[Shankar M]

I apologise for the lateness of this post, but I had to do a little bit of studying for a couple of midterms I had over the past couple of days. Now that all of that has been taken care of, I can get to the important stuff.

I have been to the Finger Lakes Regional twice now, and each time I have left blown away. In 2006, as with this year, the energy in the building was incredible. The smaller environment made for a homely feeling, but the many teams kept things extremely competitive. This is definitely a regional that I hope Team 188 continues to attend in the future.

The run that Team 340 has had with the Chairman's Award in recent years is ridiculous. When we decided as a team to submit our RCA at the Finger Lakes Regional, we knew we would be going up against one of the very best. This past weekend I got a chance to look at some of the stuff your team has done personally, and I must say that it is simply astounding; it was a very well deserved win again this year. Good luck in Atlanta, the big prize surely cannot be too far off for you now.

Team 1547's runs with FIRST's biggest awards have also been incredible. Year after year, your team manages to deliver. Last year's Chairman's win at GTR was long due and this year's EI was no different. Teams like yours not only serve as an inspiration for the rest of us, but also push us to do more year after year. Congratulations on your win and see you at GTR. (Also, thank you for lending us your easel for our Chairman's presentation!)

To the eighth alliance, Teams 3015, 3003, and 2053: you definitely left us with our hearts in our mouths after that first match. Visions of 71, 1114, and 1000 being downed in the quarters at Midwest were looming and so many on our team were left stunned. You deserve a ton of credit for your spectacular strategic manoeuvre you pulled off. All three of your teams have great potential for the future, and I wish you the very best of luck.

We knew we were up against one of the strongest alliances when we took on 1241, 229, and 1626. A killer human player, some ridiculous driving skills, and solid defensive capabilities made for a frightening team. Your alliance certainly gave us a run for our money. Had you not ended up on our side of the draw, I am sure our match-up would have made for a heck of a final.

The seventh alliance of 340, 1511, and 316 did not make things easy for us in the finals. Thank you for pushing us until the very end. Team 1511 did nothing but improve from Friday afternoon until the end of the eliminations, while 340 and 316 kept at it all weekend.

I felt that a couple of teams at the regional definitely deserved better finishes. The picking mishap for 610 was extremely unfortunate. Your team had one of the better robots at the regional and should most definitely have been in the eliminations. I know you guys will only be better at GTR and look forward to seeing you there. Team 1503 had one of the top three robots at Finger Lakes and had it not been for some rather puzzling happenings in the quarterfinals, could have definitely taken the second alliance deep into the eliminations. I know you will only come back hungrier than ever at GTR.

On a bit of a personal note, Team 2609 again impressed me this weekend. After a stellar rookie year, it looks like you have only gotten better. I am looking for great things from your robot at Waterloo and I have no doubts that you will deliver.

To all the other teams we will be seeing at GTR: 771, 772, 1246, and 1126, we are expecting the very best from you and look forward to yet another awesome Greater Toronto Regional.

Finally, to our alliance partners, 1507 and 174: THANK YOU! It has been five long years since 188 last won a regional and we very much appreciate your help in ending that drought.

Team 1507 undoubtedly had one of the best robots at Finger Lakes. The power dumping ability, combined with seamless empty cell deliveries made your team a treat to watch. In the eliminations, you were one of the most open alliance captains I have ever worked with, never afraid to hear our team out on strategy and decisions about how to play out our matches. Thank you for making us your first pick. I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta, where your team will be quite a force to be reckoned with.

Team 174 was willing to do whatever it took, and that was exactly what they did. From delivering empty cells, to scoring balls, to playing hard defence, you did it all. We could not have asked any more of our second pick and were extremely lucky to end up with a team like you from where we were picking!

Congratulations on a job well done to everyone on Team 188! You did many things well over the course of this season and this weekend your efforts were rewarded.

The scouting team kept on top of things at all times and ensured that we had a great pick list to share with our alliance captain. (Thanks also to Adam, Jeff, Tristan, and Tyler for your invaluable advice over the course of the weekend, particularly Friday night.) The pit crew had less to do than ever before with our robot staying fully functional throughout the regional. Despite this, between matches, the crew were always running system checks and making sure all was well with the robot. The drive team definitely got things right. I had the opportunity to work with you during the season when you were practicing and it clearly paid off. You learned so much, but more importantly your knowledge to use. Shawn (Mr. Lim to some of you), you adapted so well to all the curveballs that were thrown your way and you made coaching a very tough game look easy. Congratulations on a job well done to everyone on the team!

Thank you once again to everyone at the Finger Lakes Regional. It was a blast!