Best Robots Not At Championship, 2012 Edition

[Ed Law]

First of all I want to say that at MSC, 11 teams qualified based on points instead of 10 teams as the Michigan supplement rules stated. That is because Team 67's spot was redistributed as the State Championship winner and they already registered to attend as an HoF team.
Secondly when there are more district events set up, the strong teams will be promoted to compete with their robot and not missed the opportunity that they deserved because they were not on the winning alliance. Other teams who won other awards should be allowed to attend as a team as well without their robot. That is how we do it in Michigan for teams who won Engineering Inspiration and RAS but did not qualify with their robot. That way they can experience the Championship just like another other team. They should be given an area similar to the size of a 10X10 pit to set up their display to talk to visitors and explain to them about FIRST and what they do.

[MCahoon]

Originally Posted by Garrett.d.w

Team 3698. I wouldn't call them the best robot, but they were one of the most consistent. Their flaw was not being able to score high, but other than that, they were a lot of fun to watch. I think that they could have won Spokane if Skunkworks hadn't played very good defense.

3968 is going as Rookie All-Star for Seattle Cascade.

[avanboekel]

This is what's wrong with the current championship setup. Why aren't the best teams (71, 217, 1625, etc...) attending?!

[nahstobor]

There should one available spot where every team in FRC casts one vote for who they believe should get into CMP.

With that said, I wonder if people would pick 177 to continue their streak or 71 to grab another championship.

[JohnSchneider]

Originally Posted by Alpha Beta

Curious, 935 won Dallas West. Not attending champs must have been a choice. They have a devastating catapult and would have been a great addition to Champs.

A similar thing happened in 2010 when they won Oklahoma, but didn't attend champs. They did attend in 2011.

We love 935. Very nice team. We were rather upset to hear they would not be coming to championships with us this year.

From my understanding* they come from a poor-er part of Kansas, and were financially unable to attend championships and are putting their money to a different project.

I know I will be wearing a yellow bandana in their honor, and we hope to see them again in the future!



(* I dont mean to gossip if this is not the case)

[jyh947]

Did everyone forget about 179? Their robot was so creative. Too bad I won't see that bot at CMP.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Champs won't be the same without the Bobcats.

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by nahstobor

There should one available spot where every team in FRC casts one vote for who they believe should get into CMP.

With that said, I wonder if people would pick 177 to continue their streak or 71 to grab another championship.

Id honestly have a hard time between 177, 71 and 217... Lots of 1's and 7's there..

I love the streak's so that my reasoning for 177.

71 is a FIRST legend, it would suck for teams not to see them.

Michigan bias will always help for teams like 217.

[jyh947]

Originally Posted by nikeairmancurry

Id honestly have a hard time between 177, 71 and 217... Lots of 1's and 7's there..

I love the streak's so that my reasoning for 177.

71 is a FIRST legend, it would suck for teams not to see them.

Michigan bias will always help for teams like 217.

Don't forget about 1771

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by jyh947

Did everyone forget about 179? Their robot was so creative. Too bad I won't see that bot at CMP.

Seconded along with the others.

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... and this is why IRI exists...

[thekingofsand]

Having been to both Peachtree and Palmetto, I would agree with 343 as a choice.

I'd throw team 1102 from Palmetto into the mix.
They were the only undefeated team from day 1, I believe, and only lost two matches during day 2, I think they had communication problems during the last two matches in qualification. I noticed they consistently got the 3 pointers up from the fender, even from the key when they needed to, and they balanced every time in the qualifying rounds. During Quarterfinal 2, if they hadn't had those arms on the front they would have fell over, that was a intense match to watch.

[remulasce]

I can't believe this is how 177's streak ends. From first pick to robot 24 they've made it to Einstein. They at least deserved one epic division finals. If anything, at least they can rest on the fact that no alliance ever broke their streak- this year, they will not compete on Einstein because it is physically impossible for them to do so.

[Peter Matteson]

Add me to the list of people who were impressed by 2168. They deserved a trip and the fact they were knocked out by controls system issues at back to back regionals is criminal.

Also it isn't a valid championship without the Beast, 71, Team Hammond. Until some one else gets 4 they are standard of excellence in FIRST for on field excellence. They way they run that team is a bar of off field excellence as well.

I will put in an honerable mention for 2791. They were the class of the BAE regional until their control failure that they never seemed to have fully recovered from at CT.

[thefro526]

I'll toss my vote in for 2168 as well. They're likely the 'best' robot not at the CMP.

On the subject of 71, one of the teams that inspired me way back when I started FRC, you'd think that winning 4 Championships would get them an auto bid to CMP - or something.

[TrevorJ]

This thread exemplifies why there shouldn't be buy-ins for the championship. With a field of up to 400 robots, there is no reason for so many excellent robots to miss the event. We shouldn't be saying that we have to wait for IRI before the best of the best are all in one place. In place of buy-ins, FIRST should have "at-large" spaces to fill the field with. A points system similar to the FiM and MAR point systems should be used for determining these spots. The 100 or so best robot performances by points at any regional, as well as the FiM and MAR championships, are invited to fill the "at-large" spaces in St. Louis.