Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Thanks, Robotmmm. We felt really weird and conflicted about the whole situation. Being the first backup team, our role was to sit in the stands, cheer for the other teams, and hope like heck someone's robot broke :yikes: It just didn't strike us as really GP ;)

Seriously, though, we got the official notice with about 84 seconds left on the clock. The pit & drive team did a bumper color change, robot boot-up, driver's station boot-up (longer), and dash to the field to get the robot on the carpet and in position with about 15 seconds or so remaining of the time-out. I was impressed.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Wow MAR champs was fun! The venue was great! Overall it was a nice relaxed atmosphere.

Thanks to all the volunteers that made the event run smoothly!

Thanks to our alliance partners 11, 1403 & 1370. 11 and 1403 were top of our pick lists and 1370 wasn't far behind 1403 on our list. 11 and 1403 are some of the easiest teams to work with because they get it both teams are versatile and work well in any situation. We had a qualification match together and our alliance worked extremely well. We were just holding our breath that nobody we steal these two before we could invite them to our alliance. When we saw 1370 was the back up bot that would join our alliance in our place, we were excited. We knew they were a consistent machine and were very surprised not to see them on an eliminations alliance. We were extremely proud of what our alliance accomplished!

What can I say about 2729, 2590 and 1640. They were an awesome alliance and 1640 should not have been around for them to grab. 1640 was a huge part of that alliance going completely unnoticed by defenders and running 5 cycles or so a match. 2729 was an awesome machine and alliance captain. I was very glad to see them be so successful this year! 2590 we knew how much of a threat your machine was from playing against you in the quarters at Hatboro.

Also congrats to 1218 and 433 on their Chairman's awards!

We can't wait to see everyone in St. Louis. We hope to be a powerful representative of the MAR district

FWIW Those who haven't heard our machine suffered in the finals from a shorted digital sidecar. The short was caused by a sheared off aluminum mandrel from a rivet. We are very careful about keeping chips out of our electronics, but this piece did not come from our machine. We use steel mandrel rivets. I'm not trying to blame anyone, but just asking that other teams try to watch their shavings and bits as they can also find their way into other robots.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

I'll be honest--I was not a big fan of the venue. It felt too much like an offseason or a district event. It didn't have the big arena regional feel to it. Also, the situation with the seating upstairs was kind of undesirable as it was a bit of a roundabout way to get from those seats down to the field/pit.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

I kinda agree(especially about the upstairs seating-but most of the venue wasn't that type of seeting), but also, it definitely didn't feel like a district. Obviously, it didn't have the arena regional feel that Temple or Sun National Bank Center in Trenton had, but it definitely felt bigger than a district. The way I looked at it was that it was similar to Rutgers last year-only everything bad about Rutgers was better.

Also, food selection could have been more varied/cheaper. I'm not a vegetarian/healthy eater, but if I was, I know I would have had a hard time-a grilled cheese seemed to be the healthiest thing(and I'm not normally one to order grilled cheese when I'm eating out...but d*mn...that was a REALLY good grilled cheese).

But, overall, I loved the event. For the first time, I felt like it was incredibly easy/realistic to watch EVERY match; either the close walk from the pits to the stands(as well as space on the side of the arena, near the bottoms of staircases to stand), or the projector that could be viewed from nearly every pit(although it was an inverted view).

I have to really thank the volunteers for the work they did to organize and pull off this event at a new arena. It's no easy task to plan and quickly morph a gym into a FRC arena. It's able to happen because we have world class volunteers here in MAR!

Throughout the tournament, we were trying to figure out how to make a completely offensive alliance and were so lucky to have been able to draft 2590 and 1640 (surprising to still be around). Both teams are class acts and I really hope for the best as they move on to compete in STL.

11, 222, and 1403, what a run you gave us. The strategy and play you all threw at us during the finals was tremendous. There was no safe place to shoot, no path without a bump, and you all were scoring like crazy. Then 1370 enters the mix and that same play didn't change. They are a great offensive robot that served the alliance well.

Congrats to 433 and 1218 on the Chairmans this year. You both are tremendously strong teams and will be awesome in STL. 1218, my students and mentors loved chilling with you all in the Chairman's display area. Good times!!

This was a big tournament for our team and 2729 is grateful to have been able to share the experience with everyone at the competition. If there's ever anything anyone needs, please let us know.

Thanks all and best of luck to everyone at the FIRST Championship!

Nate

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Wow, 1640 is blown away by our hat trick MAR season! (Philly '11, MAR '12, MAR '13, plus Horsham '12)

We finished districts gunning for a top slot at MAR, but after our terrible Friday performance with so many electrical and comm issues, we didn't expect much of an elim chance. Thank you so much to 2729 and 2590 for trusting us that we were back in shape! We couldn't have hoped for a better alliance or outcome. We're proud not to have let you down (sorry about the climb :(--working on it for Worlds).

But enough about us. Kudos to all the volunteers for pulling off such a great event in a new venue! We are impressed and thankful as always.

Elims, all the way though, were outstanding. Special shout outs to the teams that don't usually get them: 224, 56, 293 against us--upsetting us--in the quarters, and our friends 1676, 1279 and 1089 in the semis. Is 171 the highest losing score of the event? What a match. And of course to 222, 1403, 11 and 1370: you made for a heck of a finals. I'm amazed that didn't go to a 3rd round!

MAR is definitely packed this year. We're very excited to head to St. Louis representing our region with such a fantastic cohort. 433, the ever-perennial Chairman's team, I hope you get the Clock this year! And 1218, whose Chairman's video also blew the crowd away. It was a close thing between those two and 11, 2590, and 75--all your displays were great. We're also psyched to be headed to STL with our the EI winners 321 and 1676 and the RAS 4637.

For anyone who's keeping count, here's who MAR is sending to Worlds this year as yet (I think):
11 - Palmetto Champion
25 - HOF
103 - HOF
193 - points (5)
222 - points (1)
225 - points (2)
293 - points (3)
303 - points (4)
321 - EI
341 - HOF
433 - MAR RCA
1218 - MAR RCA
1640 - MAR Champion
1676 - EI
2016 - Buckeye RCA
2590 - MAR Champion
2729 - MAR Champion
3314 - points (6)
4637 - MAR RAS

Quite a squad! :cool: Think we can keep a Einstein banner in the region this year?

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Close, but MAR is sending 21 teams this year, not 19. Also you miscounted what some teams qualified for. Here is the actual list:

11 Palmetto Winner
25 Einstein '12
103 HOF
193 Pts 6
222 Pts 1
225 Pts 2
293 Pts 4
303 Pts 5
316 Pts 3
321 EI
341 HOF
365 HOF
433 CA
1218 CA
1640 Winner
1676 EI
2016 Buckeye CA
2590 Winner
2729 Winner
3314 Waitlist
4637 RAS

I don't think that 316 is signed up on the usfirst.org yet, if they decline then 4460 gets their slot.

Lehigh was a lot of fun, I hope to see these teams at St. Louis.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Hmmm, could this be a new defensive strategy??:ahh:
Hey, other than the lack of showers you guys weren't all that offensive...:p
I believe so. There is no dishonor in losing in a match like that.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Thank you for the kind endorsement, MisterJ.

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

MAR is sending 21, but they're not all registered. I don't know how I missed MOE, though (actually, I think I missed 25 for MOE). But "Einstein '12" for 25 is a bit ambiguous--it's that they won Worlds, not that they were invited as a Division Champion.

Wonder if it's the highest one in MAR. Heck of an honor, folks!

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

All 21 MAR teams seem to be registered now!

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

And (apparently) 1923 were pulled off wait list today. So at least 22 from MAR! Should be an amazing showing from MAR this year!

Re: 2013 MAR Championship
 

Congrats to 1923! You guys are having good luck getting registered last-minute (first Lehigh, now St. Louis)! You were a great robot at MAR Champs; I was very glad to see you guys make it. See you guys soon!

22 MAR teams, and 8 spots thought to still be open at World Champs. Will anyone else have the luck to get in?