As I lay here after a long and exhausting weekend, I'm so overcome with emotion I'm not sure where to begin. Our team has had a lot of exciting moments in FIRST, but nothing quite comes close to what we experienced in Southington this weekend. I'm not sure where to begin, but here goes:
To our friends at 195: our real journey toward success in FIRST began with you in 2007, and we were honored and privileged to win with you again today. You were a pleasure to work with then, and you were today. Let's not wait another seven years to do it again
999: You filled your role to perfection, modifications and all. To be able to adapt so quickly to a new strategy is a testament to the strength of your drive team.
4055, 230 and 2836, we've played with all of you in elims in the past, and, as we expected, the final three matches today were epic. Everything a final should be. You're class acts, all three. And Vogl, you can have lobster now.
To Rob, Sandra and your crew, you guys hosted an excellent event. You'd never know it was your first time. For the most part, things went smoothly, and when they didn't you handled them expertly. Thanks for all your hard work. Now get some sleep.
Finally, to our friends at team 228, GUS. I said it to you today and I'll say it again: YOU are our inspiration. Our role models. When we looked in 2007 to become a stronger, more well-rounded team, we looked to you. It's because of your example that we were able to accomplish what I never truly believed we could: win a Chairman's Award. Thank you for all that you do, and for being a model to show smaller, financially limited teams like ours that we CAN become beacons of FIRST.