[ColleenShaver]

Again 45 never ceases to amaze any of us. Not only do they come out with a quality robot every year, but more importantly, there is a great group of people behind every one. I can't wait to see them in action at Nationals.

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And Nickma and John upon your comments... of course there is a drastic difference between those that do and those that just think about doing. And for someone to say "we thought of that, but we couldn't get it to work (or maybe didn't think it was worth it)" doesn't negate any praise that anyone has ever given. In several ways, it is kind of praise in itself. Every year a team comes up with a design and then says "that's impossible", or "we can't do that", or even the infamous "that will never work." And every year, without fail, there will be a robot out there with that device. They will have made your impossible possible... and many teams just stand back and say "wow, so that's how you do it."

Nickma, you know as well as many others that T190 has been there for our far share of innovative and untested designs as we have been for the "that will never work"s. So you should know just as well as anyone how the table turns both ways.. sometimes you get to make the cool designs, and sometimes you just get to sit and gawk.

Commenting or questioning a design isn't negative. It's a curiosity. Saying "hey we thought of that too" doesn't take away anything from the quality of design or the time and effort that anyone on any team put in. You have wings. We say "hey, we thought of that." Does that mean that we negate any good thing ever said about your team's design? I think not.

And in the end, many of us do not look back and say "I wish I had thought of that" about the winning robot, cause chances are almost every team thought of that idea at some point. They can make it a winner because it is a combination of a whole lot more things than just a good design, and it takes that right mix to build a champion. You wouldn't necessarily say that the team that won thought of the right answer.. that would mean there was a right answer and only one.

Great designs are great designs. Great teams are great teams. Great execution is great execution. And stating any similarities with those great things doesn't lessen them at all.