2011 Virginia Regional @VCU

[PayneTrain]

After we get all of the gremlins out of the robot in Baltimore, the field gremlins reared their ugly head.

A 6-3-0 record that I considered to be a 7-2-0 because the minibot poles were calibrated incorrectly, but the team update saying the refs can't judge by sight didn't account for the FMS being itself.

It seemed as if Blue 2 and Blue 3 liked to die in the middle of every match during elims. The 8, 5, and 7 seeds always had them go down in the middle of the match.

In our eliminations match, the 2 seed team had a human player knocking a tube out of 75s grip with another tube. The head referee said at the beginning that a move like that will be considered a penalty plus a yellow card, since it isn't very GP.

However, there was no penalty since the referee said it was "a one time thing," "can't be considered a strategy," and "she didn't see it," even with corroboration from 25's coach (Shawn?).

Then, 612 got a red card for doing a one time thing that you can't consider a strategy by shoving 1895 off of them and into our zone. That was in TU 16, but with all of the pin and lane violations 1895 was racking up against 612 on the field, it's hard to argue that aggressive play begets aggressive play.

I'm not trying to shift blame on to the referees or the opposition, it's just apparent our luck in 2010 ran out with nothing left for this year.

We'll be back, VCU. We'll be back.

[wilsonmw04]

We had a great time over the past three days. This is the first time we have had a robot that consistently preformed to our design criteria. I have to give my team high marks their performance. We didn't place as high as we would have liked, but ehhh... who really cares?

On a slightly different note: my team was thoroughly impressed with 1676. They are truly a class act. Congrats to 1086 for yet another Chairman's win. You all are one of the elite teams in FIRST. Watch out for them in St. Louis!

[nahstobor]

I'd like to give a shout out to team 2363, triple helix, that program sure has developed fast since 2008. They've had some rough years, especially in 2009, at both of your regional events, you had the most underrated robot, you all should have been picked at both of your events. But now in 2011, they have come full circle. Congrats on your Palmetto win and finalists appearance at VCU. If it wasn't for those New Jersey teams you would have two blue banners going into the championship . 2363 is the best robot coming out of Virginia this year, look out for them at championships.

[JesseK]

There was an interesting pool of robots left to pick from when the alliance selections came back up to the #1 seed! Basically we chose a strategy to beat the 25/1676 alliance, which could have made it had the 3rd robot worked properly in the second Finals match. Any one of 3 things could have swung that match our way. No, we didn't know that we were being 'starved' of squares -- we still had 2 (3?) full logos, heh. Ah well. It was quite a fun time. I'm certain that same exact strategy will work well for us in St. Louis given the caliber of teams that will be there.

Congrats to 25/1676/1522. It was a well-deserved win.

MANY thanks to our alliance partners 2363 and 540. The tenacity of 2363's pit crew can't be emphasized enough; their whole team is a well-oiled machine and is a force to be reckoned with at champs.

Major congrats to 1086 on CA -- you guys definitely deserve it!

[delsaner]

Wow, what an incredible competition. This may have been one of the greatest competitions we have been to, we certainly had a lot of fun. We were constantly on the edge of our seats watching our team, because we knew we were going up against an alliance that had incredible skill, and we were nervous about what the outcome would be. ALL of you preformed phenomenally and you should be proud of yourselves for what happened.

25 and 1522- We greatly appreciate you both for helping/leading us to victory. This was without a doubt a group effort, and we could not have done it without you two.

2363- Once I discovered you won the Palmetto regional, I started to worry. I always remember your team, and how much far you guys appear to have come. You make yourselves noticable, both on the field with your robot and off the field, in the stands, cheering and spinning your cloth. Your team never ceases to amaze me, and I am looking forward to seeing you all in St. Louis.

1086- Congratulations on winning RCA. From my knowledge and seeing your Chairmans video, you guys definitely deserve it. I am excited to see 1086 coming to St. Louis.

1885- I am glad to hear you are going to St. Louis. You guys deserve to have a spot on a Championship field. Best of luck to you all during St. louis.

[mwilbur]

Originally Posted by nahstobor

I'd like to give a shout out to team 2363, triple helix, that program sure has developed fast since 2008. They've had some rough years, especially in 2009, at both of your regional events, you had the most underrated robot, you all should have been picked at both of your events. But now in 2011, they have come full circle. Congrats on your Palmetto win and finalists appearance at VCU. If it wasn't for those New Jersey teams you would have two blue banners going into the championship . 2363 is the best robot coming out of Virginia this year, look out for them at championships.

Thanks for the kind words! Our team has worked really hard to pull ourselves up the learning curve as quickly as possible. While we still have a way to go, it's been nice to be recognized as much as we have been the last few weeks. We seriously felt like rock stars at Palmetto, and we made so many new friends. It all still seems like a dream in so many ways. Our tally over the last two weeks:

Palmetto Regional Winners
Palmetto Regional Engineering Excellence Award
Virginia Regional Finalists
Virginia Regional Woodie Flowers Award
Virginia Regional Industrial Design Award
Virginia Regional Dean's List Award (Michael Snider)

Not a bad couple of weeks and our first trip to the Championship awaits! What more could we ask for??

[mwilbur]

We'd like to post a word of thanks to team 1885 and team 540 for the great effort in the elimination matches. We are particularly grateful to 1885 for sticking with us when it looked like our robot was suddenly down for the count following the quarterfinal matches. I was absolutely amazed that we were able to get it repaired as quickly as we did. Talk about willing something back together!! It was fun playing with you guys. Maybe we can catch up at the Championship.

To teams 25, 1676, and 1522 -- you guys were great together. The comebacks in the quarterfinals and the semifinals seemed to give you a level of confidence that couldn't be undone, and our alliance just didn't play our best at the most critical of times. You guys definitely deserved the win. Best of luck to you guys in St. Louis!

Team 3625 -- We are so excited for you that you won the Rookie All-Star Award! It was fun working with you guys and we hope you're able to make it to the Championship!

To team 11, MORT -- we really have enjoyed interacting with you both at Palmetto and at Virginia, and we can't thank you enough for scooping up all of our pit equipment and carrying it to our pit for us! Sorry that it didn't work out that we could team up in the elimination matches. That would have really been fun. We look forward to seeing you guys again in St. Louis. And congratulations on the Engineering Excellence Award. It is much deserved!


To teams 122, 384, and 2068, thanks for cheering for us. It's great to have you guys as our friends.

[Akash Rastogi]

As happy as I was to see Jersey come home with a blue banner, I can't help but feel bad for 11. 2nd seed alliance yet again, and yet again bad luck.

Keep your heads up guys.

[LittleDries]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

After we get all of the gremlins out of the robot in Baltimore, the field gremlins reared their ugly head.

A 6-3-0 record that I considered to be a 7-2-0 because the minibot poles were calibrated incorrectly, but the team update saying the refs can't judge by sight didn't account for the FMS being itself.

It seemed as if Blue 2 and Blue 3 liked to die in the middle of every match during elims. The 8, 5, and 7 seeds always had them go down in the middle of the match.

In our eliminations match, the 2 seed team had a human player knocking a tube out of 75s grip with another tube. The head referee said at the beginning that a move like that will be considered a penalty plus a yellow card, since it isn't very GP.

However, there was no penalty since the referee said it was "a one time thing," "can't be considered a strategy," and "she didn't see it," even with corroboration from 25's coach (Shawn?).

Then, 612 got a red card for doing a one time thing that you can't consider a strategy by shoving 1895 off of them and into our zone. That was in TU 16, but with all of the pin and lane violations 1895 was racking up against 612 on the field, it's hard to argue that aggressive play begets aggressive play.

I'm not trying to shift blame on to the referees or the opposition, it's just apparent our luck in 2010 ran out with nothing left for this year.

We'll be back, VCU. We'll be back..

Im the coach from Team 11. It was our human player that knocked the tube out of 75's claw. It really was unintentional and they were also in the middle of the field. We would never condone what we consider such an ungracious strategy. We apologized to 75 after the match. I felt bad the quarter finals ended the way it did, personally I wanted to play you guys in another match. The calabrations on the poles came back to bite us in the semifinals in the third match. We were up the poll first but it did not lit up. So we did not recieve the points. If it had lit up we would have won the semifinals 92-91 and moved unto the finals. It definently hurt quite a few teams out there this week.

[PayneTrain]

I'm not trying to take anything away from any of the other teams, especially MORT, who got shut out of semifinals in both of their regionals because of the field and its rules. That has to really drag your team down.

I can only hope now that my team can grow out its operations, compete well in offseason competitions (maybe we'll go to IRI and see some great teams!), and hope FIRST cuts down on the red tape for next year's game. I think everyone would rather see the teams play the games out, with less possibilities for red cards, yellow cards, and other penalties.

Good luck to the teams going to nationals: 25, 1086, 1522, 1885, especially 1676. In two years, I think their team is going to be holding up the Chairman's Award in St. Louis. Model team, very well run.

422 is going to nationals next year, but we hope to take up a spot or two with some blue banners.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

After we get all of the gremlins out of the robot in Baltimore, the field gremlins reared their ugly head.

The field did some strange things. For example, we noticed that certain minibot poles reacted differently from others, and avoided them when possible. But compared to a week 1 event, all went smoothly.

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

my team was thoroughly impressed with 1676. They are truly a class act.

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

especially 1676. In two years, I think their team is going to be holding up the Chairman's Award in St. Louis. Model team, very well run.

Thank you for the kind words. The City of Richmond and the Virginia Regional are extraordinarily gracious hosts, and we tried to repay the support we experienced last year. Including bringing more of NJ with us!

The good:
2363: You guys are a class act. Your help to rookie team 3625 did not go unnoticed. A small part of their RAS award is due to you.
1885 & 540: What an alliance, we were truly worried and somehow managed to get lucky. Thank you for the most exciting competition ever. That EI isn't for nuthin'
3709: My adopted team. They fielded a solid robot, learned a lot, and went from a bunch of kids to a TEAM. Next year they will be awesome.

>> A special THANK YOU to all the teams who helped get them through inspection an onto the field for their first match. I simply cannot remember all of the teams who sent people and supplies over to help the rookies, but the kindness and GP you all showed made a huge positive impression on this team. They literally couldn't believe that so many different folks would want to help them, and were grateful beyond words for your help.

1522: A great team to work with, thank you for the very capable performance.
25: Do you guys realize that half your regional wins in the past 2 years were with us? We're gettin' tired of carrying y'all
1086: Winner last year, RCA this year, a great bunch of folks.
The event volunteers: A better-than-average team, very professional and caring.
VCU: Cleanest facility ever. Friendly, helpful staff who works with you and not against you.
Jamaica House (across the street): Best jerk chicken anywhere - and this from a guy who lives next to NY City...
(Note to other teams: This regional has a tremendous selection of food for lunch within a very short walk. Plus a Lowe's, Starbucks, parking, etc next door. If you're tired of arena food, come to this regional next year.)

The Bad:
The Ramp where we loaded in the pits. But only the uphill part

The Ugly:
<null>

Observations:
The referees made a call that cost us #1 seed, and I truly believe that an experienced referee standing and intently watching from less than four feet away can see things better than ANYone in the stands. It may have been an unpleasant call, but not a bad one. Thank you to our head referee and the entire referee team for taking the time to review this call in detail with us afterward.

I saw several teams that consistently provided help to other teams, but more than I expected who didn't. Experienced, low-number teams whose students didn't go out of their way to assist teams in need. Just surprised me I guess, not what I usually see.

I can't say what 1676 will be doing next year, but there is a definite reason we returned to Virgina this year, and it isn't because we won last year. See you in St. Louis.

[MMassoni11]

Team 11 had a great time at the Virginia regional but most likely won't return next year. There were too many disappointments regarding the minibot tower sensors and the referees.

However, it was a great run with 1895 and 339 advancing into the semi-finals.

Hopefully our bad luck runs out in time for St. Louis.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by MMassoni11

Team 11 had a great time at the Virginia regional but most likely won't return next year. There were too many disappointments regarding the minibot tower sensors and the referees.

However, it was a great run with 1895 and 339 advancing into the semi-finals.

Hopefully our bad luck runs out in time for St. Louis.

Keep your head up man, 11's got an awesome machine this year.

IT'S LIKE A DINOSAUR RIDING A ROCKET SHIP.

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by thefro526

Keep your head up man, 11's got an awesome machine this year.

IT'S LIKE A DINOSAUR RIDING A ROCKET SHIP.

Agreed. MORT played like champs and have a great robot. We have great respect for them and they were at the top of our pick list. This year more than ever before one little thing going wrong in a match cankill the whole tournament. Such is the luck of First teams

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by MMassoni11

Team 11 had a great time at the Virginia regional but most likely won't return next year. There were too many disappointments regarding the minibot tower sensors and the referees.

However, it was a great run with 1895 and 339 advancing into the semi-finals.

Sorry that you are letting some unfortunate events keep you from enjoying such a great weekend. There was so much more going on during those three days than the 30 minutes or so your robot was on the field.

Good luck to you in St. Louis.