2013 MAR District Event - Bridgewater - Raritan

[dellagd]

Id just like to weigh in here for the Bridgewater event and give some big thanks to our awesome alliance partners 193 MORT Beta and 4361 Roxbotix for really doing a great job.

Making it to the finals (that one time as a backup not counting) for the first time ever was an awesome experience, and it worked out well for all of us. We and MORT Beta are both qualified now and a special congratulations to 4361 who made a huge improvement over last year and will now be eligible to compete in Lehigh (because of the extra 20 pts from finals, 10 wouldn't have been enough) for the first time. Way to go guys, you really earned that spot.

Also, congrats to the 1st seed alliance of 1676, 714, and 3314 for taking home the win. Those were close matches!

I hope to see you all there!

[DELurker]

Now that I'm partially recovered (no, I'm not), I wanted to thank everyone who made the BRDE successful for our team (1370). I especially wanted to thank teams 4285 and 223 for picking us to be on your alliance. Although we only made it to the semi-finals, that little bit of edge is what crested us into the MAR Championships, and we couldn't have gotten there without your help. We're all hoping that two more teams (besides 365, who will be at Chesapeake) decline so that 223 can get an invite and we can try the #7 alliance again.

Additional congratulations to team 75 for everything you do and all of the ways that you make FRC about more than just the robots. Your team is why I got into mentoring down here at the desolate end of the district. Of course, 1370 is why I keep coming back

[Steven Donow]

Now that I've had some time to rest(AKA homework and sleep...both of which I have yet to do much of...) here are some thanks and congrats for this weekend:

Huge congrats to our friends on Teams 1676 and 3314(one of the hardest working teams) for winning the event. Earlier last week, we used 4 hours of unbag time practicing at both of your facilities, so I guess some of that success rubbed off on us this weekend, and it was great to watch you guys win. To 714, you deserve the win just as much. Your robots every year look absolutely beautiful and always are one of the most well-designed and built robots. I'm sorry about the passing of your main mentor, but I'm sure he definitely would be proud of you.

To Teams 4285 and 1370, I don't think we could have had better alliance partners this weekend. I honestly didn't expect us to be picked so early, especially by (undeniably) one of the most consistent shooters of the weekend. And, after a year of remorse for not picking 1370 at Lenape last year, I finally redeemed myself and knew you guys would be the shooter to give our alliance the success we had. It sucked that we didn't make it to finals, but we tried our hardest and had a great time doing it.

I'd also like to give a shoutout to the drive team of 56, as after a midfield defensive scuffle, they were left on their side. Not a single hard feeling was shown in the slightest bit, and members of your driveteam showed friendly interest in our success for the rest of the tournament. That's what FIRST is all about.

Huge congrats to 75 on EI, yet again another hugely deserving team. After spending most of Championships with you guys last year, it's even more obvious that you deserve this.

Another congratulations to 11 on the Chairman's award, another team strongly deserving of the honor. Expect more and more success from you guys, as what you're doing with MORT Beta is absolutely incredible, and they'll be miles ahead of other FRC teams in a few years.

Anyway, our goal going into this weekend was a first pick and at least semis, as that is what we calculated to get us into MAR Championships, and just like last year, we cut it extremely close, and hopefully will get our official invitation(due to rejections) tomorrow. We walked in with that expectation, and, despite feeling Sunday morning like that would be my last day as a student at an FRC competition, we prevailed and will hopefully be there next weekend at Lehigh.

Overall, a great competition, great venue, great volunteers, and great organization. Huge thanks to team 303 for hosting!

[thedries]

Wow, what a weekend! After some rough qualification matches, we were glad to see our efforts didn't go unnoticed. It was awesome to team up with 2607 and 4361, you both were great to work with, and I'm glad we all made it in to lehigh!

Big congrats to 3314, 1676 and 714, we couldn't have lost to a better group of teams. Also thank you 303, you put on a great event, thanks for letting us into your home.

We learned a lot this weekend, and the freshmen are hungry for more! See you all at lehigh!

[DELurker]

Originally Posted by DevenStonow

(Edited)
To Teams 4285 and 1370, I don't think we could have had better alliance partners this weekend. I honestly didn't expect us to be picked so early, especially by (undeniably) one of the most consistent shooters of the weekend. And, after a year of remorse for not picking 1370 at Lenape last year, I finally redeemed myself and knew you guys would be the shooter to give our alliance the success we had. It sucked that we didn't make it to finals, but we tried our hardest and had a great time doing it.

Don't worry about the past. The 2012 robot was truly not a first selection pick, given that it was a failed shooter turned into a defensive powerhouse with a consistent bridge balance (10 points). At Lenape, we weren't on the board anymore when it came around to your second pick, so it really shouldn't bother you too much. (You can let it bother you a little, though ... I'm sure we won't mind ) If you had picked us with your first selection, you would have kicked yourself even harder.

As for this year, as I said in a previous post, both 223 and 4285 were awesome partners in the elimination rounds. All three robots were great compliments to each other and the drive teams all had their heads screwed on straight. We did as well as we could as an alliance and just got bit by the bug of fate...

Hope to see everybody at Lehigh *groan* tomorrow night!?!?!?!?

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by DELurker

Hope to see everybody at Lehigh *groan* tomorrow night!?!?!?!?

Which is why we're not heading out until very early... Thursday morning

[dellagd]

Originally Posted by DELurker

Hope to see everybody at Lehigh *groan* tomorrow night!?!?!?!?

Exactly what I was thinking.... See everyone there.

[Hallry]

All of the match videos, along with footage of alliance selections and the awards ceremony, are now up on our Youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...qVyQzSWZoiaBrK.