[FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Well, since it doesn't exist, let's make a thread for the inaugural UP event in Escanaba, week 3 of 2014. 12 of the 35 teams are rookies. Interestingly, we will have Southfield winner 107, Southfield finalist 862, and Centerline #1 seed 1023 all here.

Team list:
66
107
857
862
1023
1596
1711
2153
2246
2586
2959
3537
3602
3617
3618
3641
4375
4376
4391
4392
4715
4827
4835
4970
4983
4988
4995
5072
5110
5175
5183
5213
5230
5247
5314

Good luck and have fun!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

The driver for 1023 here, and I have an extensive T-shirt collection.... I'll have some shirts to trade to expand my collection. Just saying.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Team 2851 doesn't seem to be on this list...but I assure you Crevolution with their robot Athena will be in attendance.

For some of our students (and I as a mentor) it will be our first time in the U.P.

We look forward to playing with/against 1023 once more along with the rest of the teams in attendance.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

66 is looking forward to Escanaba, our first competition of the season! After seeing Southfield, I must say it looks like it's going to be a great competition!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Well, I took the list from the FIRST website.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

This is the 3rd event we signed up for so it makes sense. This isn't the first time the site has been wrong (although it seems to happen much more often in Michigan than any other place).

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

I am looking forward to Escanaba, except for the snow and the cold and the drive. I think I will be tired from Southfield for a least a week. But not to sound to negitive, I cant wait to play again. I think we will have to step up our game because thier will be some good competion there.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Well, you crawled onto the list finally :]. So, 36 teams now!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

But that's the whole point of living in Michigan!!!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this event, too. For being in such a far drive for some teams, I think it will be a really good event!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Everyone from 2959 is looking forward to going to the UP (well before today's snow storm, hopefully it will clear up before we leave tomorrow). Our first competition of the year.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

There will now actually be more snowfall here in Metro Detroit than there will be up in Escanaba...maybe not as much snow on the ground but it's the fresh stuff I'm worried about :P.

Team is leaving tomorrow morning, see you all there!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Since there are only 4 teams that have played an event I figured we should give some advice as to what strategies work and which ones don't from week 1 and 2. Hopefully this will make the event even more competitive.

1. If you can't score in autonomous or can't score over 80% then don't put a ball on the field
2. If the ball is by the low goal and you can easily just push it in, don't waste time picking it up, lining up and trying a high goal. It is much more important to either get out of auto immediately or to start a new cycle. The only exception is if there are no additional points attached to the ball (no assists yet)
3. Truss catches are usually a waste of time. It takes too much extra time to line up and even more time if you don't get the catch (especially with defense). Team 33, which won southfield, has one of the best catchers I've seen so far and they stopped using it during eliminations.
4. Instead of truss catches, hit a truss shot to the human player, get the quick 10 points and don't loose possession of the ball.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

3. Truss catches are usually a waste of time. It takes too much extra time to line up and even more time if you don't get the catch (especially with defense). Team 33, which won southfield, has one of the best catchers I've seen so far and they stopped using it during eliminations.

I won't underestimate truss catchers, 2054 caught twice in one elimination match at Gull Lake District with heavy defense.:) Catches were important and very exciting for all to see in eliminations.

1918 has a great catcher, too.:)

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Drive safe, Troll friends! I'll be watching from the webcast.

...there WILL be a webcast, right?

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

I hope people didn't misunderstand my comments about the cold and the drive, it was bad sarcasm. Although this is our second competition and I think we will be better than Southfield , I still am nervous about this event. Good luck to all the teams and stop by our pit if there is anything your thing we can help with or just say hello.

Jim
Team 107

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

You were winners at Southfield, and you think you will be better here? :ahh: Clearly you plan to clean up, or we're harder than Southfield. :D

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

107 is the dark horse of michigan teams. I see them in the finals of MSC.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

What a fun weekend. For a new event thing ran very smooth.The competition was tough and the people were very friendly. I would like to thank all the teams we played with in qualifications that helped us seed so well. Also, a special thanks to the Bedford express and the Copperbots for being great alliance patners. I can't find any match video online, if anyone can help I would be greatful.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

I had the pleasure of working with the folks in Escanaba, and this was a really great event. I really enjoyed the venue, and everything we needed was readily available.
The play was fun and exciting, and the teams were well prepared. I hope they do this event again.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Great venue, well run, had a lot of fun, won our first award since 2004 :yikes:, and came soooo close to the semifinals (if it were not for the tech-foul in the second match with a 101-102 loss).

Here we come, Traverse City!

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

2851 had a Blast in the UP, the venue was outstanding. Things were well run and Escanaba was the most relaxed event I've personally been to, everything had a certain flow to it.

Crevolution loved seeing teams that we don't normally cross paths with in the Metro Detroit area and the rookie teams in attendance were great to work with. I expect to see a large crop of strong sophomore teams coming back next year.

It was our first time teaming up with Lightning for elimination rounds, we were thoroughly impressed with the strategy and scouting of 862. Their robot and drive team was cool under pressure and fit for a fight through tough match ups in quarters and semis. We picked up the East Jordan Robotics team 5247 to complete the alliance. This Rookie team was energetic and fit our game strategy to a tee. Their team was wonderful to work with on the field and in the pits. Seeing them soak in their first ever FRC experience, we definitely fed off of their excitement. Their unique use of the objects at their disposal has inspired me to look at things differently. (desk chairs look way cooler upside-down)

Congratulations to 107, 1023 and 2586. You put together a great alliance and it was great working beside your teams in the pit and competing against you on the field.

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

Thanks for picking us! It was great working with you guys! Looking forward to seeing you at states (or Bedford if I can drag you guys here!) :) We have some matches up on youtube, working to get the rest up. Many times they are filming our bot and not the whole arena though. They are here: Escanaba Finals

You did an awesome job and it was fun working with you this weekend!

Thanks! Glad we could play together again! Was nice to see you and 107 at the hotel too!

Huge thanks to everyone that put together this event. It was a great venue, and we had a lot of fun. It was the first time many of my team members crossed the bridge, and we are thankful for that opportunity to take our team there! All this time I've been worried about snow, and here it was way down south that held up our trip! Once on the freeways though, we had sunny skies other than our night travels! The whole town was very welcoming!
Huge thanks to 107 for picking us! You have a great robot there! Thanks also to the Copperbots for joining our alliance and helping out with our win!

862, we were happy to be able to spend some robot time with you! Great team!

To all of our new bot friends, it was great to meet you!

BEDFORD STILL HAS OPENINGS! Come play some more with us!! :)

Re: [FIM] Escanaba District Event 2014
 

This was an incredibly well run event and 862 had a blast competing in the UP! Escanaba was a great host city.

Thank you to 2851 and 5247 you both were awesome alliance partners, it was great to finally get a chance to play with Crevolution and to play with the Red Devils at their first event. We couldn't have asked for a better set of teams to have on the field with us.

Congratulations to 107 and 2586 on winning the district and to 1023 for winning the district AND Chairman's Award both were very well deserved!