[Billfred]

I think I finally slept off the last of the soreness!

SCRIW V wasn't perfect, and some of the calls we had to make killed me. (I know everyone wants to play far more than six matches, and I know everyone wants to make the show.) We saw issues that nobody--a seasoned AndyMark FTA included--had seen before, but we persevered and got through 32 matches in one day. We hope everyone enjoyed it even as we dealt with these challenges on the field.

Before we get to the real hardware, I have to tip my hat to those that contributed for a shot at the SCRIW mentor match. Across all the teams, we raised over $500 for flood relief efforts here in Columbia and the crowd that stayed was hot for this match. The alliance of 2059, 3976, and 2815 defeated the alliance 4935, 3490, and 342 thanks to a last-second six-stack from the Hitchhikers. (We did have a few teams that would've been in the match had they stayed, so no slight to those teams not in the match.) I'm not committing to anything, but I hope this becomes an annual tradition to make a little extra impact.

With that out of the way, here were the alliances for the playoffs (no declines). Only 23 teams showed up (1539 had trailer issues), so we did four four-team alliances where all four robots had to play across the first two matches of each round. (This order is pulled from a screenshot on the audience display, which I believe is correct in draft order. Someone that caught otherwise can correct me.)

1) 2059/4451/1226/3976 (semifinals average: 111.66)
2) 4533/1225/3490/4534 (83.00)
3) 343/5898/3489/283 (78.00)
4) 4935/342/1553/1758 (47.66)

Alliances 1 and 2 advanced to the finals, where Alliance 1 sealed the deal in two matches. Congratulations to teams 2059 (The Hitchhikers), 4451 (ROBOTZ Garage), 1226 (Gorillas B-Team), and 3976 (Electric Hornets), your SCRIW V Champions! With this win, the Hitchhikers become two-time SCRIW champions (they won SCRIW II), and so does 1225 if you count A- and B-teams together (SCRIW IV).

The SCRIWDriver Award was presented to AndyMark for their field rental service. It's a long drive for them from Kokomo, but the service they offer is what's made SCRIW possible these past five years. As one of the two people in the parking lot discussion that led to SCRIW, I can say with near-absolute certainty that we wouldn't be able to pull it off if we had to coordinate things through Manchester.

This year saw a lot of volunteers that were new to their roles, but I have to tip my hat to Kaylee (whose name I'm probably misspelling terribly), a student from 2815 at her first FIRST event ever who was thrust into the emcee role. With a little more practice (and backup--my microphone was getting too feedback-laden to add the short names as usual), I think she could do it at an in-season event!

Thank you in particular to our workshop presenters, David Allred, Kevin Thorp, and David Castro. Maybe someday I'll be able to attend one of those workshops myself, but it seems like they all got great reviews.

I also have to thank the other members of the SCRIW committee: Matt Hedden, John Lindower, and Brooke Slocum. I'm the visible guy, but there is no way this event would happen without their efforts from building access to leading food efforts to fixing up the sound board while we keep going on matches.

Look for a date for SCRIW VI soon after the USC football schedule is set, and thank you all again!