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Nope. Mark Leon.

'Nuff said.

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Blair and Jeff are unquestionably the two best MCs in my mind. Dave, Karthik, and Mark are also among my favorites.

Jeff has the bonus of being a terrific game announcer as well.

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Agreeing with SuperNerd256 Mark Leon is the best MC

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QFT. Blair has some of the best opening ceremony antics ever (including being dumped on the field by a Zamboni, rollerblading and wearing a goat suit, not to mention riding a bicycle around the field at Oregon)

Jeff does the best team intros I know of on Einstein. His memory for team histories and connections is mind-blowing, and add a whole extra layer to the match hype.

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It's scary how that costume looks so much like our mascot....

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I agree with Princess Natalie, Blair is the best I've seen, and I'll echo Nuttyman's comments about opening Blair's antics.

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That is, in fact, the WPI mascot* costume, at the inaugural 2010 WPI regional. He is also wearing the famous 358 "Short shorts" over it.


*The official WPI mascot is the Engineers, but it is unofficially Gompei the Goat (or Gompei's head, in particular), so this is the mascot costume that we have.

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This is something I seriously look forward to each season. Jeff's introductions are the freaking best. My favorite was 2009.

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Blair rarely announces, but he was great at it the few times I've heard him. Blair is pretty much the best in my book.

You're thinking of Dave Verbrugge.

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Whoops, Correct you are. It's too late for me to be on Delphi. Jeff Seaton was also quite good the few times I've heard him MC, but Dave Verbrugge is Mr. Einstein.

I believe Blair usually does the play-by-play on Einstein as well, or at least has several years.

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Dave Verbrugge and Karthik are probably the two most story telling MC's in FIRST. Both have that nack for alot of knowledge of the teams.

Dave has probably one of the best regional openings I've ever heard in my life. His perfect storm speech, perfectly told the events to come at the 2008 GLR and his Einstein openings are great.

Karthik also loves to tell stories of the past. I've never seen him MC live, but over a webcast is just as good.

These are my to favorite MC's.

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Dave is the best story teller MC hands down. Though I must admit I'm quite partial to working with Chiniqua.

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My vote is for Karthik, hands down.

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I miss the days when Woodie was our emcee. No one has lived up to him in my opinion.

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I have to agree with you both as well, but i will say Blair is a close second in my book.

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I liked when Paul Copioli came from Texas and did some MC-ing at Troy last year. On top of that, he was the best Lego League MC ever! (Thunderquest competitor 2002-2005).

Karthik is a close second for his flying jump-kicks to introduce teams.

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I always loved the Umbrella-Hatted Stilt-Walking, Barry Bohnsack :)

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The melding of Karthik's MCing and Jondarr's booming voice is an epic combination of epic epicness that is, to be frank, epically epic.

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I'm a northeast gal, so my vote's got to go for Jack Kentfield (aka Jack in the Hat) and Andy Grady. Both knowledgeable, fun and high energy.

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I have to agree with dsmoker....Jack in the Hat Kentfield is right up there with the best of them. He is a BIG presence on the field, whatever field that is, FLL, FTC or FRC. The powers that be need to get him back on an FRC field.

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I was reading this and was starting to wonder when any of our Northeast guys were going to be mentioned!

Jack Kentfield is by far my favorite MC. Maybe it's cause he does our off-season, but he's just like a local legend up here, and the show and enthusiasm he has, it's second to none. We're gonna miss you at CT Jack!

Also gotta throw my support behind Andy Grady as well. He is both a fantastic MC and Game Announcer, and is one of the few people I've seen who can really do a great job at both roles.

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If you want to find the best MC, just look toward Einstein.

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Depends. Emceeing the finals and the quals are two different beasts.

For the Quals: Blair. He has a talent in making intros interesting when, by all rights, they ought not be. I saw him bring a two year old out to help with the introductions once. It should not have worked, but it did.

For the Finals: Dave Verbrugge. The dude has the memory of an elephant. If they let him actually just run Einstein like it was a competition, instead of a pageant, it'd blow your mind.

For Awards: Blair. Pleasing Baritone.

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This. Mark Leon, all the way. I can just picture him on Archimedes in 2010 running circles around the field and somersaulting over bumps. So. Much. Win.

"It's time to do the math and save the world."

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Karthik Hands down. He started introducing us as Seven Seven Who?! So thats part of it. But he is amazing at introducing teams When we reach Eliminations. With his giant fist punching kick thingy, telling the story behind a team, and very loud and encouraging voice! Nothing can beet it. :D :cool:

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Like he does at the Michigan State Championship event? :) Anyone who wants to see Dave at his finest should come to MSC! The stories that he tells from past years, and the history of the accomplishments of the teams that are there give goosebumps to the entire crowd. I've never seen a massive crowd of high school students go as silent and pay as close attention as when Dave Verbrugge is out there for Opening Ceremonies. It is pretty much my favorite part of the State Champs.

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Dave, Blair, and Andy they are THE best in when it comes to FIRST emcees between knowledge, energy, and awesomeness!

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Dave Verbrugge is by far the best MC. There's a reason why he ALWAYS does the MSC and Einstein.

As far as play by play, Tom Nader is the best. Hands down. I love that man!

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I'm sure everyone thinks their MC is the best, so I have to speak up for the team of Dan Richardson and George Wallace. They MC the Orlando Regional and will be working the new South Florida Regional as well.

They both started in FIRST in high school and have been involved either as a student or mentor for most of Florida's 10 years as a regional.

Dan can spout the history of just about any Florida team and knows all the connections between teams. It is so much fun listening to him tell the stories of all the teams during eliminations.

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2006 Boston Regional, may have had some of the greatest antics ever to be at an FRC event. However, highly credible sources say Hawaii puts on one hell of a show.

When Blair pulled this off nobody expected it.

Blair gets my vote, cause lots of people can do the story telling part, but not many have the balls for this (even if it is half a poof ball strapped to your head).

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Play by play game announcer-Dan Green!
I pushed to have him come to Hawaii this year, but with no luck......YET.
MC-Mark and Blair.
However, for those that remember Mark during his younger days, no one had more energy and crazy antics than him for sure!

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I'm a little disappointed that this is all the same names that would have been raised 5 years ago (minus Paul "Copioil"). If you subtract the Karthik and Barry references, 10 years ago as well. FIRST has had on and off pushes for keeping the MCs in older hands, but I'm kinda hoping for one of the younger/newer generation of MCs to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately, I haven't seen one do it yet. Not that their performances are bad, just none of them have stepped to that next level yet and really created their own personality.

Also, I'm completely unsurprised by the "name your regional's MC" trend in the thread. Though the lack of respect for Jeff Seaton is surprising.

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All the names mentioned above are just great!

The MC's are all hardworking and each brings his/her own spin and energy and personality to the event.

Honestly, although I have been lucky enough to see watch so many in action I would be hard pressed to pick "the best". They are all different. Every event that gets one of the very experienced MC's (the ones who get to move on to the Championship) is very lucky. And every event lucky enough to recruit someone who really knows FIRST, and can do the background banter is blessed. It really is not a contest. As the number of events grows, we need more and more MC's who are welcome.

I know that I am in awe of Greg Needel and his knowledge of the teams and the banter, and we are so lucky to have him at the Chesapeake.

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I have a possible up and comer for you, Grant Cox, former 217 driver. He has all the makes of a great MC just waiting to come out. Tons of energy, jumps around or over people. Displays a good history of FIRST, and purely enjoys watching every match. He also likes to break out the trivia and jokes during timeouts and between matches. He doesn't get to showcase his talents much with going to Michigan Tech, but he sure gives it a go when he can. Grant, for sure could become the next great MC.

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I'll add a new one!! - Angry Eric!

Ok so I'm a little biased... but the great Andy Grady & Libby will vouch for me! Eric has been MC'ing for 6 years now and has done NNYRI FLL & FTC competitions, FLFLL Champs, Beantown Blitz, Ruckus, and the Boston Regional!

This year he has a new "outfit" for opening & finals, but will be returning with the red mohawk! (My favorite part is he has to wear the mohawk to work for a week between the two regionals he will be doing!! lol)

Although for the "long time", I agree with Blair & Woodie being my favorites. I also think we may see Dylan's name coming up in the future... he had an amazing voice & did a great job the few times they put him out at FLR (ahem I hope he comes back next year full time!!)

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Now, I am biased because I've known the guy for over 10 years, but Tyler Olds is a fantastic MC and announcer, he regularly does 4-5 comps in the Midwest and he has announced and done some MCing at championships for the past 3 or 4 years.

That being said when I think about a FRC MC I can only hear Dave Verbugge's voice and when I think FRC announcing I can only hear Dan Green's voice

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I just want to say, not only is that picture awesome for Eric, but what ever Jacob's doing, it's looking pretty awesome.

Yes that's getting into our favorite FTAs now, but I just had to mention it :p

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None of you ever heard of Barry? Come on! :P

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This. Nothing quite beats the trademark jump-and-point.

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I remember really enjoying Jeff Seaton when watching past VCU webcasts, he has the right amount of passion and entertainment to keep me engaged in an event that I had very little connection to.

Being from Michigan I have to vote for Dave Verbrugge, I think he is the most articulate and interesting emcee there is. He builds the excitement/tension/energy in an event without moves and antics, he uses a calm and consistent delivery, excellent diction and a mind with an extremely descriptive history of FIRST. I have gotten goosebumps on multiple occasions while watching him.

I do really enjoy Paul Copioli, especially his introduction to matches two and three of the finals at the Troy District last year. The way he broke down the two alliances and explained keys was something I hadn't seen in a long time.

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They are all great, and there is no way you can classify any of them as best. That said, I do remember a regional with Blair as game announcer in which there were many 0-0 matches. But Blair had the knack of making them all seem to be the most exciting matches you have ever seen.

P.S. Do you realize that Blair runs the training calls for all FRC emcees and game announcers?

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Dave Verbrugge hands down. He is the only man to drive out in Atlanta with some GM car, with 3 woman, all while playing "Sharp Dressed Man" over the PA system. So good.

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The 2010 Hawaii Regional ceremonies were absolutely insane. If I remember right, they featured...

--aerial dancers above the field
--fire dancing on the field
--the DJ in drag joining a local dance crew in a rendition of "Thriller"
--Mark Leon's judo rolls

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Agreed. NO one can even come close to his awesomeness

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Yeah. That combo is hard to beat.

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Grant will continue to be an up and comer so long as he doesn't manage to kill himself diving off of the field at MARC.
That dude is nuts!

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I gotta go with George on this one. Chiniqua's energy level is unprecedented, not to mention the fact that she's awesome.

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+1 for Paul Copioli. The man is a walking FRC match history machine. At IRI for the eliminations he gives you chapter and verse of who's played who in prior years and the match outcomes. And with all of the top teams that makes the trip to IRI there is a lot of interesting history. A match is no longer two dozen kids and a few robots, it's a full fledged "Hatfields, Snoopy and the Jets vs. McCoys, Red Barron and the Sharks" with Robots!

OTOH, MAR has got some new MC's doing their matches, I'm sure we will be hearing about them in the near future.

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While I'm the fool who encouraged it and filmed it.. lol

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My vote will always be for Chiniqua! She is a true inspiration, and i will never stop looking up to her!

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Caption: Brohoof? BROHOOF!

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Wow. Nobody has mentioned Dave Price as an MC? I haven't really seen many of the people previously mentioned so I cannot compare them. I really appreciate Dave's humor without silly gimmicks. He seems to have a comment for each team and pays attention to what they have accomplished so far at the regional and in the past.

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Yes. No other words are necessary :)

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I wouldn't be disappointed by this, statistically it should be expected. FIRST sends their best and most experienced Emcee's and Game Announcers to rookie regionals, so there is a much higher percentage of audiences that get to see Blair and Mark in Action, which is a good thing!

Blair is awesome. My first year emceeing was in 2007, and I did Florida as well as Kansas City for its rookie regional year. I was trained by blair, and that regional happened to land on St. Patrick's Day, and he emceed the entire day dressed as a leprechaun.

Of all emcee's I've worked with, no one is more enjoyable than Dan. His history lessons of the teams in the Florida finals are fantastic, and his high energy introductions are crowd pleasers, but nothing beats his sense of humor.
+1 for "Rand Dichardson"


I have a nomination for who we all really want as an Emcee... Morgan Freeman. He already attends the Championship event. Let him emcee just one match, it will be legendary, make it happen.

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II know it was his FIRST regional but Dan who worked at Montreal was REALLY impressive. I truly hope to see him come to championships. He was alot of fun!

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YES. We need to have Morgan Freeman MC! At EINSTEIN!

It would more than make up for last year's Einstein game (not a single note was played that match. :()

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Seconded - he did an amazing job, best I've seen in 4+ years in FIRST. The man was moving nonstop during every match break, field reset, and communications delay. His seamlessly transition between French and English was something to behold and was an immeasurable help to the non-francophones in the audience.

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My fav emcees: Mark (I may be biased since I tend to work regionals with him), Blair, Dave V
Fav play by play (AKA the people I most try to emulate): Blair, Dave Seibel (LA), Andy, Paul

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I think it takes time, as you said, to create that personality.

For me? Of course I love Blair, Karthik, and all the 'usuals'... but in the up and coming category...

"Angry Eric" Eckhardt - He's not angry at all... and he's new to FRC but not to FIRST. He has been emceeing (and double-duty announcing) for Clarkson's FLL and FTC Competitions for years!

Dan, from Montreal (I cannot for the life of me remember his last name). - He was full of energy and had to do the entire event bilingually! Oh, and he'd only attended one FRC event before. He and Blair share a pretty unique characteristic - acting. They're true performers, and it shows.

And, of course, to be that get-off-my-lawn-old-timey-FIRSTer ... Woodie. Of course. :)

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Angry Eric is a great MC at the Ruckus and Rally -- that, and he has magical gnomes that live in his hair and magically fix your robot whenever he gets near it.

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Of course! I miss Woodie MCing events. Haven't had him at an event we were at in a while. Gotta love Woodie! :D

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An up and comer to keep your eye on: Katie Stevens. She worked the Hatboro Horsham district, The Rutgers District, the NYC regional, and she still has 3 more competitions this year alone.

She is going to be one of the greats, mark my words.

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I would totally agree with this. Let's not forget the handstand introductions Dave does. And, Tom always keeps it exciting!

Also agree about the perfect storm being the BEST ever intro! How he ever remembered all of that amazed me! We are lucky to have the best in Michigan, though I have heard some other great ones at world's, I'm partial to my Michigan people. :)

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees her doing well.

I don't think it's fair for me to add her to my list, since she is a friend and 1923 teammate- but it's always been a dream of hers to be up there on the field, and I'm so glad it's happening. If you don't know Katie - she has absolutely limitless energy. Can't wait to see her keep going with this.

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Wow, you can really see the backboard tape in the background. :yikes: lol

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Clearly a picture taken with flash ::safety:: <- Sunglasses in this case

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Granted, completely biased answers, but Blair is the absolute best MC. I love getting his entheusiasm here in the Northwest, and the Motorcycle enterance at Oregon this year was truly epic.

Again, baised, but...Aurgh, I can't remember his full name...last name Lamb, always does Portland and Seattle. Can anyone remember? He does all of our play by plays, and he has the best announcer's voice ever!

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Here are a few ex-student MC's who I thought did a very good job at BMR over the past few years:
-Ryan Dognaux
-Collin Fultz
-Matt Fultz

I also think that Samir Shaikh has done a fantastic job at CAGE Match for the past two years.

That being said, I have to agree with others that from all the competitions I have attended, Dave Verbrugge was the best MC.

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Emerson

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I just want to say, that after going to CTR this year, that Angry Eric is an awesome emcee. He really did a great job, and made the whole weekend fun to watch. Plus, he liked our capes....

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I think newcomer MC Mahoney (Kevin Mahoney, from Silicon Valley Regional) is getting pretty good. His knowledge of the teams helps make the matches interesting.

Plus, it's nice he's a 256 alum. :)

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Agreed... BMR has been blessed with good MCs.

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Dave Price. He's been doing it ever since I can remember in NH, (10+ years) and is incredibly good. He does FLL/FTC/FRC throughout NH (and I think Mass now as well...) and has a way of making every student feel valued and the star of the show. We were really lucky to have him come down to MC the Duel Down Under this year.

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^Reported Alonso's for spam(?)

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I have seen many high quality emcees at FIRST robotic events over the years, but rather than pick a favorite, I just want to thank them all because it takes a lot of time and energy to do this, and because their efforts make the events so much fun!!! It takes a brave soul to get in front of so many people and do those dances and cheers and to wear the crazy clothing but I am so glad that they do!

Very inspirational to me was to see kids from around the world (maybe 26 countries?) at the 2012 FLL Legoland Championship in Lakeland last year and the enthusiasm they had, no matter their language, for the dances and cheers. WOW! Very moving.

Special thanks here to Blair, as I know he is a pro at this as I have witnessed him do this for years (once I saw him in a green leprechaun suit in Kansas City on St. Patty's Day) because he is generous to share his knowledge and talent of this skill with upcoming emcees. Based on the fast growth of FTC, with more emcees needed for those events, important indeed. Could he, or does he, have an emcee workshop or video?
:]
Thanks again to all emcees!