[Kevin Leonard]

What a crazy and unexpected result to a phenomenal weekend.
First, I'd like to thank our alliance partners for being absolutely incredible.

1325 has the most simple design I wish I had thought of. 3 stacks/match consistently, even when there were seconds left to place their last set of 3 totes and a container, they almost always got it done. And the match they dropped the container on the last stack, our other amazing alliance partners were right there and ready to cap both small stacks of three. Incredible teamwork.

3339 was one of the most consistent teams in the division, and had an incredibly smart set of brains behind the glass and in the stands. Their spirit could be heard in the hallways outside the stands, and every member of their team was extremely gracious. They knew the shortcomings of their robot, and when things went wrong on the field, they knew exactly what to do. I talked quite a bit to some of their mentors and students and was impressed by how cool and knowledgeable every member of this team was. Congratulations on being the first Israeli team on Einstein!

1711 started working perfectly at exactly the right times. While in qualifications, their canburglars were less than consistent, in eliminations they beat some of the best and fastest teams in the world to the cans, and managed their role incredibly well. Our team knew when you were on the field, our alliance was better off. Also made the only upside-down stack on Einstein, and the only one I've seen all year.

20 was thrilled to be a part of this international alliance, and can't believe luck went in our favor as many times as it did. We're honored to be an Einstein team for the first time in our long history.
Thanks to 1325 and 3339 for believing in us enough to make that pick, and for taking everyone's input when it came to match strategy. We can sometimes be a bit much to handle, as we have some strong-willed strategists, but all of you acted in the most gracious manner imaginable throughout the whole run to Einstein.

To the finalists- Wow!
When your alliance formed, I was sure we couldn't make it to division finals, let alone win the division.

4488, one of our drivers may have had a crush on your robot. Such a consistent machine and an amazing team to face on the field.

67 is the team I bring up in examples of how to build robots intelligently. Your robot this year was fantastic, and your canburglars were scary fast. I was excited when I saw we had a qualification match with you in our revised schedule.

225 was the dream 2nd robot, and I don't know how they lasted that long. Consistent landfill stacking, blazing fast canburglars, and smart driving brought this team a MAR championship, and a division finals appearance. You always have a unique approach to the game, and this year is no different.

And wow did I want to see 5659 take the field and see the crazy can-stealing contraption they ended up with. Who knows what would have happened.
Your alliance was scary, and things could have easily gone the other way in finals and seen the SupremeShock HotFire alliance make its way to the big stage.

Now to the #1 seeded alliance,
254, 973, 999, 4499, I was both upset and excited to see your alliance falter. Upset because I knew your alliance was capable of a world championship, but excited because it meant everyone else in the division had a chance. Our team was super excited when we found out we had a practice match with both 254 and 973, and what I saw during that was scary, to say the least.

Lastly, I want to mention one of our team's newest BFF's, Team 5254, the Trumansburg Robot Raiders (or #5poofs, for some).
They're an awesome second year team with an incredible robot who I was disappointed to see lose as early as they did. 20 didn't actually expect to be picked on Saturday morning, so we decided to help 5254 picklist and strategize Friday night, as from the #10 seed they could have ended up an alliance captain very easily. We were thrilled when they ended up getting picked by 1519, and then managed to get the steal of 399 in the second round. When we unexpectedly got picked, their team cheered for us, and our teams have become closer than ever as a result. To anyone who doesn't know 5254, check them out, and get ready for them to do great things in 2016.