[philso]

Congratulations to 1477, 610 and 1241!

It was an incredible thrill to finish our FLL tournament activities and find four Canadian teams and two Houston teams engaged in three of the most intense matches I have ever seen, the Galileo Semi's. As Canadians living in Houston, our loyalties were torn and we cheered for both sides till we were hoarse. It was so amazing to see you all work together in the Einstein Finals to outscore two FCS' with your speed and precision shooting. Kudos to your engineers for creating such precise and efficient scoring machines and kudos to your drivers for employing them so effectively. We are sorry that our other commitments kept us from seeing more of your matches.

1241
It was a pleasure to meet Amanda and Florence in our pit area. You are doing fantastic things that will make all the teams in TO stronger in the coming years. Considering the uniformly high level of play I saw on the webcasts from the Toronto area Regionals, that is a frightening thought. It was an even greater pleasure to later finding your team climbing up through the Galileo Eliminations an on to Einstein.

610
We met your team members in your pits last year and they graciously answered all our questions about their robot and how they designed it. We have always admired the elegance and efficiency of your robots. Your team members all had a look in their eyes that told us they did not just want to succeed, they needed to succeed. It does not surprise us that you are now World Champions.

1477
Your team has always worked hard to improve and you all deserved to be rewarded for your hard work. We could also see the need and determination to succeed in your eyes. It was such a thrill to see your team fight to overcome adversity over and over again in the last few days. Those struggles must have given you the momentum to propel you to the top. Thanks also for so graciously sharing your bus with us. It was an honour to be able to hang out with your team (win or lose). It was also fun to think that each of our teams had defeated past World Champions that day. I wish I took a picture of Scott curled up in the front seat with the trophy.

We trust that your hard work dedication and passion for excellence will lead you all to victory again.

Phil So
Bud-Botics, FLL Team 7372