What FIRST Is About

[SlaminSwimster]

I have been following the “Another Culture Change” thread this week and have been saddened by the behaviors 1114 and other teams have faced recently as well as by some of the actions I saw this past weekend in competition. However, I know that though negative behaviors have occurred this season, there must be many many more instances of extremely positive actions and experiences. If you have experienced something this season that you feel shows what FIRST is really about, I would love to hear about it.

I’ll start it off:
At this Pittsburgh Regional, I was cheering like crazy and suddenly realized I wasn’t cheering because we’d won, but because my team’s (MARS 2614) alliance had just been eliminated by an alliance made up of 1114, 1503, 3492- the team MARS helped to start this season.

[LeelandS]

If we're on the topic of what FIRST is about, I'd like to send my regards to 340, Team GRR.

Team 1126 and 340 go way, way back. We've got a lot of history togethor, and this past FLR, I'm happy to say I was able to be a part of it. Towards the end of the first day of competition, we were approached by 340. They offered us the use of a spare minibot, as ours was no exactly a game-making minibot. Now, if this were the elimination rounds, or if they were just looking to get picked (we were in an alliance picking position at this time), I would see it differently. But this went about during the first day of competition. We hadn't even been discussing who we'd want as an alliance partner yet. So, with no expectations of us to pick them, nor having already been picked, they offered us the use of a minibot that was easily one of the best at the competition.

Of course, this didn't directly effect our decision, but we did go on to pick them for our elimination round alliance. And, with the use of their minibot, our alliance was able to advance all the way to the finals, taking to an alliance consisting of 2056 and 217 into a rubber match, losing by 5 pts.

In my opinion, 340 demonstrated an ideal of FIRST very well here: To offer help to another team with no expectation of anything in return.

And if I haven't said in enough, thank you to the members of team 340 for all your help. You ladies and gentleman are a great team and greater friends!

[Justin Montois]

Leeland,

Thanks a lot for your kind words. It's easy to do good things when the people you want to work with are awesome and accepting.

Your right, SparX and GRR go way back, to 2004 when together with 67 we swept the Buckeye Regional and partnered again at Championship to make it all the way to Einstein.

Then in 2005 when the Finger Lakes Regional started it was great to compete with you guys every year. We had some great matches(Wall of shooters in 2006) and had been talking since then to team up again.

Being able to do it this year was no doubt the best case scenario. Both teams had good robots and with our minibots we were able to give two of the best teams in FIRST a good run. It was a truly memorable experience that will bring our teams even closer. Good luck at Buckeye, Mike and I will be there to cheer you guys on!

GO SPARX ON 3! GO SPARX ON 3!
1!.........2!..........3!....GO SPARX!!!!

[MagiChau]

I think somewhere in the root of it all, is that you want everyone to excel in gaining good experiences from FIRST. Everyone cannot win an award but everyone can have a good time.

[JaneYoung]

It was beneficial in many ways to have FRC 16, Bomb Squad, come to the new rookie Alamo Regional. They are a stabilizing influence among teams. They are a team that makes itself available to help and support others. They compete brilliantly and with a plan and they are excellent role models for how to succeed in FRC with a lot of brain power, elbow grease, and initiative. It is all showcased in their business plan. At one point, as I was preparing to leave, 2 members of the team - a student and a mentor, approached me and asked me to listen to a practice presentation. In doing so, they not only allowed me to have a glimpse into all of that brain power, elbow grease, and initiative, they allowed those who were near me to have a glimpse as well. It was a very satisfying moment to see them win the Entrepreneurship Award that reflected how hard they work, year after year, although a lot of people don't have a clue about the level of excellence that this Hall of Fame team maintains, consistently. Initiative and brain power are a big part of their effort but its the elbow grease that really gets the job done and gets very little of the attention. I was blown away by Bomb Squad.

Jane

[Karibou]

I was volunteering last weekend at Waterford, on field reset. The other reset student in my corner was a member of a rookie team, at his first competition. Working with him and watching him change over two days was one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had in FIRST.

Throughout both days, he was constantly asking questions about teams and about how things worked, and I was surprised at some of the questions he asked - things that I considered common knowledge were totally foreign to him. I got to teach him how to do the Cotton-Eye Joe. After the first dance song, when I had to literally grab his arm, pull him out of his seat, and say "You're at your first FIRST competition, and you're going to dance," he was one of the first people clapping his hands when the Cha-Cha Slide came on, or the first person to start bouncing and clapping to the YMCA.

His team did very well on Friday. On Saturday, he arrived and was talking about problems with their bot's arm, and was constantly getting/giving updates on how it was doing, down to how his teammates were finishing tuning the pots while they were in queue. They fought through the elims and ended up winning the event and taking home the Rookie All-Star award. The look on his face when the match ended, and then when the scores were posted, was priceless. The entire team was so excited to have done so well. They looked like they had been around for years, like alliance partner 548. They were so full of pride and excitement, just as every team should be. I know that even if they had been ranked last at the end of the day, they would still have been proud just to have competed.

And finally, there was one match during the event where his team scored the majority of the tubes on the wall. When we got back to our seats after resetting the field, he said "I love taking down my own tubes!", with so much light in his eyes. It was cute.

It was so fulfilling to see him transform so much in two days. I'm pretty excited to graduate and eventually become a mentor. It was a great experience.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Karibou

I'm pretty excited to graduate and eventually become a mentor. It was a great experience.

Your second year was your first year as a mentor.

[Dan 1038]

I think 1114 showed 3492 what FIRST is all about in Pittsburgh... they saw the potential for the Robogens to play defense, even though the rookie team was ranked low after qualifications, then they helped re-engineer 3492's robot over lunch - it lost around 40 pounds and gained 2 more drive wheels in the process! As we found in the Semis, along with MARs, this worked for their alliance! Also, Simbotics lent us a minibot, which we could deploy on the practice pole but not on the field... BTW, 3492 has raised the funds to get to St Louis, which is awesome!

[lscime]

I was a volunteer at Pittsburgh (robot inspector) this year I would like to thank all of the teams who made the inspections enjoyable. I was particularly moved by those teams who had to modify their robots (sometimes drastically) yet did so without a complaint. These teams asked for help and got it; helping hands were never far away at Pittsburgh. Their robots made it to the field and inspired, and that is what FIRST is all about. I'd also like to make a special shout-out to Phil Malone from 1629 GaCo, I don't know how many times he rushed to fix another team's cRIO or wheel(s)!

Oh, and everybody who filed the points down on their robot gets bonus points!

-Luke

[rachelholladay]

I worked as a volunteer on Archimedes at the championship. Matches hadn't started yet so we were all just standing around. Team 118, Robonauts, came early to the field. Not only did they give every single volunteer one of their buttons but their student drivers spent about 10 minutes talking to some of us that were a bit bored. The answered all kinds of questions and were immensely friendly.

While volunteering I was also blown away by the Pink team's (233) spirit. They always had people dancing, even during the lunch break. No one in their section was sitting and they probably cheered for just about every team. When the volunteers wanted to start the chant of "archimedes", we immediately went to the Pink team, who got the whole field and crowd cheering. Later, I saw they had bubbles but didn't have the courage to go ask for some. My sister, who was in the stands, told them that there was a small volunteer on the field who wanted bubbles. During one of their elimination matches, their head mentor/coach slipped me some bubbles. I still have them.