2012 West Michigan District

[MagiChau]

We had a great time at West Michigan, and congratulations to 3546, 2054, and 141 for the win. The autonomous not working in the 2nd final match was shocking as us triple balancing in the last second during one of the final match.

[GBK]

Congratulations to 3546, 2054 and 141 for the win and thanks to 85 and 910 for helping to make the elimination rounds some of the best competition I have seen this year. To be able to pull off the triple balance withing 15 seconds from the time the decision was made to do it, was amazing.

[techvikesmom]

I want to congratulation all 8 alliance teams at the West Michigan Competition.
They were all capable and well balanced alliances that make for such an exciting elimination bracket play. In quarter finals, 3 out of the 4 games went into tiebreaker matches. And the finals took 3 matches too.
A big thanks to team #3546 for picking teams 2054 and 141 for your alliance partners!! It was exciting!! Congrats to teams 1918, 85 and 910 for your 3-bot balance alliance!! The crowd loved it and we did too.

[Wayne TenBrink]

Thanks to GVSU for hosting another great event. Thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible.

West Michigan currently holds the record for the highest average qualification match scores in Rebound Rumble (25.35). It also continues to favor the blue bumpers. Since MI went to the district system in 2009 (and I don't know how long before that), the #1 alliance has never won here. I know for a fact that we were shooting a lot better when we had the blue bumpers on yesterday!

Congratulations to 3546, 2054, and 141. You were a formidable force. Tech Vikes - See you in the finals again next year?

Thanks again to 85 and 910 for joining us. Balancing 3 twice in emergency mode was a blast! Unfortunately, we joined a small fraternity of teams that balanced 3 and still lost the match.

Special congratulations also to 4337 (from the bustling metropolis of Holton) for surviving build, putting together a scrappy bot, and taking the coopertition award.

[Refresh]

Originally Posted by Wayne TenBrink

Since MI went to the district system in 2009 (and I don't know how long before that), the #1 alliance has never won here.

According to Blue alliance, the 1st seed alliance won the previous year. So that record hasn't been around for long.



As always, I have enjoyed this district event. There are some tough robots and the competition is always so enjoyable to watch. And I am glad to be able to volunteer for the second year as field reset to be able to help keep the event running smoothly.

Congrats to 1918, 85, 910, 141, 2054, and 3546 for an amazing finals. Good luck at state!

Finally, I am amazed at some of the human players. I was standing behind the red alliance wall and I had to catch some impressive throws made by the human player as well as robots. It just made the game so much more fun!

[techvikesmom]

I believe Wayne is right about #1 alliance not winning at West Michigan.
Last year teams 2054, 67, and 107 were #1 alliance and teams #1918, 27, and 3357 were #2 alliance that won it all.
An interesting note: 1918 won in 2009, 2054 won in 2010, 1918 won in 2011, and 2054 won in 2012. I like the idea that maybe we should team up next year!! Again, great alliances to all this past weekend.

[Refresh]

re-reading, I guess I was a bit vague. Guess that tells me I shouldn't be posting late at night. I meant to say that the 1st seed alliance last won West Michigan the year before district events started. It was won by 2171, 2604 and 71.

[stuart2054]

Wayne,

Great job on making the triple (Twice). Congrats to you 85 and 910 on making it happen under great pressure that first match of the finals. I did not think I would see it at West Michigan judging from the seeding matches. We tried it in practice with our alliance but we did not have the right mix for our "Aircarft Carrier" design to work.

I was a little dismayed to see it when it was against my team in the finals but at the same time it was awesome and there are worse ways to lose a match.

I was glad to see that there were not much for outright robot breakdowns in these finals althought I know your robot had accuracy issues with the the unusual high temps and humidy affecting the balls in your shooter.

If you and your alliance had been at your normal accuracy then ??? We will have to see what happens in 2013 but maybe we need to be together instead of duking it out!

[stuart2054]

Originally Posted by MagiChau

We had a great time at West Michigan, and congratulations to 3546, 2054, and 141 for the win. The autonomous not working in the 2nd final match was shocking as us triple balancing in the last second during one of the final match.

You guys did great and if your alliance automous had not had issues it probably would be us congradulating you.

Luck enters into the equation and we had it this year as it we did not in West Michigan last year. Our USB hub breakdown and 67's incident with the tube fouling up their drive in 2011 was big disappointment but thats life and you take your lumps and move on.

I was really happy to be in the finals with the Wo-Bots (141) as I met a nice person from that team in 2010, (my rookie year) at GVSU and she gave me a lot of insight into the competition and it was cool to make things happen with them and 3546. We have a lot of respect for BOB you guys always are creative.

The triple was awesome not just once but twice during the finals. We tried with our partners and it just was not going to work with the robots we had. Good Luck to team 85 BOB. I hope to see you guys in Yipsi. If we do well enough in Niles we will see you there.

[MagiChau]

Originally Posted by stuart2054

You guys did great and if your alliance automous had not had issues it probably would be us congradulating you.

Luck enters into the equation and we had it this year as it we did not in West Michigan last year. Our USB hub breakdown and 67's incident with the tube fouling up their drive in 2011 was big disappointment but thats life and you take your lumps and move on.

I was really happy to be in the finals with the Wo-Bots (141) as I met a nice person from that team in 2010, (my rookie year) at GVSU and she gave me a lot of insight into the competition and it was cool to make things happen with them and 3546. We have a lot of respect for BOB you guys always are creative.

The triple was awesome not just once but twice during the finals. We tried with our partners and it just was not going to work with the robots we had. Good Luck to team 85 BOB. I hope to see you guys in Yipsi. If we do well enough in Niles we will see you there.

Nice job though with a 36 point autonomous in the last match. You guys indeed were the better alliance with the consistency of your auto over-powering the triple balance. We plan on fixing shooter speed control for more consistant shots. Interesting that we tied in tele-op baskets though. You guys pretty much already qualified for state since 65 state ranking points was over enough to qualify in previous years. Hope you guys will get a chance to attempt the triple balance.

[Wayne TenBrink]

A few general thoughts on close matches vs. blowouts:

People generally don't review, re-hash, and agonize over every twist and turn in a blowout (like Finals match 3) because no single factor would have made the difference.

The close matches are another story. In finals match 2, one basket either way in hybrid would have swung the match as would two baskets during teleop. At the end, the crowd was focused on Red's triple balance. However, when we watched the video, we noticed that Blue achieved their double balance to secure the win just as the clock hit zero. Also, I believe that 2054 sunk the "winning" basket while everybody else was balancing. In a close match, every action becomes a single-point make-or-break factor in the ultimate victory/loss.

Congratulations again to 3546, 2054, and 141 on a great win.