Re: 2012 MSC
 

OK...what an interesting way to win the Michigan State Championship. Obviously "dead" in the blue protected area, possibly in the way of a double or triple balance is not the way we would have wanted to finish out an incredible FiM Season.

I'd like to thank all the people that made this event possible...all the volunteers, refs, judges, FTAs, teams, etc...just another awesome run event all around.

- To 469, thank you for allowing us to play with you guys one more time this season. Both your team and your ro bot are incredible. For anyone that hasn't noticed, 469 has the best robot in Michigan and probably all of FIRST. Just an incredible performance all weekend long. Thanks for carrying the load for the alliance and our failing robot. I don't think we have seen the full power an alliance of 469+67 could have, yet this season. I will keep my fingers crossed that we will get one more chance to show it in St. Louis. On a different note, it has been incredible how close our teams have gotten over this season. At Waterford we were feeling each other out. At Troy we were working together. At MSC we were messing around and joking with each other. We have gone from fellow localteams and rivals...to teammates...to friends, its amazing.

- To 830, thanks for being great alliance partners. Awesome defense and smart play. You guys were willing to do whatever we asked you to do and did it very well. We could not have won without you guys.

- Congratulations to 548, 2054, and 245. This was not how we wanted to win on a debatable call. You guys were awesome competitors and great sports about the entire situation.

- To 548, you guys are awesome. Winners at Northville with us, Finalists at Troy and MSC against us. Constant improvement all season long. We know how much you guys have worked this year, especially seeing you in the shop after what must have been 2-3 all nighters this season. You are a budding powerhouse Michigan team.

- Congrats to 27, 33, and 503 on your MSC Chairman's awards and 1718 on the Engineering Inspiration Award. Also, congrats to Debbie May, from 1023, on her WFFA.

- Congrats to all the teams that qualified for the Championship in St. Louis. But, I am extremely sad that our good friends the Thunderchickens did not qualify... such a great team, it will just be really weird when they aren't there.

- Thanks to all the great people that come from a long way to see this event live (Andy Baker, Meridith and John Novak, Koko Ed...). Also, it was cool to have Dean witness the awesomeness of MSC...and have Bill Miller sitting courtside watching the Eliminations.

Now on to the last match. I am still not 100% sure what the issue was. I would assume there are some small metal chips inside the cRIO or the Digital side car....or what I was told we found was that the radio was bumped from Bridge to Auto. Either way, we would lose communication from the Drivers station to the robot. I believe the FTAs could see it drop communications, but robot appeared to be live (all light on cRIO/Radio) when we checked it out on the field. We dropped for about 11sec in the middle of the match, regained control for about 15sec, then dropped again chasing a ball over in the blue protected area. We were not going over there to interfere with any blue balancing. 469 did come over and bump us, in hopes of us coming back alive, but there was no intention to move us closer to the blue bridge. The hope was that their bump was what helped us come alive the first time, so maybe it would work again. It wasn't planned or even strategic (more of reactionary by the driver), since it would have been better for them to just go and double or single balance for the win.

I can't say definitively one way or the other if the right call was made by the refs....since the overlap of rules in this years game confuse the heck out of me. I am happy with the call they made...but mostly because we benefitted most from it. Although I would have loved to play strong all the way through the entire match and ended on another awesome double triple balance for the win, just so we could have put on a better show for the TV special (and be heading into St. Louis with as much confidence as possible).

Hopefully we can help bring another Championship trophy back to Michigan, where they belong, again!

-Adam

Re: 2012 MSC
 

The special is supposed to broadcast on a Detroit PBS station, but will simultaneously go live online (so I am told). Look for this later in May.

************************************************** *

I would like to start with a congratulations to Debbie of team 1023 on her WFFA. 1023 has an exemplary program on and off the field, and I know she has had a huge impact on her students.

Congratulations to the event winners 469, 67, and 830. I was impressed with the versatillity you guys showed through the tournament. Congratulations to the Finalists 2054, 548, and 245. The film crew loved 548's arm and was rooting for you guys. Also, everyone wants to know what kind of Zip-ties 2054 has ;) .

Congratulations to 503 and 27 on well deserved Chairman's awards. I am continuously in awe of all that you guys do, and humbled to be in your company. To 1718, I don't know that there is a more appropriate EI winner. I know that I am inpired byt the work you guys do year in and out please keep it going.

3098, thank you for picking us, an 2137, thank you for playing with us. It was a fun run. I am sorry we were not more robust.

A huge thank you to the volunteers that make the event run so smoothly. I saw a lot of great mentors in volunteers shirts playing double duty during the weekend. Thank you to all of the inspectors for ensuring everyone made it out on the field in fair fashion.

I feel I need to make a special callout. They say actions speak louder than words, but I think some words are needed in this case. There was a team at MSC that didn't have a Chairman's booth, wasn't bragging about their efforts, but in my opinion embodied the true spirit of being a role model team. This team was exemplary on the field while donating the large percentage of their mentors to run the event from technical field assistance to former students leading in inspection and mentor roles of other teams (these people are Dean's List quality before there was a Dean's List award). They have mentors taking pictures for all to enjoy. They had mentors assisting the film crew to ensure that the others will see what a great "sport of the mind" we participate in. Marjie, thank you for running such a great event. Gail, thank you for for your leadership in all that you do. Las Guerillas, thank you for the impact your organization has had on how FIRST is done in Michigan.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

862 had an amazing time at the Michigan State Championship, and were incredibly honored to be an alliance captain at this amazing event!

A huge thank you to our alliance partners 1718 The Fighting Pi, and 3322 Eagle Imperium you both were amazing partners! To be able to hold that number 1 alliance to only a 7 point lead is an incredible accomplishment. When that score is 97-90 its even more impressive! Getting that triple balance was one of the greatest experiences of the weekend!

Good luck to both of you in St. Louis!

Re: 2012 MSC
 

Does anyone know where the list is of the teams that qualified for St. Louis? I was curious so I was looking for it, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

It's in the updated results and rankings spreadsheet on the FiM website:
http://firstinmichigan.org/FRC_2012/...12_season.html

Re: 2012 MSC
 

Look on the FiM website this evening. Under FRC Events - 2012 Season. There should be an updated spreadsheet for Results and Rankings.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

Here are the results:
http://www.firstinmichigan.org/FRC_2...12_Results.xls

Re: 2012 MSC
 

A tear is shed for 217.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

Longest post I've ever written for CD.

As a first time Volunteer Coordinator I want to start out by thanking all of our wonderful volunteers that we had this weekend. Every time that I saw a volunteer, they were working hard with smiles on their faces. This was an amazing event, but it was only that way because of the effort from our volunteers.

I want to especially shout out to a few volunteers who almost never get publicly recognized:

Cheryl and the other wonderful people managing our four safety glasses station:
I worked that job at Waterford for a bit, and I know how boring it can be to sit there all day, but every time I saw you and asked “How’s it going?” you smiled and said, “Great!” You did an efficient and great job making sure our tables were manned all the time, and I want you to know how extremely grateful I am that you donated your time this weekend to help us out there. In my opinion, that is the most under-appreciated but important volunteer roles in FIRST. On Saturday we had hundreds of visitors who had never seen a FIRST event before, but you helped them feel welcome in the pit areas, and that is how we can really spread the message of FIRST. Thank you!

My ladies that worked the volunteer table:
This is another job that takes you away from the field and your team all weekend long, but you ladies always had a smile for me when I went up to our room to get something or grab a coffee. I definitely could not have done my job without you helping to check people in and help volunteers find where they needed to be. You were an enormous help to me personally, and I know that the other volunteers were always grateful to see your smiling faces as they came in the room for meals. Dana, you rocked at helping out wherever I needed you this weekend! I appreciate you taking care of things for me on Wednesday! It was nice to know that I didn’t have to worry about anything that day so I didn’t have to miss class.

The gentlemen at the practice field, especially Andrew!
I was so nervous to have five ramps set up there with 64 teams wanting to use them, but I never once had to worry about it! You were amazing! Andrew, I can’t even imagine how exhausted you had to be Thursday. You stayed there all day long and helped queue the endless line of teams and make sure everyone was safely using the ramps. We didn’t have any problems at the practice field. The teams were patient with each other, and our practice field attendants were the best!

Queuers!
Cindy, we always can count on you! Thank you for taking the lead here! Koko Ed and Kevin, it was awesome to have some out-of-staters working with us! I hope that you enjoyed the FiM spirit and will come back again next year! Every time I was around the field, it was wonderful to see your smiling faces. Ed, I love your stories. I’m still laughing about them now!

Our gentle, sweet and hilarious Pit Admin!
A special thank you to the Sweet family. Jane and Russ, you run a flawless pit table, and we are a million times thankful that you could join us this weekend. I didn’t get a chance to give you a hug before you left for the day on Saturday, but next time I see you, you better believe that I’ll have a big one for you! Dan, you too! Between running our replacement parts, giving me crap about anything you could think of :) and helping with crowd control, every time I saw you, I knew that we were in capable hands. Thanks, buddy!

And lastly, a few key people:

Pat, our Scorekeeper:
You are a constant steady rock in the midst of the controlled chaos that is a FIRST event. Nothing phases you as you efficiently take care of things behind the scorer's table. We are lucky to have you on board. Alex, you make me laugh every time that I talk with you. Thanks for helping out with Pat and being on call during elims even though we needed your space at the table. Your positive attitude is inspiring and contagious. Thanks, kid.

Tricia and Alex: thanks for taking care of our judges! They seemed so happy every time that I saw them! You two are awesome. Tricia, thank you for the kind words and vote of confidence on Friday. I know Pam has always appreciated your help over the years, and now I fully understand why: you are amazing.

Jason, our Field Supervisor:
Oh Jay, I don’t even know where to start.
Probably should just go with this: ~~~
Thank you for the constant laughs all weekend and for being our “Jack of all Trades!” Our field crew was great, and it was because of your leadership that we were able to keep things moving along smoothly. The friendship that we’ve created over the past year is awesome, and I always look forward to seeing you at FIRST events. Thanks for the constant jokes over the headset! People probably think that I’m crazy, because I’d be in a room talking with volunteers and would just bust out laughing at something that you said through the mic/headset.

Refs and Inspectors:
As always, we have the classiest crew up here! Thank you for taking care of our teams. Your job is not easy, because it revolves around telling people when they’ve done something wrong.
Zebras: you guys looked great this weekend. I hope that you had fun, and I’m glad that we had every single one of your on board! Alan, thanks for taking the lead here!
Inspectors: one of my favorite moments of the weekend was looking over and seeing a bunch of you sitting on that camera-stand with the sign that said, “Robot Inspector Storage Area.” A few of you took care of other jobs for me over the weekend when you weren’t inspecting: thank you SO much for this! I know that Marjie missed inspecting, but was happy to leave her job in capable Cheri’s hands! Ike, you did an awesome job as lead inspector. Thank you for all of your help with the production crew as well. I hope you realize how respected and appreciated you are in the FiM and FIRST community.

Rob and Eric: It is always a pleasure working with you. You looked sharp in your new FTA shirts! Eric, your endless energy and positivity is contagious. Rob, you are always cool under pressure. These are two guys that I know I can rely on no matter what. As FTAs, they truly live the FIRST Spirit. They care about every single team and robot that is at their events and on their field, and their main goal is to make sure that all of the teams, students, and volunteers have a positive experience.

Tom, Bob and Teams 830 - the Rat Pack and 469 - the Las Guerillas:
What an exhausting weekend, and yet you stayed until 10:30 to help with fields takedown, clean up and other last second jobs to finish off the weekend. We are unbelievably lucky to have such a dedicated crew that takes care of our fields, once again always with a smile on your faces.

Lastly, but not at all least: Marjie Jenkins, our event coordinator.
You did an absolutely amazing job. The event was brilliant! You handled everything flawlessly. Thank you for all of your hard work planning this. I’m having a hard time coming up with words to tell you how impressed I am with how you took care of *everything* this weekend. Thank you for the opportunity to be your Volunteer Coordinator. It was, hands down, the best FIRST experience that I’ve had. You are a wonderful person, and I’m honored to have worked with you this weekend.

What.An.Epic.Weekend.
Thank you!

Re: 2012 MSC
 

I really want to give special thanks to the practice field crew. This was BY FAR the best run practice field that I've ever seen. This should be a model for how all events are run. Thank you very much. It couldn't have been better.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

I'll second that... lots of energy and intense teams at the practice field, it went very well for the several times we used the field. Very well run.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

Congratulations to all teams that made it to MSC this weekend. The competition was as better than everyone expected ( and expectations were high) The event was well run and everyone should be proud of the success.
1918 had a great time this weekend and it was nice to be able to watch matches rather than work on our robot like we have done in the past. Looking forward to seeing every one in St. Louis and good luck to all.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

MSC was a great event as always. Thanks to everyone who made this possible. Event staff was great, teams were great, the competition was awesome.

Congrats to 469, 67 and 830 for the big win.
- 2nd time State Champs for 469 - Amazing season record with a total of 365 State Ranking points at the end. This is as close to a perfect season as we have seen here since we started this system in 2009. Only 3 match losses over 3 Districts and the Championship......, 69/72 Amazing.
- 3rd time State Champs for 67....incredible!
- Great Third partner in team 830.

Thanks to 3098 for picking us. We played great together. Sometimes technology lets us down, but despite this, it was a good run.
Great Defense by 2137, plus a couple of awesome triples!

This was our team's 3rd time winning State level Chairman's Award. Hard to believe considering the great stuff I saw presented by all 10 DCA teams.

Looking forward to St Louis.
Michigan will have many contenders as always.

Re: 2012 MSC
 

A question about the MSC Rookie All Star. I have noticed that Team 4130 won the MSC Rookie All Star. Congrats! But I noticed that their robot did not seem to compete. Were teams invited to MSC without their robots? Which teams? District RAS? District Chairman's? District EI?

Re: 2012 MSC
 

From what I understand district chairman's and EI winners are invited along with their robot, while district RAS only qualifies to present for RAS at states (as in no robot).