[viking]

'Twas the night before kickoff, when all through the land
Everyone was a buzz over what Dean had planned;
dreaming of orbitballs that set in the airlock with care,
and remembering moonrocks that were flying through the air;

Old robots were sitting alone and forgotten
Autonomous code didn’t load, and Game Hints that FIRST had forgotten.
Bill’s blog has not given a game hint or clue,
Finals are done, and thousands have nothing to do.

When out from the CAD room I heard such a sound
But at this early hour who’d be around?
Away from the metal shop flew with a flash,
To see what had made the horrible crash.

Computer screens giving an eerie green glow
All of them open to National Instruments LabVIEW Pro
When, what to my wondering eyes should I see,
But Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery.

Kamen said, “But quick when the build season starts,
we should give them all brand new Classmate PC parts.”
Some gears! A joystick! Aluminum alloy!
A camera! New CIM motors! They’ll be filled with such joy!

Dean sprang from his workshop, to the GDC gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, when he drove his Stirling out of sight,

"Happy Kickoff to all, and to all a good-night."

From David Blank – 4th Year team member
and Robert Dudek - Sponsor/Teacher Viking Robotics Team #1777