[Clark Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

The TechnoKats are looking forward to "having a ball" in Atlanta. Not only will we be scoring Poof balls on the field, but we will also be shining a very big ball in our pit.

For the first time since the TechnoKats started the "Kokomo New Year's Eve Ball Drop" back in 1999, we will finally be bringing our New Year's Eve ball to the FIRST Championships.

This thing is sooo cool, we just gotta bring it down.

To imagine what it is, think about combining the jumbo-tron at Turner Field, a disco ball, and the "death star" from Star Wars.

Yep, we will have a 4 foot diameter New Year's Eve ball, with all 32,000 LEDS flashing in our pit. There are also white strobes placed throughout the ball. The LEDs give us any color we want, and can provide some hypnotic patterns (simulated spinning, colorful flashing, etc.).

Our old ball (with only 350 large Christmas tree lights) will remain in our shop, unused. It was put out to pasture after a flickering fuss during the 2004 Ball Drop.

Yep, we're gonna have a ball.

Andy B.

If someone could take a few pictures of this in the Technokat pit and upload them to ChiefDelphi it would be much appreciated!