I want, foremost, to not only thank, but recognize teams 1425 and 1569 for the tremendous performance they gave in MSR elimination rounds this weekend. While our robot may be big and blue and flashy, 1425 and 1569 were the driving force in making our victory possible. They did
everything right -- from developing a strategy that relied on converting empty cells into super cells and executing it flawlessly to playing some of the smartest, most effective defense I've seen in eleven years. I am extraordinarily impressed by them both and can't wait to see what they'll do in Atlanta.
Even after eleven years, this weekend was my first regional win and I'm tremendously thankful for all the well wishes and congratulations that my team and I have received in the last few days, but just as our team didn't win the regional alone (or even do a majority of the work in winning the regional, for that matter), my success is only possible because I work with a fantastic bunch of mentors and students that are more passionate and excited about this stuff than any others I've ever seen.
I'd be lying if I sometimes didn't wonder if I'm too heavily involved in our team and in our robot -- I feel compelled to make sure the kids have the best robot we can muster on that field for each and every match and that means that I micromanage everything. I'm getting better, though; I promise. After a tense moment when they announced that our alliance had been penalized and then learning we won the final match anyhow, more kids than I knew were on the field rushed me and our drivers and lifted me up into the air. I was thrilled and so appreciate their excitement, but I didn't do anything but scream (graciously and professionally, of course
)at the real stars of our team -- both at the competition and all throughout build.
Phounsouk, Andrew and Vy are our driver, operator and human player, respectively. Phounsouk, though he's operated our manipulators in the past, is driving a robot in competition for the first time while juggling his responsibilities as a class officer, member of the school's tennis team and as a high school intern at Microsoft. Phounsouk's patience and nerves of steel are not a benefit for operating "IX," but a requirement and he brings them in spades. He's managed to get himself out of some sticky situations and has shown amazing prowess and decision-making on the fly. He's picked up more balls in a single run down the field than most teams can hold in total.
Andrew is a senior and has been a member of the team since beating me in a Halo 2 tournament when he was in the eighth grade. He shadowed me as coach after acting as our team's robocoach in 2008 and stepped it up as operator in 2009. While our machine may seem simple, some of y'all might have noted that you cannot see into our hopper at all. That means that Andrew must keep count of every ball we've collected while paying attention to everything else happening on the field and that he must be certain not to overfill the robot and jam up the works. It's not an easy job.
Vy joined the team late in the build season and demonstrated fantastic ability to score moon rocks anywhere on the field. Despite being naturally talented, she's strived to improve at every opportunity, even practicing on the practice field during our down time. My experience has always been that it takes new students a year or two to really get into what we're doing in FIRST and develop the drive to improve, but Vy caught on in an instant. Her perseverance made me want to do and be better.
Our mentors are almost too numerous to name -- Donna and Ed Lew, Ryan Lew, Justin Lew, Mike Sinclair, Pat O'Dowd, Chris O'Dowd, Don Senior, Fred Sayre, Bryan Munro, John Gilbert, Thomas Wise, Rebecca Lee, Cassandra Lee, Amit Bhardwaj, Keynan Bailey, Ben Leclerc, Tim Johnson, Jeff and Nancy Wells, Dave and Elise Mattson, Robin Yim, Jan Habowski, Michelle Graf... the list goes on and on. I draw pictures on a computer, but these are the folks that work tirelessly with our students, sometimes over and over again until they meet my demanding standards, and really show them what they can do. Thank you all for really turning our team into a family and for sharing your expertise, your homes and your food with all of us.
I'd be remiss if I did not also congratulate our opponents all throughout the elimination rounds -- I had not realized we'd been undefeated until Blair mentioned it and it was surprising to think about. Particularly, congratulations to the finalist alliance, teams 2660, 1280 and 1294. You all played Lunacy fantastically well and, to be perfectly honest, I thought you'd destroyed our alliance in both of the finals match. I agree with Rick and think that either of our alliances could have conceivably taken the victory and both deserve the recognition. Also, like Fred said, for as much as we tried to achieved simplicity in design, 1280's machine really shows how it's done. Your robot is gorgeous and deadly.
Congratulations to team 360 on your well-deserved Regional Chairman's Award! I was shocked to learn that you'd never been honored with it before, so I have to say that it's about time! You all have done so much for FIRST in the northwest and as a result of your efforts, it's no wonder we're developing teams that are set on dominating the world.
Thank you, too, to the volunteer and field crew. Y'all did what I thought would've been impossible this season in getting the field running reliably and on time. Way to go!
Oh! Finally, I want to give a special bit of recognition to team 2925. They showed up with a beautifully airbrushed, amazingly overweight robot that needed to lose
63 lbs. in a matter of hours. FIRST teams did what FIRST teams do best and, after literally cutting their robot in half, students and mentors from 360 and 1983 were able to get them underweight with room to spare and help them through inspection. All throughout what might've been a trying ordeal, the students from 2925 were helpful and in high spirits. I laughed quite a bit when, while navigating through the crowded pit lanes sometime Friday afternoon, I heard one of their students yelling, "Half a robot coming through!"
I know for some, winning a regional is sort of run of the mill, but for my team it's a big deal and we're so thrilled and so tremendously grateful for the outpouring of support. Personally, to "coach" the team to a win after eleven years and to be recognized with GM Industrial Design award is enormously gratifying and is a little bit affirming that, maybe, I'm not wasting everyone's time while trying to be a mentor and role model.