[Josh Goodman]

I was disappointed that Einstein was completely average this year. I felt there was nothing special about it. The Audio and Video were subpar as well as the usual excitement level. I mean Einstein field! This is where teams DREAM of going! I think it should have been played up A lot more! My favorite year for Einstein was 2007. I think they need to look at that year for inspiration.

The other thing I would have to say in general is the camera angles were weird when it came to the remote ceiling cams. As a viewer, I couldn't see anything as far as gameplay when it switched to those cameras. I really like the (1) Overview Cam, (1) Camera on the field (or in the case of FLR, 2 more overview cams that zoom in), and the (2) Driver Station Cams.

As always the Emcees and Announcers were lighting it up and making everything exciting. During elims I had a chance to go over to Archimedes. What I really liked is the John Darr and Tyler Olds. It really reminded me of John Madden and Al Michaels. After the match, there was discussion and critiquing about the previous match. It didn't happen during the match, but after. I was really impressed by this duo. GREAT JOB!

The practice fields have already been mentioned.

This may sound funny, but I really think there needs to be a speed limit for segways in the arena. I almost got run down in more than one occasion by someone on a segway who either (a) wasn't paying attention, or (b) didn't care. However, most people used them appropriately and it was fine.

I wasn't too big of a fan of the Pit Layout this year. It seemed like for opening up the conference hall again for the pits, we had less room than last year. Again, for next year, i really think people should look at the 2007 Pit Layout for ideas.

Now, all this being said, this years Championships was probably one of my favorites. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all the volunteers and FIRST staff who puts this together year after year. It ran extremely smoothly and it was a TON OF FUN! It really got me pumped for next year, and I can't wait! Hope to see you all at the events!