Congradulations to Team 177
 

I forgot to also congratulate the Battle Cry Star winners. Team 177 give an excellent speech on their mentor, and it seems he did a lot of work to deserve it.

Our Frame
 

Well when the frame was built there was a ball collector in that spot. Believe it or not we were going to have the capability to pick up balls. Well at nationals that tower was taken off. Those who went to Virgina and San Jose would have seen it. Since we did that we lost the strenght in the front of our robot which forced it to break into two piece.
Again a great deal of thanks nedds to go out to team 151 for helping us put that back together.

All i have to say its that if team 121 has to knock us over to win, they did that. If that is the only way that they can beat us though, that is pretty sad. Also, you guys blammed the loss of your first round on your alliance, all i have to say about that is, if you guys are as good as you say you are, you shouldn't need any other robot, you should be able to take care of it all on your own.

What kind of BS is this. I am not trying to be mean, or anything, but do I have to repeat myself.

1. It was never in our strategy to tip you over, YOU JUST FELL.

2. We never blamed WPI for anything, sure it was unfortunate that it didn't work our first quarter finals, but hey all robots experience power failures in unexpected times. We were quite honored to be partnered with 190 and 311.

3. We did graciously win the UTC championship by not flipping you.

4. We do had a numerous amount of strategies (none involving harm to 173 & co.) to go against you.

And you call us ungracious, calling us liars and cheaters on public forum, how gracious is that?

Look I tried to be a gracious as I possible can, I was hoping that both teams would drop this, but you have to set the record straight, I don't want teams to have a negative feeling towards us, or anyone else for that matter. And sometimes that means you have to take a more defensive position. All and all, please, if you have nothing good to say, than don’t say it.

Now I agree with Steve, no one here represents their team or their sponsor, all actions are on the person. Rick, while he might make some suggest remarks doesn't deserve this much negative criticism. Accept the outcome, and drop this frivols bickering. Please, I thought that after UTC dispute that it all ended in wasted disk space, and benefited nobody. I don't like writing this, but I just want to end this NOW! Please

I will try to be civil here!

An "accidental" tipping of the robot I can understand and maybe even forgive but why did the drivers of 121 feel it necessary to push 173's (Rage) robot when they were down??? That was just unecessary!

One thing I am glad about is that so many people have so many opinions on this issue. Thank you for everyone's understanding and compassion towards all teams involved including but not limited to, team 173 who took the fall and also team 190 who basically split apart at the seams. I was very glad to see team 190 back out on the field after thier incident.

So many emotions lead to so much trouble if you act upon them, so let's just chill out!

Thank you 173 and 155 for an awesome alliance at Battlecry! It was definately a learning expierience!

On a side note, maybe this will encourage all teams involved in the formentioned incidents to sign up for Bash @ the Beach in October for a rematch???

Also no matter what happened this year at Battlecry I hope to see all team there next year and to put this all behind us - a stament I realize is more easier said than done but we are all part of the FIRST family and we can do anything we put our minds to!

Its weird that this is happening again. I actually expected that all our members would just ignore this thread, as they knew how much of a "jerk" Rick comes across as in the majority of his posts...whether he means to, or not. Guess I was mistaken...

I was driving the robot when we got "nudged" and "fell" over. I was just as angry as anyone else, but I didn't resort to venting that anger on these forums (atleast I hope I didn't).

Winning a tournament is just that, winning a tournament. Whether or not you think the winners deserve it is purely your opinion. If your opinion is not good and you share it publicly, it usually ends up in a brawl. Brawls usually do nothing but hurt both parties. So make sure when you share your opinion that it is a good one, or one that won't result in a brawl. The lack of true dialogue is the difference between our society and the one of our forefathers.

If a man wins 1000 times and then loses to someone, is that person better? If a man loses 1000 times, but turns around and beats the best there is, is that person now the best there is? The thing is you never can really tell. Greatness isn't something you gain or lose, its just something you strive for. [Edit: A good example of striving for greatness the right way is team 175: BUZZ. They are always there for others and put up with being picked on by others (heck, I am guilty of this). In fact, they take it with a stride. They sometimes brag about their successes, but that is to be expected with anyone.]

We had a good season in 2002, probably our best ever and I don't want to ruin it by having our team's reputation go down the drain. I want to be able to come back next year and win or lose stay in the good graces of the competing teams.

fast frank, I can't believe how much you dislike us, but I won't comment on your post, as I see the possible reason for it.

This post is deviating from its true purpose, so I will stop. Please, let's stop giving fuel to this issue, so it will burn out .. I personally don't think its worth it.

Congratulations to all winners, as winning is never _that_ easy.

BTW .. RAGE members, do you think Mr. Nystrom would be happy if he read your comments?

Don't be too hard on your teammates Joel.

After all, this is a forum for discussing all aspects of FIRST, even the downright nitty gritty ones.

Opinions are like brains, everybody’s got em just some people use them better then others! There are some things I have resented saying on these boards in the past as well!

I know that those finals @ Battlecry hurt but I agree with you Joel, treat is as water under the bridge, BUT let's also learn from these valuable experiences and become better persons because of them!

BTW It was nice to finally meet you at BC3. Good luck in the future and I hope if anything happened to the robot, It is repairable!

Great post Joel.. well said..

And to 237-- 190 will be at Bash once again.. we had an awesome time last year and look forward to sporting the beach apparel and having some fun again.

I encourage all the teams that can to sign up.. the CT teams put on a great competition and a fun 'party' afterwards (at least they did last year, hopefully again this year).

Our next stop, I believe, is River Rage in Sept. And 190 will be in a more stable two pieces by then (by mid-week actually..). Because when we put the robot back into one piece in under 5 minutes, not too much 'alignment' time was taken so the two sides aren't even, so I don't think all 4 wheels even touch the ground at once (or all four anchors for that matter, as you can see when we were being pulled off them at points in the elims).

Looking forward to River Rage...

And oh yeah, team 271: our cable actually broke 2-3 times at Mayhem. The first couple it broke in the middle because we believe it was grinding on something in the robot. Not to say you didn't pull hard.. (hey, you tipped us on our side and dragged us across the field, we know you have strength ;-)) But 121 took a running start and ripped the goal right where the hook attached, the part of the cable that never touches or grinds against anything. You've got a strong robot though, we hope to play with/against you at RiverRage and Bash. :)

Well said Joel J.
 

As an outsider reading these posts I can tell how easy it is for somebody to form ill opinions of the teams involved by reading what their members have said about the final match. However, I will not do that, and I'm glad that people like Joel are redirecting the purpose of this thread. 121, you have a reason to be proud of yourself, you won three post season competitions and UTC. RAGE, you had a great year too, you won LI amd I was happy to see another UTC team be part of the National Championship allience. And because you guys had great robots and alliences this year, that is why the finals at Battlecry III were so fun to watch. Nobody can win everything, and the game this year did involve a lot of dumb luck in addition to everything else. Dean said it at kickoff that he expected a lot of bumping and some ramming, we all designed our bots not to tip over so easily, but it happens to the best of us. So lets all just step back, remember the fun times, and keep in mind that there is always next year.

ByE

erin

P.S. Yes I am aware that I shouldn't be doing cartwheels while going up to recieve awards. But I know you would have laughed if I fell. C-ya!

Wow...just...wow
 

Ya know, this is getting rediculous. I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I have an ego, but I try to reserve it as much as I can in the spirit of gracious professionalism...something we are seeing less of on these boards as of late. You guys gotta understand that frankly there is NO best team...any team can win at any time with the correct given strategy, situation, and luck.

As for the push/tip at Battlecry...sorry Rage, its in the rules, and in my opinion, it was legal, however...the pushing rage into the endzone eventhough the match was pretty much over at that point...in my opinion, that may have been a little much...of course thats my opinion, and people can argue it anyway they want.

The only thing that truely miffs me about this whole deal, is reading these boards and seeing people just make their own teams look horrible by saying things that just sound so egotistical.

C'mon guys...lets show a little more respect for each other please.

Thanx,
Andy Grady

honestly, i do not dislike you guys. i'll be the first in line to say that you have a great robot. it's a simple design that's very effective and could have been adapted to the last few games. why change it if it works, right? i was just stating that i knew it was possible to beat you, we did it with 177. not to say that we haven't been beaten by you a couple of times. it was just from my standpoint as driver when i faced 71, i felt helpless. before that i thought and felt like we couple push anyone. slowly, but surely, 71 pused us 20 something feet into the goal zone. if you've seen the video, it's pittiful. it's just that up until then we have never faced 71, or 66 and they just sloughtered (sp?) us. 71 pushed us all the way back and then 66 pushed us sideways which snapped the welds on both of our wheels. and then in the match that was you and 71, you didn't pick up balls which is what your robot is designed to do, which led me to believe that you didn't deserve the championship. I WAS WRONG. you did deserve it.

ahem?
 

"As for the push/tip at Battlecry...sorry Rage, its in the rules, and in my opinion, it was legal, however...the pushing rage into the endzone eventhough the match was pretty much over at that point...in my opinion, that may have been a little much...of course thats my opinion, and people can argue it anyway they want."


yea, and when 173 released its tether to score an extra 10 points, that wasnt a little much:confused: ?!! i mean even though you got dq'd for it, i believe that that was unjust for you to beat them into the ground! whatever, its over now, we will all have to wait to defend our title at riverrage!

take it easy guys, we dont want any "brawls" happenin!

Badjokeguy

Re: ahem?
 

To tell you the truth badjokeguy, it probably was a little bit much. BUT did you see what happened as a result of us doing that? We lost the match (0-23) because I let my wish to further secure our win get in the way of rationality (would've been 31 - 23, not exactly beating anyone into the ground).

BTW, I am beating myself up in this post, no one else.

New England off-season competitions turning into Brawls
 

Hey guys Battlecry was great...umm...actually kinda disappointing for us result wise but great in entertainment. Ok first there was the mass destruction of WPI in the first finals I thought that was kinda cool and thought the finals was over. I guess I was wrong 121 comes back and wins the next one oh well. Third match controversy erupts and here in lies the truth from the outsiders stand point the score at this point 190 controlled two goals and a load of 121's balls while 237 was attacking them. On the other side you have RAGE with a goal scooping balls up like no tomorrow but they only scooped in at this time one load which is around 12. So if I can calculate this correctly 121 and 190 is winning 35 to 22 at this point. Okay so there is no possible way for RAGE to win at this point by scoring balls and it was clearly obvious to at this point. So everybody in the stands begins to think ok 121 is going to get more balls or something right could have been a logical move. And here in lies the truth of the situation 121 bolts down the end of the field with NO intent of getting the goal they never even hit the goal they went straight for the robot now I know its in the rulebook that you can bang but it also says that charging from 15 feet out is against the rules under malicious intent. 121 you have a great robot you were going to win anyways don't even try to comeback and say,"Iwas worried about their tethers and we had to compensate for them because 190 has a tether and your fast enough to get into your zone. What you did at Battlecry has cemented your team as dirty players once again echoing the days of the tip bot (yeah it was legal but you won your matches by that sad) oh yeah the inexcusable act of dragging them into your endzone can only be viewed as a smack in the face to 173. I would take no pride in what you did this week at Battlecry for your actions have made you now Public Enemy #1 on many team's hit list. For when Riverage comes around I hope you sign up because there are some grudges I would love to have settled before the season ends.

P.S. This is not a rant but what I saw from my viewpoint of the match personally I am a little biased due to the history my team has had with the Rhode Warriors dating back to Rumble at the Rock and such on. But when I saw what happened this weekend alot of the conversation on the way home was about 121's actions and how they have returned to their dirty tricks again.

I apologize
 

joel you are right mr. nye would be ashamed of us and the way we acted. but i should have been a little more tasteful w/ my words and bitten my tongue no matter haw agry and upset i was. and joel you need to right a book or something with all of your words of wisdom like but i am sorry for all of the hateful and distasteful things i have said in this thread. i wish there was some way i could take it back but i cant. once again i am very sorry to 121 and anyone else i may have hurt in writing what i have and 121 you have been great opponents all year and congrats on your win