[Madison]

I don't have exhaustive data, but things are going well here in Portland. The field has been working wonderfully all day which is a welcomed change, in and of itself.

At the end of the day, team 948 is seeded first -- they're a nice, elevator-based lifting mechanism. 488 is fourth seed, currently, and we've got a 4 - 1 - 0 record. 1540, a mecanum drive tube scoring machine, is 2nd or 3rd, sharing that space with 2122.

I don't have a sense for how many penalties have been called except to say that my alliances have never been given one. Knowing the rules regarding when you can step up the controls, touch the ringers and such is important.

My biggest gripe is that the match lists SUCK. I make no exaggeration when I say that 488 competes against 492 during every. single. match. Other teams similarly compete against one team every time they're up. There're 54 teams at this event, so there's no reason why things could not have been mixed up a little bit more.

Tomorrow ought to be exciting. Congratulations to Eric Stokely, winner of the Regional Woodie Flowers Award.