First (no pun intended), I would like to thank all the volunteer, and field staff. The inspection crew was amazingly efficient, and worked to help teams get their robot to pass, not just to call them on rules. The Referees were great, as well. There were no calls that I noticed that were questionable. And our MC was fabulous as well (That's why we do the math!), not to mention the sultry sound of the Announcer's voice. There is not a single regional that has volunteers as good as FLR.
Thanks to our alliance partners
843 and
3003!
3003-You guys were on our picklist from the very start. Originally, we were looking to form a scoring based alliance, but as soon as a couple of teams were picked from our scoring chart, we moved to the balancing one, of which you were the top of. It was a pleasure to work with you.
843-Thanks for being the only team from Canada to ditch GTR and come hang with the cool cats at FLR. As soon as we picked
3003, we decided to move to the 'go big or go home' strategy and move forward with a triple balance alliance. We were stunned that you didn't get picked until the second draft, and snapped on a fantastic alliance partner.
Both of you guys: It was a pleasure to work with you both. Fantastic alliance partners, and congrats for entering the elite club that is the Triple Balancers. I hope we can work together again in the future, and would like to keep in touch. If any of you are on Chief Delphi, shoot me a PM and we can work something out.
Here's a video of the only triple balance (in eliminations--we managed it twice on the practice field) at FLR 2012:
http://youtu.be/nNPPihOZ1K0?hd=1&t=50s
2172, 250, 1518-You guys were great to play against, and a victory over you means a lot. You guys stayed professional and gracious through our quarterfinals, as well as having some nice robots. Good Game.
340, 3015, 4124-It is an honor to be eliminated by such good opponents. From the second I watched
340's reveal video here on Chief, I knew they would go far this year, and they did not disappoint. The simplicity and elegance of your dumping mechanism is a feat of engineering. The thing it does that other robots can't do is keep the center of gravity low, while still allowing for 100% shots into the second basket. We had our eyes on
3015 from the very beginning, and were on the very top of our pick list. In fact, we had made a pre-selections agreement to choose them, and when
340 noticed as well, and chose them, our scouting setup was in quite the predicament of rearranging our list. Your shooting skills were paralleled by very few at the regional. Finally,
4124, the almost-rookie. As the counterpart to Division by Zero, we expected a lot of this rookie team, and they didn't disappoint. How they were left in the third draft for the second seed is a testament to the quality of teams at Fingerlakes.
1507, 191, 3951-It was clear from the beginning that
1507 deserved to win this regional. They were simply a head and shoulders better than much of the competition, and it showed. Congrats on the well deserved win, guys. Not to underplay the influence of
191, the eternal X-Cats. If there was one team we were to look up to, it would be the Cats. You guys exemplify everything we would like to be as a team, and manage to produce a winning robot regularly. This is you first regional win in a few years, right? It also shows how important those Thursday practice matches can be: If you have a working robot the second you show up, you can practice your drivers on the real field, something not to be underestimated. Finally,
3951, another great rookie to enter into the Fingerlakes community.
Special shutout to
191 again, for helping us with our bridge manipulator. Though we didn't get it on there in time for Elims today, we will have it at DC and maybe you'll get to see your effect at Champs. Thanks!
340-Congrats on the Chairmans award. There's a reason this is the highest honor in FIRST, and you guys delivered. When we set the goal of 1250 hours community service for the team, we thought we were in Chairmans territory. Doing the math, you guys doubled us. I know our new goal for next year: Double 340. You're a role model and an inspiration to us all.
On one more subject, I would like to bring up the issue of Blue Alliance station #1. We have noticed a correlation between robots losing connection from the field and being at this station. It happened to us in a match in qualifications, and twice during eliminations to our alliance partner. I'm happy that the regional turned out the way it did, but would it be a good idea to direct an email at the FTA alerting her to check if there is indeed a problem? Does anyone know how I might finder her contact information? Have any other teams noticed this odd issue?
Finally, we won the Engineering Inspiration Award, and plan to attend Championships for the first time in 7 years. It's a pretty big deal, and we are totally out of the loop for Championship organizing. How do teams from the area usually get out to St. Louis? Bus? Plane? How much of the team do you take? I should probably start a new thread for this, but I'll ask it in here, because I want the advice of Fingerlakes region teams, since they are approximately the same distance from there that we are. Any other tips for going to champs with a big team? How do you choose who goes? Any other suggestions are welcome.
Thanks everyone for the fantastic Regional. I've been to and watched quite a few now, and nothing can compare to FLR for enthusiasm, camaraderie, gracious professionalism, and just pure awesomeness. When I'm at the Fingerlakes Regional, I feel like I'm at home.
On a last note, I had the opportunity to shake the hands of pfravield and Koko Ed in person. Nice speaking with both of you!