[Wayne TenBrink]

Congratulations to 1507, 121, and 177. It was an honor to share the crater with you. The average alliance score for our three finals matches was nearly 100, and the final match came down to just three balls. When you win or lose a blowout, you tend to forget about it and just move on. When a match is really close, you either celebrate or agonize over every little thing that happened. You got the job done!

Thanks to Team 135. It was nice to meet you folks and share some good match time.

A special thanks to Team 85. You beat us at TC. We beat you at WMD and State. We finally got to stand on the same side of the glass at Newton! Thanks for all the scouting help and sound advise all season long. You are truly gracious professionals and we hope to see you one one side of the glass or the other for many years to come.

This has been a great year for the NC Gears. It's the first time we ever had any success on the field, and thats a great ride while it lasts. Maybe we'll go back to being cannon fodder next year (I hope not!). We got to meet a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends. FIRST is a great community and a wonderful experience for the the students. The robots are just the common thread that ties everything together and makes all the hard work, character development, and learning fun.

Thanks again to all the folks that made FIRST in Michigan happen. I believe it represents the best future for the rest of FIRST.