Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor
2006 Boilermaker Regional, 1319 had a small drive base and the top shooter was on a full turret. Either at the end of qualifications or in the first elimination match, they got smacked and the top 2/3 of their robot breaks off. Like dragging behind them.
First elimination match after that, they come out with just a drive base and play awesome defense. I think they won that match.
Soon after, everything's back, working perfectly, Regional Champions. Safety Award. Spirit Award. |
That was so long ago! So long ago that this mentor was actually a sophomore in high school.
It happened in a qualifying match just before lunch. Our robot ran off in auto and crashed into the ramp used for climbing at the end of the match. We hit it head on at full speed and the rest was a disaster. The whole top section split off and lay a foot away from the base. We watched helplessly as other robots had to run over and around the "guts" (i.e. wires, cords, etc.) that spilled out on the floor.
We worked through lunch and sent the base out the next match to do defense and climb the ramp for extra points. Then we added a beefed up scoring section on top and kept going. We were picked for the winning alliance and the worst day I've ever seen in FIRST led to my best FIRST experience.
This was the most inspirational moment of my FIRST experience. It taught me something vital to this program: you can cry (I did), you can be discouraged, you can think it's all over but you have to keep going. You paid all this money, traveled all this way, and worked so hard for that robot so you owe it to yourself, to your team, and your machine to see it through to the end.
The worst case scenario is your robot completely splits in half. But then again, you could always win the whole dang regional. You never know, so never quit.
