[Karthik]

IRI was once again another amazing event. The intensity of the elimination rounds was unparalleled. Where else do you see three Einstein teams picked outside the first round? Looking back at the matches from Saturday afternoon, I quite certain with just a couple different bounces of the chains any of the top 6 alliances could have ended up in the winner's circle.

Special thanks to our elimination alliance partners. It was an honour to be picked by 1086, a team we had heard a lot about this year. They totally lived up to the expectations created by their two regional wins and division finals appearance. I'd also like to thank them for accepting our input into strategic decisions. This team was a blast to work with and I expect to see them continue to bring home big awards in the future. As for Team 2056, this was their first ever event that didn't have the same drive team that they had used from 2007 to Atlanta this past year. This rookie drive team kept improving all weekend long, fully hitting stride with an amazing performance in the elimination rounds. (Also, thanks for the amazing #8 hat. I'm wearing it with pride right now.) Finally, Team 3138. I have no idea how we got a team as good as these guys as our 4th robot. They were the ultimate professionals, always ready to play at the drop of the hat. It's hard to top a rookie year that includes a trip to Einstein and the IRI finals, but after seeing the determination of this team, I expect nothing else.

I could go on and congratulate a multitude of teams on amazing performances this past weekend, but I want to draw special attention to one team. Often within the FIRST community and especially on this forum we lose sight of greatness. Too much time is spent extending sticky sweet platitudes and making sure everyone feels like a winner, we sometimes fail to stop and appreciate true excellence. I'd like to take a moment to recognize the dominance of Team 469 this year. In my mind they were easily the best robot in FIRST this year, and possibly the most dominant robot since Beatty in 2001. Two different games were being played this year, traditional Breakaway when 469 wasn't on the field and "469 Breakaway" when they were. With 469 on the field, every team had to adapt their strategies and play this new game. It was a sight to behold. I'm still amazed that 469 had the courage to undertake such a risky design strategy and the engineering prowess to execute it flawlessly. On top of all this, they had to deal with an obscene amount of "hate" just because they were that dang good. Despite all the negative attitude displayed towards their team this year they were unfazed, always moving forward in the most professional way. I was already a huge 469 fan before this season, but this year they earned my highest level of respect. In sports we talk about and glorify great teams like the '27 Yankees, '85 Bears and the '96 Bulls. In terms of FIRST history every discussion of greatness should include the 2010 Las Guerrillas. ¹

1. Other teams to consider in this discussion, 47 in '98, 71 in '01 & '02