[Jared Russell]

...wow... is right, Jon...

The daisies have made it safely back to Philadelphia, and I don't know that I've ever been so disappointed to come back home. We had one of the most memorable regionals in our 10 year history out in San Diego. Yeah, things went our way on the field (more on that later), but the thrills of victory will only last a moment. The friendships we formed with so many people from so many far away teams will last much longer, and ultimately be more rewarding. We now have new friends to look for in Atlanta, and you better believe that we will seek you out.

Thanks and congratulations to:

-Jim Beck and all of Team San Diego. Your tight knit family of local teams and their regional director is a model for all of FIRST. Some of you aren't known on these forums with the same acclaim as other older teams, but you should be. To a person each one of you was exceptional to us and made our stay an absolute pleasure. You guys get it.

-Team 1538 and especially WFFA recipient Jon Jack. You are truly a complete team. On the field you had an effective machine that fought well all the way through the finals. Off of it you not only won a (very well deserved) Chairman's Award, you reached out to our team by taking us out to Old Town San Diego on Friday night. To say that we had a blast would be an understatement. If you ever make it out to the Philadelphia area, we will return the favor in a second!

-Team 968 for putting on a dominant performance. To those teams that will face RAWC or the Cheesy Poofs this season or offseason - watch out! You better bring your A game (and a little luck) if you want to stand a chance!

-Team 1572. You guys started on Thursday with a shooter. It worked okay, but like the vast majority of shooters this season it wasn't particularly consistent and couldn't put up the volume of a dumper. Not content to rest on your laurels, you went out and completely redid your scoring mechanism in time for the playoffs. And boy did it work well. I love seeing teams that never stop making improvements to their machine, and who adapt well to a challenge!

-Team 1388. Your gyro-enhanced agility was one of the technical high points of the competition. In finals match 1, you managed to finally pin Daisy down and unload a huge score on us - you were the first and only team able to do it the entire regional!

-Andy Baker and Dan Greene. With 37 teams, the San Diego Regional is one of the smallest FIRST regionals this year. But we still managed to get two WFA winners to help lead the way!

-The FIRST staff and all of the volunteers. When we went on a scouting mission to the NJ regional, we were very worried by what we saw. Luckily, this competition was almost entirely issue-free and the field was working like it had been around for years. We are all quick to blame FIRST for some of the troubles the new game and control system have brought, but in this case we need to give credit where it is due. Everything worked like clockwork.

-And lastly, Teams 1332 and 2543 for teaming up with us to create the best alliance on the field that afternoon. Each one of us brought something different to the table.

East (341 - PA)
Middle (1332 - CO)
and West (2543 - CA)

Old (341)
Middle Aged (1332)
and Young (2543)

Steady scoring (341)
Daring dumps (1332)
and devastating defense (2543)

I truly believe that it was the union of all of these diverse elements that brought us success. We worked like clockwork as a team. 1332 - once you got your dump timing down, you were a true threat to every trailer on the crater. And 2543 - you found your true calling in playing your West Coast take on old school East Coast defense. I told your drive team about how regionals are won and lost in the northeast (with heart, suffocating defense, and some broken parts along the way). And boy, did they run with it. You absolutely shut down a robot that was previously unstoppable. Watching you drive the opposition sideways all the way across the field was a beautiful sight.

In all, I hope everyone else had half the time that we did. San Diego has carved out a place in our hearts.

-Jared