[David Kelly]

Originally Posted by Richard

Just a few impressions, now that the 2005 St. Louis Regional is in the books:

Match play: Triple Play appears to be very rough on the robots. Lots of blocking, pinning, pushing, ramming, checking, etc. Referees took a "let 'em play" attitude, calling penalties only when aggressive driving was clearly aimed at damaging or tipping another 'bot. High blocking was deemed OK, if the intent was clearly to dislodge a tetra in the other robot's possession. This was a severe test of solid robot construction, and of course the top robots were up to the challenge. There was only one substitution during the tournament, 1272 (1st standby) for 537.

Inspection: the most common inspection issue was failure to use SLU-70 terminals on 6AWG wire ends as required by <R48>. Many veteran teams had neglected to replace older crimp-style terminals on their batteries from previous years. I had to send a volunteer to a local electrical supply store for a bag of SLU-70s so the pit parts table would have enough to enable all teams to comply with <R48>. Other common inspection issues were entanglement risk <R25>, and of course the usual problems with sharp edges and maximum weight. More than 35 robots (out of 44 participating) were within one pound of the 120# limit.

Gracious professionalism: is definitely on the rise in St. Louis. While the action on the field was rough, the cooperation in the pits was wonderful to see.

Rookies: 1706 got a late start on the build season but still came in with a respectable robot and a competitive team, and conducted themselves with a degree of professionalism that impressed all of the volunteers. They impressed the judges, too: Rookie Inspiration Award. And 1625 was the highlight of the event, taking home the Xerox Creativity Award, Rookie All-Star, Highest Rookie Seed (#3) and of course being leader of the winning alliance. They will be a force to reckon with in Atlanta.

And then there's my team: 931 Perpetual Chaos. It is hard to express how proud I am of this team. Starting 4 years ago as the only FIRST team based in St. Louis, they have become an inspiration to this Regional and a driving force for the growth of FIRST. And they look good in green. Special congratulations to Frank Dressel, founding coach of 931, who was recognized with a special award by the Regional committee for tireless effort to promote FIRST in our area.

Do you know who won the Chairmans Award, Engineering Inspiration or Woodie Flowers Award?