[Dan Richardson]

I feel fortunate this year I've got to see a lot of great robots live and in person.

Last Year 5 Einstein Robots competed at the Florida Regional.

233, mind blowingly awesome 'nuff said.

But people seem to forget about the rest, 179 when they weren't suffering from mechanical problems was hard to stop, people seemed to forget they ran 3 lines and hurdled 5 times ( 1 was a cap, that got pushed over ) to knock out 103 in the semi's. 1251, helped run the show with 233, a very fast and effective hurdling machine. 69 as well in those finals, knocking over the first ball in hybrid effectively and running 3-4 lines, it was pretty impressive.

79 showed what they can do in Florida and proved what they can do again in bayou, put up 4-5 hurdles and run 3,4 lines in auton with their awesome collision avoidance. 103 has a great bot and they've proved it at a few regionals. Teams like 342, 108, and 180 will all make differences the champs.

At the bayou regional, there were a few amazing machines like 118, 230, 148, 79 ( again) and 16. 16 has really come on strong this year, they kept up with 1114 at midwest, and surpassed the competition in New Orleans, they will be one of the teams to beat in Atlanta. 118 has had some mechanical troubles but really started to show what they could do in elims, they have a very powerful launcher, and system in general, if they pair up with another super team they'll be a tough one to stop. 148, its hard to believe they won't be picking, but if they aren't they'll be a strong pick, strong defense, good autonomous, if you want a lap runner, they are the cream of the crop. In my opinion three hurdlers crowd the field, a strong defensive bot, or "role player" with a good autonomous is going to be the way to go in the second round picking this year, if 148 isn't picking they are perfect for this role, if they last that long.

So putting it all together, I think there will be a few Florida Regional teams representing again this year, its a somewhat underrated very powerful regional, proving again how far Florida FIRST has come in the past few years.

I can't wait to see how the divisions shape up, I don't think it will take 3 hurdlers this year, but 2 good hurdlers who can handle lots of defense ( which is key ) and 3 strong autons, Alliances with well coordinated autons that knock down balls, and run a few lines as well as put up good hurdling scores are going to be hard to beat.

This too me is what makes 1114 so good, sure they can put up 8 hurdles, there are a few others that can put up 7, but they can knock off 2 balls and run 5 lines, at that point as we say in the south.. Doneskies. But then again, we have said the same thing for a few teams in the past few years, and a diamond in the rough usually proves us all wrong.