Chief Delphi - View Single Post

MarcD79 · #35 24-03-2013, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcesJames

Actually, believe it or not, 3780 came up to 229 (specifically myself) early Saturday morning (shortly after realizing they'd be picking) telling me that they were looking for possible picks and 229 had been "looking good". Furthermore, they informed me that they had not scouted at all on Friday, and were only just then starting to "scout" teams by writing down the "good" machines on paper. Knowing that they were carried, they asked many of the other top seeds about the possibility of partnership, and unfortunately for them, most outright declined.

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.

I always feel pride when I read something such as this. Being a Volunteer/Mentor for 176, it feels great when I can look at where the students have gone over the years. It isn't just my team, it's all the teams out there that go on to better things in life, both within FIRST & outside of FIRST. They have learned valuable things in life that just isn't taught in school. As I've said before, this is why I volunteer.