2011 Virginia Regional @VCU

[Coredesat]

My annual "X minutes of FIRST...in X/5 minutes" video can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtkcBNu3YCs

I'm still working on getting photos up; I'm uploading Day 1's HUGE photo collection to my Flickr right now.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Coredesat

My annual "X minutes of FIRST...in X/5 minutes" video can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtkcBNu3YCs

The best part is the "fight" between team mascots which starts at about 1:16, great capture!

[Coredesat]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

The best part is the "fight" between team mascots which starts at about 1:16, great capture!

Thanks! When I saw that starting I just had to get pictures of it too, it was absolutely hilarious and fun to watch. One of the things I love about these regionals is seeing how the teams interact, and the "battle of the mascots" was just too good. I saw them talking afterward, they both looked like they had fun with it.

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

I know when this segment was: Friday around lunch time. My teams pits are second from the right in the front row. We were in inspection for TWO HOURS!

Silly bumpers...

Actually, this was on Thursday, but it was around lunch time...could definitely tell the inspection line was really long by then.

On an unrelated note, my Thursday pictures can be found on my Flickr gallery. If anyone wants to use them, let me know and I can set you up with versions that don't have my watermark on them, free of charge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coredes...7626469274022/

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Coredesat

Actually, this was on Thursday, but it was around lunch time...could definitely tell the inspection line was really long by then.

Yeah It was Thursday. Darn it if the days don't run together!

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Coredesat

My annual "X minutes of FIRST...in X/5 minutes" video can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtkcBNu3YCs

I'm still working on getting photos up; I'm uploading Day 1's HUGE photo collection to my Flickr right now.

I know when this segment was: Friday around lunch time. My teams pits are second from the right in the front row. We were in inspection for TWO HOURS!

Silly bumpers...

[Dmentor]

Team 2068 had a great time at the Virginia regional despite having a larger than usual number of "challenges" to overcome this year. A huge thank you to the NASA Knights (122) and Powerhawks (1111) for selecting us to join your alliance! It was an honor to play with you and hopefully we didn't let you down. It is a very pleasant surprise being picked when you are ranked so far down the list that you don't even show up on the alliance selection box. Honestly I didn't think anyone would take a chance on us.

Thanks to the Mech Tech Dragons (422) for lending us your mini-bot; we were very pleased to see you win the Coopertition award! Also a very special thanks to MORT (11) for lending us SuperShifter parts to repair one of our transmissions; iLITE Robotics (1885) for lending us tools to tap out the dog shaft coupler to repair the other SuperShifter; Norview Pilots (1793) for the loan of the Jaguar; and the RoboRaiders (75) for coming by and offering a hand. All the help sure made us feel like y'all had our backs.

Congratulations to Blue Cheese (1086) on another well deserved RCA! And while we were sorry to see our friends on the top seeded alliance lose in the finals, the winning alliance of Raider Robotics (25), The Pascack PI-oneers (1676), and the Defenders of the Multiverse (1522) certainly earned the hard fought victory. We wish you the best of luck in St. Louis!

[alubin237]

A BIG thanks to 422 for picking us for their aliance, and also thanks to 612 for being great alliance partners!

Congrats to 25, 1676, and 1522 on the Regional victory, you guys fought hard for it and deserve it!

Congrats to team 1086 on the Regional Chairman's win and congrats to team 1885 for the Regional Engineering Inspiration, as well.

75 enjoyed the Virginia Regional, once again! It's such a well run event and we loved every minute of it, Thanks!

[PayneTrain]

I want to throw a little shout out to Team 75. You guys are a model team, so much to the point our officers have contacted your officers/captains for ideas from team structure down to team shirt policies. You always know when your team's in the building...
"SEVENTY. FIVE! SEVENTY. FIVE!"

I'm sorry to hear Team 11 isn't planning returning because of the referees. Talking to Lisa about the minibot trigger rule when we lost in our qualification match (against 75 of all teams XD) and you could tell that while she didn't approve of the rule, she knew it was her duty to uphold the rules. She knew when we got DQ'd in the quarterfinals, that was a rule not instituted based on her beliefs of how the game should run, but what FIRST believes should happen.

I respect that.

To all the teams planning on coming back next year:
One thing I love about downtown Richmond is the food. Since I go to school 4 blocks from the Siegel Center, I can vouch for minor indoctrination to Richmond culture.

While you have chain staples on Broad Street, you can find the gem Bo'dillaz on the other side of Broad next to the Arts School (everything is an awesome quesadilla!). And in the Shockoe Bottom, we have long-standing establishments like Bottom's Up Pizza and River City Diner.

There are so many great things to do and places to eat in Richmond--so much so that I am documenting them not only for my team, but also as a reference to any out-of-town friends.

Not to rag on the NJ or Chesapeake Regionals, but Trenton had a Taco Bell, Chesapeake had a JimmyJohns and a Subway, and we have all of that and a dozen more!

[tim-tim]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Not to rag on the NJ or Chesapeake Regionals, but Trenton had a Taco Bell, Chesapeake had a JimmyJohns and a Subway, and we have all of that and a dozen more!

On a side note: I know that Chesapeake has more to offer than you listed, and I know NJ has more to offer than you listed. I have been to both Regionals twice (at their current locations). The places you talk about I did not see while I was at Virginia.

Maybe since you are familiar with the area, you know where these little hide-aways are located.

[Coredesat]

Sounds like it might be a good idea for someone to publish a pamphlet detailing food listings for the area, I know one of the teams did so this year (1522?).

Richmond's got a lot of great food options, even within a close walk of the Siegel Center (Jamaica House, Qdoba, Tropical Smoothie, Five Guys, Extreme Pizza, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Sakura, Great Wraps, etc...). Bottoms Up is also a great choice, their pizza is absolutely divine (alas, I can't eat it because I have celiac disease, but I've had it before!). Further out, there's Jason's Deli, Plaza Azteca, Outback Steakhouse, etc...

I'd better stop before I end up being the one making said pamphlets, and I'm not really associated with a team anymore!

[kornjones]

Originally Posted by Coredesat

Sounds like it might be a good idea for someone to publish a pamphlet detailing food listings for the area, I know one of the teams did so this year (1522?).

Richmond's got a lot of great food options, even within a close walk of the Siegel Center (Jamaica House, Qdoba, Tropical Smoothie, Five Guys, Extreme Pizza, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Sakura, Great Wraps, etc...). Bottoms Up is also a great choice, their pizza is absolutely divine (alas, I can't eat it because I have celiac disease, but I've had it before!). Further out, there's Jason's Deli, Plaza Azteca, Outback Steakhouse, etc...

I'd better stop before I end up being the one making said pamphlets, and I'm not really associated with a team anymore!

ya that was us, but our team didn't do a very good job of distributing them. It was partially due to the fact that a lot of our members are new so all they wanted to do was sit in the stands and partially due to the fact that we didn't have a completely satisfactorily working robot until late Friday

[Coredesat]

Originally Posted by kornjones

ya that was us, but our team didn't do a very good job of distributing them. It was partially due to the fact that a lot of our members are new so all they wanted to do was sit in the stands and partially due to the fact that we didn't have a completely satisfactorily working robot until late Friday

I think you all should make it a point to try again next year; I picked up one of the pamphlets and thought it was well done, it could prove very useful. You should drop some off at pit admin next year if you have the chance!

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by ToddF

Our pit neighbors, team 1676, generously supplied us with those parts, which enabled us to finish our repairs and go on to compete against them in the finals.

Well, if we're gonna beat you, we insist that you be operating at your very best, otherwise it's no fun.

Class act goes both ways, your guys helping 3625 (who then won RCA) was great, a sea of yellow shirts really livened up the place !

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Having attended many many events with Lisa as a head ref, she is one of the better refs I have witnessed.

Fully agreed. I don't know her name (well, now I do...), and indeed some of the calls were disappointing - but every call was as fair as could be. No issues there.

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

One thing I love about downtown Richmond is the food.
<snip>
Not to rag on the NJ or Chesapeake Regionals, but Trenton had a Taco Bell,

I might not return to the Virginia Regional because I gained so much weight from the excellent food there! Jus' kiddin'. a few hours on the treadmill can fix that.

Seriously, NJ has some food choices, but it cannot compare to Richmond even a little. And NJ is our home regional. Jamaica House rocks!

I said it before, I'll say it again: Virginia has friendly people, great volunteers, a wonderful venue, a wonderful location (e.g. good food, parking, stores for robot parts, etc.) and tough competition. Nobody could want anything more.

[kjohnson]

Have the videos of the recorded webcast been posted anywhere yet? I checked TBA and didn't see any. I know there was at least one team recording the webcast.

[mwilbur]

Originally Posted by nukemknight

Have the videos of the recorded webcast been posted anywhere yet? I checked TBA and didn't see any. I know there was at least one team recording the webcast.

Team 2363 recorded the video and we are working on processing them. We uploaded Friday's matches to TBA the other day, but they've not been put up yet. We still need to work through the Saturday matches. Personally, I've been preoccupied with completing my income taxes since they have been put off for some time now! We'll get them submitted as soon as we can.