[ejSabathia]

This weekend was exciting, tough and exhausting for myself and my team. We enjoyed the competition and learned a lot about this game. Still not sure exactly how I feel about it, but we had a lot of fun.

I find it amusing and odd that there is/was so much buzz around our choice in alliance partners. FIRST robotics is a COMPETITION and we play to win. As many others have theorized we take scouting and strategy seriously. We have a dedicated team of mentors and students who put as much work into this part of our game as goes into the robot. With that said I stand behind the choices we made.

Last year, at the San Diego Regional, we (254) found ourselves in a similar situation to 973 this past weekend at CVR. We'd spent two days chasing mechanical issues and getting our design to function. We were struggling and our record showed it.

Saturday morning we approached the number one seed (987 the High Rollers) and plead our case. They knew that we'd be dangerous if we could sort out our issues. We ran our autonomous countless times on the practice field for them showing them our fixes and changes. They took a chance on the 18th ranked team and together we brought home gold.

Friday night Adam came to us and asked what they had to do or show us to be considered as a 2nd round pick. I'm throwing this point in for those ignorant enough to think, or say, that 973 was throwing matches to be picked. They were concerned that they would miss out on eliminations because of the issues with they were having.

We (254) had our scouting meeting, with Pat's delicious strategy brownies, and made our pick list. I'm certain our top two picks would astound most of you.

973 was at the top of that list, provided they could remain connected to the field and drive around, and we communicated this to Adam at the start of the day.

Second was a rookie team (5136) that, to our amazement stuck around until halfway through the second round of picking. These guys were awesome. They built the robot that every rookie (and many veteran teams )should have built. They were pretty much the perfect partner. A durable drive base, with a solid intake that could function as an inbounder or a low goal scorer. They played super smart, with great coaching and driving. Whenever they weren't passing a ball they were playing great defense and then were right back in position as soon as the ball was coming their way again. They were a rookie in number only. These guys are awesome and we are stoked they are coming to Championships.

With that said, I'm happy to start the 2014 season a champion. Our partners were awesome. Each stepped up and played their part in earning this win, I'd play with either of them again no questions asked. 973 & 2135 ... Thank-you and congrats.

~EJ