Team 4814, Reflections on our 2013 Season

[Kernaghan]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

I'd love to watch it but youtube is blocked at my school right now..

Hahaha happens to us all

[Adam Freeman]

WOW! Congratulations 4814 on an incredible season. Thank you for putting this video together and documenting your season.

This video was very inspiring to me, not just from robotic perspective, but on a personal level. To see the emotion and effect on the students and mentors was really powerful.

After participating in the program for this many year, I sometimes forget what it's like to feel that emotional about a result that isn't winning the entire thing. This video helped restore some of that.

To be honest at the time of alliance selection, we were not very happy that we were the team that was "stuck" playing with the defensive rookie team that lucked it's way into an easy schedule and was 8-0 at Champs. Embarassingly, we were actively hoping and lobbying that they would not pick us and let us fall to 2056.

But, after experiencing their defense, with and against us, and looking back at their qualification schedule (played against 1503, 67, 1310, and 2056) they really deserved to be ranked in the #3 position.

In the end, 4814 proved to be very deserving of their rank. Shutting down any team that we put them on (1717, 1983, 3539, 148...). I am very happy that we were selected by them and had a chance to participate in their amazing season.

I didn't get to talk with you guys much in St. Louis during our run together, hopefully I will be able to at IRI.

Congratulations and good luck in the future!

-Adam

[Mr. Lim]

Great video!

It was an absolute pleasure watching your team this season. I was able to see everything unfold at both GTRW and at Champs.

4814 played some of the most tactically smart matches I've seen, and they did so in every match they played.

I had a chance to speak with two of their leads prior to alliance selections, and boy did they REALLY understand how FRC worked. I was bombarded with questions and very insightful perspectives that many veteran teams wouldn't have given a second thought to. They knew exactly what it meant to be a rookie team that ranked very high (at times #1 overall), and who achieved this primarily by playing outstanding defense and employing sound strategies. This is NOT an easy position to be in, especially when you have many other high-profile teams in the top spots below you.

Picking becomes a very complicated process, and what teams say to you, and what you say to them can be easily lost in translation.

There'a a lot of pressure from a lot of different teams, including your own.

The "best" decision to make isn't so clear, and every choice seems to leave *someone* mad at you.

It was an awesome conversation to have with 4814, especially with this "rookie team" which really weren't operating like rookies at all.

And the best part of the conversation was that in the end, it seemed completely unnecessary.

These guys had already done their research, understood what everyone's intentions and motivations were, knew what they wanted to do, and understood how best to achieve it in the most gracious and professional way.

Just awesome...

P.S. Keep an eye on that Jethro fellow for us!

[Jilani]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lim

P.S. Keep an eye on that Jethro fellow for us!

Don't worry, we'll keep two eyes on him

Thank you everyone for all the kind words! I'm glad all of you enjoyed hearing our team's story

[Jay1986]

What an amazing season you guys! I love the video and wish you the best of luck in the future!
~Jay

[Kernaghan]

Originally Posted by Jay1986

~Jay

BTW I'm your team's biggest fan.

[P.J.]

One of the highlights of this year for me was at the Championship when 4814 played defense from underneath their OPPONENT'S pyramid and did it without getting any penalties. Completely blew my mind, I couldn't believe it.

Congrats on the phenomenal season, and I hope you have many more to come.

[Sir Legit]

I've always been someone who likes rooting for the underdog, so when I tuned into Curie and saw a rookie take down 2056 and 67, I was... awestruck.