2013 Razorback Regional Thanks/Congrats

[vhcook]

I'd like to start this off by congratulating the Razorback Regional Planning Committee and team 16 for putting together a great event. Putting together a new regional is not for the faint of heart, and this was a fun event that ran very smoothly. I'm sure we'll be back, schedule permitting.

Congratulations to teams 1477 Texas Torque, 1421 Team Chaos, and 3612 Gearhogs on a well-deserved win. We look forward to seeing you again at Championships.

Thanks to our alliance partners, teams 16 Bomb Squad and 2410 Metal Mustangs. It was a pleasure working with you, and we're just sorry we couldn't get a little bit farther.

Thanks to team 1764 for the earplugs. They made sitting in the midst of our very spirited alliance substantially less deafening.

Further congratulations to everyone who played in the elimination matches and their scouting teams. There were no easy matches, and you put on a great show.

Thanks to again to everyone who stepped up to help 4745 and show them what gracious professionalism means. Congratulations to 4745 for sticking with it, even though you had to rebuild your robot completely on Thursday. Similar congratulations to the other teams with inspection issues and thanks to the teams that helped them. I get a little bit choked up every time I see a team that's in trouble and hurting get descended on by everyone in sight, determined to lift them up and get them going again.

Thanks to the machine shop. I know we collectively kept you pretty busy, and team 1939 appreciates the nice job you did on our climbing ear reinforcements.

Thanks to all the teams I inspected for handling yourselves very professionally and making any corrections I asked for as quickly as you could.

Congratulations to the rookies. You all worked really hard, and it shows. Stick with it. We want to see you all again next year, better and stronger from everything you learned this year. This is my eighth year as a mentor, and every year I learn more and find out there are more things I don't know.

I'll just wrap up with my hopes that everyone has had a safe trip home, and we see you all again.

[CalTran]

Well, I must warn you there's a very long and particularly emotional post incoming.

The inaugural 2013 Razorback Regional was one heck of a memory for Team 2410. A lot of thanks are in order.

To the Regional Planning Committee:
Wow, what can I say about this regional? It was absolutely amazing; one of the very best regionals we've ever attended. Ever. The venue was amazing, and the pit setup was wonderful. Being that close to the field makes queuing up all the less stressful (Though still stressful at times ) Mrs. Novak, you really outdid yourself and made this regional seem like it's been going on for much longer than a first year regional.

To Team 1939:
We were absolutely honored to be your second round draft pick. Making it into eliminations play without a strong scoring robot was nothing short of a dream for our team, especially after a somewhat dismal performance at Greater Kansas City. We did our best and are truly sorry that our defense just wasn't up to what was expected of us. Attending two regionals together, and sitting together in the very top of the stands really made the bond that our team holds with yours all the stronger, and we'll certainly keep together for the years to come. We definitely need to get a team social together between our teams.
Also, congratulations on winning yet another Imagery award, and I can certainly say that your team lives up to the branding of bunnies (fearsome bunnies, mind you) that comes to mind when someone thinks 1939.
Also also of note, we apologize for any eardrums on your team we may or may not have shattered in our cheering.
Also also also of a personal note, thank you for both the hat and the shirt. The hat is a very welcome addition to my slowly growing FRC hat collection, and the shirt looks very nice in my closet of FRC apparel.

To Team 16,
Mantis sure is one menacing bot to play against and with. In the one qualification match we had against you, we were certainly scared out of our wits for that match. It came down to a nail biter, and we were awestruck when we won by a single point. Talking to your team again simply reinforced why you all are a Hall of Fame and World Championship team. You all are just so incredibly nice and wonderful to talk to.
Your drivers are absolutely amazing at what they do, and the fluid motion that comes out of your robot is simply stunning. Team 16 swerve is an amazing inspiration to watch.
Your mentors and on field pit crew were an absolute blessing. Managing to reprogram our autonomous to work and fire off two discs over a lunch break must have been a piece of cake for you, as you finished all of this before I even finished my hot dog. Thank you so much for adding this to our robot, and our programmers learned a lot from working with you all. Also, thank you for assisting us with fixing the support to our shooter.
Finally for Team 16, I would also like to apologize that my defensive driving was simply not up to par for those semifinals matches.

To Team 1730:
First off, congratulations on your Gracious Professionalism award. Along those lines, I would like to thank you yet again for bringing your bumper shop down to Arkansas, and none of our defensive capability would have been possible without the excessive use of your bumper shop!

To Team 3847
Your team was amazing to talk to, and it was great to finally get to thank the team that made a shooter on our robot a possibility. Congratulations on being Finalists, and your team is simply one of the many reasons we refuse to attend a Texas regional out of fear.

To Teams 1477, 1421, and 3612:
Congratulations on winning the inaugural Razorback Regional, and your alliance was simply a stunning one to watch. Your strategy was amazing, and all three teams are definitely ones to watch out for at Championships.

To Team 3612:
Thank you so much for helping us out with our BuildARK food drive program, and we couldn't have done it without you. It was a pleasure coordinating with you.

I had such a blast attending the regional, and I would like to thank both the old friends who attended, as well as all the new friends I made at the regional. I really had no idea that so many people followed my posts on Chief Delphi, and was amazed by the reactions I would get from introducing myself as Cal Tran.

Finally, for now, on behalf of Dan P. Ritter III and Team 2410, we were honored to be the Razorback Regional recipient of the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. Getting it presented by Woodie Flowers himself was the most special moment of the regional for our team. It's really something to be hoarse from cheering before 9:30 in the morning.

All in all, this regional was an absolutely amazing way for myself and the rest of the senior on the team to end our time as students in FIRST Robotics.

Based off our our experience at Razorback Regional, we most certainly are considering it to be our new go to regional. Any teams looking for a great regional to go to with deep fields of competition, amazing teams to become friends with, and an all around great time, Arkansas is the way to go.

[Nick1912]

Team 1939 was a great team to meet! Coming in, one of my goals was to learn how to properly pronounce your team name and I certainly did by the end of competition. You all conducted yourselves in a very professional manner, everyone on the team seemed spirited and energized at all times, and your robot was one of the best I have seen this year.

It was fun to compete with and against you guys, every match we played seemed to be exciting and come down to the wire, including the Razorback Regional's first and only tie! A special shout out to your drive team, they always had a strategy together, very fun to work with, and always displayed gracious professionalism (they also could go crazy for that Harlem Shake). It was an honor to compete with you all and we look forward to getting together at nationals.

There will be a more thorough thank you post coming, but Team 1939 deserves a specific one in my mind, and the minds of many on Team 1912Combustion.

[vhcook]

I'd also like to second those thanks to team 1730 and their bumper shop (and general helpfulness to teams in need).

Really, I feel like congratulating everyone who was there, since I saw so many neat designs and inspirational things happening everywhere.

Originally Posted by CalTran

We did our best and are truly sorry that our defense just wasn't up to what was expected of us.

Cal, you have nothing to apologize for. You drove your wheels off (in the figurative sense) trying to keep the score manageable, while simultaneously staying penalty free and keeping the scrum out of our way most of the time. That is not a small thing to accomplish, and we'd pick you again in the same situation (and not just because we now know our hats are compatible).

As I'm sure you know, we had a nightmare repair after SF2-1 and had just barely enough time to get it together and get back on the field (with what appeared from the stands to be a huge assist from Bomb Squad - you have no idea how simultaneously nerve wracking and comforting it was to see that many blue shirts around our robot). We weren't quite right in either SF match, and the other alliance was good enough that we needed to be our best.

Also also of note, we apologize for any eardrums on your team we may or may not have shattered in our cheering.

I had a copy of the pick list in the stands, so I knew what was coming in time to warn folks to take precautions, and we had plenty of time before the afternoon matches to make sure we were prepared for the strength of your enthusiasm. Your team earned every dB of that spirit award.

Nick, it was a pleasure meeting your team (and all the other teams from Bayou and Texas that we don't usually get far enough south to see). Thank you for the kind words. We look forward to seeing you again in St. Louis.

[Printembman]

On behalf of Team 3784 Bit by Bit 4h Robotics I would like to take this opportunity to thank the everyone for a great regional this past weekend. As some of the others have said earlier the regional planning staff and the volunteers put on a great regional that ran smoothly and efficiently. Great job everyone for your hard work. Special thanks to the Novaks for their years of hard work getting this event off the ground and running. Our team will be back again next year.
We would like to thank a few teams personally.

Teams 1927 and 1810 Thanks for picking us as your alliance partner. We appreciated your team work and help during our quarterfinal matches. 1927 we hope our teams cross paths again in the future. 1810 great job on your 50 point climb/dump bot, your play in that 2nd quarterfinal match really made the game exciting till the very end. Will see you at the Cowtown Throwdown this fall.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 1477, 1421, and 3612 Hats off to all three teams for a well played series of games in your run to the championship. Hopefully we gave you a run for your money in getting to the finals!

We would like to extend our gratitude to two other teams that were here at the Razorback Regional.

Special thanks to Team 1730 for all your help this weekend. Our team appreciated your help tremendously. Your dedication to FIRST is evident and is carried out by everyone on your team. See you in November as well for Cowtown! In addition, we would like to thank Team 16 Bomb Squad. Your team as well is a class act from top to bottom. It was great to compete with you again. In our short existence as an FRC team we have had the honor of being on winning alliances with you both at the GKC Regional. Good luck to both teams in St. Louis!

Thanks for a great regional to all the teams, we will see you all next year!

Rick Painter, Coach
Team 3784 Bit By Bit 4H Robotics

[B Dot]

Our team went to the Crossroads regional this weekend. It was a great competition with many great teams but the venue was not (in our team's opinion) well selected or planned out. The two complaints were:
1) There were windows that let in direct sunlight in the morning and indirect sunlight after about 11AM. This sunlight was coming in through the three center goals! If you use the Kinect or any other infrared cameras, you see big "boxes" that look like targets! Needless to say this light affected our ability to aim shots.
2) The arena that held the competition was comparable in seating capacity to the size of a large high school gymnasium. I am not joking. Many hours were spent standing along a railing, if you could even find a spot. I know this may sound like a small inconvenience but when your team must accurately scout it is much nicer to have a good view of the field and a secure seat to do your scouting.

I know this message sounds very negative but we are just looking to find a regional similar to the one we are used to with plenty of seating and no outside light pollution. So far we have been to the St. Louis Regional, Queen City Regional and the Crossroads regional.

Could someone describe the Razorback regional venue?

[jeleser]

I'd like to give a huge congratulations to the winning alliance! I had thought for sure that 1421 had grabbed the win in the second final match at Bayou, so it was great watching you guys get "to the top."

Thank you to teams 456 and 3593 for inviting us to join your alliance! Although we got knocked out in the semi-finals, it was an honor to play with you both.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone on teams 1421, 1912, and 456 that helped us throughout the weekend. You all had a huge part in helping us win our first Chairman's award, and we couldn't have asked for better support. Helping us practice presenting and answering questions is what gave us that final confidence boost we needed, and it's greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Meredith Novak]

Originally Posted by B Dot

Could someone describe the Razorback regional venue?

We have 9,000 seats and controlled lighting, but are out of floor room for pits already!

[Culvan Van Li]

Originally Posted by B Dot

Could someone describe the Razorback regional venue?

Barnhill Arena was a nice cozy arena for a FIRST event. Dean Kamen challenged the university to find a larger venue during his speech. I liked it overall. The whole thing is carpeted so you don't get as tired in the pits. The stands were elevated so everyone had pretty much the same view of the field. Although that means everyone was unable to see the same 4 feet of the field. There was no daylight visible inside the stadium that I saw.

My only complaint was the space. The Regional Planning Committee fixed that by limiting the number of teams. I think they got it exactly right on how many teams to let in based on that space. Although they kept adding new teams, including one on Thursday afternoon. Overall I'd recommend this regional to any team who might be interested. Just be sure to sign up early because I don't think they're going to have many open spots.

edit: actually there were windows in the stairwells that let in ambient light. They setup the volunteer area with a curtain blocking the one stairwell that could have caused a problem. Allow me to express how impressed I am, that was a stroke of genius.

Andy

[Wendy Holladay]

Huge CONGRATS to the Razorback organizers. I cannot even begin to imagine the years of work it took to get that regional operational. And your execution was outstanding. I would rather not name names, so as not to miss anyone. Those who made this happen know who they are and have the enormous satisfaction of a job GREAT done.

[James Tonthat]

We'd like to thank the Razorback Regional organizers to accommodating our last minute addition to a top-notch regional. (And thanks to everyone for tolerating us )

We brought a pretty skeleton crew of 7 students, so apologies for not be as energetic and present as we usually are.

Thanks to 1421 and 3612 for all their help in the eliminations. It was definitely fun playing with you guys. See you in St. Louis!

We'd also like to thank 3847 for collaborating with us on scouting. Apparently we did something right since we bumped into each other in the finals.

Thanks and congratulations to the Regional Finalists 3847, 3507, 2461, and 2164 for some of the most exciting matches we've played this season.

Congratulations to Team 2080 on winning the Regional Chairman's Award. We always look up to RCA winners for inspiration and you guys are no exception.

Phew, well, back-to-back-to-back regionals has been tiring!

[A King]

As a rookie team, all we can say is, "Wow, what an awesome experience!"

It is overwhelming when I look at all of the pictures we took, and see SO MANY of you who have done many of these competitions before helping out our team. Our kids had a great time, they learned a lot, and everyone there was so helpful and encouraging. We look forward to seeing all of you next season! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Team 4849 Rock City Robots is proud to have been a small part of the outstanding inaugural Razorback Regional!

[theawesome1730]

Originally Posted by A King

As a rookie team, all we can say is, "Wow, what an awesome experience!"

It is overwhelming when I look at all of the pictures we took, and see SO MANY of you who have done many of these competitions before helping out our team. Our kids had a great time, they learned a lot, and everyone there was so helpful and encouraging. We look forward to seeing all of you next season! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Team 4849 Rock City Robots is proud to have been a small part of the outstanding inaugural Razorback Regional!

I'd like to congratulate your team for having a dean's list finalist student! It must mean a lot to her having it presented by Dean himself!

[rachelholladay]

Originally Posted by Nick1912

There will be a more thorough thank you post coming, .

That would be where I come in. So many thanks to give - oy, where to begin!

This was the first time since 2010 our team has gone to a second regional I am so glad it was Razorback! A huge thank you and congratulations to the Novaks, Team 16, Baxter and the entire planning committee for hosting such a great event. No doubt it was an Ozark mountain of work but one could hardly tell it was rookie event. We thought the 'Voice of Arkansas' was a great announcer and the regional has some of the best music most of us had heard at a regional. It was a cozy space and we thoroughly enjoyed attending!

We had initially decided to attend the original with 3 fellow Bayou friends (456, 1421 and 2080) and much to our delight, with some late registration we were joined by a few others, enough to make the Bayou reunion match of 37. Congratulations to 456 Siege for their Safety Award and Innovation in Controls Award, clearly they were well deserved as they were won at both Bayou and Razorback.

We enjoyed meeting so many teams from the surrounding area, you guys are fun bunch! It particular 2410 has mad spirit (with a driver who can do the worm..Caltran) and 1939 not only has one of the best themes in FIRST but an amazingly friendly drive team.

Thank you to 3937 Breakaway and 4487 War Horse for joining up with us for elims. It was delightful to be the three amigos on field (no matter how out of sync our dance was..) and we enjoyed the experience.

Congratulations to 1477 Texas Torque, 1421 Chaos and 3612 GearHogs for winning the event. After watching you all play, it was clear that the alliance was a powerhouse. Great work also to Regional Finalists 3847 Spectrum, 3507 Ubotics, 2461 Metal Skins, and 2164 The Corps. A particular shout-out to Texas Torque, Chaos and Spectrum; we worked with you all at both of our regionals and your robots and team are definitely finals quality.

Finally, a super congratulations to 2080 Torbotics (bus buddies!) for taking home the Regional Chairman's Award. It was an absolute delight to watch you guys win, but no surprise given the amazing work Hammond High has done in the past couple of years. Your accomplishments continue to inspire us.

We've all slept a little and are gearing up for St. Louis!

[A King]

Originally Posted by theawesome1730

I'd like to congratulate your team for having a dean's list finalist student! It must mean a lot to her having it presented by Dean himself!

Thank you! Yes, it was quite an honor for her!