[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by AcesJames

When all was said and done at the end of quals, we were ranked outside the top 8 due to a rough Saturday morning. We accepted 3780's invitation, and immediately sent our scouters with whiteboards and tablets as close to the field as possible. 3780 was excellent in allowing us to pick anyone we wanted, and when it came back to us in the second round, we knew we needed 1153. We had been watching them all weekend, and their strokes of brilliance in a few key matches made them very attractive, even though their rank was surprisingly low.

During lunch we worked quickly and carefully to spruce up 3780's drivetrain (did I mention how willing they were to let us do anything we felt necessary to succeed!?) to play defense while we kept a close eye on both 229 and 1153, getting them ready for what we hoped would be an offensive onslaught. In QF 1 and 2 we put up 140 points, and that was with only 2 robots scoring in autonomous and 1 or 2 robots hanging at the end. We looked to improve further for the semis, but a dead battery in 1153 in one match and a jammed frisbee in the other seemed to seal the deal for the #1 alliance.

This story, among many others, is why I "waste" so much of my time with FIRST.

Thank you, James.