Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

I'd also like to thank 1983 adn 1885 for allowing me to help give input and coach.

That's what made B.O.B. so awesome... all those people willing to help!

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Awesome event. Despite 2199 having an awful showing, we all really enjoyed it. Totally worth coming to. Met some cool people and yeah. I hope it happens again.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

The event was absolutely amazing! Got to play with teams I would rarely every see otherwise. Granted competing at an event with only two students from your team is not the easiest of feats, especially when things go wrong, we had a really great time.
Thanks to teams 1983 and 888 for being perfect alliance partners and for all teams that attended BOB for making for some intense matches.
Also thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the even run smoothly, all the refs, crew and everyone who helped the event in some way; thank you all.

One thing I was wondering about, someone had a video camera setup next to the scoring table. Will those matches be available for download? Who should I contact? If you need someone to splice up the matches, I would be more than willing to do so.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Are there any videos from this event?

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

I agree, the event was terrific. It was well organized and a lot of fun. Winner or loser ont he field, everyone was a winner, whether it was the seniors at their last robot competition (as a student - come back as mentors!), the students driving for the first time, or anyone there to cheer, dance, and mingle with old friends.

It was great seeing the entire Needel family there, including Grandma.

In a bittersweet moment, the Wade family was there as well and were given a special trophy in memory of Mike.

Greg and Wayne did a wonderful job as the voices of the event, and Ron Karpinski was everywhere keeping the field running smoothly.

The special crustacean tubes added a new dimension to the game. How did the rest of you like the addition?

I did have one disappointing moment. I was given one of the crustacean tubes at the end to take home. I put it on my team's robot which was going to be wheeled out to the van shortly. As they were loading I noticed that the tube was gone. Another team took the tube off our robot and replaced it with a spoiler. I won't say who, but you know who you are. You were seen. I hope if you stay in FIRST you learn the meaning of gracious professionalism better than you behavior indicates.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Thank you Baltimore for a wonderful event! I will admit, at first I was terribly confused with alliance selections, but I'm really impressed at how fair they really ended up.

Thank you to 423 and 587 for being great alliance partners, and to everyone else who competed for putting up a good fight.

Dan -
Some alliances that I know of:
#1 25, 888, 1893
#2 1089, 587, 423
#3 365, 358
#4 ____, ____
#5 1086, ____
#6 ___, _____
#7 1629, 1727, 1820
#8 ___, 1923 ____

3-6 then compressed into 3-team alliances after quarterfinals, but that's the best I remember from regular alliance selections. Hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks for you.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

For that alliance list, I'm pretty sure our alliance was 339, 1923 and 2199.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

BOB's 20 team, 8 seed elimination draw:

Seed 1 - 25 picked 888, draw 1893
2 - 1089 picked 587, draw 423
3 - 365 picked 384
4 - 449 picked 1086
5 - 1894 picked 1719
6 - 768 picked 1111
7 - 1629 picked 1727, draw 1820
8 - 339 picked 1923, draw 2199

Seeds 1-8 picked 1st partner from outside top 8.
Seeds 1, 2, 7 & 8 random draw from 4 remaining teams for 2nd partner.
Seeds 3, 4, 5 & 6 played QF (2v2), winners randon draw from 4 losing teams for 2nd partner.
QF (2v2) winner seed 3 random draw 1111; QF (2v2) winner seed 4 random draw 768.
SF and Finals were 3v3 format as normal.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Well, thank you 1089 for picking us. And 423 was a great complement! I agree that we were able to compete against a really good alliance. Every match, especially the finals, were exciting for everyone at BOB.

Thank you to the crew that made this happen.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

I'd like to echo what Morgan said - despite having a small crew, we had an amazingly fun time competing against teams from the North Carolina/Virginia/Maryland region. Thanks go out to ALL of our alliance partners throughout the event, especially 888 and 1893, but also to the teams we played against for some hard fought matches - 1629, your autonomous was excellent, but I was surprised not to see any attempts at scoring on the other side of the rack, like at PARC. I had been thinking you would surprise us with it in the finals. Either way, the finals (and the rest of eliminations) were definitely exciting, and I commend you all. :)

I was a fan of the crustacean tubes, they rewarded teams that scored in autonomous, but the "wild card" effect they had still made it possible for teams on the opposing alliance to take advantage of them, and thus were not overpowering. Also the decision to place two randomly on the rack if no teams scored in autonomous was a good one, it kept the gameplay fresh.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of the volunteers, the crew, and the refs for a job well done and making the event run efficiently. :]

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Battle O’Baltimore was a wonderful FIRST experience! Thanks so much to my alliance team members, team 25 and team 888. I want to especially thank team 25 for picking team 1983 to be part of the alliance.

We could not have competed with out the help of Alex from Dulaney, Ashley from New Jersey, and Blake and Art Ross. You guys were a great help! Above all, Ron Karpinski made it possible for us to enter the competition. Also, thanks to all the teams and people we borrowed ideas and tools from [I don’t have a good memory, so this is for everyone I may have forgotten ;) ].

All the teams at Battle O’Baltimore were great competitors, and it was an honor to compete along side these teams.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Are we that unmemorable of a team? 284 (PA team) wasn't there, nor was 358 (NY team), but 384 was, and was picked by our pals MOE (we've always been drawn together, we were pitted next to them 4 years in a row at Champs.)

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

My oppologies Sparky fans. Post has been edited.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

Woodie describes Gracious Professionalism as actions that would make your grandmother proud. Well, last week I met a grandmother named Louise Rooney. While talking to her, I found out that her grandson, Shane, participated in FIRST at Battlefield High School. Funny enough, Battlefield and Herndon (116, my team) were partnered together during the qualification matches at VCU, where we set the regional high scored together. 116 later selected them with the 7th pick as our alliance partner for the elimination rounds. I was looking forward to seeing them at Battle o' Baltimore, as they had registered some time earlier for BoB.
Unfortunately it became clear that they would have to pull out of the competition. So Battlefield, more commonly known on CD by their team number, 1885, decided to use their payment for their slot to help a team that might not have been able to compete otherwise. Their payment and spot was given to team 1923. 1885 then sent members to BoB anyway, and had them help 1893 compete.
The bottom line, I met one proud grandmother. 1885 demonstrated great gracious professionalism, again, this past weekend, a standard I have come to expect from their great team.

Re: Battle O' Baltimore-August 11
 

OK - So here is the championship rounds based on the official results sheets...

Quarter Finals
Alliance 1 (25, 888, 1893) vs. Alliance 8 (339, 1923, 2199) Alliance 1 wins 2-0
Alliance 4 (449, 1894) vs. Alliance 5 (1086, 1719) Alliance 4 wins 2-0
Alliance 2 (1089, 587, 423) vs. Alliance 7 (1629, 1727, 1820) Alliance 7 wins 2-0
Alliance 3 (365, 384) vs. Alliance 6 (768, 1111) Alliance 3 wins 2-0

Semi-Finals
Allaince 1 (25, 888, 1893) vs. Alliance 4 (449, 1894, 768) Alliance 1 wins 2-0
Alliance 7 (1629, 1727, 1820) vs. Alliance 3 (365, 384, 1111) Alliance 7 wins 2-1

Finals
Alliance 1 (25, 888, 1893) vs. Alliance 7 (1629, 1727, 1820) Alliance 1 wins 2-0

Congratulations to everyone and we hope to see you again next year!:D