Did You Catch 'Em Being Good?!

[JaneYoung]

I just remembered one that involves one of my fellow mentors on 418, Danny Diaz.

Because I was volunteering in several programs and I wasn't always sure where to report to, I got a little flustered early on in the competitions. Danny came up behind me on his way to the FLL field and gave me a great big, "Hello, Jane!". He quickly noticed that I was flustered, bordering on frustrated, and he helped me get back on track, helping me understand a part of the FLL aspect that I was supposed to be doing.

This is a small thing but the area that we covered physically, made it a big thing. FLL was spread over a significant amount of the venue and time was a'wasting, and I was nowhere where I needed to be.

Danny and I have been mentoring together over a span of 10 years or so and we've learned to work together as a great team, supporting each other and the contributions that each of us makes to the teams that we work with. We've had to work on building this relationship and the results are moments like I experienced on the Championship level: respect, understanding, support, and help. It was a great little moment in the STL experience. Thank you, Danny!

Jane

[Carol]

Wildstang made a concerted effort to apologize to every MOE member they could find for an unfortunate remark made by one of their parents in the stands (which most of MOE did not hear anyway).

[BossLady1730]

Team Driven did not make it to championships this year, unfortunately. However, five Team Driven members still attended the competition including myself. We probably spent a good half hour looking for seats at Einstein. Team 537 Cougar Robotics yelled accross aisles to us. They had gone out of their way to make room for all five of us and it was quite enjoyable being able to expierience finals with them. So thanks to team 537!

[Karthik]

Team 254 - For reminding everyone that you can be highly competitive on the field, while still having fun. Many of you have seen their hysterical hybrid antics already, but there was more good stuff from the Poofs. On Friday, I was minding my own business outside of the 1114 pit, when five Poof students approached me. They immediately started snapping their fingers and singing "Call Me Maybe". I didn't even know what to do, I was too stunned to laugh. (They continued singing for at least two minutes.) On top of all this, they had their priceless safety posters featuring one of their mentors. Another example of why Team 254 is one of the most legit teams in FIRST. (Not to mention their dominant robot that was derided as being "underwhelming" by many folks this year...)

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Many of you have seen their hysterical hybrid antics

Small derailing, but where on earth did they get all those costumes??

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Team 254-
On Friday, I was minding my own business outside of the 1114 pit, when five Poof students approached me. They immediately started snapping their fingers and singing "Call Me Maybe". I didn't even know what to do, I was too stunned to laugh. (They continued singing for at least two minutes.)

I happened to be by the 1114 pit at the time - that was hilarious. Nice job, 254, for making people smile.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Small derailing, but where on earth did they get all those costumes??

Airport, orchestra, Oz, Coruscant, Paramount Studios

[dodar]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Small derailing, but where on earth did they get all those costumes??

You mean those all weren't actual team members?

[iVanDuzer]

A couple days before champs, Chris Hibner posted in the T-shirt Trade thread that he was looking to offload a bunch of his shirts. I'd been dying to grab a 51 shirt since 2010, so I offered a trade. Imagine my surprise when he replied to say that he didn't want anything in return and that I could just have it!

I couldn't find him on Thursday at Champs, but I made sure to visit 51's pit before Opening Ceremonies on Friday. Luckily, Chris was there. Not only did I get the shirt, but apparently he had been wandering the pits all Thursday looking for me!

Chris, and Ken Patton, I really wish I wasn't so pressed for time Friday morning and could have stuck around and chatted for a bit. Thank you for your well wishes. You guys are a class act and 51 is the real deal.

So many of the teams at St. Louis were very gracious and kind, but there were a few that stood out to me.

Star Trec: our scouters started to get tired and quite a few of their team members volunteered to scout. They were extremely enthusiastic about scouting and there was one team member who probably would've scouted all day if we let him. Even though they were a rookie team, these guys were as gracious and understanding as vets.

COSMOS: they did not compete at St. Louis, but five of their team members joined our team to go. They were very enthusiastic and helped our team with scouting and cheered during our matches. They volunteered for just about any task that came up, even though they were supposed to go explore and have fun!

Team RUSH: I was really trying to get a RUSH shirt this year. I never did get a shirt, but many of the team members went out of their way to try to find me a shirt and one member said he would try to help me get one next year. Their team members are very spirited and were gracious even when they lost. They are also fantastic dancers.

I would also like to thank the numerous people who held open doors and made room in the elevator. It was a very stressful event for many teams and it was nice seeing people being gracious and smiling when there was so much chaos.