Congratulations to the 2011 World Champions - Teams 254, 111 and 973

[Brandon Holley]

Congrats to the World Champions of Logomotion!

The alliance of 254, 111 and 973 was unbelievably strong with a perfect mix of tube scoring, minibot speed and defensive play.

Personally, I can't think of a team who is more overdue for a Championship victory than team 254. The Poofs are an inspiration to just about every team in FIRST. Their designs are broken down, analyzed and duplicated year after year, yet they continuously outdo the competition. A special congrats to my friends on 254.

WildStang is a household name for every team in FRC. 111 fought through a tough season and came out on top of every one. Their consistency year after year is truly jaw dropping. Congrats to 111!

To team 973, I will be honest in saying I did not know much about your team before this season, but I assure you, FIRST knows who you are now. An extremely impressive 2nd round pick which I'm sure left many teams wondering why they had passed over you earlier in the alliance selections. Congrats to you on a job well done.


Logomotion was a very exciting competition and the battles in the division finals and on Einstein showed just that.

Congrats to the new World Champions- 254, 111 and 973!

-Brando

[Akash Rastogi]

Congratulations to Adam and 973 along with an overdue championship title for the Poofs. As Brandon said, 111 and 254 are always the teams we strive to emulate. What many don't know is that 973 should also be a team to emulate. The caliber of 973/1323's robots this year was incredible and both Adam and RC are constantly stepping up their game.

[Chris is me]

973 is the team I want to be. Not because they won a well deserved World Championship, but because they have worked very $@#$@#$@#$@# hard over the past 4 years to make their team the very best it can be, even though they didn't start out with much. That kind of discipline and hard work is something I wish we could do.

Wildstang is something else. They now have a record as dominant as HOT. They're one win away from Beatty. Incredible. I'm so glad The Cheesy Poofs finally won a Championship, too. They've raised the bar for quality in FIRST every single year.

Congratulations to 973, 254, 111.

[Dr.Bot]

254 - Long overdue for a World Championship. What most people don't realize is the "senior" mentors on 254 are not long time NASA engineers. Corey, Travis and EJ are all FIRST Alumni.

I believe EJ was a student team member as far back as 2002 when the Poof's workshop was a storage room in the basement of a NASA computer center building. They shared storage space next to the original 'disk drive.' I mean a 3 foot diameter iron disk powered by a washing machine motor! Corey was a student from Woodside (Team 100). The original mentors on 254 - Jason Morrella, Steve Steve Kyramarios, Bob Homes have all moved on to other things.

The Poof's have always set the bar very high, but also have followed the philosophy of lifting everyone up to their level, not beating other teams down. When the Poof's won the Chairman's Award, I told Mark Leon, "Aren't you proud your team won?" He said, "They are all my teams."

[Duke461]

Does anyone if there are videos of the finals matches yet?
Thanks,
-Duke

[Robby Unruh]

I'm not going to argue who I think should be the world champs, because 254 obviously deserved it, with their reputation and awesome robot this year... but I can't help be feel a little bad for 781 and their field problems, does anyone know what ultimately led to that? All of their other matches went so well.

[Cyberphil]

254- I finally got a chance to talk to a few of you this year. Your robots are always works of art, and this one was no exception. It was also nice to see a few of you behind stage, I just wish you would've joined our conversations!

111- It was nice talking to you guys for a while. You once again had an awesome machine that did not disappoint! This one reminded me of your 2004 bot for some reason. I hope to get to talk to and get to know you more as the years go on!

973- To tell you the truth, I have never heard of you before this competition, but after what everyone here is saying I will be sure to keep an eye out for you.

Congrats to all of you! You really deserved it!

[DustinWyke]

Im not going to say much but a big thank you to 111 and 254.

111, you guys are a amazing team and it was a honor to play with a team of your caliber.

254, this wold champs win is well over due and I am glad we could help you guys. Hella.. Literally.

Thanks everyone for the awesome complements. It was a honor to play will all of the world class teams on Galileo and Einstein.

[cpeister]

At this point we aren't certain of the problem, but we suspect it was the digital sidecar. After the first failure, the drive team tethered it to the driver's station and all was working fine. This wasn't the case when running wireless. It's too bad we weren't able to defend against the powerful alliance of 254, 111, and 973.

Problems aside, we were ecstatic to make it as far as we did. We never expected to make it to Einstein. For that we extend our thanks to 2016 and 177 for making our first championship since 2003 amazing.

[MattC9]

I am very happy for 111, 254 and 973. 3 role model FRC teams that deserved that win (especially 254).

Also don't forget getting to Einstein is no easy task and getting to the finals!? wow. But I think there are 3 other teams that deserve some recognition, 2016, 177 and 781. All 3 are great FRC teams, props to 2016 for getting to Einstein for there 1st time (this was well earned). 177 seems to be a household team on Einstein now (after 5 back to back years of being on Einstein). And to team 781, there 1st year to go to champs AND be a finalist on Einstein is spectacular.

[JJackson]

We also noticed after that or robot "died" when our arm reached 90. We will continue to trouble shoot though.

I would also like to congratulate 973, 254, and 111 on being world champs and say thankyou as well as sorry to 2016 and 177 we really had a great time playing with you guys.

[Nemo]

We were neighbors with 973 in the pits, and they are really nice people. Their robot is extremely polished and well put together, and I hope lots of people saw how great their driving is. I'm glad we had a chance to play against them.

Right before alliance selections, I was talking with them, and they were saying that they'd basically be a liability to most teams as a first pick given their lack of a working autonomous mode. The combination of 254's double uber and other teams' lack of one helped to align the stars to create basically the perfect alliance. I'd be curious to know if they just slipped under the radar or if the team captains were consciously valuing the third uber tube over the super minibot + super driving.

Even if you could pick any three robots from any divisions, it would be tough to beat this alliance. I think it would be fun to see the champs play against 148 and 1114 with 469 on defense.

[biancs15]

781 - At GTR, we were having problems with our banebots motors. When we hit a certain angle with the arm, the whole robot would time out. This is so, because dust and little particles get inside the casing of the motors. After a certain amount of this build-up, the gears hit a certain point and the robot times out. What we did to fix this is connect the battery ends to the casing of the non-working motor and this effectively fries the buildup of particles. I know it is to late now, but you guys should definitely try this for future reference. (This only applies if you are using banebots)

254, 111 and 973 - it was amazing playing against you guys. Between the extremely fast minibots, consistent triple uber-tubes, and 4-5 logos every match, you guys won a well-deserved championship.

I had a great season, and see you all next year!

[JJackson]

we will have to check that out as we are using the bb rs775s. Since this is the fourth competition using the same motor there could quite possibly be build-up.

thanks Austin

[JB987]

Way to go 254, 111 and 973! What an awesome alliance. Special congratulations to the Poofs for finally getting a Championships banner to add to their ridiculously long run of regional and division banners high upon their shop wall. Kudos to 111 for another great Championships effort too. And 973...all of us out West have known of your special team and great robots. Maybe teams back East will start to realize there really are a lot of top quality teams on this side of the Mississippi now.;)

[ks_mumupsi]

254, 111 and 973 were a great alliance and well deserving of the championship.

In week 2 I was on Mike and Justin's broadcast chat and had called 254 to be better than 1114 in my rankings and I got a lot of strange looks and questions. But these guys had a strong robot from day 1, and it only improved event in event out.. Once I saw them paired with 111 I knew this was going to be a difficult feat, also 973 added to that mix, they played shutdown defense on whoever they targeted, great drivetrain and drivers to go along with 254 and 111.

I would also like to thank 177 and 781 for joining our alliance and helping us win the division, there were a lot of tough matches and to get through all of them the way this alliance did was just amazing.

To 781 - I am so glad we were able to get you guys in the 2nd go around, we thought you would be gone for sure. Things happen thats how robots work. But we got to Einstein in many ways because of your capabilities, so no worries about not working, we hope your drivers are not too disappointed not being able to play the 2 matches.

Thanks to everyone for a great championship and an amazing first year in St. Louis.

[ErikEdhlund]

I want to say thank you to everyone who had given us congratulations on here and at St. Louis. It was amazing to see another World Championship in such a short time. I really want to give my thanks and additional congratulation to 254 and 973. I was very excited to have finally had the chance to team with the Poofs and to help assist them to their first and hopefully not their last World Championship. Also if Mark Leon sees this post, we did our math and we double checked our work ;) Also I would love to extend a special congratulation to 973. I was very impressed with your overall robot, especially your minibot. You're the perfect addition to this amazing alliance. Without your minibot, I doubt we would have won that match against 175, 40, and 399 where we won by 1 point. I really am proud to have had the opportunity to meet a few of you. You may not have been a well known team in FIRST, but that has all changed now. I look forward to seeing both 254 and 973 on Einstein again in the future.

[BrendanB]

Congratulations 254, 111, and 973 you all have amazing robots and played Logomotion to its finest!

254 do you now have every competition title for robot performance? :)

[Andrew Lawrence]

Team 254, our brother team. I can honestly say I'm not surprised. For years, you've inspired other teams, helped other teams, and brought a multitude of teams to success (Including us in 2003)! This championship win of yours is long overdue, and will start a chain reaction of future championship wins. Team 256 can't wait to alliance with you again. Team 256 proudly supports team 254! Love you Poofs!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

We are extremely thankful for being asked to join this alliance. It appeared to be a match made in heaven where auto mode, scoring and minibot needs were all covered. We faced some really great teams on our way to Einstein and then our greatest challenges came with the teams from other divisions. It is hard to play against so many teams that we call friends. I think virtually all that we faced fit into that category. Good luck to all in the future.



... but I can't help be feel a little bad for 781 and their field problems, does anyone know what ultimately led to that? All of their other matches went so well.
We likewise feel bad for 781. The field staff reported that perhaps the Classmate dreaded "slow mode" cut in during the first match as everything else appeared normal. During the second match, something failed in a more spectacular fashion. Even the RSL was non-functional when checked at the end of the match. The team suspects as I do, that something in the DSC failed. Often, power supply is the cause, either through metallic debris or loose connections to PD.

[torihoelscher]

I'm not going to argue who I think should be the world champs, because 254 obviously deserved it, with their reputation and awesome robot this year... but I can't help be feel a little bad for 781 and their field problems, does anyone know what ultimately led to that? All of their other matches went so well.

I figured that they needed to ReImage their C-RIO. Normally when that happens to our team Jerry (Mentor) and I conclude that its a C-RIO issue. Last year at FL regional we had some funky things happening on the field because the C-RIO was defected. Sometimes the C-RIO acts a little weird especially when you need it the most.

Also we have LogFiles so we know what is going on in certain places of the robot. I would suggest writing something like that in LabVIEW to be aware of these issues.

I know alot of teams do not like reimaging but this is something we have to do sometimes!!

[AKaul]

Congratulations Team 254, 111 and 973! Well deserved!!

[nuggetsyl]

Congrats to 111,254,973 I have to say wow to your human players. they hit the mark every time on the big stage.

[AdamHeard]

Wow. I'm still shocked this happened, I have so much to say I can't possibly fit it all in this post.

First, I want to thank the people of 254/968. I grew up admiring and learning from their design and style, and am now good friends with them. They have helped us in so many ways over the years, and even now that we're a team that can solidly stand on it's own, we have so much to thank them for. I'm stoked that both our first championship wins were on the same alliance!

I was also happy to see our friends on 968 and 987 pull out a division win (we were hoping to see you in the finals!); I know 968 is a small and somewhat understaffed team like us, so it's awesome to see them reach such success. 987 is just one of those teams that seems to do everything right; if you think their robot is good, the rest of their team is even better! I'm still waiting for them to get champ chairmans.

As for our alliance, wow! I'm still surprised we were around to be the 23rd robot in the draft; we were pretty capable offensively (~6 tubes a match), and many people told us we had the fastest minibot in the division. This combined with 254 and 111, which everyone already knows about, allowed an alliance with an absurd amount of strategic flexibility. The first match of eliminations was truly our first match on defense (it just made sense, 254 and 111 were clearly better at scoring, and with our faster minibot the alliance wanted us to be in position to fire). It was very comforting knowing that in case of a breakdown, or real effective defense from the other alliance, we would be able to switch to scoring and keep up most alliances out there. It was also nice having three minibots that were very fast. I'm glad that even though we were the "defensive robot", we contributed a lot offensively by nearly guaranteeing a first place minibot each match.

The people on the alliances we worked with were great; we planned and worked well together, and every match just seemed to go great. We rarely got in each others way, made some switches midmatch to help each other out, etc...

The alliances we faced on einstein were great, I'm just sad that 781 was down both matches; it'd would have been nice to get an even match instead of 2v3.

Of all the teams we played in the division level, 469 was just awesome. We had pits nearby them, and although we'd never met nor played with any of them before, we were talking and getting along great all weekend. It was awesome to see both of us in the division finals. They not only had a very capable offensive machine, but played some awesome defense when necessary as well.

It was awesome to have so many awesome mentors that I grew up looking up to congratulate us on our victory, it was very surreal! In 2007 when 330 won, they had many spare Einstein seating wrist bands, and let my entire team (294) sit with them. I was glad that since we brought a small team, we were able to return the favor and hook up 330 with some good seats (another team I grew up looking up to! thanks guys!)

I'll cut myself off now, I could go on for days, Thanks everyone! It was a great time!

[SGK]

I want to say thank you to everyone who had given us congratulations on here and at St. Louis. It was amazing to see another World Championship in such a short time. I really want to give my thanks and additional congratulation to 254 and 973. I was very excited to have finally had the chance to team with the Poofs and to help assist them to their first and hopefully not their last World Championship. Also if Mark Leon sees this post, we did our math and we double checked our work ;) Also I would love to extend a special congratulation to 973. I was very impressed with your overall robot, especially your minibot. You're the perfect addition to this amazing alliance. Without your minibot, I doubt we would have won that match against 175, 40, and 399 where we won by 1 point. I really am proud to have had the opportunity to meet a few of you. You may not have been a well known team in FIRST, but that has all changed now. I look forward to seeing both 254 and 973 on Einstein again in the future.

Congrats from BUZZ 175 for making Galileo proud. An awesome alliance!!!! Glad we were able to put up a good fight with the eventual champions.

[Karthik]

It is with no regrets that I congratulate the 2011 FIRST World Champions, Team 254, Team 111 and Team 973. Without a doubt they were by far the strongest alliance in the field of 32, and up there with some of the greatest alliances of all time. Seeing these teams win was extra special for me since I have so many good friends on these teams.

Team 254 -- It was great to see the Poofs win their first ever World Championship, considering the standard of excellence they had set along the way. They now have 30 Blue Banners, 29 won before they claimed their first title. Between 1999 and last week, they were by far the unluckiest team in Championship history, so this title was long overdue. For those of you who don't know the Poofs, they are one of the classiest and more professional teams out there. These guys have been raising the bar for years, and don't get enough credit. We at 1114 are proud to call them friends.

Team 111 -- So much of what I just said about 254 can be said about you guys. Our team has loved working beside you and working against you. Winning your 3rd Championship is just further proof of how dominant you guys have been. Seeing you in action this weekend reminded me of why you're a Hall of Fame team, and why you have so much success. Precision, determination and execution. Simply beautiful to watch.

Team 973 - Can someone explain to me why these guys were still available with the second last pick of the draft. As soon as 254 and 111 got together everyone in the division should have be looking to pick the teams with the highest upside. 973 fit that description perfectly. They had the fastest minibot in the division, along with the potential to put up huge tube numbers. We were crossing our fingers that they'd slip to our alliance to enhance some jarring weaknesses. Unfortunately for us, 254 and 111 were too smart and wisely snapped them up for themselves. It was at that point that it became clear to me that winning the event was going to be an uphill battle for everyone. These guys have been building great robots the past couple of years, and it's about time they got the recognition they deserve.

[waialua359]

Congratulations to teams 254, 111, and 973!
You folks had the best alliance on paper at the start of eliminations in ALL divisions and it clearly showed with the results.
Since the end of the 1999 school year, when Jason Morella/Mark Leon and the Cheesy Poofs brought their robot to Hawaii and seeing it for the first time in our school library, they have always inspired our team for the last 12 years..............as they got us and 368 started the following season.
To be on the floor and witness it with "front row" seats is something that I'll never forget. Even Raul came by our team right before the finals started and said that "they" were doing it for the Poofs!
I could tell from the looks of joy on Travis, Cory, and EJ right after they won, that it made up for all of those previous years.

Congrats again to all of you!

[Bharat Nain]

Congrats 254, 111 and 973.

254 - After all these year's of just bad luck at the championships, it is great to see you finally win it all. Your robots are inspirational and a product of consistent and persistent effort through all the years. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to work with you in the past.

111 - Well, congratulations!!! I'm glad we lost to your alliance.

973 - How you were still available as a pick still baffles me. Great job and you played some great defense.

[remulasce]

I took video of every Einstein match from the front row of the reserved seating, I've uploaded some of the videos and I'll get the rest up eventually. For some reason my phone thinks some are way bigger than they really are and refuses to upload, and when I transferred them to my laptop first they somehow lost all audio.

254- I called it all the way back in San Diego. You were just that good. Woodie thought we were part of your team when we asked for his autograph, though, so I guess people will confuse us with both Beach Bots and you from now on.

111- You guys beat us pretty neatly in one of the qual matches, undoubtedly a top performer

973- Finally time to get our favorite alumnus onto Einstein! Represent!

[Jeremy Germita]

Congrats to 254, 111, and 973 on this well deserved win!

254: Slipstream was an insanely impressive machine, and it is among my favorites this year. all season, I wanted to play against you guys at the top of our game and our arm break in San Diego prevented that. Our dream was realized in the Galileo semifinals, and the better alliance came out on top. All of us loved that tie match that was decided by the minibot race! Congrats on this well deserved win!

111: You guys had a dazzling machine in both aesthetics and performance. It was a blast playing against you guys!

973: I would like to thank you so much. You guys gave us a 10 turn pot when ours failed back in San Diego. You have no idea how grateful we are for that. Your robot was another one of my favorites this year, with your pincher roller claw. Beautifully built and driven. Your team was a blast to work with last fall at the SCRRF fall classic competition. Congrats on your first trip to Einstein and your world championship win!

[Triple B]

hooray for the Poofs, Wildstang, and Greybots.
a well deserved title for a really strong alliance.
next year,
mike d