstanding job getting the robot ready and performing roles they weren't used to performing. Facing much stiffer competition, we eliminated many of our bot's most glaring design problems and greatly improved on our Atlanta performance. We played the game hard with a good mix of defense and improved offense - the Team 48 way, we had a lot of fun, and I can think of no better way for four old Team 48 vets to end the 2005 season together.

A huge thank you to Amanda Morrison and Karthik Kanagasabapathy for serving as 2/3's of Team 48's drive team during the mentors' only round. Amanda, you did an outstanding job - going above and beyond the call of duty to resupply those tetras at the human player station as co-pilot Karthik methodically dropped them over and over (and over and over and over and over) again. But hey, K-man gets an A+ for persistence - we finally did cap that right center goal, bud, and it secured the center row for the alliance. Huzzah! I only wish I could have envisioned this scenario sooner - it would have made for a great comedy act for the Talent Show!

Thank you to Andy Baker and the refs for once again setting the performance standard to which all other refereeing crews should be held. You constant efforts to keep teams in the loop and communicate to everyone in attendance was truly appreciated. You LISTENED to us just as much as you informed.

Thank you to Teams 1114 and 1305 for once again coming down to U.S. turf and showing everyone what Canadian FIRST teams are made of. If only more American teams would return the favor by coming up and competing at Greater Toronto and Waterloo. Ask Karthik or anyone on my team - it's really not that difficult to cross the border to go to these competitions. I think we need to try and balance the flow of teams to competitions in both our nations, because right now, the Canadians are whooping our butts in their efforts to attend events on "unfamiliar" turf.

Finally, my apologies to all of those people I recognized but failed to introduce myself to at the event - I get so caught up in the competition that I often neglect to socialize with people on other teams. In the future, please do not let my team-centric ways get in the way of our introduction - feel free to butt right in and say hi.

[MissInformation]

Thanks to team 116. It was a dream that came true. I was standing right by Dave Lavery trying to dry off their robot. They welcomed me warmly to help them dry off their robot. (Heidi took bunch of pictures of me, I am scared)

-Arefin

Tytus and Arefin were very helpful with drying off our robot and WD-40ing the rusty parts, and it is team 116 that should be thanking them, not the other way around! But I don't know why Arefin is so afraid of the photos I took. (http://www.factorfantasy.com/Photos/Arefin.jpg)

And I say ditto on the thanks going out to all of the people who made IRI possible! It was rather a nightmare trip for our team, what with everything that broke down (including Dave's mini-van on the way home which gave us an unwanted night in Ohio) but it's kind of hard to call it a nightmare when it was so much fun!

Heidi

Heidi

[Koko Ed]

Tytus and Arefin were very helpful with drying off our robot and WD-40ing the rusty parts, and it is team 116 that should be thanking them, not the other way around! But I don't know why Arefin is so afraid of the photos I took. (http://www.factorfantasy.com/Photos/Arefin.jpg)

And I say ditto on the thanks going out to all of the people who made IRI possible! It was rather a nightmare trip for our team, what with everything that broke down (including Dave's mini-van on the way home which gave us an unwanted night in Ohio) but it's kind of hard to call it a nightmare when it was so much fun!

Heidi

Heidi
That should be a smiley!

[Kevin Kolodziej]

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic event! The IRI is consistently the best event of the year for me and it looks like I'm not alone.

Thanks to all the teams for making life easy for the refs and playing good, clean, Triple Play!

Thanks to Andy Baker and the rest of the refs for making this IRI the most memorable for me yet!

Thanks to all the participants in the talent show for sharing your awesome abilities. I am so jealous!

Thanks to all the talent show judges for providing non-stop hilarity.

Thanks to Amanda for organizing the talent show! Can I book you for my next event??

Thanks to the planning committee for everything, from the competition, to VEX, to the talent show, to the auction, to the food, to the dinner, etc.!

Thanks to everyone involved with the field reset/repair, especially Jerry and Arron - you guys rock!

Thanks to Team 233, The Pink Team, for coming so that I could finally see your beautiful machine in action!

It was great to meet Jerry, Arron, and Ben (amongst many others) in person!

It was great to see countless old friends, especially Jtosh, Katie, and John W.

Thanks to Arron, DJ, and Katie for one of the best dinners on Thursday ever.

Thanks to Paul and Dan for great announcing, as always. Paul, I'm glad you have terrible aim when it comes to small candy!

Finally, congratulations to all scholarship winners, auction winners, and award winners on a job well done!

Kev

P.S. no more exclamation points, I promise!

[cyborgvr]

-yea i definately have to thank Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts for helping our team of only 3 people. we learned some very valuable strategies and scoring methods. without these guys we wouldnt have gotten as far as we did. to think from one nite you guys stayed at our hotel and became awsome coaches for us the next day. so thanks again guys!

-also wanted to thank our partners and teammates from team 71 and 1114 for helping us out with our arm trouble and providing us with tools when needed. Most important of all thanks for picking team 25 as an alliance partner. thanks to karthik(1114) and mr. beatty(71) for stratigizing with us.

-special thanks to team 56 for bringing our robot along and for booking the hotels for us. it was a great competition and one that we are definataly comming back to.

-Jess Jank from 103 for helping us out in the pits and during the qualifying and elimination rounds.

-thanks to corey balint and his dad for generously bringing me and bharat down to Indiana and back.
-and thanks to everyone who competed with us and made our trip a very memorable one.

[JVN]

On behalf of Innovation First, myself, and Tony Norman I'd like to congratulate everyone involved in putting on the IRI for a truly fantastic event. We had a great weekend, and really appreciate the hospitality we were shown.

Congratulations especially for the successful Vex competition. We were very impressed by the way it was run, and were excited to see it play out. Special kudos are due to Scott and Rufus from 447 for the hard work they put in on the game itself.

We'd also like to congratulate Lisa Perez, winner of the innaugural IFI-IRI Scholarship. Good Luck in the future Lisa! We were overwhelmed with the quality of the scholarship submissions, and impressed with the candidates. I only hope that next year we can continue to offer a scholarship, and hopefully receive many more applicants!

As some of you may know, Innovation First performed the first "competition conditions' test of a new radio system at the 2005 IRI. We were VERY pleased with the results, and certainly excited to see the system perform well enough that drivers stated "We can't even tell the difference". (This system is being evaluated for possible implementation in 2007.) Special thanks to the IRI organizers for allowing us to perform this test, and to the following teams:

Teams who helped with the morning test:
217, 234, 980, 47, 45, 461

Teams who helped with the evening test:
71, 65, 1114, 217, 269, 469

You've all done us a great service, and we appreciate it.
Hopefully you had a little fun in the process.

IRI continues to be one of the most exceptional FIRST events I've attended. I am excited that Innovation First can play even a small role in the event, and hope we can continue to do so in future years. Again, kudos to all involved.

Take Care,
John

[Sean Schuff]

One word...WOW!

Each and every year the IRI gets better. 58 teams, a VEX tournament, a talent show, mentor matches, HP competition...what will you come up with for next year?? I can't wait to see!

I would like to personally thank a few people from this year’s IRI...

Andy Baker - thanks for inviting me back to be a ref. Apparently I didn't mess things up too bad last year and you found me worthy of a repeat performance. It is an honor to work with you.

Stu, Josh, Amy, Kevin, Dan, Ben, Jeff - what an awesome reffing crew! It was a privilege to work (WORK?? Okay, it was more like play!) with such a quality group. I hope I get the chance to “work” with all of you again in the future! Best seats in the house belong to us!

Joe, Jeff and Katie - you three are awesome alumni of team 93 and are the role models for others on our team. Many of our current members know you by name only since the stories I tell them about the history of our team usually involve at least one of you! Thanks for reflecting so well on our team - you will always be members of the N.E.W. Apple Corps.

Chris Fultz and Libby Ritchie - along with Andy, you two put toghet one heck of an event! Libby, I don't know how you did it considering all you have been through - you are wonder woman to be sure! Chris, you are the answer man and always right where I could find you. Thanks to all of you and your team of volunteers for a wonderful event.

Lisa Perez - for knowing who I was solely because of these forums. How wild is it that someone knows who you are only because of CD?? Thanks for introducing yourself!

Dan Green and Paul Copioliolioliolioil with backup from Collin Fultz and Ryan Dognaux – great talent on the mics. Ease up on the ref razzing or I’ll see to it that Baker has his own microphone next year so he can defend the herd of zebras on the field.  You guys were fantastic and kept the matches moving and the mood light. I enjoy the banter between all those around the field.

Thanks to all who were there. I may not have seen you or know who you are but I know IRI would not have been the same without you. It’s all about the people!

See you all in 2006!!

Sean