[George A.]

So this is going to be a little long winded, but hang in there with me, I have a lot of people to thank.


Thanks to everyone that is on the planning committee with me. We work all year for a product that lasts for 4 days, and boy did we have our hands full.

Thank you to the people working the field. Sarah, Mike, Pete…you all are amazing! I have no doubt that if it were not for you 3 that we would STILL be at the competition. Not only could you troubleshoot problems before they happened, you made all the delays as short as possible, and kept things on track.

Thank you to our refs. You had a lot of things to keep an eye on this year, and I wouldn’t want to have your jobs for a minute. There were some tough calls, but you all made them with grace and dignity. If a team had a problem you talked to them about it right away, and usually cooler heads prevailed.

Thank you to the field reset crew. Your job truly is back breaking, but you made it look easy, and still had a smile through it all. (PS Karma, you are truly the man, we joke around, but we would be saddened if you weren’t there)

Thank you to the audience, and the spectators. We started a half hour late on Saturday, we played what seemed like forever on Sunday, but you all kept dancing and having a blast. You really are what makes FIRST special.

Thank you to the people who texted me that they were amused by my announcing. It has to be gating to listen to me for 2 days straight, and I tried to make it entertaining. I know this game wasn’t the best to watch, but you guys were amazing and helped me by letting me feed off your excitement.

Finally thank you to my partner in crime. Ms Gallop, it’s amazing that we have been the tandem of NJ since 2005, and every competition has been wonderful. Once we get in a groove there is little that can shake us. You truly are a joy to work with, and hope to have many many more years being your tag team partner.

Now for the congrats

Congrats to the winning alliance. 1676 & 3059: savor this, because you’ll never be able to relive your first blue banner. 25: congrats on another great bot, and another blue banner to add to the collection.

1403: It’s about flippin time. Make us proud down in Atlanta.

Last, but not least, congrats to Chris Gregory. The fact that you don’t think you deserve the WFFA just goes to show you how much you DO deserve it. You are a class act through and through, and one of the best announcers I know. Trust me, if you didn’t deserve it, there wouldn’t have been a mob of people waiting to hug you after you left the field.

So another NJ Regional is over. I have no voice and my feet are sore, but I wouldn’t have changed anything!