Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

I believe you missed 3310, BlackHawk...
They won in Colorado this weekend

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

Excellent! Thanks. The list now:

118 (Alamo, KC, LSR)
148 (Dallas, LSR)
418 (Arkansas EI)
457 (Dallas)
624 (Alamo, Alamo Chairman's)
1477 (Dallas Chairman's)
1817 (Hub City)
2158 (Alamo EI)
2468 (Hub City, Hub City Chairman's)
2848 (Dallas WC)
3103 (LSR EI)
3847 (LSR Chairman's)
4063 (Hub City)
5052 (Alamo RAS)
5057 (Dallas RAS)
5320 (Hub City)

2585 (LSR) Qualified but not yet registered
3310 (Colorado) Qualified but not yet registered
3997 (LSR WC) Qualified but not yet registered

Anyone know if these three plan on going?

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

I believe 3310 and 3397 are.

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

We're not that forgettable I hope.

And we should be going.

Texas looks to be strong both on the field and in the chairman's room at champs this year!

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

I think the district ranking system is a bit overrated ... but that's a whole different discussion.

For now,

I'm interested in a championship-level teams Texas teams that did not make Championship. I think too many teams in Texas are under the radar because of the giant PR balloon created by the big 4 Texas teams.

In no particular order, here is my list:
231 - ranked 3 at LSR, ranked 6 at Dallas, made elims in all three events. Very solid robot with a two-ball autonomous.

3481 - Bronc Botz - made finals at Dallas, elims in all three events, quality drivetrain and robot

1296 - Full Metal Jackets - good shooter and collection system, made elims in both events.

704 - Warriors - Ranked 8th at Dallas - great team and robot

4587 - Jersey Voltage - amazing 2nd year team , expect big things from 4587

2881 - Lady Cans- one of the best dual collector robots in Texas. best live group performance at a Robotics event !

3005 - RoboChargers- up and coming team, had one of their best years and great robot performance

3999 - Shadetree Mechanics- solid passing robot that made elims at Alamo & LSR

3735 - KlienBots should have made the elims at LSR , best robot in their team history

2936 - Gatorzillas - amazing team , attempted swerve this year and a powerful shooter

3335 - made elims at LSR & Alamo , best robot in their team history

1429 - strong team with an ok robot this year. They tried to lay low for the elims at LSR, but sometimes it will make you miss elims.

3545 - Stacey Robotics - good shooting robot. Should have made elims at LSR.

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

2587 ought to be on that list, too...

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

*cough* Galileo Division Finalist in 2012 *cough*

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

Thanks for the nice assessment, Andrew... much appreciated!!

--Michael

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

I completely agree Allen. How would you suggest we go about solving this dilemma? There are man factors that go into team sustainability that can't be solved by having a neighboring team give you money, time, etc.

Take for instance the problem west Texas is currently facing. With the recent increase of teams from 2 to 9, we face a number of issues. The Lubbock area simply does not have the resources (both in sponsors and in mentors) to support this many teams effectively. I estimate half of them would disband if FIRST in Texas stopped their sponsorship of these teams. And, correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe that most of these teams will lose that sponsorship due being older than 2 years after this season.

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

FIRST in Texas isn't only for 2 year teams. We have been supported by FiT for the past 4 years I believe (at least 3, I wasn't here the first year).

Money is a hard problem. I haven't heard of too many Texas teams that just go through the phone book and call for support. I have heard of other teams doing that before.

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

This is one of many threads that include a discussion about keeping Texas teams alive. Sharing money and time are, as stated earlier in this thread, really band-aids. They may get a team through a Thursday or even a season. But what is it that makes a team sustainable? Organization, mentors, fund-raising, local school support? Is there any way the established teams can help with such things? Can FIRST in Texas act as a conduit for any formal programs/actions/relationships to solve this problem?

Just thinking out loud...

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

We've done that to no avail. And rockwall/heath is a pretty affluent area with tons of engineers from L3 coms in greenville who live there. I feel like people are less likely to just give money to strangers over the phone though. :rolleyes:

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

We have 18 Texas teams represented at the Championship.



Here are my picks for who will make it to elims (10 out of 18 teams ! ) .

Locks: 118 , 148 , 624 , 1477, 3310

Potentials: 1817 , 3847 , 2468

Dark Horses: 2158 , 2848

Texas teams did very well last year in eliminations, I predict at least two teams from Texas will make Einstein this year!

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

Maybe it's time Texas school districts look at funding FIRST Robotics as a full-fledged extracurricular activity. This will be easier when we go to the District model where you get more than one event for $5000.

It does not take many people with deep pockets pushing for change at the state level for it to happen. Most of you can't remember school without "No Pass No Play" but that seemed to happen almost overnight when Ross Perot made it an issue.

Mr. Rip

Re: Texas Rankings 2014
 

I like the idea of Robotics being a full-fledged extracurricular activity but we need to be careful about getting the State and/or UIL involvement. We do not want to fall under the 8 hour a week limitation.

Going to the district model will definitely be better in terms of cost at least to attend two events. I know there will be some extra costs for travel for the teams that do not attend two events right now. BUT I think the return on the investment for those teams will be much appreciated.

I do agree with you Scott, that getting deep pockets involved is very important to make changes.