Don't ask me how I still have my voice, but I do.
Today was a rollercoaster of a day on all levels, one that's thrown the gauntlet down to all of the teams I've worked with. Some shouts:
1293, my alma mater, for
finally making the elimination rounds. The kids that were freshmen my last year mentoring them are now seniors, and it's been three LONG seasons. (And, as someone who was there at the start, a LONGER five.) This year, everything just came together. Even if it was just two matches, I hope it's the beginnings of something much more.
1676 for winning Chairman's. They were 1618's neighbors at Palmetto and nothing but a class act. I hope it takes them less time to come back to Palmetto again. (They medal every time they do!)
1730 for helping out all the folks they've helped out. If someone told me they'd helped every other team in the arena, I would probably believe them. It got to the point that I had to ask if they brought a kitchen sink. (They hadn't.) Teams like yours save teams like mine from all sorts of calamities.
The Clemson Ph.D. student who inspected 1618 for not failing our inspection as my self-restraint with regard to Clemson jokes started to slip.
(He gave as good as he got, though.)
Everyone who complimented 1618's shirts. It seemed that every time I would go over to other pits to talk strategy, the topic came up. Even if our robot wasn't quite delivering the goods, it was good to know that we'd hit something out of the park. Thanks.
1746 for owning up to their coach touching the controls in SF1-1. I can only hope I'd have the same nerve to admit that in the same situation (their alliance had won the match). Also, congrats on the Imagery award--we were gunning for you hard on 1618 (see above), but I was nodding my head in agreement as the citation was read.
2815 for a hell of a run at Palmetto. I didn't rejoin them until eliminations, after my duties with 1618 were done, but they took the lessons learned from Bayou and used them to reach that much higher. Their RAS efforts were much improved, their robot was driven better (in my view), and the team was that much louder. No team I've worked with, past or present, has worked as hard to earn their spot in Atlanta, and nothing thrills me more than to know they got it. Now, um...anyone happen to have $5,000 lying around?