[Fred Sayre]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I think anyone that was there could tell you, the Seattle regional was an amazing event. There were so many teams, and so many amazing rookies that really makes me believe that the northwest will become a breeding ground for some powerhouse teams in the very near future.

I remember looking at the match schedule, saying that the current match was supposed to start at 10:36 or something like that, only to look at my watch, and it was 10:36! Sitting in the stands all day scouting and watching the matches was so much more pleasant with the event running so smoothly. For that I applaud all of the volunteers that made it happen.

The strategy and aggressive defense really impressed me. All of the wins were hard fought and there were more incredibly close matches than I thought was possible. Pure scoring ability did not equate to wins and all of the machines got to spend some time pinned in the corner.

To 1318 and 1983, We remain afraid of you guys and STILL would much rather play with you than against you! I have not seen a better auto than 1318 and the skunk swerve is an amazing achievement that made it impossible for us to chase you down in Portland. Maybe in Atlanta we can show the rest of the country the power of the PNW!

To 1280, 1294, and 2660, I have the utmost respect for you guys. 1280 was an amazing machine, and for all the simplicity we were trying for in our design, you guys put us to shame. I felt guilty taking a design award, and not giving you guys some credit. I have to say, you guys could unload an epic amount of balls. 1294 really flew under the radar until I started seeing our scouting sheets coming back with 10-15 balls being scored by you guys. I loved your simple and efficient spiral hopper construction, and the accuracy in which you could put those balls into a trapped hopper was impressive. I didn't get to see to much of 2660, but after winning rookie inspiration you guys came back with an impressive seed, and put together an amazing team.

To 1425, and 1569, you guys were amazing. When we had some tough defense and missed a big dump in our first quarter final match. Near the end of the match after watching our machine intently, we were quite pleased to look up and still see the huge score our alliance had put up - right then I believed we could go all the way. 1425 handled the super cells with amazing speed and helped us put some big points up on the board, two high scoring records in the elimination matches! When you guys snuck in and delivered an empty cell right by 1280 when 1569 was holding them in the corner... it was a beautiful move. 1569 was a true jack of all trades, playing the empty cells, running some amazing defense, keeping robots off our back, and still putting an impressive number of balls in at just the right time. We couldn't have done it without you guys, and we all managed to keep our cool, and go undefeated in the elims despite some very tough matches.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone, and go Seattle!