Wisconsin Regional 2016

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by wesbass23

When we had to switch to defense in our second quarterfinal match I kept looking to the ref for the pin count to know when to backoff but the count never came and it honestly should have.

I watched the archive, and around the 40 seconds left in the match, I can see where you pinned blue in the castle area.

Here is what I think happened. Immediately prior to the Pin, Red Blocked blue that just left the Batter. Red blocked Blue into the Safety Passage (and almost tipped blue in the process). A foul was called on Blue for contact in the opponent's safety passage (red score went from 81 to 86 with no high boulders being shot). The Ref was busy entering the foul when the pin happened.

[Sunshine]

Here's what I like most about this thread and the Wisconsin teams in general....... No one is pointing fingers at each other or bashing anyone specificly. We are all just trying to truly understand what happened and the mindset or thought process of those involved including strategists and refs. In our quarter finals we had a good plan for match one. We lost, changed up and went into the attack mode ourselves. We were leading, the other alliance saw what was happening and reacted with a great maneuver that crippled what we were trying to accomplish. They pushed us into the SP and created a foul for us. Great driving, great move with the perfect robot to do it. Am I happy that the ref didn't call a pinning foul on them when we were on the tower? No, but they did nothing malicious.

I haven't watched the video involving 537 yet. I know what I thought I saw. I know that it's upsetting to loose a match that way, especially with a long drawn out referee dialogue. But I also know many of the refs and we have all been involved with this crew for a very long time. I trust their character and honesty. I have no doubt that they made what they truly thought was the correct call whether I and others agree or not.

[rich2202]

It was great this year that 4 teams from Turkey came. I didn't think about this until after Alliance Selection, but it would be great Gracious Professionalism if:

One of the high Alliance Numbers (low seated alliances, like 7 or 8) would pick one of the teams from Turkey for their 2nd selection.

[Seth Mallory]

A great event. We will come back sometime..

[EricLeifermann]

I was watching the matches from the lower seating sections and didn't see anything from Red that warranted the foul given. Re watching the video just now and i still didn't' see anything from 1306 that warranted the foul given and the reason given from the refs for said foul when questioned after.

1306 intake was over 537's bumper but no action was being taken by 1306 that would warrant the G24 being called. This is especially true if said foul wasn't called on the extremely aggressive defense 5855 played through out the elims. 5855 repeatedly drove up and onto teams and kept driving, causing wires to be pulled out on at least 1 team. I am not saying 5855 was intentionally driving on top of teams but G24 is about intentional actions. 5855's defense was intentional and the consequences of that defense warranted a G24 if what happened with 1306 and 537 warranted a G24.

I am not pointing out 5855's actions to say that they should have been penalized I am only using them as an example of the non-consistent calls made by the reffing crew all weekend, which changed the out comes of matches.

I would also like to say how stupid it is that ref's don't have to keep track of the fouls they call. In the 2nd semi match between 8 and 5 there was a foul called on red. When asked about it after so we would not commit the foul again. We were told that they couldn't remember when/who committed the foul just that one was committed. I'm pretty sure I knew what the infraction was at the time and re watching the match pretty much confirms it. But if i can remember something 2 days later, the refs should be able to remember something that happened 3 min before hand.

[bijan311]

I just wanted to comment on how close the elimination rounds were this year. I felt like most alliances could have won the event if some things had gone slightly differently. That being said, congratulations to 3102, 2202, and 5855; you guys played perfectly throughout the entirety of eliminations.

Additionally, I am really excited about the new robotics grant Governor Walker signed on Friday. I feel like that could expedite the process of Wisconsin going to districts, which I believe is greatly needed as there are so many teams in the state who don't get any sense of progression despite a great season.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by bijan311

Additionally, I am really excited about the new robotics grant Governor Walker signed on Friday. I feel like that could expedite the process of Wisconsin going to districts, which I believe is greatly needed as there are so many teams in the state who don't get any sense of progression despite a great season.

The new grants are exciting, and hopefully they help make rookie teams more sustainable and viable.

Is there a group actively working to switch Wisconsin to Districts? There doesn't seem to be an overarching "Wisconsin FIRST" organization like some states have, and the vacant spots on the Wisconsin Regional Planning Committee aren't very reassuring.

[rich2202]

I don't think WI has enough teams to move to districts. We barely fill one Regional. How many WI teams go to Duluth?

Maybe the Northern part of the state joins MN when they move to Districts, and the southern part joins an IL district.

Regarding the Robotics Grant: $250,000 with up to $5,000 per team. That is a max of 50 teams in order to receive the max. I wonder if High School FTC teams would get one amount, and High School FRC teams would get a higher amount? The base cost for an FTC team is about $2,000/yr (registration, KOP, one competition registration, robot parts), and for an FRC team about $7,000.

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by ZehP

The new grants are exciting, and hopefully they help make rookie teams more sustainable and viable.

Is there a group actively working to switch Wisconsin to Districts? There doesn't seem to be an overarching "Wisconsin FIRST" organization like some states have, and the vacant spots on the Wisconsin Regional Planning Committee aren't very reassuring.

Originally Posted by rich2202

I don't think WI has enough teams to move to districts. We barely fill one Regional. How many WI teams go to Duluth?

Maybe the Northern part of the state joins MN when they move to Districts, and the southern part joins an IL district.

Regarding the Robotics Grant: $250,000 with up to $5,000 per team. That is a max of 50 teams in order to receive the max. I wonder if High School FTC teams would get one amount, and High School FRC teams would get a higher amount?

There are people working on trying to push Wisconsin to districts. Its just in the early stages. With the right people and drive I think Wisconsin can go to districts for the 2018 season.

Wisconsin does have enough teams to go to districts, we have 52 this year. See Indiana to remove your doubts. Wisconsin also doesn't have to necessarily go to districts as an individual state, though it would appear easier to go alone than recruit a neighboring state or 2.

[GBilletdeaux930]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Regarding the Robotics Grant: $250,000 with up to $5,000 per team. That is a max of 50 teams in order to receive the max. I wonder if High School FTC teams would get one amount, and High School FRC teams would get a higher amount? The base cost for an FTC team is about $2,000/yr (registration, KOP, one competition registration, robot parts), and for an FRC team about $7,000.

The grant is worded such that only a max of $2,500 will come from that $250,000 pool. The bill specifies that the school must match the governments number. From the amendment memo:

My bad. Reread and the grant still provides $5,000. The team just must be able to prove it can also provide $5,000 through other means. NASA Rookie Sponsorship should make this easy for rookie teams.

Instead of $500,000 over two years, the amendment appropriates $250,000 for one year.
Under the amendment, to be eligible to receive a grant, an applicant must demonstrate that the
applicant will provide matching funds.

Source - https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/201...memo/ab665.pdf

[themagic8ball]

I would love to see us move to districts and would be curious to hear more about Indiana's move since it looks like it might be a good template for how to do it in WI. I also was under the assumption that we didn't have enough teams, but happy to be incorrect! Regardless, hopefully the new grant money will help more teams sprout up and spread the word of FIRST to even more students.

[rich2202]

The problem with Districts is that you need a lot more volunteers to staff all the additional events. Especially in roles requiring experience: Head Ref, Lead Robot Inspector, FTA, Score Keeper, Field assembly and disassembly, etc.

Now is the time to get more mentors to volunteer to be Ref's, RI's, assistants to the FTA, Scorekeeper, and field assembly/disassembly, so that there is an experienced pool to promote to the lead roles.

[JPL69]

We found the archive links for the WI Regional on YouTube, but cannot seem to view Saturday's qualifying matches. We get a "This video contains content form UMG_MK, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. Sorry about that."

Has anyone found a work-around for viewing Saturday's qualifying matches?

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by rich2202

The problem with Districts is that you need a lot more volunteers to staff all the additional events. Especially in roles requiring experience: Head Ref, Lead Robot Inspector, FTA, Score Keeper, Field assembly and disassembly, etc.

Now is the time to get more mentors to volunteer to be Ref's, RI's, assistants to the FTA, Scorekeeper, and field assembly/disassembly, so that there is an experienced pool to promote to the lead roles.

While true, this is one of Minnesota's excuse for not going to Districts. But at the end of the day you just have to make the leap and train people as you go.

Michigan's 1st couple of years in Districts required each team in attendance to provide 2 volunteers. There is no reason why this cannot also be a requirement for Wisconsin, or any location worried about volunteers. This is a fantastic way to increase the volunteer base and you can quickly solve your key volunteer issues.

[Toatekua]

Does anyone have a video of the mascot dance? I want to see how much of a fool we all looked like.