[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by tennispro9911

217, 148, and others were great robots but not as dominant.

This nudged a thought that has been brewing over the past couple of days. It could probably brew for a couple more but I'll give it a shot.

When the posts began in the CD fora after the 2008 Championship and when photos began to appear, we were lucky to have some of our World Champions contributing their thoughts, reactions, and feelings in the threads. The teams, the coaches, and the drive teams were all so happy. What seemed to come from all the happiness and celebration and found its way into words was the respect that all of them had for each other and how they made up for weaknesses that occurred/popped up in the matches, depending on the alliance to overcome those weaknesses and challenges by working together and communicating with each other - all the while competing for the victories on Galileo and then on Einstein. The respect, in my mind, has been developed over time and is a great nod towards the importance of having engineers involved in the FRC program as mentors and as coaches, working side by side with students. The winning alliance showcased this importance and it also reflected a respect and appreciation that teams can have for themselves and for each other. Whether one robot was more dominant or not in the end or whether this worthy alliance that competed on Einstein and brought home the gold - can be beaten, is not important to me. They have already proven that they can win and they can win even when things get a little tough or challenging. That is when the alliance works together showing the strength of character and the level of respect - when it gets a little tough. And, that is what the robotics competition part of FIRST is about. I said all that and did not use the term, Gracious Professionalism, but it was present there between the lines and within those teams. Still is.