[Tom Line]

The Event was a lot of fun, and I'd like to comment on the eliminations.

1. 862. WOW. Absolutely top notch defense. They managed to literally hold the top couple teams nearly scoreless when they defended against them. You almost felt bad when 862 locked on and puched someone into a corner. They took out foley in both matches and I would say were a prime reason their alliance made it to the end.

2. 27. Their machine may not be a scoring monster, but the strategy employed and their ability to run empty cells was a game-breaker in a couple important matches.

The playoffs were extremely exciting - there were a lot of very close matches that were decided in the last 5-10 seconds with a supercell, or defense. There were a lot of games that were within a couple of points, and I remember one that was a 2 point differential.

Next: the venue. It's nice to see they took steps to improve from last time. The single bathroom was improved with a sign on the door that told you where another one was. There were also no electrical issues in the pits (that I'm aware of). The only improvement they absolutely must figure out is seating. Perhaps 1/3 of the seats have no view of the field at all because they are behind the driver stations.

Way to go Kettering, and nice job teams. It was fun letting any team-member who wanted to drive the bot against some great competition!