WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Good morning! It is totally the morning on the west coast, where we, faceless but secretly prominent west-coasters, live.

Given the outgrowth of shameless, half-hearted attempts to inform a largely fictional audience of the grand feats of certain regions, of FRC, we decided to finally pull back the curtain on all of the hidden gems of competitive teams in California.

Sure, you may be wondering why an account called “WestCoastBestCoast” is only covering the state of California, but as we all know the FRC community had massive east coast bias, compounded by GameSense, whose east coast bias stretches all the way out to Washington and Oregon.

A note about districts in the state of California:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpqiq-FHDV4

Looking Backward:

We’re a little behind on pimping all of the great teams that you’ve never heard of in California, so let’s start with looking backward to the three regionals in the state of California. Wow, can you believe it? 3 regionals! That’s three more regionals than Michigan will have all season, as illustrated by this graph below:



Why do people think Michigan is so great again?

What a wild week first two weeks in the state of California! Did you know that California is home to one of the only outdoor FRC events in the world? That’s right! In San Diego their Del Mar Arena quickly turns from a pony showcase to a robot rumble. Why are there no outdoor events in Florida? Someone should try having one of those in Orlando. Analyzing the action, a great upset storyline appeared: the team that finished first in OPR, 3255, lost in the semifinals and the team that finished second in OPR, 3021, won in the finals after knocking off the team that was third in OPR, 821, in the semis! What a wild turn of events worthy of deeper analysis. Let’s look at some match video to find out more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmkSUq_yDHI


Wow! Take that, PNW!

Obviously, we’d be remiss to not bring up all of the great talent that headlined one of California’s Week 2 events. The Los Angeles Regional really proved that these robots can stand strong in the Hollywood Hills of Long Beach, CA.


2015 Hall of Fame team 987 took home the gold in another stunning upset. As we analyzed early in the season, 90% of all teams wanted to go under the low bar. If we extrapolate that data, we know for sure that exactly 2823.3 teams will be able to go under the low bar, but only 4 teams can win a world championship! While their chances will double in 2017, the odds are still rough. Even with the data definitely against 987, they were able to pull off the miracle against a very tall 330. How did they do it? It probably helps that they were paired up with 1197, a team that needs no introduction, and 5012, a team that needs introduction despite the fact that they won a championship last year! [http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...47#post1504947 At least 1197 was tall, so they knew what they were doing. Congrats to all 3 of the winners, including honorary Californian 987.


It was very surprising to see long standing powerhouse, Code Orange, 3476, miss semifinals with their tall R2D2 imitation. Will triwheels help put this team back on top or was the missing orange and turquoise paint the key to victory that slipped from their fingers? Look to the aptly named Orange County Regional at the hallowed halls of Valencia High School in Week 5 to find out.

One event that really surprised us at WestCoastBestCoast was the Central Valley Regional. Plucky underdog 254 came out with a machine that wowed many people across the FRC community, and seeing 1678’s two ball auto in action on the field was a surprising sight. On the surface, it surprised a lot of people when the Citrus Circuits passed on the hometown heroes of 1323 and went for the slowly growing group of rebels from Bellarmine College Prep. However, a closer look at the data reveals a different picture:



Looks like the 1678’s legendary scouting system made the right call.

Let’s not overlook the accomplishments of other underappreciated teams who competed in Madera, like 1671’s return to action after leading their alliance to a World Championship in 2015. They finished out in the quarterfinals to a rising star 5817, a team that is famous for having absolutely no relationship to that bird team that shall not be named, guys. [Editor’s note: joke about a bench grinder should go here, the kids love those jokes]

Also, shout out to Adam Heard on 973, who was finally recognized for incredible accomplishments in not hitting alliance partners with his WFFA win this week.

Looking Forward:

Finally, the good stuff! Let’s look forward to all of the action in California for Week 3:

https://youtu.be/sOszirJluaQ?t=308

See you in Week 4!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

LOL! I'm waiting on these for Minnesota, Texas, and the southeast now. Too funny. Love it!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

This might be a great thread in CD history.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

You should be CaliCoastBestCoast because you missed most of the west coast....

Still liked this analysis though ;)

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I'm going to go get a large thing of popcorn, maybe a corndog as well.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

WCBC explains themselves pretty well, I think.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

The statistical evidence presented in this post is without equal. That's some serious Sabermetrics-meets-FRC second level stuff. WCBC just changed the scouting landscape, forever. Take notes, people. Take notes.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Don't forget about their hard earned spirit award!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

LOL

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Dude, West Coast Drive is named west coast drive for a reason. It isn't for the west coast of Europe.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

West Coast of Michigan? 😎

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

3 minutes late for being considered morning over here on the best coast. tisk tisk.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

After the statistical prowess that WCBC just showed, I'm willing to let them define what morning is.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I'll need a graph for that.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

You mean like that? Lol.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Because it was invented in Arizona?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Dying

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

The OP has 2 posts in 1 day to his credit, and check out that reputation.

Does WCBC's reputation go up to 11? *obligatory Spinal Tap reference.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Color scheme of that graph is identical to Game Sense. Coincidence? You decide.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

we dont recognize the regime in NE/PNW as legitimate

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Posting during your own show? Impressive.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Sean is probably fun at parties.:p

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Shots fired.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Maybe 1717 will win California Week 3.

Too soon?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Lik dis if u cri evertim :(

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I believe you mean 812, who also won the Regional Chairman's Award at CVR last weekend.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

That's just Pauline overwhelming the judges and them giving them the award in defense to call her off.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

We are pretty great.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

We are very encouraged by the positive response.

254 was more than happy to provide us with some strategies to help other teams do well at their future events. Caveats apply: this only works at select California events, but all other events are invalid anyway.

We all know how hard it is to make a great second pick. The rising star of San Jose might have a method some teams should look in to:



Thanks for all of the help, guys and gals!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Whoa whoa, your flowchart is missing some critical pieces. There is no sandbag #1 pick.


We're still working on sandbag #1 seed, not really sure how to accomplish that one yet.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I'm still amazed you managed to sandbag WFFA...

CMP Conference talk on competitive sandbagging?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Hmmm here I was thinking CVR 2014 was all a master plan..

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Minor nitpicky point here: The students had to submit the WFFA nomination, which means that Adam himself couldn't sandbag it. It therefore follows that he has been incredibly successful at mentoring his students on how to sandbag properly and all the necessary communication skills to pull it off. Which means he rightfully deserved the WFFA...so...it wasn't sandbagged?

It brings us to the existential questions: If one intends to sandbag and accidentally doesn't, was it still sandbagging? Did Adam's communication skills actually fail in such a way that he taught anti-sandbagging? Is the whole WFFA premised on a sham? And if so, was the sandbagging actually successful? Is Adam actually Darude? We may never know.

(All joking aside, well deserved Adam, regardless of how well you taught them sandbagging or not)

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

We usually work with 254 to find the most non-functional robot at the competition as our joint 2nd pick. We pit test them and if any electrical current flows we immediately drop them from our list. Some teams are better showing dysfunctionality than others.

BTW, how am I supposed to decipher your graphics if you don't put numbers on them?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I hope one day we'll be good enough that when we suck, people will think we're sandbagging, instead of just sucking. That's every mentor's dream, right?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I've been sandbagging for 14 years now.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

This only works if you get picked #1 overall after said stinking, based entirely on the fact that the top seed doesn't want to play against you.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

LOL. I don't think I've actually talked to a judge since 2013.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Fear our can grabbers!

No, seriously. I'm amazed they passed safety inspection and didn't maim anyone.

Can't score points if we have the cans.

Can race=worst race

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

That's Racist.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Are you sure he's referencing you?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Worse than minibot race?

At least with can races you'd see the occasional battle over the center line.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I think 2009 auton was the worst race. All six robots turned tail and ran away from the humans.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Yes, yes it is.

No, but the statement does at least fit. We only did 5 stacks and many teams saw that as a detriment.

That's a fair argument, but watching minibots go flying off sometimes when hitting the top was highly entertaining. Also the fight to get in position with the poles increased the anticipation and excitement.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I'm just imagining some oblivious freshman browsing this thread and going "Wow these people are all so arrogant".

+1 to the WCBC flowchart, though. I'll make sure to flowchart our picklists in the future based on teams sandbagging.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Self imposed or team initiated?

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

I think she meant to add "as a student" to that one.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

There's a warning in the judge manual.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

YEAH, OR YOU'LL GET DA CLAMPS!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Better than the 2 CHAMPS!

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Why do kep[;e keep calling it 2 Champs? It's like winning the AFC championship and thinking that's good enough. It's a half championship.You get the other half if you meet the other half champion at an unofficial (but prestigious) off season event that FIRST has no real affiliation with to settle the argument of who really is the true champion (God forbid they say no).

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

#NoHalfChamps

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Concerning the push/pull for/against districts in California... there was a proposed ballot measure that needs serious consideration.
Attachment 20383

The next step is kicking the badminton teams out of the gym so we can set up the field.

Re: WestCoastBestCoast Week 1 and 2 Wrapup + Week 3 Analysis
 

Looks just like the proposal to break CA into multiple states