Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery
If it wasn't for penalties to their alliance partner, 233 (and 968) would have eliminated 1114 in the semi-finals on Einstein 2008. Pink is, without question, both the best team to not have a championship, and the most successful team to not have a championship.
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If 233 and 968 won, then I think we could all agree that 1114 would be the best team without a title. If I recall correctly 233 and 968 won the first match (217 fell over during that match, so it wasn't very close). The second match was won by 1114's alliance, but only after penalties (G22 was a killer in 08). Then in the final match 968 missed a premature hurdle, and fired a ball out of bounds, and it seemed like without those minor mistakes they would have been able to win. I think those three matches make up the best round of matches in FIRST history.
233 and 968 have definitely been as strong as many past champions, and deserve a championship simply based on how close they've come. 2056 is younger so they haven't been waiting as long as teams like 233, but given the way they perform in regionals it is surprising they haven't won it all.
I think 1717 deserves mention. They haven't been waiting as long, but they have been divisions finalists a number of times. I think it's easy to forget how good they were in 08. They seeded second in Galileo (a field that included 1114, 217, 148, 330, 254, 103, 25, 40, 121). Then they lost to the eventual champions. Then in 2009 they lost in the division finals to the eventual champions again. It may not be quite as close as 233 and 968 have come, but they certainly came a lot closer than it may appear on first glance.