[PayneTrain]

I'd go through and multi-quote this love fest but I agree with so many people here I'll just say my piece and then watch the love pile on some more.

I woke up Saturday morning around 9AM eastern (a small benefit of not attending championships this year) to see alliance selections play out. While some people like to high-five themselves over correctly predicting obvious #1 machine on the division with obvious #2 machine, I love looking at those second round picks back up the serpentine. I remember physically laughing aloud at 610 falling to where they did in 2013, and immediately put them ahead of 118/1114 combo on Galileo, which probably meant they would win Worlds (I didn't see the other three fields that much, but I knew we had a stacked field). Looking at the page of selections, the first thing I noticed was that 1671 fell to the 16th pick in the draft. We worked with 1671 on Archimedes last year and they were consummate professionals in such an intense game. Then I looked over at the two lucky teams to get such a ridiculous steal:

118 and 1678.

It's impossible to overstate the effects these two teams have had on how I have tried to direct 422 since I started taking on more control in 2013. These are two teams that are so different in their makeup, their history, their resources, their popularity... but these are two of the 5 or 6 teams that I look to when I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with my team. These two teams are incredibly inspirational for my team.

After getting shut out of a second event in the immediate southeast for the 2014 season, I pushed for a huge financial risk for my team: we registered for the Week 1 Alamo Regional in San Antonio, Texas. This team has never been to a non-championship event more than 7 hours away. We shipped all of our gear, including an unfinished robot, to the Lone Star state for one reason: not to win, not to get some Week 1 time with our machine, not to travel somewhere not snowing, and not for the BBQ (well, the BBQ was awesome). We went there to get our butt kicked. We went there knowing we would not win the Regional Chairman's Award there (congrats to 624!) We knew we would not win the event. We knew we would probably bat .500. And we knew we were going to get our doors blown off a couple of times by 148 and of course, 118.

The greatest experience in my FRC career is helping pull 422 out of the dumpster so many people tried to leave us in before and earn our first ever RCA in 2014. The single match we played with 118 at Alamo in 2014 is my #2. (#3 is beating the glass with Jim Zondag at champs last year after no one signaled for a G17 that when called, won us the match over 1538). What an incredible team. Just recounting how incredibly well done the whole operation of the Robonauts was floored me and the mentors on my team. I don't remember how well our match went (it probably wasn't great, but not as bad as an alliance HP at Alamo not watching the field when we trussed a ball to him and it hit him in the head) but the attention to detail Mason and the whole drive team put into going over everyone's scouting data led to how intricate their launcher was which was overshadowed by how insanely well trained their human player was. They may not know it, but that experience (and talking to 624 at Alamo) changed us.

We've never had the chance to play with 1678 before (one day, we hope!) but if there is one word that applies to them, it's "fighter". At the end of the day, 1678 rose to win the World Championship with pure willpower. There is so much passion and heart on that team that anyone can easily witness. They fought against everyone who turned them down on Archimedes in 2013, and won. They have made it to the Einstein field 3 years in a row. They have thundered up the contentious California ladder to almost match the current global dominance of 254. And they all did it with passion. In 6 years they went from perennial early exiters at Sacramento to a perennial world championship contender. 1678 is a team that exemplifies achievement through enthusiasm. The passion Michael Corsetto has for FIRST as an alumnus of the program is something that I know I take notice of, and something everyone all the way up to the FIRST Board of Directors should know of. As an aside, your awesome logo inspired our not as great but new logo, and your media team is also inspiring.

To 1671 and 5012, congratulations on not just winning world championships, but getting an exclusive hold on such an incredible memory you will never forget. To 1678 and 118, you are what FIRST is about. Two inspiring teams earning something they have deserved for so long. Not to make this a political statement, but it's heart-wrenching to know that next year may be the last shot we have to learn from you all in person.

Thanks for everything.