First and foremost from 1640, many thanks and congratulations to all the awesome volunteers that ensured the MAR Championship and MAR in general had a great first year!
And of course huge, huge (did I say huge?) thanks to
341 and
25 for entrusting us with this job. I cannot articulate how honored any of us are. Despite our scoring issues in quals, we always love contributing our flexibility to an alliance of such astounding capability and strategic insight. Plus, triple balancing rocks!
Thank you again, and we can't wait to see you at champs.
Also, congratulations to
Don Rotolo on a well-deserved WFFA. From what I've heard (apologies for missing our discussion in the whirlwind of mentoring 1640's pit and field crew through a rather abnormal weekend), there's no one better to represent MAR for this year's WFA. And many congratulations to
1676 as a whole on their well-deserved slot to Worlds! We hope to see you there.
My hats off to
1218,
2180 and
2016 (2016 as a 2nd pick!? Only at MAR) as well. You gave us a very serious run for our money in the Finals, especially on the triples. I could not be happier that all of you made Worlds, and I think it's a testament to how well the MAR/FiM system works that this is possible. It was very odd being on the other side of the glass from 1218; what a season!
And of course we'd be remiss in overlooking the huge accomplishments of
3929 (RAS--I've never met a better rookie), and
433 and
75 (RCA), as well as
3142 (EI). I didn't quite fathom the depth of MAR until I realized all the great teams in contention for these awards. Though just so you know, Firebirds, I think you're going every year until you take it all.
Finally, my personal congratulations to
365,
222 and
1626. Watching the MOE streak break is difficult for me even in this case. Let me say that your alliance was utterly impressive all through elims, and we were definitely concerned about how finals with you would've played out. You're a fantastic alliance and fantastic teams, and best of luck to MOE and Tigertrons at Worlds. You'll certainly be great, and we hope to play with (not so much against...) you there.
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On a more practical note, we're leaving for St. Louis
next Wednesday. Wow. So to all those amazing teams in our area also going...
anyone have any unused cargo space or seats? We're definitely not as ready for this as we need to be. I don't even know our exact head count quite yet, but offers (specifically cargo space; I suspect most members will fly) are very, very much appreciated.