2012 Fingerlakes Regional

[Tetraman]

What an event! Quite possibly the best FLR to date, and filled with the most exciting Elimination matches. Let me get it all out:

First to team 340, for their again well deserved Regional Chairman's Award. I hope this is the year for you at the Championship. Congrats and thanks for setting the bar high for the rest of us to emulate.

Second to 639 for Engineering Inspiration award. Have fun at St. Louis, and good luck at the competition. You are very deserving of such an award and I hope you bring back some excellent memories to share for next year.

Thirdly, I have to say that at the start of this regional, we didn't believe our robot would be as successful as it was. And to see the joy on the faces of the students of 174 as our robot performed as we hoped our designs were leading us to was something I won't forget. Your final rank of 5th seed beats my senior year's rank of 6th seed - there is nothing to be discouraged by. It has been a pleasure to mentor such an amazing group of students. Your hard work was paid off. Now on to DC! (EDIT: Also, anyone interested in information of our Mule Pulley drive train should keep an eye out. I'll try to get a thread on it once I collect the CAD files and more information. PM me if you want me to send it to you sooner than later.)

On behalf of team 174, I would like to extend our complete and utter gratitude to teams 1126, SPARX and 3173, The Igknighters. I don't think we could have asked for better alliance partners. It was an honor to have our team number next to the legendary 1126, a team 174 looks up to with the greatest of respect. And to 3173, every year your robots get better and better. We picked you for your hybrid mode, but also because of your high spirit and energy that you have for your team and FIRST. I and the rest of 174 look forward to seeing both of you in future FLR competitions, and maybe we can work together for another shot at the title.

Next, to 1507, 191 and 3951. Our alliance was defeated by the best alliance, and that alliance was you. Much respect to each of you. Another moment I'm not going to forget, is when 191's Inbounder turned to me in that last match with a look of disbelief of her face and asked me if they were really going to win. I couldn't help it - I had just as big a smile and said "Congratulations" as the buzzer sounded off. To have been caught in your celebration was fun. Good luck to you all in your future events and we will see you next year.

To 340, 3015, 4127 and 3044, You played hard fought matches, and an alliance I thought wasn't going to get very far, turned me into a fool for thinking that. Good luck to each of you in your next events and future FLR competitions.

And finally - I'd like to thank all of those I have the great pleasure to know who volunteer and work at FLR. It's one large family now, and to work beside all of you is truly an honor. Here is to hoping we can get classic teams like 217, 188, 772, 365 and so on to come back to FLR to join us again. Also, big shout out to Dylan who was a great Backup MC, and I think we can all say we want him back, but with an upgraded title.

Thank you to all who make this event the best event of the year, and I'll see you all next time! It was also great to meet the famous Mike and Justin of Mike and Justin in the Morning. I'll keep making videos for your show anytime.