Team of the Decade
 

Which FIRST team do you think is deserving of the honor?
I go with 67 who have won 2 world championships, they were a finalist another year as well as a division winner another year, a national Chairman's award winner, have a Woodie Flowers award winner and have won 9 regionals.
Who is your choice?

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I have to agree. You also forgot they won IRI in 2008.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

They were a hundred more times impressive at Kettering. They annihilated a shooter allaince that would win most regionals by 50 points!

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I have two other candidates:

Team 71
- 3 World Championships (2001, 2002, 2004)
- 1 World Finalist (2007)
- 4 Division Championships (2001, 2002, 2004, 2007)
- 8 Regional Championships
- 1 Woodie Flowers Award (Bill Beatty, 2002)

Team 217
- 2 World Championships (2006, 2008)
- 1 World Finalist (2009)
- 5 Divisions Championships (2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009)
- 6 Regional & District Championships
- 1 Woodie Flowers Award (Paul Copioli, 2005)

If I had to vote on one of these three teams (67, 71, 217), Beatty would get the nod based on the number World Championships.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I'll throw in a 4th candidate.

Team 111
- 2 World Championships (2003, 2009)
- 1 World Finalist (2001)
- 3 Division Championships (2001, 2003, 2009)
- 7 Regional Championships
- 1 Woodie Flowers Award Winner (Dan Green, 2007)

Re: Team of the Decade
 

On behalf of the rest of 67, we are honored just to be thought of in the discussion. I hope our luck continues into the next decade.

A couple of other worthy candidates:

111 - 2 World Championships, 1 Championship Finalists, 3 Division championships, 1 National Chairman's award, 8 Regional championships, and a Championship Woody Flowers award winner.

217 - 2 World Championships, 1 Championship Finalists, 5 Division championships, 7 Regional/district/state championships, and a Championship Woody Flowers award winner.

71 - 3 World Championships, 1 Championship Finalist, 4 Divisions championships, 8 Regional wins, and a Championship Woody Flowers award winner.

Thinking about it for awhile, between (71,111, and 217) I have to go with 111 based on the strength of their Chairman's award. I think that carries slightly more weight than a Championship.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

My Decade Allaince is:
67, 111 and 217 with 71 being the backup.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I'll throw in a fifth. Team 1114, Karthik :)

- 1 World Championship (2008)
- 1 Division Championship (2008)
- 1 Division Finalist (2006)
- 11 Regional Championships
- 3 Regional Woodie Flowers Awards (2005, 2007, 2008)
- 1 Rookie All-star (2003)
- 2 Regional Finalists
- 3 Regional Chairman's Awards
- 1 IRI Championship and 2 semis

Maybe not best, but surely deserving.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

and remember 1114 started in 2003, giving 67, 111, 217, and 71 3 more years on them. My vote goes to 71.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

67, 111, 71, 217, 365, and 341 are my choices for the finalists. Alliance 67, 365, and 341 v. Alliance 217, 111, and 71.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

254 'nuff said

along with those previously mentioned of course.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

That all depends, are we only considering robot dominance, or overall performance throughout the years (Including chairmans, and other awards like animation, etc.) Because if so, 365 and 341 are very deserving, but in the case of, it's the finals, who do I want on my team? 71 and 1114 no doubt. I would like to see a dominate robot alliance, and a dominate "team alliance" so to speak that is a group of three teams whose work exemplifies FIRST in a positive way year in and year out.

Robot alliance: 71, 67, 114 (217, 111 as very close backups)
Overall team alliance: 365, 341, and (drum roll please) 842

Re: Team of the Decade
 

71, they have inspired me the most.

Teams 67, 111, 217, and 1114 are also up there in IMHO!

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Here are the "stats" for 254 to add to the discussion

2 Championship Finalists (2001, 2005)
1 Championship Division Finalist (2008)
16 Regional Championships
2 Regional Finalist
2 Regional Chairman's
1 Championship Chairman's (2004)

Personally I would go with 71 narrowly over 67 with 111 a close third.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

233. I think they would be deserving. I have not seen word of them in this thread yet.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Depends on what we are measuring. Dominance, 71 in 2002 or 1114 in 2008. Hands down. Nod goes to 71 out of my sheer respect for 71.

Most stunning rookie, 1114, 2056 would come a close second. (This is not based on their rookie year, it is based on impact since then as measured in my completely subjective manner.)

Most inspiring 968. I recall in 2005 a team that competed at one regional because they had no money to compete at more. I also remember the most gorgeous machine to come out of a FIRST team in years.

Team I most want to be on, toss up between 1114 and 33.

Most influential mentor, Andy Baker. Andy Baker and Mark Koors single handedly (ok not really but a bit of exaggeration never hurt anyone) launched 1000 rookie teams moving.

Team that will always hold a special place in my mind 47, the ringing in my ears you guys caused back at the 2003 Sweet Repeat hasn't stopped yet.

Strongest supporter of FIRST, IFI. Consider the millions of dollars a year given away to teams in control systems, speed controllers, transmissions, and chassis material over the last couple years. Consider the thousands of hours of time spent supporting all that.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Any team who inspired at least one student is deserving.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I'll vote for 67 over 71 because of their Championship Chairman's Award. 71 and 111 are close seconds.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Not to take anything at all away from IFI (I think those guys are absolutely great), but all of that stuff was provided under a paid contract, not donated. Was it provided at a significantly discounted price, with IFI absorbing some of the cost? Absolutely. But it was not donated for free.

I think the role for strongest supporter of FIRST has to go to Autodesk. Nobody else is even a close second. Think about it - they have donated full-function versions of their software to every FRC team for the past 18 years. Over the years, that has totaled up to over 12,500 teams* receiving their software. The number of software seats per team has been increasing over the years but a conservative estimate of 65,000 seats is reasonable, based on the years that Autodesk provided 1, 5, 10 or unlimited seats per team. At an average price of $8,000 per seat** that is $520 million dollars worth of products that Autodesk has donated to FIRST teams. Yup - they have provided over half a BILLION dollars of support for this program.

EVERY team, whether you actively use their software or not, should send a huge "thank you!" to Autodesk for demonstrating a level of commitment to FIRST teams and the students in FRC that eclipses all others. If a few more companies followed their lead and showed their level of commitment, we actually might be able to get robotics competition teams in every high school in the country, and fundamentally change the way STEM education is implemented.

-dave


* source: FRC team count, FIRST 2008 Annual Report
** market price for combined 3DS Max / Inventor software package


...

Re: Team of the Decade
 

"Team of the Decade" is a strange question.

As for the most dominant teams in competition, rattle off 71, 111, 217, 67, all the teams that won more than one Championship in this decade. Also excluding all teams that were only around for part of the decade (1114) or have never won a Championship despite being amazing (254's the obvious one), simply because then you'd have to list more than 15 or 20 teams.

In terms of 2000s Championship Blue Banners:
71: 4 Division Wins, 3 Championship Wins
111: 3 Division Wins, 2 Championship Wins, 1 Chairman's Award
67: 4 Division Wins, 2 Championship Wins, 1 Chairman's Award
217: 4 Division Wins, 2 Championship Wins

That puts 71 and 67 on the same level, but 67 is a Hall of Fame team, so I'd have to give the nod to them in this mostly numerical analysis.

Other teams worth mentioning: 968 has appeared on Einstein every time they've attended the Championship Event. 254 and 1114 have a billion banners. All of the triple regional winners (1114, 1503, 1024, 67, 217), etc etc

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Not only has Autodesk donated software, they have also donated money to keep regionals in the Pacific Northwest. Truly the gold standard of FIRST supporter. I'm excited to return to Portland, OR for a seventh straight year and compete in the Autodesk Oregon Regional.

THANK YOU AUTODESK!

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I've tried this post a couple of times; let's see if this one pans out.

If you look at 2000-2004, the answer is simple: 71. When you win three of the five Championships in that timespan, two of them with robots who seem to take perpetual residence on best-robots-of-all-time lists, it's not a hard question.

In the second half of the decade, it's not as easy. While 71 has by no means rolled over and died, they haven't met with that same level of success at the Championship. Instead, we see the rise of 217 making appearances nearly every year on Einstein (2007 being the exception), along with several other teams making their presences felt on the regional level.

But if we're talking about the decade as a whole, and with all my biases known, I think the winner has to be 67. Let's lay out the high points--ignoring all the other hardware--of their seasons this decade:

2001: UTC Finalist
2002: Championship WFA (and getting beat by Beatty in division eliminations--hey, stuff happens).
2003: Division Finalist
2004: Division Champion
2005: Championship Winner and Championship Chairman's Award (beat that!)
2006: Just winning the Great Lakes Regional.
2007: Division Finalist
2008: Championship Finalist
2009: Championship Winner

Going back to when 1114 was just shining up their Rookie All-Star trophy, 67 has been among the top eight alliances on the championship level all but one year (a year that threw a lot of great teams for a loop), while being one of the few teams to have won the highest three awards in FRC between winning the Championship, Chairman's, and WFA*. I don't think anyone can bring up a team that has been that successful that consistently over this decade.

*111 did it a year later when Dan Green won WFA, and the newly-formed 51 can claim it as well with their combined history. (47 won Chairman's in 1997, 65's Ken Patton won WFA in 1999, and 65 won the Championship in 2003.)

Re: Team of the Decade
 

The support of Autodesk to youth STEM programs goes deeper than just FIRST, too. They are a primary, and perhaps largest, supporter of the VEX Robotics Competition, have worked with IFI to develop a classroom curriculum combining Inventor and VEX, and are the signature supporter of the VEX online design challenge: http://forum.robotevents.com/design/. According to their Website, they contribute to ten high school STEM programs: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...12&id=10916525. Autodesk roolz.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

If you look beyond the competition to which team has best spread the word about STEM, I would throw in a vote for 1318, Issaquah Robotics. The work their students (not just mentors) did to get state support for FIRST was instrumental in the growth of FRC in Washington from less than 15 teams to more than 50.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

[quote=Rick TYler;889413]The support of Autodesk to youth STEM programs goes deeper than just FIRST, too. [ /QUOTE]

And they also provide free software to ANY high school student not just the ones on FIRST or VEX.

You don't have to be on any team anywhere to take advantage of the Autodesk outreach to education.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Team of the Decade: 67. See above.

Sponsor of the Decade: IFI, Autodesk, and FedEx are easily the top 3.

I don't exactly know what shipping a crate that size takes in terms of money, but when FedEx donates an amount sufficient to send it to one event (or two, if the second event is the Championship), then they've got to go up there.

IFI supplied control components that were reliable at a discounted rate every year for every team, and then provided tech support and spares at every event. Spares were free of charge, unless you took it home (when it was rasied to normal price). Still sponsors several teams through the RackSolutions portion of the company.

Autodesk: see above for a description.

I can't make up my mind between those three; you'll have to!

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I would just like to ask if anyone has considered that the team of the decade should be more of a team that has greatly influenced FIRST and the community, not one that just wins and obtains awards at competitions.:confused:

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I hope Hall of Fame rings a bell for you.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I think you'll find that most of the teams who excel in one, excel in the other.

-John

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Just to clear up what Akash is saying, the Hall of Fame teams are the past winners of the Chairman's Award, these are teams that have made a significant impact in their community, in short, they are the teams we all should look to emulate.

For example, I mentioned 1114 not because they win awards. I mentioned them because every dealing I have with them they have wowed me with their willingness to help as well as their professionalism. I view them as a real class act.

Also, I have to second John's statement, you will generally find any team that wins generally has a good support system behind it, you cannot get a support system without having a positive impact on your community.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

An example of one time for which it is not necessarily true is my team, 599. We have competitions in which we do GREAT, moderate, or barely hang in there, but we have educated elementary school kids about robotics, run the FIRST Aid Station (probably heard of it), and we do many other things. And we have only won Gracious Professionalism awards, Judges, and a couple of other ones but we have never won Championships or the Chairmans Award.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Lists like this are purely for fun. They are not intended to downplay the efforts of any team. I'm sure your team does a lot for FIRST. These teams we mentioned may have done more or at a significantly higher level though.

Read Carol's post as well if you feel this way. We are just making a list of teams who are dominant in the competition that takes place on the field but also off the field.

For example, just because my team wasn't mentioned does not mean I think any less of my team. This is just for fun. If you let it mean anything more than that to you, then I can't help you there.

Back to the list: 254 and 233 should be up there because they are two of the best teams in FIRST who have yet to win a CMP. Both are also very inspiring to every other team in FIRST.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Ya I know, but I just wanted to make sure that people are not overlooking the teams that have done a lot and tried very hard but they have not won anything big.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

All well and good, but I have to disagree. There are hundreds of teams that meet the criterion of "tried very hard but they have not won anything big". If you're in search of a singular Team of the Decade, then (to me, at least) one has to look at the teams that have worked hard and met with some measurable degree of success.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

What I'd be interested in finding out is what is the common thread with these teams? Consistent sponsorship (and what is that level?) Consistent mentorship/large number of mentors/diverse group of mentors? Student base-consistent/diverse? Team structure?
Of course I know of these teams, but don't know any of them well enough to even start an opinion. I just know little pieces.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

My guess would be at its core the mentorship. I have noticed that a lot of teams get a WFFA or WFA before winning a RCA or Chairman's. This means that team has a mentor gifted in spreading the infection of excellence to the students and other mentors. Afterall the WFA is a communication award. That is why I think the core of every great team is a great mentor (or mentors).

This isn't just true with FIRST. Look at any non-professional team sport (and many pro also), and you will find a coach or manager ... a leader that knows how to shape and mold a group of individuals into a team where the sum is greater than the parts.
*********************
One important thing to remember when making a list like this, is these really are teams to admire (not envy).

Re: Team of the Decade
 

In addition, I think you'll find that every one of those highly successful teams have not just one, but several incredibly dedicated mentors that are experts in their field. There is simply no way a single mentor (no matter how dedicated), can provide enough expertise in every field that FIRST touches. The time requirement for a single mentor to even attempt to do that is staggering.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I think that NASA should be the Sponsor of the Decade. Think of how many teams would not exist without their constant support. I would guess that FIRST would be 1/3 or 1/2 it's size without NASA.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I think NASA would rate FIRST Hall of Fame status.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Amen to that!
And its not just money. Its the mobile machine shops, volunteers, kick-off broadcasts, direct mentorship of teams, etc.
For our team its the delivery of a playing field each year for Ramp Riot. This not only helps our team, but also the 35 FRC and 20 FTC teams that attend.
Now multiply that impact by a ton of other events like Battle of Baltimore, Duel on the Delaware, Brunswick Eruption, Ra-Cha-Cha Ruckus, and the Virginia State Fair.
Quite honestly without NASA, I think the whole thing would unravel.

Ya gotta love NASA! :)

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Aren't they? (At least the sponsor equivalent of)

I would like it noted, the only place I can find this information is in the Awards section of the manual. This sort of surprised me.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I think this is a key that is often overlooked on many teams. If one or two mentors try to hold the team together and pull the load, it limits the team's potential. It is also, quite possibly, one of the factors of burnout. FRC provides opportunities for adults to learn to share duties and expertise and, if it is lacking, to recruit through sponsors and/or the community that the team is a part of. This can be a difficult concept for strong leaders to comprehend and implement, but it can be very beneficial to the team as a whole.

111 is a great team to think about regarding Team Of The Decade. They walk the talk and are open to helping others and sharing information, knowledge, and expertise. I've been the recipient of wisdom shared by a few of the mentors and alumni of 111 and it has strengthened the skills that I bring to the table of FIRST, as an individual, and as a member of another team.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

My vote is 71, three World Championships is pretty good from what I hear. I very much disagree with people who have said they aren't quite what they used to be. In my opinion they maintained their high status even after winning three out of four championships. Since I am lazy and don't want to look at regional performances, I will just use their championship performances.

2005-#3 pick (eliminated first round)
2006-#4 pick (barely beaten by 176/111/122)
2007-#2 pick (championship finalists, nearly won it)
2008-#1 pick (eliminated second round after robot malfunctions)
2009-#4 Captain (Eliminated first round)

It isn't like since they won the championship they have stopped showing up. They have lost some close matches and some heart breakers. They still show up with one of the best robots year in and year out. More importantly is that they haven't missed elims at championships over this decade. Something only a handful of teams can say.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I don't think anyone's saying they're "bad" or even "not awesome". But they haven't been at their 2001, 2002, "why even bother competing since Beatty's here" level in many peoples' opinions (They have "just" been amazing instead of completely no contest dominating). They haven't won the MWR since 2005, for example.

That all being said, I doubt there will ever be a year I would enjoy playing against 71, or not want to be their alliance partner. I don't mean to take anything away from them... They're still one of the top teams in FIRST.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

In the spirit of friendly discussion...

They may not have won MWR since 2005 but since then they have won St Louis (2006 AND 2009) and West Michigan (2008) As well as a slew of other awards that would be astonishing on any other team's resume. 3 Regional Chairmans 2, EI awards, and a handful of technical awards.

Let me tell you, as someone who has competed with and against 71 my whole career in FRC I NEVER enjoy playing against 71. For all I care 71 could put a KOP chassis out there and they would FIND a way to win. I can honestly say that, to paraphrase a famous saying, "There is nothing to fear but Team Hammond itself." I have very few teams that I assume will be great year to year, 71 is top of that list.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

In any game a robot can dominate, Beatty will dominate. IMHO, we haven't had one of those since 2002.

-John

Re: Team of the Decade
 

In my honest opinion. One mentor could do it. He doesn't even have to be good at more than one field. Have you ever listen to something someone said and been inspired. It could be a speech of even a sentence. If this one mentor is the type of person that can inspire to no end. Then yes. They could lead the team to victory.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

That mentor will burn out. No man [or woman] is an island team. Building robots is very time consuming. Handling the logistics of a robotics team (insurance, bills, school forms, permissions, etc.) is very consuming. There's not enough time to do both.

We don't pretend for a second that 217 is all Paul Copioli, 45 is all Andy Baker, 71 is all Bill Beatty, or 27 is all Kyle Hughes, etc. While all of these people have won awards (and deservedly so) for their efforts as mentors, I'm sure that large networks of others have played huge roles in their (and their teams') successes.

[ONTOPIC] 71 gets my vote. Playing in 4/10 of the final matches of the FIRST season for the past decade (and winning 75% of them!) takes a perfect combination of so many different aspects, its just too hard to top.[/ONTOPIC]

Re: Team of the Decade
 

In my opinion, this year was their worst year in recent history, and they still had a great robot; that says something about a team.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I'd have to say team 25 in 2006.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I'm not quite sure if it was their "worst year" vs. the different playing field surface and game design that leveled the playing field to some degree.

What's not being said is that many successful teams did it with a great 2nd or 3rd partner. Other than 71 during a few years, I cant recall a team doing it all themselves. And yes, it helps that these teams are able to put themselves in that situation by being great to begin with.

I'd like to see a thread on alliances of the decade where no single team was dominating (great but not outright domination), but yet as an alliance they did outstanding.
2007's 8th seed comes to mind. :D

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I think he meant a single robot. 71 in 2002 didn't need alliance partners, it would win matches all by itself. 25's 2006 robot was wonderful, though it didn't win matches 1v3.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Gotta agree. If there is a game in which Beatty doesn't have to be reliant on alliance partners, I honestly believe they would come out with another dominant machine.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

2007's 8th seed was ok i guess;)
But 254, 16 regional wins i mean come on, they have the most banners in first. And they always have a great robot.
oh and if were talking overall impact, 359

2000 SVR Regional Finalist
2000 SVR Team Spirit Award
2001 SVR Regional Winner
2002 SVR Regional Winner
2002 SVR Judges Award
2003 SVR Regional Finalist
2003 SVR Chairman's Award
2004-Did not participate.
2005-LV Regional Finalist
2006-J&J Sportsmanship Award
2007-NJ Regional Finalist
2007-Website Excellence Award.
2008-VCU Motorola Quality Award
2008-VCU Best Website Award
2008-VCU KPC&B Entrepreneurship Award
2008 Hawaii KPC&B Entrepreneurship Award
2008 Hawaii Regional Finalist
2008 Hawaii Chairman's Award
2008 CMP Engineering Inspiration Award
2009-Oregon KPC&B Entrepreneurship Award
2009-SVR KPC&B Entrepreneurship Award
2009-Hawaii Website Award
2009-Hawaii Motorola Quality Award
2009-Hawaii UL Safety Award
2009-Hawaii Chairman's Award

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Thanks for the compliments on our robots and team. To be fair, most banners in FIRST is a tie between 71 and 254.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

And 71 holds the tiebreaker 4-0.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Oh if I could find my old '06 videos. I remember a couple of matches 1v3 where they killed the other alliance. But yes, I understand what you mean.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Cory,
You're being just too modest. What team on the West Coast dominates year after year since its inception, change of school and mentors that came from other teams? If I had to pick 1, 2 or 3 teams, 254 would be my pick in every instance.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Click on 368 TKM from Hawaii on the FIRST site, and you'll be thoroughly impressed. They've been our inspiration since we both started in 2000.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

You do have the most FIRST banner this decade:

254 - (21) Banners
67 - (20)
71 - (18)
217 - (17)
1114 - (16)
111 - (16)

Every year your robots are an inspiration to me.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Interesting note: 1114 has the best banners per year ratio. Assuming they would have gotten the average number of banners 1114 gets every year, they'd have the most banners in FIRST for the 2000s.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

What about 1114 in 2008?

-Nick

Re: Team of the Decade
 

While 1114 in 2008 was an extremely formidable machine and probably one of the top 10 "best" robots in FIRST history, it didn't dominate. Beatty in 2002 was dominate because it employed a chokehold strategy, where it could control all 3 scoring goals. No other game so far from that year on could a team do this because of the game rules (2009- cannot control offensive trailers because they are attached to your opponent, 2008- could only control one trackball, 2007- could only posses one ringer, 2006- arguable, but otherwise almost physically impossible to handle all 120 balls because of size/time restraints). 71 could single-handedly defeat teams all by themselves because of the simple fact that they could control and manipulate the movable goals without anyone interfering. 1114, while they averaged 5 or 6 hurdles a match, could be interfered with (see 2008 Galileo and Einstein match video) and could not simultaneously hurdle both trackballs while denying their opponents any hurdles. That's essentially what Beatty accomplished in 2002.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Very detailed accurate account. Probably why the GDC has been more careful in making sure it doesnt happen again.:D
The rules, game design, and robot rules in recent years certainly has prevented it.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

You've brought up an interesting point.
I'd like to hear each of these oustanding teams mentioned, to give us a brief makeup of how their team is composed. As an inspiration to many other teams, I bet most would be eager to know, including myself.
I got a chance through our history to know 254/968 and hearing their story and seeing how they evolved over the years is very impressive and inspirational.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I find it interesting that all of the teams that have been mentioned are in mainland North America.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I don't find this particularly surprising. One reason is that the vast majority of FRC teams are from mainland North America. Also, of the non-mainland teams only a select few participate in more than one event unless they qualify for championships. These two things combine to make it very difficult to achieve the numbers/recognition of the teams being mentioned in this thread.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Ian is correct, RUSH is not just Kyle Hughes (though she is an important part of the team) In fact, 27 wouldn't be the team it is today without the generous support of mentors and parents. As for team structure, the website goes into some detail as to the subteams roles and responsibilities. They have also published a toolkit detailing the methods practiced on RUSH.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

When John says dominate I think he means this:

If you played Beatty's 2001 or 2002 robots, even if you played your very best game ever, and you had great partners, you were still going to lose unless their robot malfunctioned.

1114 had a great year in 2008, but they were not unbeatable. The right alliance(s) could put up enough points to beat them.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Cory is right. While it was tough to beat them, it wasn't impossible. 968/233/60 beat them in Einstein SF1-1 and would have eliminated them in SF1-3 if it weren't for penalties.

They had a great year, but weren't on the dominance level of Beatty in 2002...

Re: Team of the Decade
 

maybe in 2002 beatty was unbeatable
but now with how many teams there is in FRC I dont think any team/alliance is unbeatable its just a matter of finding the right robots, and strategy.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

It has been the game design, the GDC more than likely does not want a strategy to be unbeatable. It would take all the fun out of competing. For example, in 2008 if it had been legal to hold on to all 4 balls I have no doubt Beatty would have (and figured out how to hurdle 2 at once). The Beatty strategy in 2002 was unbeatable, it removed all chance of the opponent winning. That year it wasn't about being the best it was getting #1 seed to pick Beatty. Since then there has not been a game that a single robot can shut down the scoring of another alliance. Impede? Yes. Completely eliminate all hope? No. As great as 25 was in 2006 and 1114 was in 2008 and 111 was last year (really, 17-0 at Championship?) there will probably never be another robot that will be described as pure dominance. This isn't because no team is good enough but because it isn't in the best interests of FIRST to let it happen.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

When people refer to Beatty proofing a game this is what they are talking about. In 2001 and 2002 Beatty figured out how to beat the game, period. they weren't playing the other teams so much as the GDC.

They last few years (2005-present IMO) the GDC has tried to pick a way they want the game to be played preventing these stratagies, and they've done a pretty good job. Switching to 3 team alliances also contributed to the fall off of the unbeatable robot. In some respects these changes make the game more exciting, but a part of me will always miss the "$@#$@#$@#$@# the torpedos", method of creating crazy stratagies from the first half of the decade where one robot could do it all.

Anyway as some one who has faced off against Beatty in the late rounds of chanpionship a few times I will say there are no other teams that can make you feel like you've lost before the match is played.

If a team were a team of the decade it's Beatty with 4 championship finals this decade, and more influence over the way games are played than any other team. After that the list of teams in the hunt is really just ThunderChickens, HOT, Wildstang, Simbots and Cheesy Poofs depending what criteria you use.

My $0.02
Pete

Re: Team of the Decade
 

It seems like 2004 might've been the final straw.

GDC right before kickoff: "Okay, so we've got two different scoring objects, two types of goal and an end of the match goal that is completely different from the other ones. Seems pretty Beatty proof."

GDC on Einstein (after 71 has collected 5 point balls, capped a doubler, moved the mobile goal and hung for the win): "Darn."

I'm a little disappointed, I think Beatty wrapping the rack by themselves in 2007 would've been a pretty sweet sight. :D

Recently they've limited us (whether it's the number of game pieces, or making us fit inside a box after the match starts) instead of giving us several game options. I loved having multiple choices.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I must say, after the close to the 2010 season and the recent events down in Atlanta...
67 is now undoubtedly my pick.
71, a close second.

Any other opinions change?

Re: Team of the Decade
 

67... They always perform well year in and year out... I mean, back to back World championships isn't to bad...
217... They also always build a bot up to the standards that FIRST strives for... the regional and divisional wins, plus the two World Championships is enough to make me happy
1114... They are on of the most dominating teams the past 3 or 4 years... Plenty of Regional Wins, a few Division titles, and a World Championship under their belt is enough to be in contention
177... This team doesn't get enough credit... They have made it to Einstein the past 5 years, and have won Championships twice... They might not perform as well in their regionals, but they always come up in Atlanta
2056... This team from Canada has not lost a regional in the history of the team... they finally won a division title this year and performed very well on Einstein
254... This team is insane... 20 regional wins.. a bunch of division titles... This team just takes it all...

So my pick would probably have to be 67... If you have any comments just ask

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Uhh, I might be wrong but I think we're in a new decade. I would wait at least seven years before considering a team for the 2010s.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

yeah, i know... i'm just saying the past 5-10 years or so... i know that its a new decade but this is just what i think that the best teams have been... before this decade, I had not been a part of CD, so i just wanted to state this... i just didn't want to start a whole new post just for that

sorry for continuing the post revival though

Re: Team of the Decade
 

67 has a good start on the next decade then.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Doesn't the next decade start in 2011? I mean, I was always taught that the third millennium started in 2001 rather than 2000. If you think about it, the first decade was years 1-10, the second decade was years 11-20, third was years 21-30, and so on, because there was no year zero. I mean if you say that a decade goes from ???0 to ???9, it really doesn't make sense because the first decade would have been only nine years long.

Just a nitpick; I hate to do it in a thread that contains such positive reviews of my team. I love this thread.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

I would have to say 330. They always have the simplest designs and do great things with them. The fact that they have so much success and their lathe is a mentor just blows me away.

67 is a close second for me because of their tremendous success for so many years. When I think about almost all of the last couple of years and what design I would do if i could redo the year it is almost always very similar to 67's design.

177 for being that perfect puzzle piece for 5 alliances 5 years in a row.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Not to take anything away from Autodesk: it hasn't exactly not profited them either. The software, not being a physical product doesn't really cost them anything (not many teams would have bought the software at full cost had it not been provided... my team certainly can't even dream of budgets for that), and the added value to them is amazingly large: thousands of young engineers are trained with their software and used to it before entering collage. That means they now have a greater chance of choosing Autodesk Inventor for example over the competitors for CAD work in the future, buying a full license! Microsoft has pretty much the same thing with operating systems and office suits: the kids get used to it from the start, and it's harder to switch to a different one.

So, no, I'm not saying we shouldn't thank Autodesk; we should thank them and they deserve more thanks than they usually get. But it's not 100% a gesture of pure donation, but also partially for business purposes.

If a man saves a cat because cares about the cat, and another man saves a cat because he wants the cat's owner to like him, both still did a good thing. Now if the man saves the cat because he wants the owner to like him AND he cares about the cat (which I believe is the case with Autodesk), even better!

Re: Team of the Decade
 

You are correct -- if you're counting decades. That's how millennia and centuries are typically referred to, as "20th Century" and "Third Millennium" and the like. But we're not talking about the "201st Decade" here. Like the "1930s" or the "1970s", we're just labeling a convenient group of ten consecutive years. We're talking about the "2000s", the decade that begins with the year 2000 and ends with 2009.

We now return to the General Forum "Team of the Decade" thread, already in progress.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Best all-around team that started in the 2000's. I'd vote MOE 365. Their stat sheet is mighty long.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2383


In an attempt to answer the "Team of the Decade" question, I put together some analysis on the past 10 years of FRC Championships and posted the whitepaper at the link above.

I used the 2010 FiM point system against the Draft and Elimination results for all 10 years of Championship Elims. The results provide a 10 year point total, as well as a time derated result for each of the 395 teams who have played in Elims at the Championship in this time.
Team 67 comes out #1 in both cases & Team 217 is #2 in both cases.

Obviously, there are no firm rules to determine who is the best, but given a choice, an Engineer should always go to the numbers.
Enjoy.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Jim + numbers = great results.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Plus a chairman's, that can't hurt. My vote also goes out to 67, although 71 and 217 are close.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Jim,
Thanks for the great info. I found it interesting that teams 2-4 on the list in the time weighted average are almost in a dead heat with a separation of only 3 points. To me the 2 biggest surprises were were the 2056 had already cracked the top 10 and 71 was not in the top 10 in the time weighted version but were #3 in overall points.

Re: Team of the Decade
 

Top 5 for me:
1. 67
2. 71
3. 217
4. 1114* (remember these guys started in 2003)
5. 254*

Notable mention: 2056

I really can't decide between 1114 and 254... so I'll leave it to you guys to decide!