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Re: 2014 Tech Valley Regional
WOW*10^250th POWER!!! <-- That is all I can really say about the inaugural FIRST Tech Valley Regional.
A very special THANKS to the regional planning committee, whose tireless efforts did not go unnoticed. It is because of the hard work and late nights of both the regional planning committee and those who stepped up and volunteered that this event was so successful. I would also like to take a moment and congratulate Paul Schoch on his WFA. He does so much in the area for FIRST and is an invaluable asset to our local FIRST community. He completely embodies the values of FIRST and the award couldn't have gone to a better person! Congratulations again! And how can I forget the other event staff and volunteers!? We were so lucky to snag some of the best FIRST has to offer in the way of event staff and volunteers. I have always LOVED FLR because of the teams and staff, and many of those who make that event so great found their way to the Tech Valley; even in the face of horrible weather and the shadow cast by the very nature of staffing a first year event. Liz: I always feel at ease knowing you'll be our FTA. Things seem to run better, and when they don't, you get things back online fast! Thanks! Dante: Being head Ref, you must know all of the rules forwards and backwards. You must answer *uninformed* questions during drive team meetings, and you must fight with people on calls you make. In the face of raw emotion, excitement and adrenaline, you manage to keep a calm head and call a fair game. I don't envy your position, but I wouldn't want anyone else. Thanks! Rob: You manage to wear many hats ( LRI, CSA, FTAA, everything else!?). You, like Liz, help teams wrangle the unruly mess of technology that can bog down teams at these events. Thanks! Queuers: Koko Ed, Bobby D and Paul Kane. You guys did an excellent job keeping teams where they needed to be and the event on schedule. Thanks! **There are too many people to name you all, but I THANK each and every one of you who made this event as awesome as it was!! On to the competition: Is it me, or was this competition nothing like what anyone expected a week 3 regional to be like! The matches were just fierce and most matches were WITHOUT penalties! :yikes: I would like to congratulate Team 340 GRR on their RCA. Your submission video was inspiring and looked fantastic. You guys not only set the bar, but raise it even higher every year! I would also like to congratulate Team 1511 Rolling Thunder on your REI. You guys were like our personal hardware store in the pits and you guys were constantly checking in on us to see if you could do anything! oh, a quarter twenty nut, sure take 3. some loop for our hook, heres a foot! It was fantastic competing with you at TVR and I cannot wait to see you guys at FLR! Team 1126 Sparx, Team 20 The Rocketeers, Team 229 Division By Zero. Thank you for making the eliminations so exciting. 20, from the moment I saw your robot fire that ball at the practice field, I knew we were in trouble. That feeling was bolstered by our THREE matches against each other in qualification matches. You guys are tough and your drive team is smart. (needless to say I would have been happier being with you than against you!) That not being in the cards, I knew we were all in trouble when you were selected by Team 1126. My heart sank, but my competitive nature flared and I knew that your alliance was the alliance I wanted to compete against the most! Adding 229 to your alliance only further strangthened your position and I think I can speak for everyone at the regional when I say that your alliance was downright scary! Congratulations on winning the 2014 Tech Valley Regional and I cannot wait to compete with all of you at FLR!! Team 3990 Tech for Kids and Team 145 T-Rex Thank you both for excepting our invitation to play together! You guys were a fantastic fit to our strategy and I think it is safe to say that we gave the number 1 seeded alliance a run for their money!! Taking it to three matches, we were in the fights of our lives! In all of my history with FIRST, I can safely say that I have not had that much fun in a long time. We were the scrappy underdogs as the number 3 seeded alliance going up against the Goliath's of 1126, 20 and 229. They were hard hitting matches, and it was very much an unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object. Team 3990: Your strategy team was brilliant. Your robot was stunning. Your Drive team downright amazing! Your offense with our defense seemed like a sure-fire combination. As the coach for 250, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such a great alliance partner. Quote:
I have been asked by many people about this, so I suppose I should say something about it. "Why did we not take our time-out before the second elimination match?" I have heard this a million times. For those who do not know, we tried to call the time out, but as per section 5.5.6 of the tournament rules, we could not. As a result of the back to back matches, there was a Field Timeoutcalled to allow for a proper reset of the field and robots. Because of this, we could not use our timeout as it would have caused a back to back timeout and this is not permitted by the rules. I would also like to touch on the subject of calling for the BACKUP Team. Team 4203 was the next robot and was ready to go. I know them well, and they would have been a fantastic team and robot to play with. They had switched over from Macanum wheels to regular wheelchair wheels and were ready to go! That being said, I was extremely happy with how we were playing together, and although we lost our second match, I was confident our strategy together would perform admirably for our third and final match. Waiting to the last second, we called our TIMEOUT. Your technicians swarmed your robot and it looked like you were making progress. I really wanted to give you guys as much time as possible as our alliance had played so many matches together I was unsure if calling in the BACKUP team would actually help or hurt us. ( we all knew our roles by that point, we had played 8 matches together and subbing for the very last match seemed questionable). Furthermore I wasn't 100% sure of your robot status until there was far less than 120 seconds left of that TIMEOUT. As per rule T20, I couldn't have called in the other team even if I wanted to. It's tough to speculate, and hindsight can be a cruel mistress, But even if there was enough time to call in the BACKUP, I am not convinced that it would have been the best choice for the alliance. I stand by our call and although we didn't take home the gold, I am proud of what our alliance accomplished together! Team 145: I would also like to thank you for accepting our call to arms for the elimination matches! Your drive team was a pleasure to work with during our 2 V 3 match on Friday (which we won!) and you delivered the same tenacity! (SQUIRREL!!!) You guys ran around the other alliances and performed perfectly on your part of the strategy. Nothing was greater than watching you and 3990 "Make out" and pass the ball from one bot to the other! Your drive team brought humor and concise planning to our alliance, alleviating the stress of the situation and providing great insight. I hope to have the opportunity to work with your team again in the future! There are things left unsaid. I know I have covered a lot, but I know I have missed much as well. I want to thank everyone who volunteered, helped out, attended, competed and and fought the elements to be there. This was the first FIRST Tech valley regional, but It will not be the last. Thanks again for helping start what I can only hope will become a great hallmark of the Tech Valley!! |
Re: 2014 Tech Valley Regional
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Also, just another shout out to all the amazing teams we battled it out with. What a great experience and we'll see everyone next year. |
Re: 2014 Tech Valley Regional
While we're still working on getting our videos up (have patience, people, there's a process that we need to go through with every single match video. They're in the wrong format and a bunch of other stuff), Tech Valley FIRST has posted the match videos from the webcast on their site here: http://www.techvalleyfirst.org/index.php?page=webcast
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Re: 2014 Tech Valley Regional
A huge thanks to all the countless hours of students, mentors, teachers, parents, and volunteers. The efforts everyone put in made me constantly forget that this was Tech Valley's inaugural year -- there were no hiccups to be seen; only energy, enthusiasm, and exuberance from all.
Be sure to check out the Tech Valley Highlight video and make sure to share it with your friends! |
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