Einstein 2012

[ticoloco12]

Hello all,

Now that the dust has settled, if only a tiny bit, I'll share what I saw from Einstein. You may know me as Will, I work with team 207's strategy and drive team. I am a FIRST Alumni and have been mentoring for 4 years now. let me make it clear that Team 207 is home and nothing but thankful to team 233 and 987 for an amazing time at world champs and our first trip to Einstien. Through the chaos that was the Finals, they showed that they are pure class and of the highest examples FIRST has. (341, 254,and 78 as well)

Yes, many, an unforgivable number in fact, of robots were either dead or experienced significant periods of losing coms. Some, clearly game changing. This sucked the emotion and prestige of the finals, clear out of every team on the field. Not one of the drive teams, or pit crews in our alliance cheered as we made it into the finals after semi's. It was a feeling of disbelief, that FIRST was allowing such a thing. It would have taken 30 minutes, to replay all of Einstein back to back in my mind. but that did not happen.

As a programming mentor for Pink said earlier, this is not how ANY FIRST team wanted to win or lose. I remember being on the drive team myself and dreaming of one day coming back to mentor my team there, to feel that rush, to cheer to the absolute maximum the human lungs can. To have been dead silent, and not even be able to rally our team between F1 and F2 because everyone's sentiment was, whoever works longer will win, is the largest disappointment I have ever had in my FIRST life. Even if making it there after an EPIC curie division Finals. From what I see in finals videos and scores, 341's alliance in the division finals was as competitive if not more so than any alliance on Einstein.

However, the most important feeling and experience to get away from this, is the spirit of FIRST teams. They are completely separate from fields and external chaos such as sever weather, curses, coms issues and all else. Every team on Einstein was united in their dislike of what happened, and treated each other graciously and professionally. When 987 needed time to inspect their robot and wanted to call a timeout (and I still don't know why we were denied one) 180 came to offer any assistance and tried to call theirs as well. both finalist alliances congratulated each other, on the field, and in the pits. The students were proud and even 118, and the Canadian teams did not hesitate in spreading hugs and handshakes to us all. The students themselves began making plans to replay all matches at IRI with robots in the same condition as they left the field Saturday. Dean Kamen was on the field, as was Dave and the look on their face said it all. They were disgusted and Dean was almost in tears as a Girl from a team I cannot remember pleaded the cause of her team. Dave was gone it seemed by the time the finals were over, and Woodie's face from the stage looked like he was viewing somebody drown and could not help. I insist, the truest qualities of FIRST were never seen in such bright colors and they were here. Technology failed us and perhaps the field crew have a huge catastrophe to correct. These finals will be remembered as the day the field chose the winner. BUT IN NO WAY, SHOULD THESE EVENTS TARNISH THE IMAGE OF FIRST, ITS MISSION, ITS STUDENTS, TEAMS, OR FOUNDERS.

Some of the greatest Robotics matches I have ever seen took place on Curie field in the finals. And I speak for every member of team 207 when I say we are beyond proud of all we did, and all our alliance partners did. We would put money on our alliance anyday, and if we lost a fair match, we'd cheer so loud for the alliance that beat us that our lungs would explode. Regardless of what trophies or banners the fields gave us, the embraces, laughs, comments, and connections with amazing FIRST-ers are sooooooo much more valuable. I truly hope the Einstein replay at IRI happens, not to play these matches, as much as to share them with such amazing teams and individuals, like we should have been able to.

I hope a lot changes next year, but only as far as the field goes with technology, and in organization and error management. the Human aspect of FIRST and it's competitors is something we can be prouder today of than ever.

-Will