[archiver]

Posted by Patrick Dingle at 03/10/2001 11:07 PM EST


Coach on team #639, Red B^2, from Ithaca High School and Cornell University.


In Reply to: Long Island Regionals: Results, "Story"
Posted by Kyle Hill on 03/10/2001 9:26 PM EST:



I did not have the pleasure of watching these matches, but as I looked at the scores on the website, I could tell how incredibly tense and exciting this particular matchup was. I didn't realize about the hail mary. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as luck. Everything done out there by any team and human player is a result of stategizing, hard work, and practice. There is no luck involved in the game (except who you're paired with in the qualifying matches). Everything else is completely controlled by the people in the controller stations. I commend the human player (or coaches) for realizing they did not have enough points to win, and shooting another ball in. (one thing i was wondering at UTC is why were human players just sitting there with balls lined up behind them???????)

These types of losses can be hard to take, because just when you think the other team can't beat your score, the robo-adrenaline kicks in and they do it. Congratulations to both of your alliances on the great robots and great competition. Remember -- the competition isn't about winning, either.

Patrick

: Here's a recap from the SBPLI-Long Island Regionals. We call it "The Hail Mary".

: Day 1 was a wash, and due to an extreme lack of luck or teammate ability, we finished 29th out of 33. Day 2 saw VAST improvement, as we scored 255 in the first match of the morning, breaking the record (previously 176). While our single-match record later fell, we somehow made it onto the 3rd seed alliance, and played...

: Here's how it went in the semis.
: Match 1 (Them): 48 points. Nothing goes right.
: Match 2 (Us): 50 points. See above.
: Match 3 (Us): Everything goes right. _400_.
: Match 4 (Them): 408. One extra black ball was put in a goal. Without that ball, they have 399.
: Match 5 (Us): We capped off both goals with big balls. 480 points.
: (At this point, we're celebrating like mad, because we figure that A- they can't score 400 again and B- they sure as hell cant score 481.)
: Match 6 (Them): They only put 6 or 7 black balls in the one goal, fetched both cylinders (one capped with a large ball) and pulled both up onto the ramp, and balanced it within 50 seconds. With a full goal, that easily would have scored them 550+, but the goal was half empty. Yet, as they timed out, one player from the station threw a "hail mary" ball into the goal on the ramp. It goes in. They got 490 points and won the semifinal.

: The alliance then went on to win the championship over the 4th seeded alliance (nothing spectacular scoring-wise, the winning score was a little over 200).

: The moral of the story? Luck means everything.