Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

GaelHawks are webcasting, you can find the list of webcasts at http://firstwiki.net/index.php/2009_Webcasts

Can't wait to see how it unfolds, I'll be heading down to watch Saturday's eliminations!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Webcast is fantastic! Great sound and video, and you can actually read the Team Numbers and score at the bottom! Great job 230, thanks for hosting!

Bengineer
(See everyone there tomorrow!)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

121 added a fan, if their drivers can still control it they should put up impressive numbers this weekend.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Today was so much fun! Congrats to a fantastic group of teams for all of your hard work and successes.

Also... does anyone want to trade for an UberBots shirt? I have two, in size L. I'd like a S or M if you can get one. [: Share your team spirit.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

does anyone know what matches are being replayed tomorrow?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I don't know which matches are being replayed (other than 31) but I do know there will be a total of four replays sometime early tomorrow.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thank you to all of the teams who are making this a fantastic regional! The GP spirit is alive and well in Connecticut... :)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Match 22

One question about the original play of the match, why was the red alliance shooting supercells if they had two teams with a G14 in their past match and a team with a double G14 from their last match?

Watch the video here http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/vids/09ct/ct_qm26.mp4

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I know 1902 has to replay match 21. They didn't tell me why they are being replayed, anyone know?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I was told that there was a field error causing a robot to lose its ability to move.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

What's wrong with the field? This is an awfully long pause.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

they have been having insane field problems all weekend. I have never seen a regional with so many field faults and problems

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I heard a rumor that the FTA was on the field *during* an elimination match. Can anyone confirm this and explain what happened?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I didn't see it on the webcast, but apparently it did happen. It's the first tie in the elims.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Anyone know what the aliance pairings were? I was out to lunch durring alliance picking.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

These are the 8 alliance... in no order.


173 121 694
126 1155 1902
743 1100 175
1071 177 20
716 181 176
1073 61 571
228 236 230
195 1592 48

To bad the first website wont show me the standings of the CT Regional..:confused:
http://www2.usfirst.org/2009comp/eve.../rankings.html

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Semi's are looking like:

694,121,173 vs 1902,126,1155

175,1100,743 vs 1071,20,177

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Chuck, 1902 is in the 4th alliance. Beat #5 2 to 1 games with a tie game, it was close.

I think we had to play three games in a row.

Now it has beat #1 alliance but that was close. So good games.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Stuypulse looked like they were having problems.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Congradulations teams 1155, 1902, and 126 on your performance. Im hoping to see you guys at nats.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

1902 is going to championships, see you there.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thank you to 126 and 1155 for being great teammates. Thanks for choosing us!!!!!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I can confirm this happened. Team 126 was bumped in a corner and something happened to their robot. I think it lost connection because it seemed to come back up 30sec later. Anyway, while trying to troubleshoot the situation, the FTA stepped onto the field while the match was still running to get a better look at 126's robot. All of the other robots were on the other side of the field, but I don't think she should have been there.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thanks to 1902 and 1155. we couldnt have done it without u guys..
That was so nerve racking. thanks again guys see you all in atlanta

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Yup this did happen i believe it was 1155 that ook a big hit from 571. They lost connection for about 20-30 seonds. The FtA waited till all the other robots were on the other side of the field and went on and checked them.
There were some major problems with the field but I'm not gonna ramble on about that.
To all the volunteers you guys made this event great. I had an awesome time. Thank you for everything you did this weekend.

694- You guys had a beastly robot. You guys were awesome partners and easy to work with.It's too bad that we had a little string of bad luck and our day ended a little sooner than we had hoped.

173- I can't tell you how glad i am that i finally got too see Rhode Rage happen. I've been waiting for about 6 years for that too happen. Again You guys were great partners and its too bad that a string of bad luck ended our weekend ealry.

Finally I wanna congratulate 126, you guys came out on day 2 and looked just lights out, 1155, you guys were a great offensive robot that was high up on our list and 1902, you played some great defense and gave gave us a heck of a time.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I could be getting senile, but I believe you are mixing two different incidents.

Yes, we got hit in the corner in one elimination which knocked us out. I believe the hit popped our CB. We stayed dead for the duration of that match.

The other incident was a different elim match later when even though the Green Light was on to start the match, we immediately got the blinking red when Autonomous started and we remained motionless into Teleop. When TeleOp started, Sabrina (the FTA) was scrambling to our Driver Station to work her magic (unplugging, plugging, etc.). She then went sprinting to our robot which was on the other side of the field. It looked like from my vantage point that she stepped into the playing and pointed at our robot, and it sprang to life. I don't know if she actually touched anything. It looked like she was trying to see if we were actually plugged into the Game Adapter. Someone else closer could actually see if she touched the robot (which I doubt), but I believe she stepped or leaned into the field just to get a closer look.

Fred

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thank you 126 and 1155 for inviting us into your alliance, it was some of the most fun I have had during a regional working with you all. It was definitely not easy, there were a lot of great teams we were against, but the competition kept it fun and exciting.

Thank you to everyone at the Connecticut Regional for makin' bacon feel at home up in the chilly north east. Hopefully we can come visit you again, or maybe you should all come join us in Florida next year!

(p.s. the unidentified red team in the back of the arena, with the amazing word cards, you made my day.)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

(p.s. the unidentified red team in the back of the arena, with the amazing word cards, you made my day.)[/quote]

That would be us, team 241 from derry nh! spread the word lol

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

And on behalf of 1155, I'd like to thank all of our alliance partners for making our first regional championship win possible. We'll see you all in Atlanta. Enjoy Sunny florida, Exploding Bacon, and Gael Force, you may want to bring those winds down to a gentle breeze for a while... Atlanta is going to be fierce.


I had a great time today, not just during the elimintation matches- everyone at the competition gave their A-Game and I am honored to have competed against you.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Ha I'm just on the drive team and it was hard to tell! Thanks 241 I won't forget it! :)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

lol we were just going threw our cards and grabbing random words to spell and BACON was fun to spell and cheer and we loved ur bot

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

This was Bacon's first Regional win also. The whole alliance did awesome, it shows that a good strategy can do some major damage. I hope everyone had fun at the regional. I just wish i was there instead of watching the Webcast (I am still very grateful for the Webcast though, It made me feel like i was there.) For those going to the Championship, I wish you good luck and for everyone to have fun.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Congratulations to teams 126, 1155, and 1902 for winning the Connecticut Regional. Your alliance produced some of the best matches of the season. Nice strategy containing Buzz at the end. See you all at the Championship!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I got an email tonight from a former CT FIRST mentor's wife who has now retired to FL. They were watching CNN Headline News and realized they were watching a clip from our Regional (footage from our local CBS affiliate)! How cool is that? If you search CNN's website under videos for "robotics" it should come up at the top.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Great job to all the teams, especially 126, 1155 and 1902 on their big win. Can't wait for Atlanta!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Um, we ordered a heat wave just for you, didn't you feel it?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I've seen this happen several times over the years. It's rare, but usually only occurs when all other robots are no where near the robot in question.

Once on the Archimedes division field in the Triple Play game, Dean rode his Segway over to the field and leaned it over the side wall while he was talking to someone, oblivious to the matches. As the match was basically starting, one of the referees noticed the Segway, and ran across the field and threw Dean's Segway off the field so no robots would hit it.

It was quite funny to watch.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thanks for a great regional everyone! I just saw the segment from the competition on ABC. I loved volunteering, I worked with a great crew and made some new friends, and all of the teams I talked to on the field were wonderful. I'm just sorry I couldn't get the chance to visit all of my friends from previous years in their pits since I was on the field all day. A huge thanks to those who did all the important work behind the scenes- you made the regional terrific! Your hard work is appreciated. A hearty congrats to 126, 1155, and 1902 for your win! You played really well- those matches were executed excellently and I think you took a lot of people by surprise. Bacon, thanks for bringing some warmth up to CT with you (that is why it was warm this weekend, right?) Alliances 1 and 2, you were both really strong and you performed amazingly. Congrats to you too. (: Also, another very well-deserved Chairman's Award went to team 236- congratulations! Your team never ceases to amaze me. Keep working your wonders. Hopefully everyone is getting some rest now... and if the powers that be align the CT Regional with MIT's spring break again, I'll see you all again next year!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

This regional reminded me a lot of Florida, especially in the elims, there were upsets, there was strategy, there was tons of scoring, you guys really had the whole package up there in CT and it was fun to watch.

Congrats to 126, 1155, and 1902 (Oink oink BOOM!!!) you guys were so organized in your attack it was scary.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I want to start off by saying that this regional was the best by far. Both teams 126 and 1902 were amazing alliance members and i felt that we could not have won with out either of you guys. To reference the quote above this actually happened because of our team(1155). during the elimination match be got hit pretty hard and stopped working. To try and quickly resolve the issue the FTA jumped onto the fiels when the other robots were on the other side of the field to try and solve the problem. While she was looking our robot turned back on. When we spoke to her at the end of the match she said that she had not touched the robot but rather it had just started up again. Our only possible theory for why this happened is that when we got hit our robot restarted and that the time delay between the stop and the start was the boot up process for the robot.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Congrats to 126, 1155, and 1902 for a huge win in CT! You guys certainly had some tough alliances to fight through! Out of any other team, I'm glad it was you that took us out....what a fun couple of matches to watch!

694...it's a shame you guys are done for the remainder of the year. You guys have a great robot, and it would have been something special if we had both been working at the same time. We put together quite the alliance with you and 173, and until all of the problems, it looked like a dream alliance. I was also very impressed with your strategy team...hopefully we will see you in the off-season!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Here is the link for the CNN video. These links often do not work after awhile, but you can go to cnn and search for robot competition.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tec...ef=videosearch

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Team 2836, Team Beta, would like to thank all the team's that made our first ever competition a great experience. We would also like to congratulate teams 126, 1155, and 1902 on the win. Great strategy. We'll see you in Atlanta.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Hey Tom :) finally got a Chief Delphi account..


anyway. Congratulations to those winning teams..you guys are really talented. Still a bummer that we didn't at least make it to the finals, but these things happen! was it just me, or was the CT regional pretty unpleasant? I blame it on the awful bleachers! I was in the pit most of the time just because it was a pain- literally- to sit on the bleachers.

I wish I was going to Atlanta to cheer on 121 :( unfortunately school comes first. I'll be sure to make some signs for us though :) and watch online of course

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thanks to Sue Glasspiegel, Mike Sperber, the Kentfields (great job, Jack!!) and all the hardworking volunteers who make the CT regional a great event year after year. While we were disappointed that we didn't fare a little better in the rankings (why oh why does that alliance pairing algorithm hate us so much???), it's always fun competing and seeing all our FIRST friends, and we were honored and thrilled to receive Friday's Judge's Award. Hope to see many of you in Atlanta (where we are praying the algorithm treats us a little better!!):D

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

First, Congratulations to teams 1155, 1902, and 126 your performance showed that strategy is more important than ever this year.

Thanks to everyone on team 1902, this will be remembered as one of my all time favorite regionals. We enjoyed hosting you Wednesday night, and working with you throughout the weekend. Hopefully, the Match Pairing Gods will place us in the same division in Atlanta and paired together instead of against each other on the field (sorry about that epic collision in autonomous). :ahh:

Can't wait to meet up for dinner in Atlanta!

To any team that hasn't hosted a team attending your local regional, I'd recommend that you do. The friendships that develop are amazing, and make the FIRST experience all the better for everyone.

Lastly, a special thanks to Dez and Sabrina for going above and beyond the call of duty to correct the field problems and keep the event on schedule. Just don't lose "The Game". :rolleyes:

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I'm surprised it hasn't been said already. Why were the stands so close to the field? Why were one side of the stands pit entrance closed half way through friday? I felt as if that was a very unsafe situation and very disappointed.

...

Congrats 126, 1155, 1902. I knew it once that alliance was paired up you would take it all. 1902 was the steal of the draft and they proved it many times over. I am sure many teams will consider their defensive-offensive strategies. I knew the way to stop robots was to interlock the front corners, they took it a step further and added the functionality of their shooter to score while pinning.

Oink Oink..

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

First off I would like to Congratulate teams 126, 1155, and 1902 on their win. You guys had a great strategy which you executed perfectly. To be honest it was a nail biting time watching the Elims over webcast. To all the other teams in the Elims I would like to say that you all had great robots and definitely put up a fight.

On a personal note, I would like to thank team 1902 for allowing me to work with such a great team. Even though I was a new face on the team I never felt like an outsider. Not to mention the food was amazing :D

Congrats again and Good Luck All,
I'll see you in Atlanta!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Jon you are a great asset to our team. Your wiring worked fantastic!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

It was more likely my oversight - Those four matches are still a bit blurry for me. They were awesome!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

BOOM!!!!!:D

I'm so mad i couldn't go to this regional, from what I keep hearing and from what i saw of the web cast it was defiantly one of the best this season. I'm sure i'll hear plenty of stories from the students when they get back

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I had great fun at the regional, and I know our team was surprised that 1902 got as far as they did into the pickings before being picked, we were hoping you would go a couple more spots without being noticed :)

Congratulations, you guys all had awesome robots, and it was a blast, This was a fun regional (while I did not like aspects of the venue, and such, the actual stuff on the field, what really matters, was the most fun I have had at a regional) We couldn't beat your defense, once you guys got locked in we couldn't separate you two, and also on that last match our front roller actually got knocked out on the end opposite the motor, and when it wouldn't turn to pickup balls we thought it was what had happened in Boston, which was it would randomly stop, but once we switched from a Jaguar to a Victor we hadn't had the problem since. Must have gotten dislodged in our autonomous slam (we did that most matches, we even had our frame bent during the competition, and that is why we didn't let the programmer's add a camera, we didn't want to have to take the bumpers off to get resized in fear of not getting the bumpers back on! also because we didn't want what happened to 694 to happen to us). Kind of funny that both finals we have been in (UTC and Boston) we had a problem in our final match we had never seen before.

I can't wait for some post season events, I know we plan on going to battlecry, is beantown happening this year?


Good luck in Atlanta!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Congrats to 126, 1155, and 1902 on your win. I guess it was Gael Force's turn to win the annual 121-126 showdown!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

As far as I understand, the wrong truss was sent to the event (that holds the cables above the walkway. It wasn't wide enough to have both people and robots going through comfortably, and the queuing staff had a tough time getting robots in through the narrow passageway with people also trying to get through. Had the wider truss been sent (the one that is normally used), the room left for robots after it was split between people and robots would have been adequate.

Hope this provides some insight.
Jacob

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Sabrina did go onto the field and start playing with wires inside of (126 if I'm not mistaken)'s robot. :p

Not sure if it was coincidence, but the bot started operating again immediately after she touched it :cool:

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I was sitting ten feet away from the robot in question (it was not 126) during that match, and absolutely no contact was made with the robot!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

The Firebirds really enjoyed their first time at the CT Regional. We're hoping to come back next year. Congrats to team 236 on winning Chairman's! We'll be competing with you guys for the National Chairman's in ATL!!!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

It's always frustrating seeing some of the alliances randomly selected- take matches 57 (178/177/228 vs. 1902/999/2785) and 58 (126/230/176 vs. 1665/2265/1403) for example- look at the disparity between the years the teams on the red alliance vs. the years the teams on the blue alliance have existed. I know that older does not always mean better, but it came as no surprise to me that the red alliance won both of those matches.

Also, what was your team getting filmed for in the morning Saturday? I didn't want to interrupt to ask, and I didn't get the chance to come visit your pits later in the day.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I can confirm this. She did go on the field to see if there was a robot issue or a field issue, but she did not touch the robot. The joke all weekend was that by simply looking at the robot the right way, it would start working :) .

While I have volunteered a many off-season and non-FRC events, this was the first time I have ever volunteered at a regional. All I can say is that it was one of the best experiences I have ever had in FIRST. The event was very well run, and all the crew was absolutely top notch. If the event falls in the same weekend next year, I will certainly be returning.

It was also quite exciting to be able to watch so many great teams compete. It was also excellent to see 10 WFA Finalists/winners at Fridays award ceremony.

Congratulations to all the teams. It is really great to see that we did not need to use the bogie wheels on any trailers on Friday or Saturday. I hope everyone had a great time and that you all come back next year!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Contact or not, the idea of going on the field is outrageous. It is extremely unsafe! For the amount of time and money FIRST spends to make sure their events are safe, and that they are promoting a safe culture, having anybody on the field during a match is just idiotic. Not that the game rules are the important part here, but it is also against the rules. If I were on the loosing alliance that match I would have demanded a rematch based on rule G17.

-Eric

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

But you would not have based on the same rule if you were on the winning alliance? :confused:
Double standard much?

And are you even going as far as saying a person can be defined as an "item"?

I recall in years past team members were allowed on the field during practice days on Thursdays (which we've gotten away from) & in more recent years (2005 & 2006 specifically) I've seen Referees (Head Referees no less) jump on the field to prevent precarious situations with robots and/or game items.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

What about <S02>? So it's aimed at the teams. Guess what, the crater was entered during a match. It's a rule violation, by the volunteer in question. Now, if it was the losing alliance's robot, that's another story... you want a rematch for field issues then.

To 1902, I must say that whenever you guys had a match, the Gameday chat started going "Oink oink BOOM!" You had widespread support throughout the FIRST community in the eliminations.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Such is probability.

I wholeheartedly agree. Guess who wins in a fight between a 140 pound robot and you?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

The thing with "random" matches is that every now and then you get "super alliances" about just as often as you get "rookie alliances". FIRST tried doing an algorithm to "randomly" seed a team into each alliance based upon team number in 2007, but that plan met a lot of resistance from the FIRST community and was discontinued after that season.

FIRST matches aren't truely random. If they were, you might have to play back to back matches. Things like minimum match separation eliminate some of the randomness, and the more criteria you add into the algorithm, the less the results are actually random.

So yes, sometimes you are on the winning side of "lopsided" alliances, and sometimes you are on the losing side of "lopsided" alliances. But as more and more qualification matches are played out, the "average lopsided factor" will converge towards nearly even alliances. It's like flipping a coin a lot of times in a row. For a while, it may seem like it's landing a lot more often on heads than tails, but as you keep going it'll converge to 50/50.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

To add to the discussion Art has mentioned about the alliance pairing generating software, you can follow the conversation discussed here:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66361

You can see that this year's system is a huge improvement over previous years (starting in that specific thread with a discussion of 2008's software) following the dates of the posts, & just keep in mind that every year something is improved to help fix a "hiccup" that is found.
It's a progression, & I even added one suggestion to the end of the thread there for next year as well already.

This is what we call a living system at it's finest! :cool:

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

well, driving for team 126 has been the most thrilling experience of first for me, those couple errors we had wen our robot was not working, we had no code, i tried moving the joysticks back and forth to see what was going on, one of the field advisor's came over to us and asked what was going on, i thought that they were going to stop the match but we randomly got our wireless back....a match before that our robot shut off in the last 25 seconds, she said that it was a power problem but it worked after that, it was a one time only deal....as for the randomizer....we had great alliances all around....and the worst team we had to face was 1155 in our second match, on day 2 we teamed with 175, and 121, but never had to face them, 694, or others....i guess things just worked out our way after all! great job 1902 and 1155 it was an awesome regional....also, great job to all the other teams that were there i had sooo much fun!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

First Big Thanks to the organizers for putting on a first class event and helping us all through the field difficulties without really missing a beat or any rounds.

Second Congratulations to all the winners, especially the Techno Ticks and the Champions (126, 1155, and 1902).

Special Thanks also to 181 and 716 (especially Andy for being the only adult on the field) great job out there, you almost got that second win!

More thanks go out to the strong backs from 1071 and 181 who helped pick up the field.

And finally a comment about the pairings: Any team that has been in this 3 years or longer is a legit veteran. The differences become what they have to work with as far as mentors, students and money. Those factors vary a little less for numbers 1-200 because the teams with marginal support are mostly gone now, but the level of support for the teams can vary a lot even among the "old" teams. And that level of support can vary a lot from year to year as students and mentors come and go.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Our local Fox station carried the event throughout the weekend on its news, and has an article and photo gallery here: http://www.fox61.com/pages/landing_n...034&feedID=341

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

WTNH had a piece on the competition as well, as well as video and some photos.
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/news_wt...r_200903281827

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Ellen,

We were fortunate enough to be chosen as one of two teams (Aces High was the other) being filmed in live remotes for WTNH. They went on at 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 that morning, with us and Aces alternating. The crew was so taken with the whole event that they ended up staying and filming some of the competition, as well as additional interviews with one of our team members and one of Aces High's students. You can see some of the video on the WTNH site.

Sorry that you didn't get a chance to come visit us, but I'm sure volunteering kept you plenty busy. And just say a little prayer for us that the algorithm gods favor us in Atlanta. It will be only our second time down there (2007 after we won the regional with you guys being the other), and I'd really like it to be an exceptional experience for our 6 seniors in every way possible.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

WFSB (Channel 3) did a few stories on the event too-

One of them is here- http://www.wfsb.com/video/19032311/ (this was the one also aired by CNN on Headline News that Kathie linked to earlier)

They also have the uncut video they took available here- http://www.wfsb.com/video/19035554/

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Good to hear that. I could not tell over the web cast, so sorry we could not come. CT thanks for welcoming us.

BTW it was Mike Walker our college mentor that came up with the chant and it just caught on.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

For all you CT folks, CPTV had a cameraman there all day on the field right next to me on the side of the field where the judges sat (Friday or Saturday, I can't remember) so I'm sure in the future we will be hearing about some coverage on that channel as well.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Apparently New England Cable News also picked up some feed, this time from WTNH, and it ran there are well. Kudos to the publicity folks at the regional for doing their job so well!!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

ABC was also there Saturday, and that segment was on ABC at 6, 10, and 11. I'm not sure if it's online, though.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Our first match was pretty stacked too (match 6, 121/1100/1124 vs. 2168/558/2497), though it didn't have all low numbers. Technically, at this regional, 1100 and 1124 were in the upper half of robot numbers I think.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Wow what an awesome and exciting regional!

Lots of teams on their second events, and many of them made upgrades and improvements on Thursday! We would like to thank Daniel from team 1729 for providing information and advice that helped us create our "fan boost" upgrade. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=76303

Huge congrats to the Chairman's winning Techno Ticks, 236, as well as to the event champions 126, 1155, 1902.

The defense was stifiling, and we were truly lucky to end up in the draft position we did. We owe that to the great support from our partners in the qualifying matches. It was unfortunate that our alliance ran into technical problems in the elimination rounds, but these things happen. We would like to offer huge thanks to 694 and to 173 for giving it everything you folks had, even though things were not going well for our alliance.

Things happen that you simply can't predict. 694 was the top performing team in qualifying, there were an unstoppable force all of Friday and Saturday morning. Your team deserved to be the #1 selection and certainly earned that spot with your dominance.

Even if the technical issues had not reared their ugly head, we were in for some extremely tough semifinal matches against the 126, 1155, 1902 alliance. That group played at the level of an Einstein caliber alliance in earning victory at CT. The finalist alliance of 1100, 175, 743 was a monster as well. There was no room for error in the elimination rounds.

If only there had been more seating so more spectators could join in the spectacle that was the CT regional this year!

Can't wait to see everyone in Atlanta!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Did anyone happen to video any of the awards ceremony on Sat afternoon?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

CPTV has been tracking some teams this season and were there most of the weekend.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I know I got interviewed by the local Fox station Thursday morning during uncrating. Anyone know if that video is up anywhere?

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Team 121 comments have been extremely gracious and professional. So sorry to not have been there, look forward to meeting you in Atlanta.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Quotes from our drivers made The Journal Inquierer, one of the local papers.

Also congrats to 121 for their 2nd GM Industrial Design award of the season. Good luck for the Championship award.

Congrats to to 126, 1155, and 1902 on a well earned victory. We'll see you in Atlanta.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Congrats to to 126, 1155, and 1902 on a well earned victory.

Also congrats to the rest of the teams for great performance. I must say that the CT regional is the best one out there robot-wise, and we're pretty good with the Gracious Professionalism as well.

The music played however, leaves much to be desired. :p

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Agreed, they should look into the DJ from BAE, he was playing some awesome selections and took/honored requests.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I think the answer to your question lies in the fact that they remove balls based on where your human player is (from the penalized team(s)).

So if your human player is in the outpost, they take empty cells. If they are in the Corners, they take super cells. We got caught one match because the we didnt pay attention to the fact that a partner was penalized. And they never thought to mention it. So we delivered two empty cells to them and then at the end of the match we asked if they scored them and they said they never had any :)

That prompted a new question during stratagy sessions that we never asked before!

So, when we were penalized they took the outpoast balls (as our HP was always there) when our partner was penalized, they were taken from them. In the video (which I will rewatch in a minute) you will probably notice that there was something missing from the appropriate stations. They seemed pretty accurate about that.

There was a match that they rescored at the end (just before Alliance picks) that had to do with a Super cell adjustment. That adjustment ended up giving one loss to a previously undefeated team and it moved the Bobcats (Team 177) from 13th place (or so) up to 3rd or 4th (or so) in the final qualifying standings. I didnt get the explanation of what happened, but perhaps it was an error on the penalty assesment.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

i would like to say that my team and i had a fantastic time and i will try to convince my team to return next year. i have been to a lot of regionals both viewing and competing and this year in hartford was in my opinion the most exciting of all of them. there were a lot of solid teams, almost every match was a nail biter, and the stands were wonderfully loud.

i would like to congratulate the winners 1155, 126, and 1902. their strategy was excellent and all three of them were a perfect fit for each other.

lastly i would like to thank our alliance partners 121 and 173. 121 thanks for picking us and we are sorry about how things panned out. our alliance had a lot of fire power and im sorry we never got a chance to see it in full force.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Yeah, I agree, the DJ at BAE was greatt :D

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Jack in the Hat did an awesome job MCing! Gotta love his threads too...they were shockingly brilliant!

And as always, Mr. Andy Grady for a superb job as game announcer...we are so lucky to have you up here in the northeast! See ya down in Atlanta...hopefully you're on our field! :)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

this regional was sooo amazing, the competition was great....i personally thought that it went a lot smoother than many other comps, the teams were tough, the DJ great, andy and jack also did a great job....i had soo much fun! can't wait until Nationals! it will be awesome! good luck to everyone!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Hey,

I just wanted to throw in a quick congrats to the Champs, 126, 1155, and of course Bacon. Hopefully Bacon enjoyed their stay enough to make the trek again next year, we'd love to have you and 1592 back.

Also Congrats to the Ticks for their umpteenth Chairman's award in a row....I hope this is the year you guys finally get it on the BIG Stage.

And the biggest thanks to our great alliance partners 20 and 1071, it was an honor to be a part of such a veteran, low stress alliance. It was a blast!

Best of luck to 20 at Champs, and 1071 with their off season competition.

See y'all in Atlanta,

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

It's 1729 not 1726 :P

and your welcome :D

The best compliment anybody can get is to be copied. You guys in 121 are great and an inspiration to all. Keep up the good work, I'll be pulling for y'all in Atlanta.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Sorry about that, I can't count. That's why I got an MBA...:cool:

Although from what I hear 1726 has a pretty sweet machine as well!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Wow, this was one amazing weekend plain and simple. In my 8 years this definitely is right near the top of my list of great memories in FIRST, I simply don't know how I could thank all the teams and people that made it such a great event both for 1902 as well as myself but let me give it a shot.

Sabrina and Dez, you made a great team especially in the face of numerous field problems. You both worked very professionally and passionately to try to ensure the amount field problems effected teams was at it's minimal for all of the problems that were thrown your way.

Jessica and Andy Boucher, the two people that inspired me the most initially to get up there and I'm grateful that they did. Andy is an amazingly talented announcer and Jessica and her volunteers reminded me of my crew in Florida (something that I don't think I've seen before). You guys made the regional look like a cakewalk, and I know how tough it can be... it just ran so smooth even in the face of numerous "God"-struck mini-crisis.

Mike Sperber - I'm glad we had the chance to meet this weekend. I watched you running around left and right putting on and taking off numerous hats, it was clear you understood the volunteers, event management side, media handling, and the teams. I could directly see the contributions you, Kathie, and your committee put into this event. Such a fantastic job, one regional committee member to another. Be proud of your work.

Jack Kentfield - If I hadn't known you were a first time MC there's no way I would have known. I see great things in your future.

Megan and Ashley from Showready - Megan was with us in Florida and did a fantastic job and she definitely brought her A-game to Connecticut again as well. Even with the large amount of media attention and VIPs in the building the timelines were excellent!

All of the volunteers did such a great job, it was very smooth and with things like the wide pit rows it was wonderful to have minimized traffic congestion in the back. I can imagine the troubles with getting the stands into the convention center financially and logistically and although things were packed in eliminations it was still amazing for the setup.

228 - Each one of you contributed something to 1902, thank you for Wednesday's dinner and for essentially "blending" with 1902 to form one large team for the entire event. I loved the time we had with all of you and look forward to it in the future.

1592 - Although you do not live far from us in Florida, this was the first time I really had a chance to talk with many of you. I'm really glad that finally happened and I see a very bright future between 1592 and 1902, we really loved hanging out with you up there.

126 and 1155 - What an alliance. Wow. I mean, simply, wow. I've sat in many alliance strategy sessions and the way everyone worked as a cohesive unit before ever even putting a robot on the floor together was like watching a well choreographed dance. I'm just glad you let me stick around and work with all of you to help. I am pretty certain this was my favorite time with an alliance for the entire eliminations, and not just because of the win... that was just a nice cherry on top. It was great that on Friday whenever I was on the field taking pictures I would look at the stands and just see all the teams separated in the stands and the little patches of color and then you see 126/228/1902 all just totally blended together in this orange, white, and green chaotic blob. It was amazing getting to work with you throughout the weekend and then with 1155 in the end.

121 - In many respects I think 1902 and 121 are "brothers from another mother." It's always interesting seeing the way your team approaches things since in many ways we mirror each other in terms of the age of our mentors. Between the "great minds think alike's" staggering similarities in last year's robots and this year getting to play each other it was quite nice. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time watching the 1902/121 tango out there in semifinals. Be proud of your accomplishments. Outside of the event I was really glad to get to hang out with many of you Friday evening for a few hours, you guys really do have some amazingly talented mentors and I hope we will see each other again in elimination matches many more times to come in our teams' futures.

There were so many others, I couldn't list them all. Please know that you all put on such a wonderful show. Between 1991's social, paragon's constant cheering us from the second we got there Thursday morning until the end (even when we were against them in eliminations!), and just everything... it really was great.

Taking photos during the eliminations I was amazed the number of times I had to just stop in the middle of match and as I looked around the bleachers just the amazing amount of teams that were cheering for Bacon. Some did our "Oink! Oink! BOOM!" but I heard many others making up cheers as they went and it sent shivers down my spine in such a great way. I wish I could have gone up to every one of you and thanked you after, because it was very very cool. I don't think I've ever heard such a cohesive group cheering for a team and I was absolutely flattered that you all would be doing that for us. As silly as I feel the "We're all winners" phrase can be, I think it really does fit. I'm really glad to see that all the small relationships that built between 1902 and the other teams over the three days was able to culminate in such an awesome finale. It may have been the 3 teams on the field but it really seemed to feel like everyone could enjoy the victory. 1073/61/571, 121/694/173, 1100/175/743.... you all put on an amazing challenge. Every elimination match had me going "Wow!" I am glad that we had the chance to play each and every one of you and look forward to growing relationships with all of your teams as time goes on.

On behalf of 1902 I'd like to say a big "Oink! Oink! BOOM!" in honor of all of you for bringing us into your home and making us feel like 'pigs in a blanket.' :)

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

We enjoyed hanging out with everyone who was able to make it to Connecticut and on behalf of the team I would like to say congratulations on your win and that we hope to be seeing more of your team in the future. Also I would like to apologize for our facility advisor's sudden urge to do your chant "oink oink boom" in the airport. She was so excited that she forgot where she was.

After we were kicked out of the eliminations I thought that the most gracious thing to do would be to invite your team to sit up in the stands with us and we would help them cheer. I think that was the best idea I had the whole trip. For the rest of the day both teams seemed to be having more fun and everyone was getting along. I am glad that we were able to share a plane ride to and from Connecticut with you guys and we are hoping for a bus ride with you guys to and from Atlanta. I'm not sure about that. I haven't been able to talk to the facility advisor since the airport. Good luck in Atlanta and just in case we aren't sharing a bus to and from Atlanta we hope your transportation is safe and fun.

Congratulations again to any and all teams that were able to attend.
We are all winners. :D

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thanks to 177 for picking us!! The Connecticut Regional (once again) had so many great robots/teams that it is hard to even make the elimination rounds. We had a blast competing alongside 177 and 20.

Jack did a great job MCing. Always a tough job.

Congratulations to the Techno Ticks for winning the Chairman's Award again. Your team definitely put in a lot of work over the year and was very deserving of this award.

I always enjoy coming back to the CT regional and seeing all the mentors that we compete with/against. Definitely a good time

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Thank you to all of the teams who attended the 2009 Connecticut Regional! And thank you to the volunteers who helped make it happen!

The Regional Planning Committee is always looking at ways to make the Regional better. To help us, please let me know your thoughts. Let me know what you liked and didn't like (it's important for us to know not only what you didn't like, but also what you liked... this way we don't make a change that takes away a good thing).

To help manage this thread... please send me an email or PM. While I may not be able to respond to you immediately, I will get back to you.

thanks
-mike

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

This will be another long one as there are so many people I want to mention. This regional was one of the best I have been to in my 8 years in FIRST.

Thank You to...

...The entire CT Regional committee. You guys sure know how to put on a regional. I will definitely be pushing for us to return next year, and bring even more Florida teams with us.

...Jessica Boucher and every single volunteer. Every where I went I saw a volunteer with a smile on their face ready to help in any way possible. From the field crew all the way down to the safety glass people, you were all great.

...Dez, Sabrina, and everyone who worked so hard to keep the field up and running. Despite all the problems you guys never backed down and you dedication was truly inspiring.

...Dancin' Dave and the referees. I have always felt spoiled that at the Florida Regional we have such a great crew, but you guys were just as awesome as them. Hope to see some of you down in Atlanta.

...Jack Kentfield and Andy Grady. You guys were awesome! Couldn't tell it was your first time Jack, and Andy was top notch as always. I sure help you are on our field at Championships.

...Teams 126 and 1155. WOW! What else can I say about the ExplodingSciBorgForce other than thank you for choosing us to play with you. It truly was an alliance victory. Extra thanks to Mike Murray for the email you sent us through our website. You guys are both extremely classy teams.

...Team 175 Buzz. You guys hold a special place with me after our run to Einstein when I was a driver for 108 in 2005. It was a honor to compete against and with you guys. Your payload specialist was amazing too.

...Team 173 RAGE. Another team special to me after teaming up in '07. It was great talking about the days of old with your mentors at the team social (additional thanks to 1991 for hosting the social).

...Team 1592 Bionic Tigers. Hopefully we will get the chance to do a lot more things together in the future because you are a great group of people. Who knows what would have happened if you guys didn't graciously let us use your camera. Thanks again for cheering for us.

...Team 228 GUS. Without a doubt the main reason we had such a good time was because of you. From hosting us at your school wed. night to giving us batteries in the final matches, you guys were fantastic. Too bad our only match was against each other, you guys will hopefully come down to Florida next year so we can team up. Look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.

...My drive team. Ennio, Skyler, and Jamison you guys really make my job as coach so easy.

...Last but not least every member of Exploding Bacon. From all the people in the stands, to everyone cheering us on back home it was definitely a complete team victory.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I'd also like to add that I loved working with each of the five rookie teams this year. You can proudly say you are no longer a rookie now that you've made it through your Regionals. I look forward to working with you for many years to come!

Best of luck to the Rookie All Star Ligerbots (Boston) and Team Beta (Connecticut) in Atlanta!

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

Do we know when the last of the videos will be post in tba ir anymore?

That and if any1 has any pics or video of the elims that would great to see.

Re: 2009 Connecticut Regional
 

I have posted all my pictures from CT at http://www.explodingbacon.com/photos...27863515806193 There are numerous ones of eliminations, some of 1155, 126, and 1902 are all thrown in there including some of the drivers and all. I know Mullinax is working on getting his up soon too. If anyone needs high-res versions of any of them just shoot me a PM.