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South Florida Regional Thanks & Congrats
I'm typing this from my futon back in Columbia, SC right now; after alliance selection (and some lunch), our drive coach had to start the 700-plus-mile slog back to Charlotte, NC for Easter with his family. Since I was riding with him, I obviously had to skip town earlier than I'd normally want--but whoever was riding shotgun was following along on Spyder.
This year's results on the field were rather disappointing to us on 2815; it's the first time we made it the whole season without any elimination appearance, but I can't argue with the picks made on the field. We'll bounce back stronger for it.
Even if we wound up having to play (and lose to) all three of the eventual champions, it was great to have my team experience an event in Florida. This was the eleventh time I've gone to Florida for a robotics competition over ten years, but the first time with a team. For all our challenges in getting there (more than I care to think of at 1:00 in the morning), I think it was worth it.
So first off, thank you South Florida Regional committee. I've been to a lot of regionals, some great, some mediocre, some awful. South Florida puts on a top-notch event, from the venue to the pacing to the pleasant queueing announcements. I don't know if we'll be able to make the distance an annual thing, but I know I'm going to throw it in the discussion.
My congratulations to Exploding Bacon on their double-gold performance. Our lead mechanical student (soon to be a freshman USC mentor) stood in front of 1902's pit for a good ten minutes just ogling the sheetmetal work of this robot, and I've long been familiar with Bacon's outreach effort. For as much as our team talks of the latest news from Simbotics and Cheesy Poofs and Robonauts, I don't think there's a single member of Los Pollos Locos that isn't in love with Exploding Bacon. (And coming from a team with an aversion to orange, that's a lot.)
Further congratulations to SPAM on busting through again on a beastly 15-1 run. I know we'd have loved to get the band back together, but it's good to see that finally winning Einstein hasn't gotten you guys soft on us. And thanks to all the SPAMmers who helped us and many, many other teams through their gremlins.
To TechTigers: FINALLY! You guys are far too awesome to have had this drought, and I'm glad it's behind you. (I heard SPAM make the pick--a spot we've been picked in more times than any other--and thought "Aw crap...but wait, how can I argue against picking TechTigers?" You can't!) I look forward to seeing you guys in St. Louis. (And apologies to David for forgetting his name!)
I was less active in the pits this year, so I know there have to be many more people and teams we should be thanking. I hope you know who you are, and that we appreciate it.
Hopefully we'll see some of y'all at SCRIW this fall!
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William "Billfred" Leverette - Gamecock/ Jessica Boucher victim/ Marketing & Sales Specialist at AndyMark
2004-2006: FRC 1293 (D5 Robotics) - Student, Mentor, Coach
2007-2009: FRC 1618 (Capital Robotics) - Mentor, Coach
2009-2013: FRC 2815 (Los Pollos Locos) - Mentor, Coach - Palmetto '09, Peachtree '11, Palmetto '11, Palmetto '12
2010: FRC 1398 (Keenan Robo-Raiders) - Mentor - Palmetto '10
2014-2016: FRC 4901 (Garnet Squadron) - Co-Founder and Head Bot Coach - Orlando '14, SCRIW '16
2017-: FRC 5402 (Iron Kings) - Mentor
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